We need more than competence: what about excellence?

摘要

Many organizations have developed lists of competences (or competencies - or competencys, even - the list of linguistic variations seems to grow). They are assumed to be the bedrock of selection, development, performance reviews and so on. The lists also seem to have. grown in themselves - one client that we work with has a list of 44 competences. When we have interviewed line managers about what they need in their people they talk in everyday language. They ask for specific qualities like motivation, enthusiasm, trustworthiness and integrity. They also ask for precise skills if the job needs it - IT skills, financial skills or selling skills. And they may require specific knowledge such as of products or markets. They rarely say that they want a competence - or even use that language.