Annexure IV

Questionnaire
Name. Designation Department..

Objective This is sent to you as a part of my MBA project I am undertaking in this organization on the topic competency mapping from Human Resource perspective. From the organizational point of view this questionnaire is a part of development exercise to know the strength and the areas needing improvements (possible blind spots) in terms of various competencies at various levels of the Manufacturing department, namely top level, managerial level, executive level, and staff level. (Please return the completed questionnaire to me on or before)

Please rate each competency using the 5-point rating scale Exercises outstanding performance on this competency far exceeds acceptable standards Exercises very good performances on this competency better than acceptable standards Exercises quite acceptable performance on this competency and meets requirements Performance on this competency is not quite up to acceptable standards. A development is needed Performance on this competency fails to meet acceptable standards. A major development is needed 5 4 3 2 1

(Questionnaire used for both self and others rating)

Competencies at Top Level Please tick what you feel most appropriate 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1. Vision and Purpose Sees new possibilities to take the organization to a higher realm Optimistic. Sees everything with a positive outlook Creates and communicates compelling vision or direction Inspires and motivates others with enlightened insights 2. Developing people Assembles strong teams Empowers and trains people Provides rewards, feedback and recognition Communicates effectively with people 3. Values and ethics Aligns with company values Adheres to code of conduct Ensures that the standards and specifications are kept Rewards right behaviors 4. Commitment Widely trusted Takes ownership on the assigned responsibilities Impartial and fair in exercising the responsibilities Delivers results on commitment 5. Performance Sets and achieves ambitious goals Drives for continuous improvement Ensures that health, safety and social objectives are integrated into business activities Gets results consistently 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Competencies at Managerial level Please tick what you feel most appropriate 1. Basic knowledge and information 1 Command of basic facts: Understand the business and have sound knowledge of basic facts surrounding the business such as short and long term goals, product knowledge and the roles and relationships between various departments. 2 Relevant professional knowledge: Know the background of management principles including planning, organizing controlling and directing 2. Skills and attributes 1 Continuing sensitivity to events: Aware of what is going on and is perceptive and open to information; hard information such as figures and facts, and soft information such as feeling of other people 2 Analytical, problem solving and decision-making skill: Weigh the pros and cons in an uncertain and ambiguous situation, calling for a high level of judgment or taking appropriate decision without much delay 3 Social skills and abilities: Develop, negotiate, resolve conflict, persuade, use and respond to authority and power so as to get things done 4 Emotional resilience: Deal with emotional stress and strain that arises as consequence of working situations of authority, leadership, power, targets and deadlines 5 Pro-activity: Respond to the needs of the instant situation, but while making such a response consider the long-term aims and goals and the impact of immediate decision 3. Meta Qualities 1 Creativity: Come up with unique ideas or solutions either ones own ideas or ideas from another source 2 Mental agility: Grasp problems quickly, think about several things at once, understand the whole situation quickly and think on ones feet 3 Balanced learning habits and skills: Use a range of learning process including use of inputs like teaching, discovery from ones own personal experiences and reflection 4 Self-knowledge: Aware of ones own beliefs, goals, values, feeling, behavior and the part they play in influencing their actions

5 5 5

4 4 4

3 3 3

2 2 2

1 1 1

5 5 5

4 4 4

3 3 3

2 2 2

1 1 1

Competencies at Executive Level (Q.A &Q.C Division) Please tick what you feel most appropriate 1. Personal competencies 1 Assertiveness: Able to state ones opinion firmly and positively 2 Integrity: Gain trust and confidence by interacting with fairness, honesty and truthfulness 3 Self- sufficiency: Exercises the professional duties without assistance 4 High emotional stamina: Relaxed & poised. Maintain effectiveness even under pressure 2. Knowledge level competencies 1 Command of basic facts: Understand the business holistically and have a sound knowledge of the basic facts of Millipore business 2 Quality consciousness: Work always with quality awareness 3 Organizational awareness: Have wide knowledge about the organization, its departments and functions 4 Knowledge on standards and specifications 3. Job related skills/competencies 1 Presentation skill: Able to present ideas, concepts, plan and procedures clearly to the target group 2 Analytical and problem solving skill: Weigh the pros and cons in an ambiguous situation and takes appropriate decision without delay 3 Concern for excellence: Work with burning desire to perform outstandingly 4 Negotiation skill: Discuss and share opinions so as to arrive at a constructive agreement. 4. Communication and interpersonal competencies 1 Listening skills: Listen to others views with patience 2 Precision in communication: Listen to others and express the idea with clarity and precision 3 Persuasiveness: Able to move others in getting things done 4 Sensitivity: Aware of what is going on in the work place and responds in a suitable manner to situations as they arise

