Application: Human Resources

Setup Item: Competencies

Competencies

You will want to develop competencies that best meet the needs of your own enterprise. A few
predefined competencies have been defined in xx as examples. You can develop the ones best suited
for your business. You might want to 'pilot' a small number of easily definable and measurable
competencies first (for example, anything that requires physical effort such as digging a ditch or typing
a letter), ensuring that the definitions are meaningful and relevant before rolling them out widely within
the enterprise. Once you have developed these first competencies, you can go on to define
competencies that are much more complex and difficult to observe and measure (for example, anything
that includes cooperation with other people). You can, of course, have a mixture of both. All
competencies are held at the person level, in the Competence Profile.

Some enterprises also group competencies by the methods used to improve them, such as hireable or
trainable competencies, and still others by their use in the enterprise, for example, core or technical.
You will have previously identified how you want to structure your competencies; if you are using the
individual method, you need to set up the proficiency levels for each competence you create.

Retrieving the Right Proficiency Levels

Once you set up proficiency levels for a competence, Oracle Human Resources retrieves the right
proficiency levels for you when you (or other users) perform any of the following tasks:

 set up competence requirements

 create or update a Competence Profile
 perform an assessment

This not only saves you time, but also ensures that you always select the right proficiency level for the
task you are performing.

Creating Competencies

Use the Competencies window to create competencies.

Navigator: US HR Manager
Navigate To: Career Management>Competencies
When you navigate to the Competencies window, the Find Competencies window will automatically
display.

1. Select the New button in the Find window to define a new competency. (If competencies have
previously been defined, you may enter a full or partial query on the competence name that has
been defined and choose the Find button.)

2. Enter a name and description for the competence, i.e., Communication.

3. Enter the “from” and “to” dates for which the competence is valid. You must enter a From date
but you can leave the To date blank. If you enter a To date, ensure that it is wide enough to
cover any competence elements you may need to create.
 4. If you want to use a general rating scale to measure the competence against, proceed to 'To
Enter a Rating Scale.' If you want to measure the competence against specific proficiency
levels, proceed to 'To Enter Proficiency Levels.'

To Enter a Rating Scale

Click the Scale radio button to use a rating scale to measure the competence against.

If you set up a default rating scale, it displays automatically for this competence, otherwise select one
from the list. You can delete the defaulted rating scale and select another one, if required.

Select the Levels box if you want to check the proficiency levels for that rating scale, otherwise go
straight to Entering Competence Details.

To Enter Proficiency Levels

Click the Levels radio button to enter proficiency levels and behavioral indicators for the competence.

Select the Levels button in the lower right-hand corner and enter the first proficiency level and
description. For example, enter 1 in the Level field and Poor in the Name field.

Enter the behavioral indicator for that level, for example, ‘No knowledge/expertise of scaffolding’.
You can enter up to 2000 characters for each behavioral indicator.

Continue to enter proficiency levels and behavioral indicators, then go to Entering Competence Details.

To Enter Competence Details

1. Select the main method of evaluating the competence, for example, written examination or
observation.
2. Enter how often you need to evaluate the competence. For example, enter 2 if you have to
evaluate the competence every 2 years.

3. Select the measure to identify how often you need to evaluate the competence. For example,
select Year if you evaluate the competence every 2 years.

4. Click the Certification Required box if you need a certificate to confirm possession of the
competence, for example, if you need proof of a driving license. If you click this box, when
you or another user later indicates that a person possesses this competence (using the
Competence Profile), you must enter the certification method and date.

5. Save your changes.