Professional Documents
Culture Documents
On
Competency modeling in IT industry
1
ACKNOWLEGDEMENT
There are two basic levels of competencies: technical and behavioural. The
first level, Technical Competencies are predominately about acquired
knowledge and technical abilities and skills. These competencies are often
easier to see, train for and develop. Examples of technical competencies
include knowledge of applicable legislation and case law, knowledge of
valuation methodology.
Technical Knowledge
2. Appraisal
3. Systems
Thinking Skills
Personal/Professional Effectiveness
6. Communications Skills
8. Customer Focus
9. Professional Conduct
Team Skills
Generic Competencies
Competencies which are considered essential for all employees, regardless
of their function or level. - Communication, teamwork, result oriented,
interpersonal.
Managerial Competencies
Technical / Functional
Differentiating competencies
Threshold competencies
Transformation competencies
Competencies are derived from specific job families within the organization
and are often grouped around categories, such as strategy, relationships,
innovation, leadership, risk-taking, decision-making, emotional intelligence,
etc.
Knowledge
Skill
Attitude
Ethic
Self Concept
Appearance, etc
Which are associated with superior and average performers.
In this step, your agency’s Human Resources Manager and other key HR
staff will become familiar with the Competency Model and the Competency
Library.
Action Oriented
Building Trust
Interact with others in a way that gives them confidence in one’s motives and
representations and those of the organization. Is seen as direct and truthful;
keeps confidences, promises, and commitments.
Coaching
Collaboration
Builds constructive working relationships with clients/customers, other work
units, community organizations and others to meet mutual goals and
objectives. Behaves professionally and supportively when working with
individuals from a variety of ethnic, social and educational backgrounds.
Communication
Conflict Management
Cultural Competence
Customer/Client Focus
Makes customers/clients and their needs a primary focus of one’s actions;
shows interest in and understanding of the needs and expectations of
internal and external customers (including direct reports); gains customer
trust and respect; meets or exceeds customer expectations
Delegating Responsibility
Developing Others
Helps plan and supports the development of individuals’ skills and abilities
so that they can fulfill current of future job/role responsibilities more
effectively.
Follow-up
Monitors the work of direct reports to insure quality standards and
thoroughness; considers the knowledge, experience, and skill of staff
members when determining extent of review.
Influence
Initiative
Takes action without being asked or required to; achieves goals beyond job
requirements; being proactive; taking prompt action to accomplish
objectives.
Innovation
Uses creativity and imagination to develop new insights into situations and
applies new solutions to problems. Comes up with new and unique ideas.
Shows ability to plan, schedule, direct work of self and others; balances task
requirements and individual abilities; organizes materials to accomplish
tasks; sets challenging yet achievable goals for self and others.
Negotiation
Quality Orientation
Risk Taking
Seeks opportunities and calculates risks to accomplish results that can lead
to substantial benefit knowing the real possibility of significant negative
consequences.
Safety Awareness
Being aware of conditions and circumstances that affect one’s own safety or
the safety of direct reports.
Strategic Focus
Stress Tolerance
Visionary Leadership
Work Standards
Sets high standards and well-defined, realistic goals for one’s self; displays a
high level of effort and commitment towards completing assignments in a
timely manner; works with minimal supervisor; is motivated to achieve.
In this step, use of focus groups to identify and rank the competencies that
the superior performers in your targeted classification possess.
In this step, you’ll validate the list of competencies and rankings obtained
in your focus group meetings.
In this step, the results obtained from two sets of focus group meetings are
reconciled .
In this step, the competencies for the targeted job/s with the leadership
team get reviewed and get final approval.
Indian IT Industry
In India, the software boom started somewhere in the late 1990s.
The profile of the Indian IT Services has been undergoing a change
in the last few years, partly as it moves up the value chain and partly
as a response to the market dynamics.
The market competition is forcing organizations to cut down on costs
of products. The professional IT services on the other hand are
becoming increasingly expensive. Despite the global economic
slowdown, the Indian IT software and services industry is maintaining
a steady pace of growth. India’s most prized resource is its readily
available technical work force. India has the second largest English-
speaking scientific professionals in the world, second only to the U.S.
It is estimated that India has over 4 million technical workers, over
1,832 educational institutions and polytechnics, which train more than
67,785 computer software professionals every year. The enormous
base of skilled manpower is a major draw for global customers.
1. TCS
2. Infosys
3. Wipro
4. HP
5. IBM
6. Satyam
7. HCL
8. Patni
9. Polaris
10. Cisco
Advances in Information Technology and Information Systems delivery
over the past decades have restructured industries and created
enormous value. Interestingly however, research shows companies
traditionally have a very difficult time capturing the value from their
investment. Any surplus created by these improvements is often
competed away and given back to customers. Decision makers are
focused on demonstrating that information Technology expenditures
result in positive net returns to the company. IT managers are faced
with a fundamental question: How does the organization use
Information Technology to create sustainable competitive advantage
and capture value in its industry? This thesis proposes a framework,
the Core Competency Model, to help companies think about
Information Services strategy and Information Technology
deployment. Instead of seeking to create competitive advantage
through IT investment alone, it introduces the concept of core
competencies. IT resources can be quickly duplicated by competitors,
as has been shown in the research.