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Competencies at Engineers Level (Production Engineers) Please tick what you feel most appropriate 1. Personal competencies 1 Stress tolerance: Cope up with work strains that arises as a consequence of working situations of targets, deadlines, work load and pressure from superiors 2 Self starting and proactive: Respond to the needs of the instant situations voluntarily 3 Detail consciousness: Explore into the necessary details, so as to get the exact information needed 4 High energy level: Operate and maintain fast pace and tempo at the work place 2. Knowledge level competencies 1 Operational knowledge: Know each and every details of production process 2 Numerical interpretation: Comfortable with numerical facts and exercises quantitative reasoning effectively to derive solution 3 Identifying bottlenecks and rectifying them: Recognize situations that retards wok progress and gives immediate attention and rectification to the problem 4 Knowledge on production concepts, standards and specification 3. Job related skills/ competencies 1 Information collection: Gather relevant data from different sources that are needed to perform the job 2 Analytical skill: Use relevant facts, data and analytical tools to draw accurate and meaningful conclusion 3 Creativity: Come up with unique ideas, insights and solutions 4 Technical expertise: Know in detail about the technology used in production 4. Interpersonal and leadership skills/competencies 1 Precision in communication: Express the ideas with clarity and precision 2 Motivating: Encourage the technicians and operators to work towards the organizational goal 3 Appraising and developing: Evaluate the performance of technician and operators and provide corrective steps whenever required 4 Organizing: Arrange works systematically and provides structure and order to works

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Competencies of Design Engineers Please tick what you feel most appropriate 1. Personal competencies 1 Stress tolerance: Cope up with work strains that arises as a consequence of working situations of targets, deadlines, work load and pressure from superiors 2 Self starting and proactive: Respond to the needs of the instant situations voluntarily 3 Detail consciousness: Explore into the necessary details, so as to get the exact information needed 4 High energy level: Operate and maintain fast pace and tempo at the work place 2. Knowledge level Competencies 1 Knowledge on accuracy: Able to check the correctness of the drawing 2 Product knowledge: Know the physical structure of each product and its parts 3 Knowledge on the latest design packages 4 Identifying bottlenecks and rectifying them 3. Job related competencies/skills 1 I.T Skills: Have excellent I.T knowledge and able to apply this knowledge to the work for the effective performance of the job 2 Time management: timely plan the works and complete them as scheduled. 3 Self management: Exercise the expected professional duties without repeated guidance and monitoring 4 Creativity: Come up with unique ideas, insights and solutions 4. Interpersonal and communication skills/competencies 1 Team spirit: Work with the spirit unity and shares knowledge with one another 2 Flexibility: Alter and deviate individual work plan to suite to the changing needs of the organization and the department 3 Precision in communication 4 Receptive to corrections: Accept corrections and advices from the superiors and experts

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Competencies of Technicians and Operators Please tick what you feel most appropriate 1. Personal competencies 1 Adaptability: Conform and adjust to changing circumstances and work environments 2 Stress tolerance: Cope up with work strains that arises as a consequence of working situations of targets, deadlines, work load and pressure from superiors 3 Self motivated: Able to work with limited supervision 4 Honesty: Honest and sincere towards the work and responsibility 2. Knowledge level competencies 1 Detailed knowledge of materials and tools used for assembling 2 Operational knowledge of machines and tools 3 Knowledge on product standard and specification 4 Knowledge on product testing 3. Job related skills/competencies 1 Technical skills 2 Learning oriented: Work with an attitude to learn new things 3 Concern for excellence: Always work with positive attitude to produce qualitative result 4 Initiative: Take voluntary steps to address existing and potential problems at the work place 4. Interpersonal and communication skills 1 Team oriented: Enjoy working in groups and able to contribute to and learn from the group 2 Clarity in oral expression: Communicate clearly with other 3 Receptive to corrections 4 Committed to responsibilities: Exercise the responsibilities with trust, sincerity and commitment

