H. Heinsman

Commitment, control, and the use of competency management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the commitment‐ and control‐approaches on the use of competency management, and to investigate whether attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control mediate these effects.Design/methodology/approach – In Study 1, using a survey, employees indicated whether their organization adopted a commitment‐ or a control‐approach towards competency management. Moreover, they rated their own attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, and behaviour. In Study 2 a scenario experiment was conducted in which the authors manipulated the commitment‐ and control‐approaches towards competency management in order to establish causal relations.Findings – Results consistently showed that the use of competency management is higher within a commitment‐ than within a control‐approach. Furthermore, attitude and perceived behavioural control were found to mediate the relationship between the commitment‐approach and the use of competency manag...

Competencies Through the Eyes of Psychologists: A closer look at assessing competencies

Competencies have become a leading construct in human resource practices. However, empirical research on competencies has lagged behind resulting in a gap between practice and science. In this study, the focus was on the nature of competencies by examining the relationships of three competency dimensions with cognitive ability, personality and performance during assessment center exercises. Data of 932 applicants participating in a 1-day selection procedure were used. Results showed that to assess the competency dimension Thinking psychologists focus on cognitive ability. To assess the competency dimension Feeling psychologists rely on performance during interview simulation exercises and on measures of personality. In assessing the dimension Power psychologists focus mainly on personality, although they also rely on cognitive ability and performance during interview simulation exercises.

Competency Management: Balancing Between Commitment and Control

This study investigated the relationships between commitment and control approaches and the use of competency management by adopting the theory of planned behavior. Questionnaires were filled out by 43 human resource experts working in different organizations. We expected components of the theory of planned behavior to mediate the relationship between commitment and control approaches and the use of competency management (behavior). Regression analysis showed that perceived behavioral control mediated the relation between commitment approach and behavior. Furthermore, the data revealed that attitude towards competency management was more positive and perceived behavioral control was higher when competency management was implemented with a commitment instead of a control approach. Subjective norm was strongly related to behavior. Based on the results, for competency management to be frequently used, we argue for increased behavioral control, and for an organizational climate in which competency management is widely accepted.