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Front end analysis of core competencies in an MNC
Author
Tan, Swee Kim
Supervisor
Williams, Michael D.
Abstract
ABC Electric's South East Asian Zone office engaged in PQR Consulting (where I work) to do an organisational climate survey (OCS) for the countries in their zone. The OCS was commissioned by the regional human resource director for assessing organisational capability and improving work environment. However, this data should prove useful for the training department to ensure that staff are well equipped for their job functions. Furthermore , such organisation wide surverys are not often done and the resources required is not little. It takes sense to extract whatever useful information possible. Therefore, in addtion to the purposes of OCS mentioned above, the human resource(HR)/training wants to use the data gathered for front end analysis of core competencies as well.
This paper describes the front end analysis of core competencies of one of ABC's country offices. Three research questions guide this investigation:
1. How do employees perceive their attainment of Core Competencies?
2. From the results of the first question, what performance gaps may be present?
3. What are some possible solutions to reduce the performance gaps in the second question
The OCS contains six dimensions of which two are the focus of this paper : Core Competencies and Managerial Leadership. The company identified the following as their core competencies: Customer Focus, Technical Competencies, Man Management Competencies and Improvement Orientation Competencies.
Rossett's (1987) purpose-based needs analysis is the model used for this investigation. The questionnaire items in the OCS indicate the "optimals" or expected level of performance while employees' ratings are the "actuals" or current level performance. The difference between these two levels represents the performance gap.
The entire staff of 92 was required to take part in the OCS. The results were collected, consolidated and imported to SPSS for analysis. Basics statistics like mean and range were used for analysis.
The results indicate that the employees thought that they did relatively well for Customer Focus and Technical Competencies. They were generally committed to satisfying the needs of the customer. The are no major performance gaps in these areas. However, there was some dissatisfaction with the level of customer service and technical training.
These are two aspects to Man Management, one of which deals with managers' supervisory/leadership skills. Employees perceived this aspect respectively positively except for a few business units. The other aspect, relating to individual human relation skills training, was not so positive. Most employees want to be trained further in this area.
For the Improvement Orientation competency, staff feel that there is a performance gap in the way they share ideas to encourage learning. This gap does not seem to require training as an intervention. However, more information is required before before a conclusion can be made. Mager and Pipe's (1997)performance flow process may be used for this purpose.
The data from the OCS was not sufficient for recommending possible solutions. Further investigation will be required to address the performance gaps. Recommendations of this paper will be submitted to ABC Electric's HR department for consideration and action.
This paper describes the front end analysis of core competencies of one of ABC's country offices. Three research questions guide this investigation:
1. How do employees perceive their attainment of Core Competencies?
2. From the results of the first question, what performance gaps may be present?
3. What are some possible solutions to reduce the performance gaps in the second question
The OCS contains six dimensions of which two are the focus of this paper : Core Competencies and Managerial Leadership. The company identified the following as their core competencies: Customer Focus, Technical Competencies, Man Management Competencies and Improvement Orientation Competencies.
Rossett's (1987) purpose-based needs analysis is the model used for this investigation. The questionnaire items in the OCS indicate the "optimals" or expected level of performance while employees' ratings are the "actuals" or current level performance. The difference between these two levels represents the performance gap.
The entire staff of 92 was required to take part in the OCS. The results were collected, consolidated and imported to SPSS for analysis. Basics statistics like mean and range were used for analysis.
The results indicate that the employees thought that they did relatively well for Customer Focus and Technical Competencies. They were generally committed to satisfying the needs of the customer. The are no major performance gaps in these areas. However, there was some dissatisfaction with the level of customer service and technical training.
These are two aspects to Man Management, one of which deals with managers' supervisory/leadership skills. Employees perceived this aspect respectively positively except for a few business units. The other aspect, relating to individual human relation skills training, was not so positive. Most employees want to be trained further in this area.
For the Improvement Orientation competency, staff feel that there is a performance gap in the way they share ideas to encourage learning. This gap does not seem to require training as an intervention. However, more information is required before before a conclusion can be made. Mager and Pipe's (1997)performance flow process may be used for this purpose.
The data from the OCS was not sufficient for recommending possible solutions. Further investigation will be required to address the performance gaps. Recommendations of this paper will be submitted to ABC Electric's HR department for consideration and action.
Date Issued
2004
Call Number
HD30.28 Tan
Date Submitted
2004