The question is — Do the twain ever meet?
It’s a good question, because there is often rampant confusion about just what we mean by the terms “competence” and “competencies”. Understanding the difference is critical for anyone wanting to make sense of individual performance and potential.
Let’s start with “competence”.
In the sense that it’s usually used within HR and organizational psychology, competence refers to performance — to the skills and knowledge that a person brings to their role, and to the resulting success (or lack of it) that they achieve. A “competent” person is one who is able to do their job, who has the skills and knowledge necessary and who applies these to good effect. Competence is, in effect, a performance judgment, and reference to it will often be made in performance reviews. “Incompetence”, of course, is the opposite.
“Competencies” are something quite different, even though the words are practically the same.
In organizational psychology and in human resource management, competencies are understood to be the underlying traits, characteristics or abilities of a person that predict the degree to which he or she is likely to perform effectively in the context of specific tasks or roles. They are also sometimes characterized as clusters of behaviors that underlie successful performance, and are referred to as behavioral competencies. They are all about potential.
There is no conflict between these ways of thinking about competencies. For a trait or ability to be relevant to performance, it needs to be expressed behaviorally — in what a person actually does. Competency frameworks are therefore descriptions of the kinds of behavior that are known to flow from particular patterns of traits and abilities. It’s possible to predict the likelihood that an individual will demonstrate competency-related behavior using a variety of methods, and to use that information to support both individual development and HR decision-making.
There is an obvious link between “competence” and “competencies”. The behavioral competencies available to individuals predict the extent to which they will acquire and use the skills and knowledge appropriate to a particular job. But not all competency potential gets realized – competencies predict likely competence, but do not guarantee it. They need to be developed, and both organizations and individuals have a role to play in that development.