Competence based human resource management (CBHRM)

This is an approach that takes on board competency principles, techniques and practices in the whole spectrum of human resource management functions. This includes the following functions:

Employee resourcing.

Resourcing strategies under a CBHRM focus on the specific value of human capital and how it should be acquired and retained. The organisational strategic plan is used to identify the talents and competencies required. Therefore, recruitment and selection strategies focus on talents and competencies rather than certificates of qualification, and experience. For example, if the organisational strategy is to achieve results through teams rather than an individual effort, the recruitment and selection process will focus on competencies for teamwork and team development. Talent and competency based recruitment and selection is the use of talents and competencies criteria as the basis for decisions regarding recruitment and selection. Spencer & Spencer (1993) have suggested important steps in the process for effective competence based recruitment and selection. They are:

· Development of competence models for recruitment and selection.

· Determination of selection methods.

· Training of assessors.

· Assess job applicants.

· Validate the assessment methods.

· Development of a database for future use.

The superiority of competency based recruitment and selection models over traditional human resource management is well summarised by Kumar (2006) on his notes on the essentials of talent and competency management that where he says that under normal traditional human resource management, before recruitment and selection, the human resource manager would do the following:

· Clarify the position to be filled through job analysis that, in principle, depends on data from human resource plans, policies and strategies. However, since a significant number of organisations do not have robust updated plans policies and strategies, the exercise tends to be less effective.

· Review job description and specification. Job description tells us what the jobholder will be expected to do or achieve. However, it does not give more information on what attributes should be possessed by the candidate in order to perform at a superior level. Job specifications focus on qualifications and experiences that cannot predict future performance, which is essentially determined by the possession of specific talents and competencies.

· Identify sources of recruitment. Since sources of recruitment are usually colleges, labour market and from within the organisation, it is difficult to know the best sources to target if the competencies required for a particular job are not clear.

· Attract applicants through internal and external advertisement. Competencies for superior performance are usually rare and difficult to attract and retain. If competencies are well established and known, managers will have a better strategy for attracting the best candidates.

· Use selection techniques that identify the candidates with qualities that match most with job description and specification. Since job descriptions and specifications cannot predict performance, even the best selection techniques for that purpose cannot be reliable. Some selection techniques are best suited for the exploration and identification of particular talents and competencies, which cannot be found with generalised tools. For example, a combination of attributes such as communication, leadership skills, risk taking and drive for achievement can best be explored by the use of assessment centres rather than interviews or written tests.

According to Kumar (2006), contrary to the limitations of the traditional approach, competency based recruitment and selection has the following advantages:

· Competency based recruitment and selection helps to attract candidates who have characteristics that are difficult to acquire through solely training and development. Brans & Hondegem (2005) have found that while under traditional recruitment and selection educational knowledge and titles were considered very useful, the same are of little value in predicting best performers.

· Job applicants are able to outline, explain and demonstrate their qualifications and experiences in terms of competencies.

· Competency approach provides line and staff management with opportunities to jointly plan for the future development of talents and competencies.

Experiences of how effective or not the competency framework is, varies the world over. For example, in Malaysian public service, recruitment starts with the identification of competencies required by a specific job or job categories followed by the development of competence based selection techniques which cover the application form, advertisement, behavioural interview, tests, simulations and assessment centres (Azmi 2010).

Human resource training and development

The common approach in employee training and development under HRM is identifying training needs and designing training to fill knowledge, skills and attitudes gaps. Advances in knowledge management have made a significant difference between the point where training needs are identified, and the point where the opportunity to learn arises. CBHRM focuses on learning as a continuous process of improving the key characteristics of employees. The guides for what needs to be improved are the characteristics of best performers.

Competence based performance management (CBPM)

The difference between CBHRM and the traditional performance management approach may not be clear in organisations where performance systems are anchored to the organisation’s vision, mission and strategic approach in managing people. However, where decisions are based on mid and annual year appraisals and ratings, CBHRM proves itself superior since the process of performance management involves a process of improving competencies that have a direct link to organisational goals and objectives within the wider context of the organisation.

CBHRM approach defines performance management as a systematic process of improving and sustaining the performance of human resources throughout an organisation. This includes acknowledging that human resource competence is a performance driver and has to be multidisciplinary and uses an integrated approach to competence assessment and development.