27. Competence: concept and structure
MAIN SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO THE DETERMINATION OF THE CONCEPT OF COMPETENCE

S.N. Dobrosmyslov

Tver State University

Scientific approaches to the concept of "competence" are considered, the essence and structure of competence are characterized; the ratio of the concepts of "competence" and "competence" in the psychological and pedagogical literature is shown.

Key words: competence, competence, competent; competence-based approach in education, components of competence; professional, personal and communicative competence; readiness of the individual for activity.

Improving the quality of education is one of the urgent problems not only for Russia, but for the entire world community. The solution to this problem is connected with the modernization of the content of education, optimization of methods and technologies for organizing the educational process and, of course, rethinking the purpose and result of education.

In the last decade, especially after the publication of the text “Strategies for the Modernization of the Content of General Education” and “The Concept for the Modernization of Russian Education for the Period up to 2010”, there has been a sharp reorientation of the assessment of the result of education from the concepts of “preparedness”, “education”, “general culture”, “ upbringing” on the concepts of “competence”, “competence” of students. Accordingly, the competence approach in education is fixed.

The terms "competence" and "competence" have been widely used in recent years in research on education and training in higher education. At the same time, the analysis of psychological, pedagogical and educational literature on this issue shows the complexity, multidimensionality and ambiguity of the interpretation of the very concepts of "competence" and "competence".

First of all, we note that there are two options for interpreting the relationship of these concepts: they are either identified or differentiated. According to the first option, most explicitly presented in the ETF Glossary of Terms (1997), competence is defined as:

The ability to do something well or efficiently.

Compliance with the requirements for applying for a job.

Ability to perform specific job functions.

It also notes that “... the term “competence” is used in the same meanings. Competence is usually used in a descriptive way.

Within the framework of such an identification of these concepts (L.N. Bolotov, V.S. Lednev, N.D. Nikandrov, M.V. Ryzhakov), the authors emphasize the practical orientation of competencies: “Competence is, therefore, the sphere of relations existing between knowledge and action in human practice". The same position of not distinguishing between the concepts of "competence" and "competence" is also characteristic of most foreign researchers of this problem.

The second version of considering the relationship between the concepts of "competence" and "competence" was formed in the 70s. in the USA in the general context of the concept of "competence" proposed by N. Chomsky in 1965 (University of Massachusetts) in relation to the theory of language, transformational grammar.

N. Chomsky noted: "... we make a fundamental difference between competence (knowledge of one's language by the speaker - listener) and use (the actual use of the language in specific situations)". Let us pay attention here to the fact that it is “use” that is the actual manifestation of competence as “hidden”, “potential”. The use, according to N. Chomsky, “in reality”, in reality, is connected with thinking, reaction to the use of language, with skills, etc., i.e. connected with the speaker himself, with the experience of the person himself.

Thus, in the 60s. of the last century, the understanding of the differences under consideration between the concepts of “competence” and “competence” was already laid down, where the latter is interpreted as knowledge-based, intellectually and personally conditioned social and professional human activity. At the same time, we note that the very concepts of “competence”, “competence” and the derivative “competent” were widely used earlier - in everyday life, literature; their interpretation was given in dictionaries.

So, for example, in the "Concise Dictionary of Foreign Words" (M., 1952) the following definition is given:

Competence (from the Latin competentia - belonging by right):

Terms of reference of any body or official;

The range of issues in which this person has authority, experience;

Competence:

Possession of competence;

Possession of knowledge to judge something.

The word "competence" literally means the coherence of parts, proportionality, symmetry. According to etymology, the main formative features of competence are correspondence, coincidence.

The term "competence" is derived from the word "competent". Dictionary of the Russian language S.I. Ozhegova defines the concept of "competent" as "1) knowledgeable, knowledgeable, authoritative in some area; 2) possessing competence”.

The term "competence" came to pedagogy from the world of work and enterprises. As S.E. Shishov and V.A. Kalney, “over the past decades, this world has significantly refined, formalized its concepts and its technique for assessing and managing human resources. Faced with intense competition and rapidly changing knowledge and technology, the enterprise world has directed increasing investment in the development of what is often referred to as “human capital.”

In the production sector, a significant part of professions and positions is characterized by a more or less detailed list (set) of competencies that are used when hiring, improving the skills of employees.

Based on the approach adopted in the manufacturing sector, S.V. Shekshnia defines competence as a person's personal characteristics, his ability to perform certain functions, master types of behavior and social roles, such as focusing on the interests of the client, the ability to work in a group, assertiveness, originality of thinking.

In the logic of this approach, competence is considered as an integral part of competence, understood as an integrative quality of a professional’s personality, which includes not only the idea of ​​qualification, but also “mastered social, communicative and individual abilities that ensure the independence of professional activity” .

It should be noted that in the pedagogical literature the term "competence" is found in the context of studies of professional competence in the field of pedagogical activity (T.G. Brazhe, S.G. Vershlovskiy, N.P. Grishina, N.V. Karnaukh, M.V. Krupin, V.Yu. Krichevsky, L.M. Mitina, N.P. Popova, etc.).

V.A. Slastenin distinguishes personal and professional competence. Under professional competence, the author understands the unity of his theoretical and practical readiness for the implementation of pedagogical activity and characterizes it as professionalism, and personal competence predetermines the possibility of realizing a person’s professional readiness in his social actions, showing the presence or absence of the success of a person’s actions, it allows you to correlate the social standard, socially - group traditions and personal attitudes with the level of his claims.

Thus, in relation to the professional activity of a teacher, the terms competence and competence are considered not as a part and a whole, but mainly as identical and synonymous categories, moreover, the term competence is the most established, more common.

S.E. Shishov defines "competence" as a general ability based on knowledge, experience, values, inclinations that are acquired through training. In his opinion, competence is not limited to knowledge, skills, or abilities, it is seen as the ability to establish links between knowledge and the situation.

Another, narrower, approach is related to the "applied" understanding of competence. Here, competence is considered as the possession of methods of influencing the environment, as a set of knowledge, skills and abilities that make it possible to successfully complete a task. A number of scientists understand competence as a characteristic of the ultimate goal of learning, integral education in the structure of a specialist model.

In psychology, the first attempts to scientifically define the concept of "competence" were made in connection with the development of management science and research on subjective factors of management.

In particular, A.G. Nikiforov in his works considers competence in the broad and narrow sense of the word. This broad interpretation has three aspects:

as a methodological principle of leadership and management;

as a form of manifestation of conscious social activity;

as an element of the social role of leadership.

In the narrow sense of the word, competence is associated with the industry specifics of managerial activity.

Yu.F. Maisuradze carried out an analysis of various approaches to the definition of competence and, as a result, divided them into three main groups:

1) definition of competence as knowledge of the matter, management science;

2) inclusion in the content of competence of the level of education, work experience in the specialty, work experience in the position;

3) consideration of competence in the relationship of knowledge and ways to implement them in practice.

The author's own reflections on the definition of the concept of "competence" lead the author to the need to separate the concepts of "competence" and "competence". He defines competence as powers, and competence as a characteristic of the bearer of these powers. And he comes to the conclusion that people can be endowed with competence, but at the same time not have competence. Then the task of optimizing management, according to the author, is to "bring actual and official competence into line".

M. Kyaerst also made an attempt to consider competence in the psychological concept of management improvement. He proposed to consider this concept as consisting of the following components:

1. Prerequisites for competence (ability, talent, knowledge, experience, skill, education, qualifications, etc.).

2. Human activity (mainly work) as a process (its description, structure, characteristics, features).

3. Results of activity (fruits of labor, changes in the objects of activity, quantitative and qualitative parameters of the results, as well as shifts occurring in them).

“Definition 1: Competence expresses the intellectual correspondence of a person to those tasks, the solution of which is mandatory for a person working in this position.

Definition 2: Competence is expressed in the quantity and quality of tasks formulated and solved by a person in his main work (on the main segment of labor or in the area of ​​his main functions).

Definition 3: Competence is one of the main components of personality or a set of known personality traits that determine success in solving basic tasks.

Definition 4: Competence is a system of known personality traits, expressed in the effectiveness of solved problematic tasks.

Definition 5: Competence is one of the properties of personality manifestation and lies in the effectiveness of solving problems encountered in the field of human activity and carried out in the interests of this organization.

It should be noted that M. Kyaerst insisted that competence does not exist at all. It exists only in the field of specific problems, in certain activities, in a certain area of ​​competence.

Under the "competence" of the trainees, S.E. Shishov and I.G. Agapov understand "the general ability and readiness of the individual for activity, based on the knowledge and experience acquired through training, focused on the independent participation of the individual in the educational and cognitive process, and also aimed at its successful inclusion in labor activity" . M.A. Choshanov mainly points to the content component of competence (knowledge) and the procedural component (skills). V.S. Bezrukova understands competence as “mastery of knowledge and skills that allow expressing professionally competent judgments, assessments, opinions”. As part of the educational process, V.V. Kraevsky and A.V. Khutorskaya understands knowledge, skills and methods of action as educational competencies.