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Questionnaire to assess the importance of each competency in the overall performance of the job at Top Level Please rate the importance of each competency using the 5-point rating scale This competency is of vital importance to a successful performance of my job This competency is definitely important to the successful performance of my job This competency is relevant but not important to the successful performance of my job This competency is of highly marginal relevance to the successful performance of my job This competency is not relevant to the successful performance of my job Please tick what you feel most appropriate
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 6. Vision and Purpose Sees new possibilities to take the organization to a higher realm Optimistic. Sees everything with a positive outlook Creates and communicates compelling vision or direction Inspires and motivates others with enlightened insights 7. Developing people Assembles strong teams Empowers and trains people Provides rewards, feedback and recognition Communicates effectively with people 8. Values and ethics Aligns with company values Adheres to code of conduct Ensures that the standards and specifications are kept Rewards right behaviors 9. Commitment Widely trusted Takes ownership on the assigned responsibilities Impartial and fair in exercising the responsibilities Delivers results on commitment 10. Performance Sets and achieves ambitious goals Drives for continuous improvement Ensures that health, safety and social objectives are integrated into business activities Gets results consistently 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

5 4 3 2 1

Questionnaire to assess the importance of each competency in the overall performance of the job at Managerial level Please rate the importance of each competency using the 5-point rating scale This competency is of vital importance to a successful performance of my job This competency is definitely important to the successful performance of my job This competency is relevant but not important to the successful performance of my job This competency is of highly marginal relevance to the successful performance of my job This competency is not relevant to the successful performance of my job Please tick what you feel most appropriate
1. Basic knowledge and information 1 Command of basic facts: Understand the business and have sound knowledge of basic facts surrounding the business such as short and long term goals, product knowledge and the roles and relationships between various departments. 2 Relevant professional knowledge: Know the background of management principles including planning, organizing controlling and directing 2. Skills and attributes 1 Continuing sensitivity to events: Aware of what is going on and is perceptive and open to information; hard information such as figures and facts, and soft information such as feeling of other people 2 Analytical, problem solving and decision-making skill: Weigh the pros and cons in an uncertain and ambiguous situation, calling for a high level of judgment or taking appropriate decision without much delay 3 Social skills and abilities: Develop, negotiate, resolve conflict, persuade, use and respond to authority and power so as to get things done 4 Emotional resilience: Deal with emotional stress and strain that arises as consequence of working situations of authority, leadership, power, targets and deadlines 5 Pro-activity: Respond to the needs of the instant situation, but while making such a response consider the long-term aims and goals and the impact of immediate decision 3. Meta Qualities 1 Creativity: Come up with unique ideas or solutions either ones own ideas or ideas from another source 2 Mental agility: Grasp problems quickly, think about several things at once, understand the whole situation quickly and think on ones feet 3 Balanced learning habits and skills: Use a range of learning process including use of inputs like teaching, discovery from ones own personal experiences and reflection 4 Self-knowledge: Aware of ones own beliefs, goals, values, feeling, 5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1

5 5 5

4 4 4

3 3 3

2 2 2

1 1 1

5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1

behavior and the part they play in influencing their actions

Questionnaire to assess the importance of each competency in the overall performance of the job Executive level Please rate the importance of each competency using the 5-point rating scale This competency is of vital importance to a successful performance of my job This competency is definitely important to the successful performance of my job This competency is relevant but not important to the successful performance of my job This competency is of highly marginal relevance to the successful performance of my job This competency is not relevant to the successful performance of my job
Please tick what you feel most appropriate 1. Personal competencies 1 Assertiveness: Able to state ones opinion firmly and positively 2 Integrity: Gain trust and confidence by interacting with fairness, honesty and truthfulness 3 Self- sufficiency: Exercises the professional duties without assistance 4 High emotional stamina: Relaxed & poised. Maintain effectiveness even under pressure 5. Knowledge level competencies 1 Command of basic facts: Understand the business holistically and have a sound knowledge of the basic facts of Millipore business 2 Quality consciousness: Work always with quality awareness 3 Organizational awareness: Have wide knowledge about the organization, its departments and functions 4 Knowledge on standards and specifications 6. Job related skills/competencies 1 Presentation skill: Able to present ideas, concepts, plan and procedures clearly to the target group 2 Analytical and problem solving skill: Weigh the pros and cons in an ambiguous situation and takes appropriate decision without delay 3 Concern for excellence: Work with burning desire to perform outstandingly 4 Negotiation skill: Discuss and share opinions so as to arrive at a constructive agreement. 7. Communication and interpersonal competencies 1 Listening skills: Listen to others views with patience 2 Precision in communication: Listen to others and express the idea with clarity and precision 3 Persuasiveness: Able to move others in getting things done 4 Sensitivity: Aware of what is going on in the work place and responds in a suitable manner to situations as they arise