"If an individual is able to discuss the above with his manager, it will
help him to chalk out his growth perspectives in the company," states
D'Silva.
Zensar has a behavioural competency model which is
based on various job roles in the organisation. D'Silva
describes the process of implementation:
As a Comp
resul etenc
Having defined the various job roles, a focused
t of y study was initiated where job role holders were
com mappi interviewed on the critical incident method and the
pete ng data of success-critical factors was collated.
ncy helps The job roles and deliverables were finalised on
map identif the basis of the competencies derived from the
ping, y the data. This data was further analysed, and on the
basis of this competencies that had an impact on
all succe
the job roles and deliverables were finalised.
the ss After identifying the competencies, a job analysis
HR criteri exercise was carried out where the importance
proc a level of every competency was ascertained before
esse requir freezing the competency model.
s like ed for
For team leaders and project managers, the company
talen indivi
also runs development centres in-house; here,
t duals
individuals are profiled on behavioural competencies
induc to be
required for their position. "This process creates
tion, succe
awareness in the individual about his behavioural traits
appr ssful
in detail, and helps him chalk out an individual
aisal in
development plan. Development centres help map an
s their
individual's potential, which is useful to both the
and roles
individual and the organisation. All management
traini
development programmes are also fine-tuned to
ng Lynett
address the specific competency needs at different
yield e
levels," explains D'Silva, adding that the 360-degree
muc D’Silv
a feedback has also been designed on the competency
h
model, enabling managers to get feedback from their
bette Mana
ger teams. This feedback is based on the rating of the
r
competencies which are an integral part of their
resul Learn
ts ing & managerial skill-set.
Devel
L&T Infotech, a PCMM Level 5 company, has a
Ullha opme
s nt,
Page HR
y Zens
successful competency-based HR system. Recruitment, training, job
rotation, succession planning and promotions-all are defined by
competency mapping. Says Dr Devendra Nath, executive vice-
president of the company, who had initiated the PCMM process in
the parent company (L&T) in 1997, "Nearly all our HR interventions
are linked to competency. Competencies are enhanced through
training and job rotation." He adds that all people who have gone
through job rotation undergo a transformation and get a broader
perspective of the company. For instance, a person lacking in
negotiation skills might be put in the sales or purchase department
for a year to hone his skills in the area.
Competency Profile
of a Project Manager
in an SBU at L&T
Infotech
HCL
HCL telecom services in the unified communications (UC) area include
product engineering services, deployment services, management
services, and process mapping services. The Unified Communications
service line addresses both the enterprise customers, to whom we can
be integration partners, and OEMs, with whom we can partner to
augment their development work.
Development
Testing
Customization
Documentation
Interoperability
Localization
Geo customization
Support
Proof of concept
Process management
Process consultancy
The benefits for our customers from our UC practice would be:
Increased productivity
Reduced costs
Increased control
Optimized enterprise TCO leading to increase in sales
Tools Available
The tools and products available with the UC practice are:
Wipro Infotech Consulting practice gives you the full benefit of:
What is E-government?
The five Bands also give us the designation basket for its employees
which are as under:
Band A1: Indicating Designation – Support
When Wipro Infotech inducts new employees the primary basis for
doing the same is the years of experience a prospective employee
holds in the field of consulting and the total number of years of
experience. Apart from experience, the qualifications of a prospective
employee are also taken into consideration i.e. the university he/she
has obtained the degree from. Accordingly the new employee is put in
band levels and only after staying in that particular band for a pre-
decided tenure in the role, he/she is promoted further up the hierarchy.
The span of the study instead of being limited to one particular band of
the E-Governance Consulting Practice, [leaving the
Programmers/Developers]; is spread over all the other 4 bands i.e. B1,
B2, C1, C2. Since E-Governance Consulting Practice is a relatively
new Practice, and is picking up on its demands; the study on finding
competencies relevant to it will bring about dynamism in tuning the
Practice to such levels, that always it will yield to high performance
and the Practice will be able to gain more in being the most sought
after.
This stage deals with the start up to a competency development
process involving data gathering and preparation for an intervention. It
deals essentially with the following:
List down the competencies for each band differentiating by years of experience
Define each core competency
Gap analysis
Client/Customer
Develops and maintains strong relationships with
Service
clients (those who buy goods and services and for
whom formal professional services are rendered) or
customers (those who consume goods and
services) by listening to the client/customer and
understanding and responding to identified needs.
Provides guidance and feedback to help an
employee or groups of employees strengthen their
knowledge and skills to accomplish a task or solve
a problem, which in turn should improve job
Mentoring performance.
Communicates information to individuals or groups;
delivers presentations suited to the characteristics
and needs of the audience. Clearly and concisely
conveys written information orally or in writing to
individuals or groups to ensure that they
understand the information and the message.
Communication Listens and responds appropriately to others.