The approach to the consideration of competence in connection with the ability to solve problem situations takes place in N.V. Yakovleva. She, in her dissertation research on the issues of psychological competence and the ways of its formation at a university, points out the irreducibility of competence to concepts:

· culture of a specialist (V.M. Alakhverdov, N.V. Belyak.);

professional skills (N.K. Baklanova.);

readiness for activity (V.S. Merlin, E.A. Klimov.);

information basis of activity (D.A. Oshanin, V.D. Shadrikov.), etc.

In works on social psychology, "competence" is interpreted as a thorough knowledge of one's business, the essence of the work performed, the complex connections of phenomena and processes, possible ways and means to achieve the intended paths. Social psychologists, in particular D. Bruner, consider competence as a set of qualities inherent in the most competent specialist, those qualities that every individual who masters the profession must achieve.

In the studies of social psychology 80-90 years. competence includes, in addition to the general body of knowledge, also knowledge of the possible consequences of a particular method of influence, i.e. refers to communication skills, sociability, communicative competence.

In the 90s. the term "competence" in research, in addition to the totality of knowledge, reflects the knowledge of the possible consequences of a particular method of exposure. Competence is considered as one of the main components of the personality and a set of known personality traits that determine success in solving the main tasks encountered in the field of human activity and carried out in the interests of this organization. S.G. Molchanov formulates the concept of professional competence as a circle of authority in the field of professional activity. In a narrower sense, professional competence is interpreted by him as a range of issues in which the subject has knowledge, experience, the totality of which reflects the socio-professional status and professional qualifications, as well as some personal, individual characteristics that make it possible to implement certain professional activities. Thus, the author considers competence as a systemic concept, and competence as its component.

V.A. Kalney considers competence as the ability to mobilize acquired knowledge and experience in a particular situation. She believes that it makes sense to talk about competencies only when they appear in some situation. The researcher believes that the unmanifested competence, which remains in a series of potentialities, is not a competence, but at most a hidden possibility.

V.V. Nesterov and A.S. Belkin in social terms, competence means a set of, first of all, “knowledge components in the structure of human consciousness, i.e., a system of information about the most essential aspects of a person’s life and activities that ensure his full-fledged social existence.”

Thus, the analysis of works on the problems of competence made it possible to conditionally distinguish three stages of their formation in education:

The first stage - 1960-1970s. - characterized by the introduction of the category "competence" into the scientific apparatus, the creation of prerequisites for distinguishing between the concepts of "competence" and "competence".

The second stage - 1970-1990s. - is characterized by the use of the categories "competence" and "competence" in the theory and practice of teaching a language (especially a non-native language), professionalism in management, leadership, management, in teaching communication.

It is important to note that researchers both in the world and in Russia are beginning not only to explore competencies, highlighting from 3 to 37 types, but also to build training, bearing in mind its formation as the final result of this process (N.V. Kuzmina, A.K. Markova, L.A. Petrovskaya). At the same time, researchers distinguish different types of competence for different activities.

The third stage of the study of competence as a scientific category in Russia in relation to education, starting from 1990, is characterized by the appearance of works by A.K. Markova (1993, 1996), where in the general context, competence becomes the subject of a special comprehensive consideration.

Thus, in the scientific literature there is an understanding of competence as "in-depth knowledge", "a state of adequate task performance", "ability to actual performance of activities", "action efficiency". A significant part of researchers associates the concept of "competence" primarily with the ability, the potential ability to perform a certain activity.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that the concept of "competence" can be used at various levels and, depending on this, be filled with different content. Competence has certain prerequisites, provides human activity and affects the results of this activity. It is very diverse and can be considered using various approaches.

The main disagreements of scientists lie in different approaches to the definition of the integrating component of the content of the concept of "competence". Some consider knowledge, skills, abilities to be such a component, others - “the ability and readiness of the individual for activity”, others share the content and procedural components of competence.

Based on the analysis of psychological, pedagogical and sociological literature, we can give the following definition of the concept of "competence": a personal characteristic of an individual, reflecting his ability to use universal methods of activity, based on the totality of scientific knowledge in specific life situations.

At the same time, it is necessary to note the great contribution to the development of competence problems in general, namely, domestic researchers - L.P. Alekseeva, N.V. Kuzmina, A.K. Markova, L.M. Mitina, L.A. Petrovskaya, G.I. Sivkova, N.S. Shablygina and others.

Bibliography

1. Bezrukova V.S. Pedagogy. Yekaterinburg, 1993.

2. Zimnyaya I.A. Key competencies - a new paradigm of the result of education // Higher education today. 2003. No. 5. P.35-41.

3. Kostenko N.V., Ossovsky V.L. Values ​​of professional activity. Kyiv, 1986.

4. Lednev V.S., Nikandrov N.D., Ryzhakov M.V. State educational standards in the system of general education: theory and practice. M., 2002.

5. Simen-Severskaya O.V. Formation of pedagogical competence of a social work specialist in the process of vocational training at a university: thesis ... cand. ped. Sciences. Stavropol, 2002.

6. Shekshnya S.V. Personnel management of a modern organization: studies.-pract. allowance. 3rd ed., revised. and additional M., 1998.

7. Shishov S.E., Agapov I.G. Competence-based approach to education: whim or necessity? // Standards and monitoring in education. 2002, March-April. pp.58-62.

8. Shishov S.E., Kalney V.A. Monitoring the quality of education at school. M., 1999.

9. Yakovleva N.V. Psychological competence and its formation in the process of studying at the university (on the material of the doctor's activity): thesis ... cand. psychol. Sciences. Yaroslavl, 1994.

Competence, competence, qualification
Fri, 05/27/2011 - 02:31 am
Competence, competence, qualifications are the main directions of modern research. The modern labor market makes demands not on specific knowledge, but on the competencies of employees, demands their personal qualities. Russia's accession to the Bologna process also determines the need for a transition to a common language, terminology, with which one could describe the educational process, in particular, its goals and results. The standards of professional education of the new generation are already being formulated in the language of competencies, but the introduction of a competency-based approach into the educational process requires the solution of many research problems.

Among such tasks, the problem of determining the nature, essence of the competence of a specialist, its generic and specific structure, the content and relationship of the categories "competence" and "competence" is of vector importance. It is no secret that today there is no single generally accepted opinion in this regard. We consider another important task of implementing the competence-based approach to determine the place of these concepts in the general system of pedagogical goal-setting. The fact is that in pedagogy and psychology of higher education, along with the concept of "competence" and "competence", such concepts as "key competencies", "qualifications", "professional competence", "key qualifications", "professionally important personal qualities" are used. ". There are also different approaches to classification, which complicates the use of these concepts.

As part of the study, we analyzed the directions presented in the scientific literature in the study of the structure, content and hierarchy of concepts that exist in this problem field.

An analysis of the scientific pedagogical and psychological literature has shown that this is a complex, multicomponent, interdisciplinary concept, defined using many different definitions. Descriptions of the content of this concept are not strict and differ in volume, composition, semantic and logical structure. The signs of the manifestation of competence are most often described using the words "efficiency", "adaptability", "achievement", "success", "understanding", "effectiveness", "possession", "quality" and "quantity". The concepts of "competence", "competence" can be interpreted as:

The totality (system) of knowledge in action;
personality trait, properties and qualities of a person;
as a criterion for the manifestation of readiness for activity;
the ability necessary to solve problems and to obtain the necessary results of work;
integrated integrity of knowledge, skills and abilities that ensure professional activity, the ability of a person to put into practice his competence, motivated ability;
activity knowledge, teachings, skills, experience (integration into a single whole of individual actions learned by a person, methods and techniques for solving problems), as well as the motivational and emotional-volitional sphere of the personality;
the desire and ability (readiness) shown by him in practice to realize his potential (knowledge, skills, experience, personal qualities, etc.) for successful creative (productive) activity in the professional and social sphere, realizing its social significance and personal responsibility for the results of this activity , the need for its continuous improvement” and much more.
In the scientific literature on this issue, the question of the relationship between the concepts of "competence" and "competence" remains relevant. Some authors use them as words - synonyms denoting the effectiveness of the knowledge system. Other authors separate these concepts for various reasons. So, Zeer E.F. and E. Symanyuk, designate the term "competencies" - the integrative integrity and effectiveness of knowledge, skills, skills in general, and the term "competencies" - the integrative integrity, the effectiveness of knowledge, experience in professional activities. If we analyze the examples of key competencies and key competencies given by the authors, then it is difficult to notice visible fundamental differences. So, "information and communication competencies" are very close in meaning to the so-called "communicative competence".

A number of authors consider competencies (competencies) as components of the general competence of a person (specialist). So, for example, S.Sh. Chernova in defining the relationship between the concepts of "competence" and "competence" takes a position according to which "competence is understood as a characteristic of a person, meaning the possession of a set of certain competencies. Competence is the unity of knowledge, experience, ability to act and behavioral skills of an individual, determined by the given situation. With this interpretation, competence includes various kinds of competencies and (or) competencies.

In his research, I.L. Zimnyaya fundamentally separates these concepts, substantiates and defends her point of view on their relationship. The concept of “competence in comparison with competence is much broader,” writes I.Ya. Winter. “It includes, along with cognitive-knowledge, motivational, relational, and regulatory components.” Competence, according to the author, is a “program” on the basis of which competence develops.

In a theoretical analysis of the definitions presented in the literature, one cannot but pay attention to the fact that, despite such a variety, one of the most important characteristics of the elements of competence and competencies, it is precisely the activity, the effectiveness of existing knowledge and experience, the presence of potential (need, motive, goal, instrumental) that is emphasized. basis) and implemented structure (internal and external activities) in competence.

Therefore, defining our position, we, following I.Ya. Zimnyaya, we consider competence and competencies as mutually subordinate components of the subject's activity. We believe that competence is considered as potential activity, readiness and desire for a certain type of activity. Competence - an integral quality of a person - is a competence successfully implemented in activity. The components of competence/competence in any area of ​​life, in our opinion, can be represented as follows:

Cognitive component (knowledge);
motivational component;
axiological component (orientation, value relations of the individual); practical component (skills, skills, experience); capabilities;
emotional-volitional component (self-regulation). In this case, competence acts as the potential of competence, which can be realized in a certain field of activity, should become effective with the help of mechanisms of self-organization, self-regulation.
In our opinion, the specific structure of the competence of a specialist with higher education includes professional competence (willingness, desire to work in a certain professional field of activity) and socio-psychological competence (desire and readiness to live in harmony with oneself and others, harmony of self and society).

In turn, each of these competencies, in our opinion, can be divided into general (basic, key) competencies common to all graduates of all universities and special, important for a given specialty. Thus, in the structure of the competence of a university graduate, four blocks of competencies/competences are clearly distinguished: general professional competence, special professional competence, general socio-psychological competence, special socio-psychological competence.

General professional competence is defined as general professional knowledge, skills, abilities, as well as the willingness to update them in the field of a certain group of professions. We believe that this cluster includes the competence of a graduate in the field of research, design, construction, administrative, management, production, and teaching activities.

Special professional competence - the degree and type of professional training of a graduate, the presence of professional competencies (i.e., readiness and aspiration) necessary for the performance of a certain professional activity. Their content (the content of their instrumental basis) is determined by the state qualification characteristics.

General socio-psychological competence is the willingness and desire to effectively interact with others, to understand oneself and others with a constant modification of mental states, interpersonal relationships and conditions of the social environment. As part of the socio-psychological block, social competencies (tolerance, responsibility, ability to work in a team, etc.), personal (readiness and desire for self-development, self-improvement, self-education, reflection, creativity, etc.), information (ownership of new technologies, their critical use, knowledge of foreign languages, etc.), environmental (environmental responsibility based on knowledge of the general laws of the development of society and nature), valeological (willingness and desire to lead a healthy lifestyle), etc.

Special socio-psychological competence is the readiness and ability to mobilize professionally important qualities that ensure the productivity of a specialist’s direct labor activity. We believe that the classification of professions can be used to describe the socio-psychological competence of a graduate of a particular specialty.

E.A. Klimov, who divides professions into groups depending on the object of labor (man - man, man - sign system, man - artistic image, man - technology, man - nature). Work on the content of competency clusters is the process of building a graduate competency model.

In the countries of the European Union, a special place is given to the concepts of "key competencies" and "key qualifications". They represent the main educational constructs, the main criteria for the quality of education in countries. Based on the analysis of the literature, we came to the conclusion that in foreign studies these categories are often synonymized, used as a row together with the concepts of "basic skills", "transferable skills" or "key skills" (England) and are defined as "personal and interpersonal qualities, abilities, skills and knowledge that are expressed in various forms in diverse situations of work and social life. These key qualifications (basic skills) include:

Psychomotor skills, general labor qualities, cognitive abilities, individually oriented abilities, social abilities;
basic skills (literacy, numeracy), life skills (management skills, professional and social development), key skills (communications), social and civic skills, entrepreneurial skills, managerial skills, ability to analyze and plan;
socio-professional, sensorimotor and personal qualifications, polyvalent professional competence, professional cognitive abilities, etc.
Their content differs little from the content of the "key competencies", which are given special importance in the vocational education of the European Community, are:

Social competence (the ability to take responsibility, jointly develop a solution and participate in its implementation, tolerance for different ethnic cultures and religions, manifestation of conjugation of personal interests with the needs of the enterprise and society);
communicative competence (proficiency in oral and written communication technologies in different languages, including computer programming);
socio-informational competence (knowledge of information technologies and a critical attitude to social information disseminated by the media);
cognitive (personal) competence (willingness to constantly improve the educational level, the need to update and realize one's personal potential, the ability to independently acquire new knowledge and skills, the ability to self-develop);
intercultural competencies;
competence in the field of independent cognitive activity;
special competence (preparedness for independent performance of professional actions, evaluation of the results of one's work).
Domestic researchers invest in the concepts of "competence" and "qualification; different values. So, V. Baidenko writes that qualification, in contrast to competence, “means the predominance of framework activity in stable professional fields and algorithms.” Displaying the structure of this concept, the author notes that "qualification is transferred as one of the key groups to the structure of competence". But it is difficult to talk about a single semantic space for the concept of “key competencies”: they are even called differently in different sources - key, basic, universal, transdisciplinary, metaprofessional, systematic, core, etc.

E.F. Zeer and his followers call core competencies:

"intercultural and intersectoral knowledge, skills, abilities necessary for adaptation and productive activity in various professional communities";
a complex of universal (integral) knowledge that “include general scientific and general professional categories, principles and patterns of the functioning of science, technology, society” ... that “determine the implementation of special competencies and specific competencies”.
The same key competencies ensure the productivity of various activities. Key professional competencies determine the social and professional mobility of specialists, allow them to successfully adapt in different social and professional communities. In their study, the authors, referring to S.E. Shishov, give the following definition: key competencies are “the general (universal) ability of a person to mobilize acquired knowledge and skills in the course of professional activity, as well as to use generalized methods for performing actions”.

To (basic) competencies they include general scientific, socio-economic, civil law, information and communication, polytechnical and special general professional knowledge.

But the “qualification”, according to E.F. Zeer and G.M. Romantsev, it is "a set of social and professional qualification requirements for the social and professional abilities of a person."

Another researcher of this issue, L.G. Semushina writes that "qualification characterizes the degree of mastery of a given profession or specialty by an employee ... (qualification can be low, medium and high)". E.F. Zeer clarifies and relates this definition to the concept of "professional qualifications" - "... the degree and type of professional training of an employee, his knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform a certain job." Thus, qualifications, just like competencies, can be key and professional (special), and special qualifications are most often called simply “qualifications”.

The key qualifications” in the domestic scientific literature are:

Extrafunctional knowledge, skills, qualities and properties of an individual that go beyond professional training ...;
general professional knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as the abilities and qualities of the individual necessary to perform work in the field of a certain group of professions ...;
intercultural and intersectoral knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for adaptation and productive activity in various professional communities.
The structural elements of key qualifications include the professional orientation of the individual, professional competence, professionally important qualities, professionally significant psychophysiological properties. E.F. Zeer and E. Symanyuk call “metaprofessional qualities” as part of key qualifications - “abilities, personality traits that determine the productivity of a wide range of social and professional activities of a specialist, for example, such qualities as “... organization, independence, responsibility, reliability, ability planning, problem solving, etc. And the very concept of “key qualifications” is defined by the authors as “metaprofessional constructs of a wide range of use, which include basic competencies and metaprofessional qualities.

IN AND. Baidenko defines another important educational construct - professional (professional-oriented) competencies. This concept is interpreted as:

Mastering the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to work in the specialty with simultaneous autonomy and flexibility in terms of solving professional problems; developed cooperation with colleagues and professional interpersonal environment;
standards design constructs, which include performance criteria (measure of quality) scope, required knowledge
effective use of abilities, allowing fruitfully to carry out professional activities in accordance with the requirements of the workplace;
an integrated combination of knowledge, abilities and attitudes that allow a person to perform labor activities in a modern working environment.
Summing up, V.I. Baidenko defines professional competence as “the readiness and ability to act expediently in accordance with the requirements of the case, methodically organize and independently solve problems and problems, as well as self-evaluate the results of one’s activities. These are subject-related skills—appropriate techniques that are specific to different subject areas.”

By definition, O.V. Khovova (Encyclopedia of vocational education, edited by S.Ya. Batyshev), professional competence includes “not only the idea of ​​qualifications (professional skills, as experience, skills and knowledge), but also the development of social, communicative and individual abilities that ensure the independence of professional activity” . Professional competence is the basis of a person's professional qualities. (As you can see, the authors of the concept of "competence" and "competence" do not breed).

V.G. Pischulin substantiates and includes in professional competence such components as special competence (ZUNs providing independent performance of professional actions and further professional development), communicative competence, self-competence (self-regulation), oral and written speech skills, organizational competence, search and research competence.

