A company’s success is directly linked to the technical capabilities, knowledge, and skills of those who make up its structure. After all, if teams work well, the company tends to follow the same path and obtain good results.
When we talk about IT, the logic is the same: competent teams are synonymous with efficient work. It is no coincidence that the best-prepared professionals, endowed with positive personal and professional attributes, are extremely valued in the market.
Being attentive to the company’s panorama, especially regarding employee performance, is essential to guarantee smooth processes and their quality. To this end, a good competency-based assessment of employees can help.
Want to know a little more about the subject? Then check out what we have set aside for today’s post!
What is a competency-based assessment?
In short, this assessment is a process by which a person’s performance evidence and skills are gathered in order to compare them to the professional competencies required for specific roles.
We can therefore say that competency-based assessment is based on identifying an individual’s attributes, with the purpose of indicating whether they are compatible with a role they perform or intend to perform, seeking continuous development.
Why is it important to perform an assessment of this kind?
The main advantage of competency-based assessment is making the process more thorough, since, from it, specific skills of each individual are identified.
Thus, even if an IT employee does not possess all the required competencies, it is still possible to carry out development to achieve objectives.
The importance of this assessment for IT is due to the fact that there is a shortage of qualified professionals in this sector. To give you an idea, studies reveal that there is a projected deficit of around 400,000 IT professionals by the year 2022.
Therefore, companies need to carefully analyze each of their employees to make the most of their competencies exactly where they can be most productive and efficient.
How can it be put into practice?
Competency-based assessment is a complex process that involves a more accurate understanding of those who work in the company.
Listing the desired skills for each IT role is the first step — and also the simplest, due to objectivity. Next, one must look for these characteristics in team members. In the IT universe, the most desirable attributes are usually:
- mastery of technologies and innovations;
- technical knowledge;
- ITIL best practices;
- certifications;
- business knowledge;
- teamwork skills;
- fluency in English.
In addition, when performing the assessment, some precautions are necessary, such as:
- the competencies sought must be aligned with the company’s objectives;
- the monitoring of these objectives must be combined with a constructive feedback policy;
- the company must understand the importance of avoiding errors in the team improvement process;
- leaders must position themselves correctly, serving as an example and motivation for employees.
Finally, competency-based assessment has many advantages, especially for IT teams, due to the possibility of redirecting each employee according to their competencies and specific needs of a given role within a project.
And you, do you already practice this strategic management in your business? Any questions left or do you have an experience to share? Tell us here in the comments!