Develops presentations using a variety of media
and presents ideas effectively to individuals or
Communication – groups; delivers presentations suited to the
Presentations characteristics and needs of the audience.
Uses effective approaches for choosing a course of
action or developing appropriate solutions and/or
reaching conclusions; takes action consistent with
available facts, constraints, and anticipated
Decision Making consequences.
Develops and maintains effective relationships with
others in order to encourage and support
communication and teamwork. Builds and
maintains ongoing, collaborative, working
Interpersonal relationships with coworkers to achieve the goals of
Skills the work unit.
Domain Demonstrates a designated level of technical skill
or knowledge in a specific technical area(s) and
keeps up with current developments and trends in
areas of expertise. May be acquired through
Knowledge – academic, apprenticeship or on-the-job training or a
Technical combination of these.
Demonstrated skills and abilities needed to
coordinate, facilitate, and participate in a
collaborative approach to the completion of tasks or
Leadership assignments.
Develops plans to accomplish work operations and
objectives; arranges and assigns work to use
resources efficiently. Advanced planning is more of
a strategic nature to develop plans, organizational
Planning and structures, and systems to fulfill legislative or
Organizing Work mission driven organizational goals.
Coordinates and administers program, activities
and protocols; manages resources, monitors
activities and assesses environmental risks and
Program quality control, if any, quality control, associated
Management with the program.
1) Provides oversight for project(s) and all related
activities in that setting to include quality assurance
and safety; coordinates and manages facilities,
equipment, supplies and related resources as
necessary for the project; monitors environmental
risks, if any and quality control; 2) establishes a set
of tasks and activities associated with an intended
outcome and timeline; 3) ensures actions are
Project performed and/or implemented to achieve the
Management results of the project.
Analyzing competitive position by considering the
market and industry trends, existing and potential
customers, and strengths and weaknesses as
compared to competitors, provides analysis of policy
issues develops program proposals and develops
Strategic plans that address long-term customer and
Thinker stakeholder needs and concerns
LIMITATIONS
Like every study has its set of constraints and limitations, this ‘Study
on Competency Mapping for the Practice E-Governance Consulting at
Wipro Infotech’ also has its set of constraints and limitations. They
have been listed as follows:
The primary limitation of the study being, that all the employees
existing in various bands are scattered all over India, where their
client bases lie; largely at Gurgaon/Noida. This indirectly means
that many of the Consulting Practice employees don’t have an
access to their Wipro Infotech Company ID and may take longer
to respond. Neither can they be administered with better
methods of Competency Mapping like BEI, Critical Incident
Technique, Focus Group Discussion, since even a phone
interview is remotely impossible or may take considerable
amount of time to actualize.
The lowest band A1-A3 are not to be administered with the
questionnaire since they act as Programmers/Developers for all
the Consulting Practices of Wipro Infotech , and do not pertain to
one particular Practice like the E-Governance Consulting.
By in large the awareness of what is Competency Mapping and
why it needs to be done in an organization, as well as what
benefits will it bring to an individual or group of people and in
turn the organization; is low
The above stated reason also is validated by the reluctance of
employees to identify high performers and low performers as
asked in the Repertory Grid Technique.
SUGGESTIONS
CONCLUSIONS
From the initial stages of interaction with clients till the final stages of
finishing the project, Wipro Infotech has always believed in satisfying the
clients to utmost level, be it timely deliverables, to handling of clients, to
taking calls, to procurement and so forth. Apart from the technicality
involved at all stages of project handling, an important ingredient of
success at Wipro Infotech is the different Competencies each employee
holds within himself/herself. And Wipro Infotech ensures that none of it
goes unused, hence they have formulated ways and means like Growth
Enablers that give a brilliant pathway to the career framework of their
employees. This in turn is tapped to fullest extent when people work in
teams. Right from Associate Consultants, Consultants, Senior Consultants,
Principals to Practice Heads; each one of them are proficient enough from
their ends as an individual, and when they form teams they have a
collective force of Competencies which make them stand unique from other
Consulting Practices within Wipro Infotech and competing firms.
Their main Competency lies in the kind of expertise they hold for Domain
Knowledge as well as Client Interaction/Orientation, and the diverse
projects undertaken by them exhibit the same. Throughout the study it has
been found that each level at different Bands, there is a demand of a high
level of Domain Knowledge and from Band B2 onwards a great echelon of
Client Interaction/Orientation. Apart from these some other Competencies
that echoed throughout were Analytical skills, Presentation Skills, and
Communication Skills. There is a continual need felt for improving upon
their expertise and developing, as well as fine tuning themselves as per the
market requirements of the clients. This never-ending process results to the
various activities Wipro Infotech engages in for team building purpose,
which indeed plays a vital role for the individual competencies to emerge
into an amalgamation of a strong team. To name a few of the activities they
have: birthday bashes for each employee of the various Bands [either as a
celebration or sending e-mails to them at client bases]; quarterly
celebrations; an employees’ 5 year completion at Wipro; yearly consulting
celebrations; internal discussions whereby good work is appreciated;
monthly reports by the Head, Consulting division whereby the High
Performers’ names’ are mentioned.