5 4 3 2 1

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Questionnaire to assess the importance of each competency in the overall performance of the job at the Engineers level Please rate the importance of each competency using the 5-point rating scale This competency is of vital importance to a successful performance of my job This competency is definitely important to the successful performance of my job This competency is relevant but not important to the successful performance of my job This competency is of highly marginal relevance to the successful performance of my job This competency is not relevant to the successful performance of my job
Please tick what you feel most appropriate 1. Personal competencies 1 Stress tolerance: Cope up with work strains that arises as a consequence of working situations of targets, deadlines, work load and pressure from superiors 2 Self starting and proactive: Respond to the needs of the instant situations voluntarily 3 Detail consciousness: Explore into the necessary details, so as to get the exact information needed 4 High energy level: Operate and maintain fast pace and tempo at the work place 2. Knowledge level competencies 1 Operational knowledge: Know each and every details of production process 2 Numerical interpretation: Comfortable with numerical facts and exercises quantitative reasoning effectively to derive solution 3 Identifying bottlenecks and rectifying them: Recognize situations that retards wok progress and gives immediate attention and rectification to the problem 4 Knowledge on production concepts, standards and specification 3. Job related skills/ competencies 1 Information collection: Gather relevant data from different sources that are needed to perform the job 2 Analytical skill: Use relevant facts, data and analytical tools to draw accurate and meaningful conclusion 3 Creativity: Come up with unique ideas, insights and solutions 4 Technical expertise: Know in detail about the technology used in production 5. Interpersonal and leadership skills/competencies 1 Precision in communication: Express the ideas with clarity and precision 2 Motivating: Encourage the technicians and operators to work towards the organizational goal 3 Appraising and developing: Evaluate the performance of technician and operators and provide corrective steps whenever required 4 Organizing: Arrange works systematically and provides structure and order to works

5 4 3 2 1

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Questionnaire to assess the importance of each competency in the overall performance of the job at Design Engineers level Please rate the importance of each competency using the 5-point rating scale This competency is of vital importance to a successful performance of my job This competency is definitely important to the successful performance of my job This competency is relevant but not important to the successful performance of my job This competency is of highly marginal relevance to the successful performance of my job This competency is not relevant to the successful performance of my job
Please tick what you feel most appropriate 1. Personal competencies 1 Stress tolerance: Cope up with work strains that arises as a consequence of working situations of targets, deadlines, work load and pressure from superiors 2 Self starting and proactive: Respond to the needs of the instant situations voluntarily 3 Detail consciousness: Explore into the necessary details, so as to get the exact information needed 4 High energy level: Operate and maintain fast pace and tempo at the work place 2. Knowledge level Competencies 1 Knowledge on accuracy: Able to check the correctness of the drawing 2 Product knowledge: Know the physical structure of each product and its parts 3 Knowledge on the latest design packages 4 Identifying bottlenecks and rectifying them 3. Job related competencies/skills 1 I.T Skills: Have excellent I.T knowledge and able to apply this knowledge to the work for the effective performance of the job 2 Time management: timely plan the works and complete 3 4 1 2 3 4 them as scheduled. Self management: Exercise the expected professional duties without repeated guidance and monitoring Creativity: Come up with unique ideas, insights and solutions 5. Interpersonal and communication skills/competencies Team spirit: Work with the spirit of unity and shares knowledge with one another Flexibility: Alter and deviate individual work plan to suite to the changing needs of the organization and the department Precision in communication Receptive to corrections: Accept corrections and advices from the superiors and experts

5 4 3 2 1

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Questionnaire to assess the importance of each competency in the overall performance of the job at technicians and operators level

