The never ending question of: is it a Skill or a Competency?
We, as individuals have abilities that make us capable of doing things, for instance, we can walk, then we can go to a place by ourselves, without any additional element to transport us. So that ability by itself gives us a capability or a capacity of performing a much more meaningful action.
Let’s think of a more complex DO, think of a pianist. A pianist has the ability of move the fingers of both hands with a high level of coordination, independently of one another, at specific tempos.
The pianist likes different styles of music and can identify them by listening. The pianist also knows musical notes, and can read them when they are together in a song.
This pianist, because of that combination of abilities, can play a song by reading the musical notes that compose it.
Having that set of abilities enables the pianist to perform a task one could say, the task of playing the 5th symphony of Beethoven (TA TA TA TAAAAAAN!)
But could the piano player do more? I am glad that you asked!
Of course, with the appropriate abilities and knowledge, this pianist could be a great pianist for performing live as part of an orchestra.
My time to ask...What would be some of the abilities that the pianist would need to be part of a classic music orchestra?
All those different abilities that we have mentioned, can be called Skills, and as we can see, some are knowledge and some are behaviors or things we do.
The second key term used a lot here is Competency. A competency has to do with a purpose, with a task. Something that usually requires having multiple skills.
The example of performing at a concert would require you to have a few skills and abilities. Without them you wouldn’t be able to perform, or probably nobody would enjoy you doing it 🙉.
What do the experts say?
As the utilizatin of this terms has become very usual for professional development, many attemps are done to define them properly. So besides sharing the examples above, here are some definitions that I have bumped into over time:
Skills: Tactical knowledge or tool/technology expertise and application needed to deliver a specific job outcome It is often developed through training and experience (Deloitte) | The ability to effectively use cognitive and physical abilities to perform a task or activity (IEEE) | Ability to use knowledge, a developed aptitude, and/or a capability to effectively and readily execute or perform an activity. (PMI)
Competencies: A combination of skills, knowledge, and behaviors that enable effective performance within a job role (Deloitte) | The set of skills and behaviors required in the performance of a task or activity within a specific context (IEEE) | A cluster of related knowledge, attitudes, skills, and other personal characteristics that affects a major part of one’s job (i.e., one or more key roles or responsibilities), correlates with performance on the job, can be measured against well-accepted standards, and can be improved by means of training and development. (PMI)
How do those things relate to someone's job?
A classic example that I have seen many times when explaning what a competency and a skills are is, the use of the Software developer and the competenciea and skills that relate to this job, so to stick to the "standards" and to help you visualize in a familiar context, I will use the same Software Developer.
I have etxracted some data from the Software Enfineering Competency Model by IEEE, you can get a copy of this one here
I take one competency that is attrbuted to a Software Developer: Software Design and Construction (SDC).
This competency is described as the ability to design and construct software solutions that meet specified requirements. It includes skills in system architecture, software design patterns, coding, testing, debugging, and code optimization.
When asking Chat GPT (link to prompt) about the Skills related to this competency this is what I got:
But they didnt sound too familiar (I am no software engineer clearly...), so I asked about the skills related to this Software Developer but placing us 20 years ago, maybe something would ring a bell...(sometimes I feel like I am a 🦕), so here is what I got:
And then, I though, what if I wanted to be come one of them, it might take me a few years, so better get ahead of time, what are the skills to have this competency fast forward to 2028?
By this point it becomes clear that even though, the competency is the same, I have no doubt that a Software Developer is expected to design and construct software solutions that meet specified requirements, the skills are changing over time (I know, you've heard that too from Gartner, McKinsey, Accenture, Deloitte, WEF, etc., etc., etc.)
So why do we keep looking up these definitions? are both elements useful? which one is the best? which one is the king of HR automation? and what about the king of Organizational and Professional Development?
I would love to get your thoughts!
I have my own, and I will let you challenge them in a next article 🦾
Talent Development & Hr operations Manager EMEA at Aptiv
1yGreat article Igor! Thank you for that.After your detailed explanation and examples I only see one challenge here, which is the never ending confusion of many HR professionals, including myself. My question to you…How is this confusion affecting the skills@competencies development in organizations?