Competence at Work: Models for Superior Performance

by Lyle M. Spencer and Signe M. Spencer

Book Overview

Provides analysis of 650 jobs, based on 20 years of research using the McClelland/McBer job competence assessment (JCA) methodology. Includes generic job models for entrepreneurs, technical... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 047154809X
• ISBN13: 9780471548096
• Release Date: April 1993
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

You can not do without this book

I purchased this book in 1993 after I had read an obscure newspaper article that The Hay Group had tried prevent the book from being imported into Australia. My HR savvy told me that it must be good. I have used it constantly ever since. It has been my defense when arguing with Union Officials about what is and what isn't a Competency. It enhanced a propriety Recruitment System I have used in Sales Mangers coaching I have used in Sales Training programs It supports a a new and different way of designing Position Descriptions It supports a behavioral based Performance Management System It is a question I ask when interviewing aspiring HR professionals It helped my daughter obtain a number of HD's in her University course It is now 15 years since I bought the book and I am still using it Highly recommended Michael Minns Australia ++ 64 2 98991564

Essential & Exceptional

The phrase "essential reading" is a cliché, however, this is truly essential reading for anyone seeking to understand competencies. Not bed-time time reading; this is a technical book for HR professionals. Detailed and lucid (although the neophyte may prefer to start with something a little lighter, eg some emotional intelligence work by Goleman). A good index and bibliography.

Required reading to become a true competency expert

I have studied and used dozens of books on the topic of competencies, and many are useful, but this is the one I return to most often. My copy of this book is ragged, dog-eared, coffee-stained, and marked by many colored tabs for quick reference. Competence at Work changed my approach to human resources, and I actually earned some national honors and recognition for innovations in assessment and workforce planning by using it as a guide. It yields an effective understanding of competencies and how to apply them in processes such as recruiting, selection, development, performance management, succession, and workforce planning. Some insights and tools in the book are particularly valuable: Criterion sampling: Compare high performers to average performers in order to understand how each performance group achieves their different levels of success.Operant measures: Measure how people operate in the real world as opposed to how they respond to a list of multiple-choice items. It describes Behavioral Event Interviewing (BEI) as the preferred approach, but you might have to access other sources for a complete understanding of the BEI.Competency definitions and scales: These alone are worth the price of the book. Based on behaviors that are empirically related to performance in a wide variety of jobs, they provide a quick-start to comparing performance groups and developing competency models, and they provide a framework for both assessing and developing competencies in people.The principles and methods outlined in this book allow one to construct and apply competency models and human resource practices that get results. If I could have only one book on human resources, it would be this one! If I could have only three, the other two would also be by Spencer: Reengineering Human Resources and Calculating Human Resource Costs and Benefits.

An Essential Primer on Competence

Lyle Spencer has written a book that is lucid, well-organized, and a concise reference on human competence. If this was history, you would know that he had been there and had not merely interviewed those who were. This is so because his work is informed by original research. Spencer begins the presentation within a framework of competence that is criterion-referenced. The competence dictionary is organized around competency clusters that are well-defined and behaviorally anchored. But theory is not left to wrestle with the reader's experience. Spencer provides the practioner with a guide that takes the user through all steps in the conduct of a competency study. Spencer closes with a set of generic competency models that the practioner can tailor to his or her client before drawing the reader's attention to the variety of applications that study data may serve. Though a bit pricey, you can purchase it with the knowledge that it will stand up well as your single source of reference.

This book changed how I do my job as a trainer.

This book gives a comprehensive competency dictionary using behaviorally anchored rating scales for each competency. It also gives step by step guidelines on how to use the dictionary in all types of HR decision making. It is clearly written and is based on years of extensive research. Using this book eliminates the need to use expensive and dependency creating consulting services. Every HR professional should have it on their shelf. Moreover, as a training professional, if I had to choose 2 books to have on my bookshelf, I would choose this book and Performance Consulting by Dana Gaines Robinson.