Please rate the importance of each competency using the 5-point rating scale This competency is of vital importance to a successful performance of my job This competency is definitely important to the successful performance of my job This competency is relevant but not important to the successful performance of my job This competency is of highly marginal relevance to the successful performance of my job This competency is not relevant to the successful performance of my job
Please tick what you feel most appropriate 1. Personal competencies 1 Adaptability: Conform and adjust to changing circumstances and work environments 2 Stress tolerance: Cope up with work strains that arises as a consequence of working situations of targets, deadlines, work load and pressure from superiors 3 Self motivated: Able to work with limited supervision 4 Honesty and sincerity 2. Knowledge level competencies 1 Detailed knowledge of materials and tools used for assembling 2 Operational knowledge of machines and tools 3 Knowledge on product standard and specification 4 Knowledge on product testing 3. Job related skills/competencies 1 Technical skills 2 Learning oriented: Work with an attitude to learn new things 3 Concern for excellence: Always work with positive attitude to produce qualitative result 4 Initiative: Take voluntary steps to address existing and potential problems at the work place 5. Interpersonal and communication skills 1 Team oriented: Enjoy working in groups and able to contribute to and learn from the group 2 Clarity in oral expression: Communicate clearly with other 3 Receptive to corrections 4 Committed to responsibilities: Exercise the responsibilities with trust, sincerity and commitment

5 4 3 2 1

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Skills Management is the practice of understanding, developing and deploying people and their skills. Well-implemented skills management should identify the skills that job roles require, the skills of individual employees, and any gap between the two. The skills involved can be defined by the organization concerned, or by third party institutions. They are usually defined in terms of a skills

framework, also known as a competency framework or skills matrix. This consists of a list of skills, and a grading system, with a definition of what it means to be at particular level for a given skill. (For an example of a mature skills framework, see the Skills Framework for the Information Age, [1], a technical IT skills framework owned by a British not-for-profit organization.) To be most useful, skills management needs to be conducted as an ongoing process, with individuals assessing and updating their recorded skill sets regularly. These updates should occur at least as frequently as employees' regular line manager reviews, and certainly when their skill sets have changed. Skills management systems record the results of this process in a database, and allow analysis of the data. Skills management provides a structured approach to developing individual and collective skills, and gives a common vocabulary for discussing skills. As well as this general benefit, three groups of employees receive specific benefits from skills management: Individual Employees: As a result of skills management, employees should be aware of the skills their job requires, and any skills gaps that they have. Depending on their employer, it may also result in a personal development plan (PDP) of training to bridge some or all of those skills gaps over a given period. Line Managers: Skills management enables managers to know the skill strengths and weaknesses of employees reporting to them. It can also enable them to search for employees with particular skill sets (e.g. to fill a role on a particular project). Organization Executives: A rolled-up view of skills and skills gaps across an organization can enable its executives to see areas of skill strength and weakness. This enables them to plan for the future against the current and future abilities of staff, as well as to prioritise areas for skills development. Attribution: http://www.citehr.com/194333-skillmatrix.html#ixzz1zjs7TSLW
Subject - Tracking employee skills for business advantage

When there are those all-important business deals to be closed, project agreements to be met, who has the time to identify and appreciate that Rekha, though not a born leader, could have the makings of a quick learner as compared to her project teammates. Well, not anymore. Though a rather tedious exercise, the activity of tracking down the competencies and skills (existing as well as unexplored), is becoming an integral programme for many IT companies. That Rekha could have been a more valuable and productive asset for the company is just one of the many drivers. Mapping the right skills to the right business requirement (which companies are fast realising is as critical to meeting business objectives as developing skills), leads to the creation and continuous tracking of the skills inventory. Maintaining a skill repository may not still be very common in many IT companies, but tapping into the power of skills (for business and competitive advantage) has put the exercise of skills tracking at the forefront of many an organisational agenda. Skills, which may otherwise go unnoticed, can be leveraged and channelised towards the companys benefits and improving employee productivity. And how can this be done? A little mix of intuition with science is the answer. The significance of skills tracking In the IT Industry you are in the business of your employees skills and knowledge. This is the most im-portant selling factor for grabbing a new business as well as for sustaining and growing the existing businesses, says Palash Aggrawal, manager HR, Infogain India. Competi-tion is further forcing organisations to be 100 percent aware of their employees skills and abilities. With companies becoming aware of their employees skills, more than ever before the skills tracking exercise has achieved serious proportions, almost at par with other regular internal employee programmes. While some progressive organisations had started the skills tracking