A. Dorofeev, considering professional competence as an indicator of the quality of education, highlights the following aspects:

1. “current qualification (knowledge, skills and abilities from the professional field, the ability to productively master modern information technologies necessary and sufficient for professional activities)”;

2. “cognitive readiness (the ability to master new knowledge, technologies at the activity level, the ability to learn and teach others)”;

3. "communicative preparedness (knowledge of native and foreign languages, communication techniques and technology, the ability to lead a discussion, motivate and defend one's decision)";

4. "possession of methods of technical-economic, environmentally oriented analysis of production with the aim of its rationalization and humanization ...";

5. "creative preparedness...";

6. "understanding the trends and main directions of development of the professional field and the technosphere ...";

7. "...need, desire and readiness for professional self-improvement, corporate self-identification and positioning";

8. "sustainable and developing professionally significant qualities ...".

An analysis of the literature on this issue shows that it is difficult to single out a unified approach, a general system of concepts and categories.

In our study, we made an attempt to compare these categories with the identified clusters of competencies/competences (competence in our study represents potential competence, readiness and desire for activity) by types: general - special; professional - socio-psychological.

The concept of “key competencies” has the broadest meaning. It incorporates general competencies (“key qualifications”) – competencies that are equally necessary for any specialist with a higher education. They are divided into proper professional and socio-psychological (personal). Special competencies specific to a particular professional activity include - "professional qualifications" and special socio-psychological competencies - PVC.
Such a system of concepts is built into the presented model of the competence of a university graduate, becomes convenient for use, and this, in turn, allows us to determine a system of factors, principles, conditions for the formation of the competence of a future specialist in the course of the educational process.

Ilyazova M.D. Competence, competence, qualification - the main directions of modern research // Vocational education. Capital. - No. 1. - 2008

Competence

Competence- availability of knowledge and experience necessary for effective activity in a given subject area. Competence (lat. competens - suitable, appropriate, appropriate, capable, knowledgeable) - the quality of a person who has comprehensive knowledge in any field and whose opinion is therefore weighty, authoritative; Competence - the ability to carry out a real, life action and the qualification characteristic of an individual, taken at the time of his inclusion in the activity; since any action has two aspects - resource and productive, it is the development of competencies that determines the transformation of a resource into a product; Competence - potential readiness to solve problems with knowledge of the matter; includes content (knowledge) and procedural (skill) components and implies knowledge of the essence of the problem and the ability to solve it; constant updating of knowledge, possession of new information for the successful application of this knowledge in specific conditions, i.e. possession of operational and mobile knowledge; Competence is the possession of a certain competence, i.e. knowledge and experience of their own activities, allowing them to make judgments and make decisions. Competence in sociology is the ability of social factors, having mastered the implied knowledge, to become full-fledged and qualified participants in social interaction. Used in ethnomethodology.

Competence framework

In world educational practice, the concept of competence acts as a central, a kind of “nodal” concept, because personal competence: firstly, it combines the intellectual and practical components of education; secondly, the concept of competence contains the ideology of interpreting the content of education, formed “from the result” (“output standard”); thirdly, the competence of the individual has an integrative nature, since it incorporates a number of homogeneous or closely related knowledge and experience related to broad areas of culture and activity (information, legal, etc.). The competence of the individual has a certain structure, the components of which are related to the ability of a person to solve various problems in everyday, professional or social life. The structure of personality competence includes: competence in the field of independent cognitive activity; in the field of civil-public activity; in the field of social and labor activity; competence in the domestic sphere; in the field of cultural and leisure activities. Among the knowledge and practical experience formed in the process of achieving a certain level of competence by a person are the skills of self-education, critical thinking, independent work, self-organization and self-control, teamwork, the ability to predict the results and possible consequences of different solutions, establish cause-and-effect relationships, find , formulate and solve problems.

Separation of competencies by areas

Competence in the field of independent cognitive activity, based on the assimilation of ways to acquire knowledge from various sources of information, including extracurricular ones (Cognitive sphere); Competence in the field of civil and social activities (performance of the roles of a citizen, voter, consumer) (Society); Competence in the field of social and labor activity (including the ability to analyze the situation on the labor market, assess one's own professional capabilities, navigate the norms and ethics of relationships, self-organization skills); Competence in the domestic sphere (including aspects of one's own health, family life, etc.) (Family); Competence in the field of cultural and leisure activities (including the choice of ways and means of using free time, culturally and spiritually enriching the individual) (Personality)

see also

Notes

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Synonyms:

Antonyms:

See what "Competence" is in other dictionaries:

See dignity ... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and expressions similar in meaning. under. ed. N. Abramova, M.: Russian dictionaries, 1999. competence, authority, dignity; awareness, knowledge, awareness; preparedness, familiarity, ... ... Synonym dictionary

- (lat.). 1) legal capacity, possession of the information necessary to judge something. 2) terms of reference of any institution. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. COMPETENCE 1) jurisdiction; a circle… … Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

COMPETENCE, competencies, pl. no, female (book). distraction noun to competent. Competence of judgment. || Awareness, authority. Policy Competence. Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

A competent person is one who is mistaken according to all the rules. Paul Valerie GARDNER'S LAW: 85 percent of people in any profession are incompetent. John Gardner Competence is the ability to discover and satisfy the personal tastes of superiors. Lawrence ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

competence- COMPETENCE, literacy, familiarity, knowledge, awareness, awareness EXPERT, connoisseur, expert, colloquial. dock, colloquial, joke. bison, colloquial, joke. monster, unfold special, open specialist SPECIALIST, connoisseur, colloquial ... ... Dictionary-thesaurus of synonyms of Russian speech

Competence- Possession of a whole class of behaviors, knowing how to do something. Abilities arising from the development of a mental map that allow us to select and group individual behaviors. In NLP, such mental maps take the form of cognitive ... ... Great Psychological Encyclopedia

competence- Demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in practice. NOTE The concept of competence is defined in this International Standard in a general sense. The use of this term may have additional features and be clarified in ... ... Technical Translator's Handbook

From lat. competens relevant knowledge, experience, education in a particular field of activity. Dictionary of business terms. Akademik.ru. 2001 ... Glossary of business terms

- (from lat. competens corresponding) 1) the area of ​​authority of the governing body, official; range of issues on which they have the right to make decisions. The area of ​​authority of certain bodies and persons is established by laws, others ... ... Economic dictionary

COMPETENT, oh, oh; ten, tna. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

COMPETENCE- COMPETENCE. A term that has become widespread in the literature on pedagogy and linguodidactics since the 60s of the last century to denote the ability of a person to perform any activity based on life experience and acquired ... ... A new dictionary of methodological terms and concepts (theory and practice of teaching languages)

Books

• Competence in modern society. Identification, development and implementation, Raven John. The book of the famous British psychologist J. Raven is devoted to the types of motivation that modern society needs. It deals with abilities, attitudes, roles and dispositions, ...

Speaking about the “competence structure”, we can mean different concepts:
1) the structure of competencies in the organization: types of competencies and the scheme in which they are linked;
2) the structure of the competencies themselves: the elements that make up the competency, their scheme and relationships.

The structure of competencies in the organization

Let us first consider the structure of competencies in the organization. Different organizations form different sets of competencies. Many of them intersect, and they are all interconnected. A set of competencies in the form of a descriptive list is not suitable for use. Therefore, the next step after the formation of the list is the development of a competency structure, which is most often presented in the form of a diagram that clearly demonstrates the levels of competencies and their relationship. Each type of competence, despite its independence, cannot be considered in isolation from other types.
As a recommendation, it is desirable to draw up competency structures based on the organizational chart of the organization. This will increase visibility and show the layout of competencies by levels of the organizational structure.
The competency framework serves as the basis for developing the competency model. What constitutes a competency model will be described in detail in the next chapter.
And now about the own structure of competencies - about what elements competencies consist of and what these elements are (Table 4).
Table 4 Competency elements




From Table. 4, it is obvious that the structure of competence is quite complex, it includes many elements, the combination of which makes, in fact, competence a universal tool. From the presented structure, it becomes clear why under the competence it is impossible to consider only the ZUN or the RVC, which are only an element of the competence.
Personal competence is “a system of interrelated knowledge, skills and abilities, personal characteristics, motivations, as well as models of behavior based on this that allow you to effectively perform the tasks assigned to the employee at a given workplace at a given time” ". The structure of personal competencies is shown in Fig. 8. This competency can be evaluated in terms of effectiveness, compared with pre-developed standards, improved through training.
Competence is characterized by targeting, discreteness, loyalty, congruence in relation to the organization. This is one of the main tools of the labor and personnel management system.
Targeting - each competence should be clearly defined and cover a separate area of ​​knowledge, skills, i.e. reflect the functions in this workplace. At the same time, the difference in functions in the workplace dictates the need for the availability and development of different competencies to perform different functional duties.
Discretion - each competency should relate to a specific activity that can be clearly separated from other activities.
Loyalty is the focus of competencies on the implementation of the tasks of the organization and the strengthening of organizational culture.
Congruence - compliance with the goals and mission of the organization.


