Competency assessment is a very essential tool in measuring the abilities of every employee. Organizations prefer to employ only competent workforce who can maintain their attributes or keep on improving it to continually meet organizational goals. In order to effectively manage workforce competencies in the company, the use of competency management software is an effective solution. Various management software programs keep track of competency assessments within given deadlines.

When a company is able to identify the appropriate employees in the right positions internally, motivation and commitment increase. Moreover, employee turnover is reduced which in turn minimizes the cost and hassle of seeking for filling in manpower and the loss of critical knowledge.

Features of Common Management Software

One thing an organization must consider in using system software to monitor and assess competency is its key features. It has to predict future job performance and behavior and give the senior management sufficient amount of information that they need in critical decision making for hiring, promotion, and recommendation. The following are the key features of effective competency management software:

• Categories for competency and individual competency definition
• Job description and definition of employee roles and functions
• Detailed feedback for continuous development
• Behaviors associated with the competencies in the list
• Skill tracking by team, department, or by job title
• Role-based security to control access and authority to view and edit information
• Comprehensive gap analysis
• Coaching sessions for employees and coaching tips linked to the competency list
• Assessment tools to determine and evaluate competencies and performance
• Ensuring appropriate job placements, promotions, and recommendations for managers
• Ensuring realistic and achievable career plans of employees
• Skill and competency profiles needed for training and development projects
• The means to rate success factors based on the competencies

Benefits of the Use of Management System

A company or organization that employs the use of competency management software will gain a lot of benefits for the organizational process and systems. The following are advantages of the management software:

• It increases company productivity and revenue
• It ensures that all employees, including the senior management, are assessed based on the same corporate standards and goals
• It creates a consistent performance management process and secure workflow to lessen administrative time and expenses
• It recognizes top employees and the best candidates for retention, promotion, succession planning, and leadership projects
• It increases employee participation in performance appraisals, planning, and assessments
• It makes decision-making easier especially on appraisal and compensation aspects
• It empowers the employees and creates accountability as well as alignment of the teams, coaches, and the employer in terms of performance development
• It identifies a clear distinction between employee and departmental objectives, and corporate strategy
• It utilizes the strengths in the organization through effective planning and development
• It determines competency gaps and bridges these gaps with proper development measures
• It creates an enhanced overview of the division of core competencies in different organizational departments

Success Criteria for Skills Management System

Many experts have identified the success criteria in skills and competency management software. These are evident and followed by large companies in their system.

1. Organizational readiness

This component means that the employees have complete awareness of the organizational projects and programs. A company must make sure that there is a wide understanding of company goals and purposes. Oftentimes, this element is neglected by some organizations, not realizing that this is a difficult and time-consuming part of the criteria.

2. Steering Committee or Project Team

In order to create a successful competence management system, it requires multiple focal points. The IT support plays a major role in the deployment of the management software. IT Department will work hand in hand with the other departments in the company such as HR, Training, and Operations.

3. The Pilot

Rolling out the competency framework is usually done through a pilot. In any pilot project to be successful, feedback is very essential.

4. Return on Investment (ROI)

Companies must use competence management system to capitalize on their operations. This can be done through the help of programs such as training and development and performance management.