exercise some time back, others are now following suit. These initiatives are becoming more integral to forward looking IT companies, who have the tremendous need to tap into the employee talent reservoir to provide value add to their business operations and customers. And, in turn, help employees to explore their potentialities, says Sameer Wadhawan, directorHR, Cadence Design Sys-tems (India). Most progressive organisations have skill evaluation as a formal programme. An employees customised development plans are made reflecting his/her skills and talents. These exercises are conducted in addition to the informal programmes. Most large IT companies maintain a central skills inventory of their employees. Nirupama V G, executive vice president of Team Lease elaborates, Companies are currently conducting these programmes from time to time as and when required, but the IT industry is looking at this with complete focus. Many companies are even introducing Web-based tracking system, which is more prevalent in the West. Employee-skill inventory is becoming a major source for designing training and development programmes, as well as becoming an integral part of HRM systemswhether automated or otherwisein IT companies. For organisations where formal programmes are still a distant reality on account of resource constraints, conduction of informal exercises at least is becoming an acceptable norm. The need The need for skills tracking is based on the basic premise that every organisation has unique needs and identifying the skills and competencies that drive success can boost performance and profits. According to Anuj Kumar, head of corporate HR, Keane India, at any given point of time, the organisation should be in a position to find out the availability of any skill and the level of expertise in that skill within the organisation. Without having specifically designed methodologies for

tracking, this becomes a challenge in a decently sized organisation. Skills identification and tracking programmes are of strategic importance in the IT industry where one has to deal with many technical skill sets. Also, in a fast changing environment like the IT industry, it is imperative to have a good idea of the skill level, its distribution employee skills to ensure better resource allocation process. The skill tracking system helps resource coordinators to get the right talent at the right time and engage employees appropriately. They can leverage and benefit the most from its internal talent pool and plan for skill building activities as well as get on board the external talent pool. They can also identify any shortfalls and improve job satisfaction for team members by putting them into roles that better match their experience and aspirations, explains Nirupama. Improving productivity Apart from driving profitability and operational efficiency, skills tracking is also being carried out by companies for improving employee productivity and workforce development. Career growth, training and development strategies are ba-sed on an employees current skill sets and future requirements. Companies are also using it as an employee motivation tool. For employees, this usually creates a high sense of well being. The scarcity and cost of acquiring employees with skills; need for keeping them engaged; helping them to do what they enjoy doing and hence retaining them and creating an environment of innovation by tapping on employee talent, are some of the factors driving organisations to adopt this practice. Methodologies for skills tracking Organisations have evolved different methodologies in accordance with

their specific requirements. In certain cases help from external consultants is also solicited. Skill identification and tracking can turn out to be a very exhaustive affair with the process involving competency mapping for the current role as well as the next role chosen by the employee; discussions and approval by the manager; laying out a plan for competency enhancement and tracking the action plan. It additionally involves analysis of current co-mpetencies for the organisation as a whole, detailed discussions on requirement/desired level in the future based on long-term business plans, reality check of the plan and pursuing them vigorously. Aggrawal believes that the most important pre-requisite is defining the organisations current and future skills and competency requirements, which is the baseline for tracking or tapping employee skills. The process generally starts with the interview during recruitment, the joining and any subsequent acquisition or enhancement. Interviews (with managers/ leaders, supervision and job incumbents), tests, focus groups analysis, surveys and questionnaires, performance appraisal systems, observation notes from reporting managers, client feedback and the tracking of the employees achi-evements are some of the commonly used tools for identifying existing and potential skills. The process Here is the typical workflow for the skill identification and tracking exercise: The Skill Profile Questi-onnaire is sent to all employees periodically and the updation is done if it is started afresh. (Once the skill matrix is prepared a format for updation could be sent to all periodically.) The skill matrix could also be collected from the department heads. All collection leads to analysis for consolidating the data received. The skills with respect to the particular job description are identified and attributes are set. This provides a standardised tracking system. During

the interview as well as the appraisal phase, reporting managers evaluate and identify the skills with reference to the preset attributes. Employees are also encouraged to update areas of proficiency confirming to the set criteria using assessment forms. Once an assessment has been completed, it is forwarded to a manager for review and approval. This process is generally done on a quarterly basis. The manager reviews each assessment, and makes a judgement on each level entered. Levels can be adjusted by the manager prior to approval. Once assessments have been approved, the data is available for searching and reporting. The resources allocation team then assesses the data and assigns accordingly. Being an exhaustive affair, having a fully developed online system is certainly helpful. Cadence, for instance, uses assessment tools, which are online survey-based and are followed by interaction between employees and managers. Then depending upon the job and level in the organisation, the employee undertakes the self-assessment or selfassessment with multi-rater feedback thro-ugh an online survey. The employee discusses the feedback with his manager and finalises the development plans. Organisations have also started installing skill set formats on company portal that provide scope for continuous updation. Tracking potential skills Instead of just identifying skills gap, companies are now moving towards becoming more proactive in terms of identifying potential strengths of employees as well and then leveraging them. These are generally personality traits or behavioural skills. Sunder Rajan, general managerHR and administration, Infinite Computer Solutions, points out that in addition to skill matrix forms,

potential skills are also identified as and when an exceptional performance is exhibited by an employee. It is tracked and made to percolate to other desired persons/ groups. Wadhawan agrees that the organisation must focus on critical incidents. The management can best access an employees potential skill by having regular interactions and knowing them better. One of the ways of doing this is simulating situations and seeing how the employee behaves and deliversby changing the environment and work profile to see how well the employee adapts and changes depending on the need. The employees behaviour and performance in such situations can be taken as indicators for skills he/she could potentially demonstrate. Key challenges Skills being abstract in nature and rapidly changing lead to a few inherent challenges related to their identification and tracking. Kumar explains that the real difficulty arises on account of inappropriate and unclear definition of skill vis-a-vis the actual expertise level and perception of employees. They may see this exercise as a prelude to career advancement and are not very open to accept the actual level of expertise in a particular skill. The difficulty lies in measuring the depth and validating it. To explain, there could be a five-point rating scale where the person does a self-rating of each skill. Candidates are likely to always rate themselves at a higher level, explains Rajan. Problems also arise when there is a difference of rating standards between managers. Furthermore, personality traits (like leadership skills, etc) do not change that frequently, but can be developed with proper training. As a result, keeping the skill inventory up-to-date with accurate information is a challenge, states Nirupama. Sometimes getting a true picture of skill sets and levels across teams also becomes a challenge. These issues do put a reasonable question mark on the feasibility and

accuracy of skills tracking programmes. However, experts argue that this exercise may not be a perfect system to begin with but based on experience can be gradually improved and perfected. Wadhawan believes that it is important to relate to the context in which the person operates and also that the feedback should be validated to avoid any major pitfalls. The need for involving multi-raters should be there to see a pattern of skill sets an employee is exhibiting, for an accurate and complete assessment. The programmes can also be made effective if the framework is standardised and communicated effectively to users, asserts Nirupama. Conclusion The identification of existing and potential skills can be one of the most challenging and sensitive areas as one cannot expect immediate miracles. Filling skill and competency gaps takes time, effort, and cultural adjustments. Devising systems alone cannot be enough. While using set tools and methodologies helps in creating a degree of standardisation within the exercise, one cannot be dependant only on formal and scientific means of identifying people skills considering its human nature one is dealing with. The art of skills tracking may well be the origin of science. What is essential for its success is the right blend of the two. While science can be used to gather the basic ground level information, the touch of sensitivity and personalisation is necessary to give this a final shape. It is up to HR to not only design the system but also educate employees about the benefits of using them for selfappraisal, career development, and other processes. Factors necessary for successful skills tracking An environment which sees such an exercise necessary for development Where employee development is encouraged Adequate resource support is provided for implementing development plans

Proper training for managing the programmes Frequency of updationthe exercise needs to be conducted on a regular basis to incorporate any changes for accuracy Integrating skills and competency inventories with other HR systems, including recruiting, training and succession planning

Key drivers and advantages Aligning skills with organisational needs more effectively Getting the right talent at the right time Improving employee productivity Engaging employees appropriately Identifying potential skills, which might otherwise go unnoticed Identifying skill gaps and any shortfalls in talent in a particular area Continuous skill upgradation Knowing employees better Employees understand their own skills better, increase in motivation Employee retentionto get a holistic view of the employee and use this information to leverage, recognise and retain the talent pool

Attribution: http://www.citehr.com/2838 3-tracking-employee-skills-businessadvantage.html#ixzz1zjsjRLacG