Rice. 8. Structure of personal competencies
The holder of competence can be an individual, enterprise, industry, society, etc.
As experience shows - both domestic and foreign - the development of a competency model involves an early study of the subjects of competencies: enterprises of various forms of ownership and scale, as well as employees.
It should be noted that in the theory and practice of building a competency model, there are various types of competency structure. For example, the so-called PUSK is actively used - a complete universal structure of competencies (Fig. 9).


Rice. 9. Complete universal competency framework (PUSK)

Chapter 1.

What do we mean by "competencies"?

Definition of competencies
- Typical competency structure diagram
- Application of competencies
- Qualities of a good competency model
- Findings

Many organizations have been developing and applying competency methods, or something similar, for at least 15 years. Currently, a whole direction has formed in business psychology that studies competencies and their application, as can be seen from the topics of articles, journals, conferences and consultations devoted to the use of competencies.

So what happened in the development and application of competencies that generated such interest in them? For many organizations, the answer is both simple and obvious. The performance criteria, developed 10-15 years ago, were created to solve a very narrow range of problems. For example - a set of criteria only for conducting trainings. And the competency model makes it possible to create a set of criteria that directly links a wide range of specific activities with personnel management. The set of general criteria for personnel management has two important advantages:

• the ability to develop a common language to describe the performance of the whole organization. A common language helps to establish understanding between employees of different departments and different levels of the organization. For example - a common understanding for all: what is good leadership and what does effective teamwork mean;
• the possibility of achieving a high level of consistency in the evaluation of an employee, in the selection of candidates for promotion. All experts will equally understand the valuable qualities of the employee and know what needs to be appreciated and what can be ignored.

Previously, only professionals (such as recruiters and performance appraisers) defined and used competency-like criteria. These criteria served only for highly specialized applications. Line managers only encountered something similar to competency models when making reward decisions. Recent changes in the functions and organizational practices of HR have resulted in a much greater involvement of managerial practitioners in what used to be called 'HR'. In the past, only personnel and training specialists discussed selection procedures, forms of training and incentive methods with external consultants. Now it has become a rule: consultants discuss all these problems together with HR specialists and line managers of companies.
The diversity of users of the competence method means that there are different points of view on the definition, application, structure and content of competences.
This chapter covers all that is necessary for the effective use of competencies. To achieve effective use of competencies, you need to:

• avoid ambiguity in the definition of competencies
• structure competencies so that they are easier to use
• understand the role and know the technique of applying competencies at work
• draw up competencies in accordance with quality standards.

All these tasks are solved on the basis of examples. A sample competency model is provided at the end of the book in Appendix 1. This appendix will often be used as an example in our book: in order not to confuse the examples from the appendix with other examples, we will refer to the appendix.

Definition of competencies

There are many different definitions of competencies. This should never be embarrassing. Different organizations and competency experts prefer their own definitions of this concept to “strangers” that appeared earlier. But most definitions are just variations on two themes that differ in origins.

Main topics

Two fundamental themes that give rise to contradictions in the definition of competencies:
- Description of work tasks or expected results of work. These descriptions have their origins in national education systems such as National/Scottish.
Vocational Qualifications and Management Charter Initiative (MCI).
In these systems, competencies are defined as "the ability of a manager to act in accordance with the standards adopted by the organization" (MCI, 1992).
- Description of behavior. This topic originated in the work of researchers and consultants specializing in the field of effective management.
Various definitions of behavioral competence are different variations of the same definition: “competence is the main characteristic of a person, the owner of which is able to achieve high results in work” (Klemp, 1980).
A specific variation is usually supplemented by an indication of what qualities the main characteristic includes. For example: motives, character traits, abilities, self-esteem, social role, knowledge that a person uses in work are added to this often cited definition of competence (Boyatzis, 1982).

The variety of definition options indicates that although competence consists of many personal parameters (motives, character traits, abilities, etc.), all these parameters can be identified and assessed by how a person behaves. For example: communication skills are fully manifested in how effectively a person negotiates, how he influences people and how he works in a team. Behavioral competence describes the behavior of people observed when effective performers show personal motives, character traits and abilities in the process of solving problems leading to the achievement of the desired results in work.

Definition and implementation of values

In addition to motives, character traits and abilities, individual behavior is influenced by the values ​​and principles adopted in the organization. Many companies have established what principles they are committed to and communicate these principles to their employees, emphasizing in particular the role these values ​​should play in daily operations. Some companies have included corporate principles and values ​​in the competency model and make sure that the behavior of the staff is in line with the accepted guidelines.

"Decoration of the month"

The municipal service released a statement on the company's values. These values ​​were not reflected in the guidelines for conduct used in staff selection and performance monitoring. For example, the stated principles of operation were: "customers and suppliers should be considered as partners." And the criteria for behavior included such instructions: "in negotiations, insist on getting the best service at the lowest price" and "set and maintain prices that bring maximum benefit." If the values ​​and principles of the municipal service determined the criteria for employee behavior, we would see such instructions: "winning in negotiations is winning the fight for high quality of service" and "provide customers with high-quality supplies at a good price." The separation of the rules of conduct and the principles of the company's activities is obvious: employees are not obliged to always and everywhere behave in accordance with the published principles, despite the good intentions of the company. This separation of values ​​and day-to-day work gave the impression that the values ​​were just "decoration of the month" and in a practical sense they were not that important.

What is the difference between "competence" and "competency"?

Many people want to know if there is a difference between competency and competence. A common belief has formed, according to which the concepts of "competence" and "competence" convey the following meanings:

The ability necessary to solve work tasks and to obtain the necessary work results is most often defined as competence.
- An ability that reflects the required standards of behavior is defined as a competence.

In practice, many organizations include tasks, performance and behavior in the description of both competencies and competencies and combine these two concepts. But it is more typical to associate the description of competencies with abilities that reflect standards of behavior than with problem solving or performance.
The subject of this book is competencies. And we define the concept of competence through standards of behavior.

Typical Competency Framework Diagram

Different organizations understand competencies differently. But in most cases, competencies are presented in the form of some kind of structure, like the diagram in Fig. one.
In the structure presented in fig. 1, behavioral indicators are the main elements of each competency. Related competencies are grouped into clusters. Each competency is described below, starting with the main blocks - with indicators of behavior.

Figure 1 Typical Competency Structure Diagram

Behavior indicators

Behavioral indicators are standards of behavior that are observed in the actions of a person who has a specific competence. The subject of observation is a manifestation of high competence. Manifestations of weak, ineffective "negative" competence can also become the subject of observation and study, but this approach is rarely used.
AT application Behavioral indicators are presented in the book with examples of effective competence. Example. Behavioral indicators of the competence "WORKING WITH INFORMATION", that is, actions in the process of collecting and analyzing information, include the following abilities of employees:

Finds and uses fruitful sources of information.
- Accurately defines the type and form of the required information.
- Gets the necessary information and saves it in a format convenient for work.

Competencies

Each competency is a set of related behavioral indicators. These indicators are combined into one or more blocks - depending on the semantic scope of competence.

Competencies without levels
A simple model, that is, a model that covers jobs with simple standards of behavior, may have one list of indicators for all competencies. In this model, all behavioral indicators refer to all activities. For example: a model that describes the work of only senior managers of the company, in the Planning and Organization section, may include the following behavior indicators:
- Makes plans that allocate work according to deadlines and priorities (from a few weeks to three years).
- Makes plans that exactly match the goals of the department.
- Coordinates the activities of the department with the business plan of the company.

A single list of behavior indicators is what is required, because all behavior indicators are necessary in the work of all senior managers.

Competencies by levels
When the competency model covers a wide range of jobs with different categorization of requirements, behavioral indicators within each competency can be summarized in separate lists or divided into “levels”. This allows a number of elements of different competencies to be brought under one heading, which is convenient and necessary when the competency model should cover a wide range of activities, jobs and functional roles.
For example: the content of the "planning and organizing" competency may be appropriate for both an administrative role and a manager role. The criteria for the behavior of people involved in planning and organizing activities are different for different roles, but the distribution of criteria by levels makes it possible to include homogeneous indicators of behavior necessary for organizing and planning in one competency model and not develop separate models for each role. At the same time, some competencies will have only one or two levels, while others will have several levels. For example, in application several levels are considered for each competency, although most competencies include three levels. But the competence "ACHIEVING RESULTS: planning" contains four levels, and "ACHIEVING RESULTS: clarity of management" - only two levels. One of the ways to distribute competencies by levels is to reduce the standards of behavior into groups indicated by numbers: the more complex the required standards of behavior, the higher the level. Some companies link levels directly to activity grades. For example, in some models, all Level 1 competencies are assigned to specific service grades, while all Level 2 competencies are included in the next job block, and so on. Usually there is a certain relationship between the levels of competencies and the complexity of the activity, but this relationship is not always direct and unambiguous. For example: the position of a senior manager requires the employee to have the highest level of "relationship management" competence, while junior managers can perform limited roles of this kind (resolving claims, maintaining accounts, etc.). For this reason, many firms avoid using the structures that have developed in them when compiling competency levels.
Another method of distributing competencies by levels is the division according to the professional qualities that an employee needs. This method is used when the competency model refers to one job level or one role. For example, the model might include a list of the following indicators:

Initial competencies are usually the minimum set of requirements necessary for admission to work
- outstanding competencies - the level of activity of an experienced employee
- negative competencies - usually these are standards of behavior that are counterproductive for effective work at any level

This method is used when it is necessary to evaluate the different degrees of competence of a group of workers. Examples. Baseline (minimum) standards of conduct can be applied when evaluating job applicants. When evaluating the performance of experienced personnel, more complex competencies can be applied. In both cases, negative indicators of behavior can also be used to identify disqualifying factors and develop a competency model. By introducing levels, it is possible to accurately assess personal competencies without complicating the structure of the competency model.
Competency models built by levels will have one set of standards of behavior for each level.

