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Competencies in Action: A Tale of Two Doctors

From reading More About Competencies you now have a better understanding of what competencies are about. The following example illustrates how competencies can be put to work in hiring decisions.

Doctor A and Doctor B

Let’s suppose you are director of a large hospital. You have two positions to fill, one for a pediatrician and the other for the head of a pediatric research center. You have received the resumes of Dr. A and Dr. B. You observe that these two candidates look similar: each has 20 years experience in pediatrics and is Board Certified.

 

What the Resumes Tell You

Dr. A:

20 years pediatrics experience

Board certified

Dr. B:

20 years pediatrics experience

Board certified

 

What else would you like to know in order to determine which of these candidates is best for the research center and which one is best for the pediatrician position? What additional qualities would an outstanding pediatrician have? What would be important qualities for the head of a pediatric research center?

We have used this exercise many times in training sessions. Participants in typically describe the ideal qualities for a pediatrician as something like these:

  • bedside manner with patient
  • bedside manner with parents
  • kindness
  • understanding of children
  • willingness to refer child to specialist
  • availability
  • listening ability
  • sensitivity

And for the pediatric research center head these qualities are most often championed:

  • management ability — ability to lead, to delegate, to see the whole picture — science, people, money
  • deep understanding of research
  • cares about quality of organization’s systems and procedures
  • ability to work with people
  • ability to raise money

No doubt you could add to these lists.

Once you know what is required for excellence in each of these positions, how can you ascertain whether Dr. A or Dr. B meet the requirements for either of your openings?

Let’s suppose that you interview both candidates. By asking questions about past work-related situations, you are able to discern that the doctors demonstrated the following competencies*:

Dr. A:

Collaborating with Others
Concern for Order and Quality
Achievement Orientation
Strategic Orientation
Holding People Accountable
Conceptual Thinking

Dr. B:

Collaborating with Others
Interpersonal Understanding
Active Listening
Commitment to Service
Analytical Thinking

Given this additional information, which of these doctors would you choose for the pediatrician role and which for the head of the pediatric research center?

Our groups easily and consistently chose Dr. A for the research center leadership role and Dr. B for the pediatrician role. In this case, competency-based interviewing gave the interviewer the additional information about characteristics vital to success in the specific job. The process provided a method of choosing among candidates whose resumes might otherwise appear similar.

In this way competency-based practices provide a power and precision to support success for people and their organization.

 

After Competency Interviews

Dr. A resume tells you:

20 years pediatrics  experience

Board certified

 

Competencies:

Collaborating with Others

Concern for Order and Quality

Achievement Orientation

Strategic Orientation

Holding People Accountable

Conceptual Thinking

Dr. B resume tells you:

20 years pediatrics   experience

Board certified

 

Competencies:

Collaborating with Others

Interpersonal Understanding

Active Listening

Commitment to Service

Analytical Thinking

Note that the competencies listed above cover most–but not all–of the qualities listed above. "Ability to raise money" and "availability," for example, don't directly translate into behavioral competencies, but could be assessed by asking other relevant questions.

 

*The competencies listed here come from the MIT Competency Reference Guide, which is a "menu" of competencies that has been developed and refined through competency work and research at MIT. (This guide, of course, would not be used to hire doctors at a hospital outside MIT.) Different organizations that implement competencies develop their own menus of competencies to choose from.

 
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Last updated January 2000


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