Skills and Competency Assessment

Jan 30 2011 Working with our clients across many industries, one of their most common perceptions is that the source of their challenges lies in an under skilled workforce. We hear comments like, we dont have the skills in the team right now, or we have one or two top performers that carry the team. More striking than our clients perceptions that their workforce is under skilled is their own difficulties in initiating a fast moving, practical training plan. While Trindent does not claim to be an HR consultancy or have core competencies in skill development, we have developed a method to help our clients more clearly identify their skill gaps and begin closing those gaps fast. Before outlining the steps we work through with our clients to kick-start a training program, we should also note that the most common barrier our clients face is the idea that the skills gaps are insurmountable, or will require years of effort and a revolutionized hiring process to overcome. In short, not only do we disagree, but we think you can start closing the gaps today. First Create a Skills Matrix The first step is to stop thinking of skills and begin thinking about what your business needs people to complete activities effectively. Skills are the underlying ability, but if you think about the activities that need to be performed, it is easier to identify weaknesses that can be addressed. For example, the general customer service skills does not lend to specific activities required by the business, but explain product features to customers over the phone pinpoints a specific piece of customer service skills. Once you have created a list of activities for a team, match them in a matrix layout with all of the employees who are on the team. Then quickly evaluate each employee and their capability in completing each activity. Best practices use the following scale: 3 = expert, 2 = capable, 1 = incapable, and [blank] = Not Applicable. Many managers get stuck here, unwilling or hesitant to evaluate employees without an objective measure. At this stage it is important to remember that this tool can remain confidential and is going to be used to create a training plan, not assess compensation or other sensitive topics. A manager should be able to fill out the matrix by their own subjective measure very quickly. Here is an example illustrating a filled out Skills Matrix for a Customer Service department:

Second Identify Gaps Focusing on activities rather than nebulous skills, and using this simple ranking scale gives you an easy way to identify specific activity gaps. In the simplest approach, take a quick look at the averages to identify the weakest employee breadth averages or the weakest activity depth averages. Often though, our clients quickly recognize that not all activities are equally important. Going back to the example, perhaps failures in entering customer information into Order System has led to a rash of recent complaints and is more critical than upsell customer on Widget Warranty. Or looking at it on the employee side, Paul was hired to quickly become a CS Supervisor and may be more critical of a training need than the lower average scored Steve. In any situation, once the skills matrix is filled out, the manager should create a training priority list, clearly identifying specific employees will be trained on specific activities. Third Identify Gap Experts Another common barrier that our clients often face is the idea that training must be performed in a structured class-room setting or via corporate human resources training materials. While there are obvious benefits to the focus and clarity available in these methods, we assert that there are faster more flexible ways too. For example, after identifying training priorities, identify experts at the activities near the top of the priority list. Keep in mind that the business is all one team, and resources from outside the

immediate department may be the best experts (as can be seen in the example provided where the engineer and sales manager are included in the skills matrix despite not being explicitly in the Customer Service team). Usually though, when keeping an activity based perspective, Managers and Supervisors have the capabilities for most weaknesses. Fourth Commit to Simple Training Here is the breakthrough step for most businesses. Once employees and activities have been quickly assessed and gaps and experts identified, make a practical plan to have the experts work with to close the gaps every single day. Rather than trying to arrange for an outside expert to come in and provide the whole team with a 2 day training seminar at the corporate training facility, have the manager train one employee tomorrow for 15 minutes. Once you break the mold of training being a team-wide event planned weeks in advance, many formats will begin to come forward. Here are a few examples we have implemented recently with our clients:

Theme days where the Manager trains the whole team for 10 minutes each day first thing in the morning. Each Monday is Activity 1, Tuesday is Activity 2, etc. Manager daily plan where the Manager takes sets aside 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon and checks off the top two training priorities each day. Activity just-in-time where specific employee(s) are asked to come to the manager (expert) any time they encounter a need to perform a specific activity and they work through it together.

The principle at work here is that skill weaknesses follow an 80/20 rule. That is, 80% of problems due to skill weaknesses are created by 20% or activities or 20% of employees. By addressing those 20% on a very regular basis, the problems will go down quickly. Finally Follow Up / Re-Plan The final step is entirely for the purpose of continuing the effectiveness of the simple training method. After an initial evaluation of activities and capabilities and practical pairings of experts and gaps, the gaps will shift to new activities and employees. Therefore, best practices include scheduling a regular reversion back to step one where activities and employees are revised and reevaluated (theoretically, the training priorities have moved from 1s and 2s to 3s).

Often in this step, our clients realize the value in sharing the skills matrix openly with their employees. This tactic when implemented properly can motivate employees to self-improve by alerting them that the business values the performance of certain activities. Further it can motivate employees to actively seek out training or development opportunities. Summary Employee skills are commonly a perceived weakness in businesses, and training programs even in world class businesses can be slow and impractical. However managers of teams or organizations of any size can create their own practical training plans quickly by considering specific activities, prioritizing gaps, pairing gaps to experts, and breaking the mold of typical business training in favor of small progress every day