Names of competencies and their description

To aid understanding, competencies are usually referred to by a specific name, which is given an appropriate description.

The title is usually a very short term that distinguishes one competency from others, being both meaningful and easy to remember.
Typical competency titles:

relationship management
group work
influence
collection and analysis of information
making decisions
personal development
generation and accumulation of ideas
planning and organization
managing the completion of a task by a deadline
goal setting

In addition to the name of the competency, many competency models include a description of the competency. The first approach is to create a set of behavioral criteria that correspond to a specific competency. For example: a competency called "Planning and organizing" can be decoded as follows:

"Achieves results through detailed planning and organization of people and resources in accordance with established goals and objectives within agreed timelines."

Where the competency content spans a single list of behavioral criteria, this approach works very well.
The second approach is a reasonable explanation of what is summarized, that is, an argument why this particular competence is important for the organization. This approach is best used when the competency model reflects multiple levels of behavior, because in such situations it is difficult to summarize everything that should cover all the personal roles that exist in the company and all the standards of behavior for different levels of competency.
For example. The competency model called "Influence" can have 5 levels. At one level, influence is exercised by presenting clear arguments and facts in support of a particular product. At another level, influence includes developing and presenting your own vision for your company and the company's impact on the market and various professional groups. Instead of trying to summarize such a wide range of standards of conduct, a company might put it this way:

“To persuade other people to some idea or course of action by effective persuasion. This is very important for learning, acquiring new knowledge, for innovation, decision-making and for creating an atmosphere of trust.”

In many cases, this formulation is much more useful than a brief listing of the standards of behavior included in the competency, since the detailed description explains why the firm chooses this particular competency model, and, in addition, this description explains the special nuances inherent in the selected competency model.

Competence clusters

A cluster of competencies is a set of closely related competencies (usually three to five in one bundle). Most competency models include clusters related to:

Intellectual activity, such as problem analysis and decision making
- actions, for example, to achieve specific results
- interaction, for example, to work with people.

All phrases in the description of competency models should be written in a language that is generally accepted and accessible to the staff. AT application, to which we periodically refer, these bundles of competencies are titled:

WORK WITH PEOPLE
- WORKING WITH INFORMATION
- BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
- ACHIEVING RESULTS.

Competency clusters are usually given names like these so that the competency model is understood by all employees.
Some organizations present descriptions of entire "bundles" of competencies to reveal the nature of the competencies included in each set. For example, the competence cluster "Working with information" can be represented by the following phrase:

"Working with information includes all sorts of forms of information, methods of collecting and analyzing information necessary for making effective decisions - current, operational and prospective."

Competence Model

A competency model is a term for a complete set of competencies (with or without levels) and behavioral indicators. Models may contain detailed descriptions of standards of behavior for a particular department's personnel or standards of action leading to the achievement of specific goals, but may also include basic standards of behavior designed to fully describe a business structure or activity aimed at achieving a set of diverse corporate goals. The set of details included in the description of a competency model depends on the intended practical application of a particular model.
The number of competencies in the models of recent years has decreased. Once upon a time, models were common that included 30 or more different standards; models containing no more than 20 competencies are now common, and sometimes as few as eight. Many users consider a set of competencies from 8 to 12 standards in one model to be optimal.
But models with a large set of competencies are still found. This is because some firms try to cover all the information needed for all occasions and all roles, including detailed descriptions of tasks and performance and standards of employee behavior. The experience of recent years has shown that the most effective is the development of a general model of competencies - such as is given in our application, with an indication of how the general model can be used in practice.
The more competencies a model contains, the more difficult it is to apply. Experts believe that it is difficult to identify specific competencies in an overly detailed model, since the differences between individual competencies in such a model can be subtly small.

Confused Experts
The General Financial Department developed a model that included a huge set of competencies in the Negotiation and Influence sections. During the assessment of personnel, the observers of the Assessment Center found it difficult to identify the standards of behavior necessary for the subject in such, for example, competence as achieving goals when working in a team. What ability is needed to work in a team - skillful negotiation or a strong influence on others?

In addition, the documentation can turn into a very thick and uncomfortable tome. And the volume of documentation is usually inversely proportional to the number of people studying this documentation, that is: the more pages in a book, the less readers it has.

Volume is very important
A few years ago, a government agency developed a very complex competency model. The model contained about 60 competencies, each with five levels of difficulty. In addition, this model associated standards of behavior with tasks and work outcomes. This meant that each competency was illustrated with many examples (up to seven), in which different levels of competency were also considered. Users of this model found it nearly impossible to apply, and the 200-page reference document itself did not inspire any of the credibility it would have if the developers had created the correct model.
The agency, realizing the mistake, reworked the model: it defined standards of behavior that are common to all roles in this organization. The new model included only 12 competencies. Even the division of each competency into levels fit into a document of only 12 pages. Users found the new model to suit their needs, and the idea of ​​returning to the original model never appealed to anyone.

If all competencies included in a model apply to all activities of a company or department, then such a model is often referred to as the “Basic Competency Model”.
The core model does not include competencies that differentiate the activities of the working groups for which this model is intended. The core competency model consists of competencies that cover standards of behavior that are common to all activities, or only standards for specific types of work in a particular organization. The standards of behavior included in the core model are indeed general, so there is more work to be done to apply these standards to specific activities. For example: in the Application there is a competence "Decision Making" (in the cluster "WORKING WITH INFORMATION"). Standards of conduct of the first level of this competence:

Follows predetermined decision-making procedures.
- Collects and uses all the information necessary for decision making.
- Regularly reviews and agrees on decision limits appropriate to his/her role.
- Delegates decisions to others when it is appropriate to delegate the decision.

These are the general standards of conduct. But if the professional abilities of an employee are assessed in relation to a particular activity, then the standards of behavior are examples of this particular activity. For an employee serving regular customers, personal standards of behavior may be as follows:

Performs customer service procedures strictly according to standards.
- Obtains and uses information from the customer service database and from customer procedures instructions; if necessary, refers to colleagues when making decisions.
- Does not make decisions that exceed the authority established by the administration.

Model example

This structure includes clusters of competencies, that is, it describes in detail the main elements and standards of behavior of employees in the course of a specific activity. The app is built that way. Figure 2 illustrates this using examples from the WORKING WITH PEOPLE cluster.

Application of competencies

The Competency Journal regularly publishes reviews of the application of competencies. A few years ago, a magazine summarized the reasons why different firms use the same competencies:

efficiency and quality of work performance
culture Exchange
education and development
recruitment and selection
business goals (competitiveness)
career planning
ability analysis
flexibility
role clarity
general HR strategies
raising quality standards
remuneration
employee motivation
efficiency improvement
investment in personnel development
equal opportunity
Source: Competency (1996).

A very similar list appeared in the same journal a year earlier. The authors of these reviews used information from readers who generally indicated five reasons for seeking competencies in their companies. In other words, the reasons for the introduction of competencies were formulated by the users themselves, and not by the journal.
In practice, the reasons for turning to competencies can be associated with three tasks:
- recruitment and selection
- education and development
- reward.

Competency magazine used these reasons to summarize the topic. Although there are many reasons for developing and using competencies (see the first list), this set still boils down to three main tasks.

Figure 2 TYPICAL COMPETENCY MODEL CONTENT

It may seem strange that among the tasks there is no staff assessment. But there is nothing surprising here. Development and reward as volume tasks solved with the help of competencies can be divided into several separate functions of work with personnel. And the assessment of personnel and work to improve the professional qualities of employees is a single process in which all functions are closely related to each other.
In addition to a more rational and practical set of expectations from the application of the competency approach, the simplified competency model reflects the changes in human resources that have taken place over the past few years.

The cure for inconsistency
The pharmaceutical company has recently opened several new lines of business. Each line of business has its own competency model, and the largest lines have more than one model. Many of these models have been developed for special purposes. This gave rise to difficulties, because people faced various criteria in certification, promotion, selection, etc. c") due to their changing roles in the process of business integration. The company decided to develop a core competency model in order to have a single set of criteria common to recruitment, training and development, payment and trading, and performance management. Now this means that people are selected, evaluated, developed and rewarded according to the same criteria - regardless of their place in the company.This has led to an increase in the degree of alignment of the personnel management processes in the company, which has become obvious to employees. In addition, people from different HR functions are now talking about performance in the same language.

For example: many companies are currently developing competency models that cover a fairly wide range of professional roles. In fact, organizations use competency models to link corporate tasks and work with human resources.

Nowadays, there are often companies that use only one competency model that meets the standards of behavior and performance that are required of the entire staff. This model contains the basic standards of conduct in all types of personnel management activities, but above all - in recruitment, training, development and evaluation. For example, Appendix is based on a model composed of competencies and levels that are applicable to all activities of a trading company that includes about 20 different professions and employs about 400 people.

Impact on culture

At present, the attention of companies is shifting to the main activities, but it is necessary to remember some of the "secondary" areas that appeared in the early reviews of Competency magazine.
When organizing personnel management based on the proposed competencies, the actions of employees are determined by the standards of behavior expected from them and the requirements for the quality of work. Therefore, it should be remembered: the use of competencies will affect the internal culture of the company. In most cases, improving corporate culture is the main goal of introducing a competency system. If changes in the culture of activity are not provided for in the description of the standards of behavior, then this means that the competencies are drawn up incorrectly and conflicts between what the company needs and the standards of behavior that are proposed to be adopted by employees are quite likely.
In the Cultural Conflict example, the competency model reflects exactly what employees may consider to be the best way to work. This model does not take into account the principles of building an organization, the strict deadlines for achieving the goals that senior managers set and demanded to be met. This model did not correspond to the ideas of the senior managers themselves about what they wanted to change in the organization's activities. Changes in the culture of activity were not included in the development of competencies, the requirements of a successful business were clearly ignored.

Conflict in culture
The company, focused mainly on the sale of electronic equipment, has introduced a competency model for junior and middle staff. Competency behavior indicators were grouped around working together in an open organization, in which opinions were allowed to be expressed, problems raised, and opinions defended. All junior and middle management personnel were assessed according to the competency model, and the company's work plans were drawn up based on the same requirements. All this was done to make the competency model work. But any junior or middle manager who tried to behave in a collaborative style was immediately met with resistance and coldness from senior managers. Very soon, the work plans were changed to "reflect the real state of affairs", and in other cases, the plans simply did not take into account.

If an organization intends to influence culture change by introducing a competency model, then without the consent, support and initiative of senior managers, this good intention will not succeed.

Transparency of goals and limits

As mentioned above, many companies are introducing competency models to streamline human resource practices. The success of all efforts with such an integration of management processes is associated, first of all, with a depth of understanding of the function that competencies actually perform. Competences can be applied in the selection and hiring of personnel, in training, development and remuneration of employees. Those companies that use competencies as a tool to perform precisely such tasks work fruitfully. These companies clearly understand the limitations and true possibilities of competencies. Successful organizations give competencies their rightful place. And the exact definition of the place of competencies is the basis for their productive application. It is important to clearly understand that competencies help effective personnel management when applied correctly.
Competences include general requirements for personnel and standards of behavior in the form of positive samples. But the effective application of competencies requires a whole block of employee evaluation criteria.

For example:

When selecting an applicant for a vacancy, the professional experience of a person, his past merits and qualifications that are useful for performing the proposed work are taken into account.
- The training takes into account the professional tasks and results that the employee has to achieve.
- Development takes into account the interests of both the company and the individual.
- Remuneration depends on the actual value of the work, as well as on the need to encourage and motivate the employee for quality work.

The introduction of competencies can strengthen the link between all these tasks. However, the introduction of competencies in itself does not guarantee that this innovation will have a high effect. The effectiveness of the application of the competency model depends on the perfection of the organization of activities, on the availability of the necessary personnel management tools and on the skill of experienced people. Most competency models, no matter how carefully and correctly developed, will not turn a bad process into a good one and will not compensate for poor training, poor technological equipment and inexperienced staff. But on the other hand, where an efficiently and properly organized process of activity is combined with good management tools and experienced employees, the introduction of competencies can help significantly improve the structure of personnel management and the coherence of employees within the organization.

Qualities of a good competency model

For a competency model to work effectively, it must be relevant and used for its intended purpose. The competency model should at least be consistent with the quality standards listed in Table 1.

Table 1 QUALITY STANDARDS FOR THE COMPETENCY MODEL

The quality standards summarized in Table 1 provide a good basis for evaluating and validating the competency model. Where the model does not meet quality standards, it is possible to correct the situation, but the correction is not always easy and not always affordable. Quality standards (activity, product, management) need to be developed and adopted before a competency model can be drawn up and implemented. The competency model must be built on the basis of predetermined standards: only then can one be sure that the competency model will correspond to the task assigned to it.
These standards can also be used as a package of requirements for the quality of the model itself during its compilation. Each of the quality standards of a good competency model is explored below.

Clarity and ease of understanding

The competency model should:
- be unambiguous
- describe in simple terms
- have a simple structure
- have a coherent structural logic.

To be clear and easy to understand, the competency model should contain the language and phrases used within the organization. The model must be built in such a way that it is easy to follow this model. If the competency model is unclear and users find it difficult to use the model, interest in competencies is likely to be lost.

Relevance

The language used in the model must be native to the people who are going to use the model. It is very important whether the model becomes a common property or remains a tool for the “chosen ones”. “Relevance (conformity) of the competency model for the entire staff” means: all employees recognize behavior indicators as requirements corresponding to the quality of work. In addition, everyone who will apply the model, and everyone to whom this model will be applied, must be aware of the need and usefulness of the competency model for the cause.
In general models, the relevance of personnel behavior standards should be perceived by the bearers of all professional roles. In special models, relevance may be limited to a narrow range of roles or to a specific application.

Relevance for all roles - common models
The maximum use of competency models can be achieved if the models are relevant for all roles of the company or department. "Relevant to all roles" means: the competency should describe in general terms the behavior that is essential for the effective performance of all the roles covered by the model. It is important that the standards of conduct are directly related to the requirements of the job and that they are described by examples of such behavior that contribute to the effective performance of the job.

Role Relevance - Special Models

If competencies are being developed for a specific application or role, then the competency model should be appropriate for the application and role for which it was intended. For example: a model developed specifically for the selection of personnel should be sufficient in relation to the selection.

Accounting for expected changes
In order for the model to remain relevant, it is necessary to take into account the expected changes that may affect the organization of the firm. Possible changes are included in the competency model as standards of behavior that describe how employees will have to cope with work in the near future or in the longer term. The relevant model should take into account the vision of the future that the company's leaders have and which is included in the company's plans. To remain relevant, the model must take into account:
- changes in the external environment
- introduction of new technology
- an image of the future, predicted by managers in order to inform employees about the meaning of decisions made.

Discrete elements

One of the main ways to use competencies is personnel assessment. This may be an assessment of applicants for vacancies during selection or an assessment of the success of employees in work. The structure of the competency model has an important influence on the simplicity and accuracy of assessments. Therefore, it is essential that each of the competencies has clearly defined elements. Without clear indicators of behavior, it is difficult for experts to assess to which competence they should attribute a particular example of effective performance. A few simple rules can help you avoid mixing different competencies:

One competency should not depend on other competencies.
- Competencies and behavior indicators should be contained in only one fragment of the model.
- Competencies should not be included in multiple clusters.
- Behavior indicators should not refer to multiple competencies
- Behavior indicators should not span multiple levels of competence.

Behavior indicators are the working part of the competencies used in the assessment of employees. For standards of conduct to "work", they must:

Describe directly measurable (observable) manifestations of an individual's competence.

For example: informs colleagues about changes in work priorities; draws up detailed plans to achieve goals.
- describe only one act of behavior - it is unacceptable that some indicators of human behavior are good and others are bad.
- do not allow duplication of competencies and levels - it is unacceptable for a behavior indicator included in one competency or one competency level to be included in
another competency or to a different level of competency.
- build from verbal expressions: indicators of behavior describe the actions of a person.
For example: informs colleagues about changes in work priorities; draws up detailed plans to achieve goals.
- include a sufficient amount of contextual information so that the actions carry a clear meaning, that is, they explain to the person why the actions they perform are needed.
For example: informs colleagues about changes in work priorities; draws up detailed plans to achieve goals.

Justice in everything

If high standards of quality are included in the competency model, then the model will be fair to all to whom it is applied. However, the model may meet the above quality standards, but, nevertheless, legitimize the planting of injustice in the company. Injustice can arise due to insufficient attention to the sources of various deformations. For example: a competency model is developed only by older (or only white, or only male) managers. Formally meeting all quality standards, such a model, however, will be unfair to everyone: it may exclude the standards of behavior that are characteristic of effective managers, but not included in the model adopted by the firm.

findings

Competences can be defined in different ways, but most models are now based on behavioral indicators. Clarity is important in defining the competency model in relation to a particular situation. This clarity can be achieved by defining the goals for which the developed competency model will be used.
For ease of use of the competency model itself, it should be extremely simple. Many successful companies find it easier to apply a generic competency model with clear instructions to model users than to try to build a model that captures the requirements needed to perform all tasks and all roles.
Competencies should contain a set of standards that can be applied to a wide range of activities related to personnel management. In order for personnel management to be effective, it is necessary:

Miscellaneous Information
- a clear and well-organized process of activity
- experienced users.

Competences can increase the effectiveness of people management activities in a company, but competencies alone do not guarantee the effectiveness of management.
The quality of a competency model has a significant impact on the ease and durability of its application. A well-designed competency model is characterized by:

clear structure
- Phraseology used in the company.

Whatever the purpose of introducing a competency model, the model itself should relate to:
- to the current and future state, which is covered by the adopted model
- to modern and perspective interests of the company.

Following these requirements will result (albeit without guarantee) in the creation of a model that is valid for all to whom the model will apply. Potential sources of inequity should also be considered when creating a competency model, and high standards of behavior should be included in the model to ensure:

Justice
- relevance
- clarity
- division by elements
- a long period of application of a particular competency model.

The structure of information competence

The competence-based approach, which replaced the knowledge approach, led to a radical restructuring of the entire system of Russian education. The task of a modern teacher is no longer reduced to the transfer of knowledge, skills and abilities, but is to form a set of key competencies among students, which, among others, include information competence. Taking into account the fact that most developed countries have long since moved from an industrial society to an information society, information competence can be safely placed at the top of the list of key competencies. However, despite the awareness of the importance of this competence, both for the individual and for society as a whole, among researchers involved in the issues of its formation and development, there is no unity regarding the content of the concept of "information competence" and its component composition.

The structure of information competence remains a topic for discussion, both among Russian and foreign researchers. Scientists note the complex, multidimensional nature of this phenomenon, which includes at least two components - cognitive and practical-active.

A comprehensive study of the structure of information competence is devoted to the works of V.V. Brezhnev, D.S. Ermakova, I.G. Sour, V.S. Trishina and A.V. Khutorsky.

So, D.S. Ermakov, summarizing the experience of domestic and foreign researchers, identifies the following elements in information competence:

• - Need-motivational, responsible for the presence of motivation and interest in the study of methods of working with information and ICT tools; contributing to the awareness of the need to work with information in order to extract knowledge, including with the help of information technology.
• - Cognitive, combining knowledge about the goals of information activity and the ability to work with information, as well as the principles of operation, capabilities and limitations of hardware and software information processing.
• - Practical activity, combining the skills and abilities of using ICT tools with the experience of creative activity.
• - Emotional-volitional, which is reflected in such personality traits as endurance, organization, determination, perseverance.
• - Value-semantic, actualized in the awareness of the personal and social significance of information and the use of ICT tools and, according to D.S. Ermakov, backbone.

A practically similar structure of information competence is proposed by S.V. Trishina and A.V. Khutorskoy. According to them, information competence includes the following components:

• - cognitive, which is a system of acquired knowledge necessary for the creative solution of professional problems;
• - activity-creative, contributing to the formation and development of students of various ways of activity necessary for self-realization in professional activities;
• - personal, reflected in the personal qualities of the subject and responsible for the needs and motives (according to the classification of D. S. Ermakov, need-motivational);
• - axiological, assisting students in determining the most significant value orientations (according to the classification of D.S. Ermakov, value-semantic).

According to E.V. Petrova, the information competence of the individual is inextricably linked with the information competence of society. Entering into close interaction, they enrich each other and mutually develop. According to E.V. Petrova information competence has the following components in its structure:

• - a set of acquired knowledge necessary for the creative solution of professional problems;
• - a set of various methods of activity necessary for self-realization in professional activity;
• - personal qualities of the subject, his needs, motivations aimed at increasing competence;
• - choice of the most significant value orientations.

Proposed by E.V. Petrova, the components of information competence are quite comparable with the components identified by D.S. Ermakov, S.V. Trishina and A.V. Khutorsky.

A slightly different structure of information competence is presented in the work of V.V. Brezhnev. He proposes to combine the motivational and value components into one - the value-motivational one, which, in his opinion, should be responsible for understanding the value of working with information, motivation to search for meaningful information, understanding the meaning of using information technology, the desire for self-education, the goal setting when working with information. information, the need to work with information, the formation of the subject position of the student, orientation in the information environment and willingness to use information resources as a source of knowledge.

In addition to the value-motivational component in the structure proposed by V.V. Brezhnev, there are also cognitive and operational-activity components that contribute to the mastery of a complex of knowledge about information processes in nature and society, provide the formation of the ability to manage educational activities, using universal methods for searching, obtaining, transforming and using information of a different nature, are responsible for creating internal information picture of the world and self-determination of personality in this world.

The last element in the structure of information competence according to the classification of V.V. Brezhnev is reflexive and communicative, responsible for self-control, a critical assessment of the results of working with information and communication in the process of information activity. This component is designed to promote the development of the student's creative activity, self-development, interpersonal interaction and the ability to work in a team.

There are no significant differences in all the above classifications of information competence. Only the structure developed by the Ukrainian researcher I.G. Sour. According to her approach, information competence is the sum of the following terms:

• - information retrieval competence;
• - information and analytical competence;
• - information and communication competence;
• - information-evaluative (reflexive) competence;
• - information and environmental competence (observance by subordinates of industrial sanitation and hygiene and cleanliness of the environment);
• - information competence of self-improvement and self-development;
• - information and operational competence;
• - information-ethical and information-legal competencies;
• - information competence of preservation (information security) of information.

From our point of view, information and environmental competence is superfluous in this list. If you look closely at the rest of the components proposed by I.G. Sour, then most of them, one way or another, have something in common with the structural elements identified by other researchers.

The last component from the list deserves special attention - competence in the field of information security. For some reason, none of the researchers, except for I.G. Kisla, did not include this element in his classification, but meanwhile it is vital for every citizen living in the information society, i.e. to each of us. “Whoever owns the information owns the world” this statement not only has not lost its meaning, but, on the contrary, has become more than relevant. A lot of works are devoted to the problems of ensuring information security (see the works of G.N. Chusavitina, E.V. Chernova, I.N. Movchan) and research seminars. Information can be used not only for good, but also for harm, becoming a weapon, a means of propaganda and recruitment, inciting religious and national-ethnic conflicts. Therefore, an important aspect of information activity is the ability to critically evaluate and filter out any information received. Anyone who does not know how to do this can become a puppet in the hands of others.

Having considered the existing approaches to determining the component composition of information competence, we can draw the following conclusions:

• - Despite the fact that a number of domestic and foreign scientists are engaged in the development and formation of information competence, there is still no single structure of the above phenomenon.
• - The existing approaches are based on different grounds, therefore, attention is focused on various components of information competence.

In our opinion, information competence is a complex system of interrelated and interdependent components, the key elements of which are:

The value-motivational component is responsible for creating the conditions necessary for overcoming internal barriers, restructuring the student's consciousness and his psychological preparation for work in the information environment. In order to arouse a student's increased interest in information technology and the need for self-education, it is necessary that he fully realize the value of information and the opportunities that modern information technology opens up for him. Only after this, it is possible to begin to form in the child an attitude to the active use of ICT in educational and professional activities.

The cognitive component is a set of theoretical knowledge about the principles of working with information: the ability to find, receive, analyze, filter, process, store, protect, transmit information.

The practical-activity component is the ability to apply all the theoretical knowledge listed above in everyday life, educational and professional activities.

The ethical and legal component is knowledge and observance of the norms, rules and laws that regulate the behavior of an individual in the information environment.

Reflective - self-assessment and self-analysis of one's actions and deeds. The ability to critically assess one's capabilities is a necessary condition for self-development and self-realization of students.

Bibliographic list

information competence education

• 1. Ermakov D.S. Information Competence: Obtaining Knowledge from Information // Open Education. M., 2011. No. 1. pp. 4-8.
• 2. Petrova E.V. Information competence in education as a guarantee of successful adaptation of a person in the information society // Information society. M., 2012. No. 2. pp. 37-43.
• 3. Kisla I. D. Approach to the formation of informational competence of the teacher of the main lighting initial pledge / Information technologies in education. 2008. No. 2.
• 4. Chusavitina G.N. Development of competencies of scientific and pedagogical staff to ensure information security in an ICT-saturated environment // In the collection: Demand and supply in the labor market and the market of educational services in the regions of Russia 2011. P. 338-345.
• 5. Chusavitina, G.N. Formation of the competence of future teachers in the field of information security // Vestnik MGOU. Series "Open Education". - M.: MGOU Publishing House, 2006. - 1 (20). pp. 92-97.
• 6. Chernova E.V. Information security: a textbook for sociology students / Magnitogorsk: Magnitogorsk publishing house. state un-ta, 2011. 118 p.
• 7. Chernova E.V. Innovative educational technologies in teaching the basics of information security // Electrotechnical systems and complexes. 2015. No. 1 (26). pp. 52-55.
• 8. Movchan I.N. Problems of training specialists in the field of information security // Open education. - 2013. - No. 5. - S. 78-80.