USING COMPETENCIES
Competencies have been around for more than 30 years and are well-established as a cornerstone of many organisations' HR practice. We surveyed 168 employers and found that two-thirds use competencies, most commonly in areas such as performance management, recruitment and training.

However, the second part of our competency research reveals that more than half of the employers we surveyed believe that line managers lack the competence and confidence to use competencies in their day-to-day role.

One in five believe line managers find competencies difficult to use. And more than one-third of our respondents believe that all employees generally find competencies fairly or very difficult to use.

Despite this, less than half of our respondents have provided training or guidance to help users understand competencies. This gap in training and support could lead to users not using or applying competencies accurately, and as such, lessen their impact. Employers are regularly reviewing and updating their competency frameworks, but perhaps more attention should be given to promoting the understanding of competencies among all staff.

We also include our European round-up in this issue, which provides a comprehensive report on latest developments in the European industrial relations landscape.

Noelle Murphy
Employment relations editor,
XpertHR