Competencies have been used as a performance management tool to achieve competitive advantage in a number of industries, and can be defined as the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that differentiate superior performance. To develop a competency model for medical writers, you need to define the key roles for your organization (eg, coordinating author, project manager) and assign the appropriate competencies to them. This is commonly achieved using a card-sort exercise. Competencies can be considered behavioral (eg, communication) and technical (eg, knowledge of the International Conference on Harmonization guideline) and it is usually a combination that defines superior performance. For training and developing a medical writer, you need to look at the competencies associated with each roles) carried out by the individual, and identify the most critical development areas, taking into account any performance feedback. Appropriate training can then be arranged such as ‘on-the-job’ training, coaching and mentoring, attendance at courses, and self-study.

HE USE OF COMPETENCIES as a performance management tool is not a new concept, and it has been applied to achieve competitive advantage in a number of industries.

WHAT ARE COMPETENCIES?

Though the precise definition may vary from company to company, competencies can be defined as the knowledge (what we know), skills (our application of the knowledge), and behaviors (what characterizes our approach) that differentiate superior performance. It is important to distinguish these from competence, which is the minimum qualification to do the job.

The purpose of using competencies to manage people, or competency-based management, is to try and raise the performance level. To carry out a job, an individual needs minimum or basic skills (eg, these days most jobs require the ability to use a computer). Focusing on these alone will not give performance enhancement as it will not separate out individuals who are superior performers. The challenge is defining the competencies required for particular roles and thereby recruiting and training people appropriately.

HOW ARE COMPETENCIES USED?

Competencies provide a consistent platform and common language for managing people across the business and provide clarity for both the manager and the individual being managed. They should fit in with any people management systems you already have in place. Competencies can potentially be applied in selection, individual development and training, performance management, compensation, succession planning, and promotion. You need to decide what competencies will be used for and to whom they will be applied.

Thus, we can use competency-based management to respond to the following questions:

What type of people should I recruit?

What should be the focus of my employees’ training and development efforts? and

What should I consider for performance planning, performance review pay, promotion, and succession planning decisions?

WHEN IS COMPETENCY-BASED MANAGEMENT A POTENTIAL SOLUTION?

It may be that the performance management systems already in place in your company are sufficient and that competency-based management would not add anything significant. Therefore, a business case should be made before embarking on the development of competency models. One example of a situation where competency-based management is a potential solution is when the competencies that your organization needs change, for example, your organization is redesigned and given new objectives and/or your client requires changes in how you deliver your product (new technologies, new approaches and behaviors). Another example may be that competitive advantage is achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining top talent, and your current approach to selection is not achieving this and/ or your people management processes are not effectively developing or reinforcing the correct competencies.

In the medical writing world the environment changes on an ongoing basis, for example, new regulatory requirements emerge such as the need to provide electronic submissions and the introduction of the International Conference on Harmonization Common Technical Document. Medical writers need to adapt to these changes.

HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A COMPETENCY MODEL?

In order to develop a competency model you need to define the key roles for your department/division/organization and assign the appropriate competencies to them (Figure 1). It is important to involve appropriate levels of management and individuals to whom these roles apply in order to ensure that you build understanding, commitment, and quality models.

Role Discovery and Definition

You first need to define the key roles required to achieve the organization’s business strategy. For a medical writing department, examples of key roles may be a coordinating author and a project manager. You then need to define the accountabilities and responsibilities associated with these roles. In order to do this you can use a number of tools, including review and analysis of job descriptions you already have, interviews with relevant staff, and client interviews. In developing role descriptions you need to take into account environmental factors such as the competition, regulatory requirements, and customer demands. To illustrate the definition of a key role, we can use the example of a coordinating author. The purpose of the role is defined below with examples of an accountability and a responsibility: