Getting Real – Determining Realistic Training Requirements

The matrix shown below was introduced previously as the starting point for determining who we should train on what.

This time around I would like to focus on the development of this matrix to determine the competency needs of our particular organisation.

Reason suggests that, since our organisation must be unique in order to survive in a highly competitive market, we must be employing different competencies from those of our competitors, right? Yes, to an extent.

What actually makes us competitive is, I would suggest, more the WAY in which we employ a common set of competencies in serving our clients, rather than the employment of unique competencies.

For example, supply chain management companies derive much competitive edge from unique software packages to manage the supply chains of their clients: the ability to create such packages is made up of common competencies applied in a work environment which enables creativity to flourish.  It is the environment in which competencies are applied which determines the uniqueness of the final product, not the actual competencies being applied.

In summary: our organisation’s competitiveness is developed from the unique way in which we harness competencies.

To use this matrix to determine the training needs of each individual in our organisation we need first to establish what competencies in each of the vertical columns are required by our organisation. The technical skills required in freight forwarding can for instance be vastly different to those used in the warehousing industry: every company has its own in house procedures and systems and so on. Whilst soft skills and management competencies are quite generic, we need to analyse carefully the way in which we apply them because this is the source of much of our competitive edge.

How to determine our organisation’s competency needs? It is strongly suggested that this is not something which can be taken on by one individual - in smaller companies of say less than 50 individuals, the four to five key individuals need to be involved; in larger companies all line managers should be extensively consulted.

The recommended process is as follows:
List the competencies needed by your organisation under each of the four headings Technical, Soft Skills, Management, Company In house Systems and Procedures. In building this competency profile, be careful to define not only those competencies which are needed now, but also those which will be needed to sustain the company in terms of its long term strategic goals.

For each job/ job category in the company, select the level of proficiency which each job/ job category requires under each of the four headings.

A word of caution: this task requires time and commitment on the part of those involved. Very often what we may think is required in terms of a competency at a particular level of proficiency may be far removed from the reality of the job. This is because the more senior we become the less we tend to know about how things are actually done at the coalface. This exercise therefore represents a good opportunity to find this out.  

The result will be a competency profile of each job.

In the next article I would like to explore these competency profiles in more depth with examples and also make some suggestions of competencies which need to be included from the point of view of the international supply chain management environment.