What does the 'competency' in competency-based recruitment mean?
Competency, (plural competencies) refers to a cluster of personal attributes relating to excellence in a specific activity. Competencies are made up of personality, ability, knowledge and experience as well as interest and motivation.

It sounds obvious that recruitment should be based on these factors. But all too often companies can’t find the right candidate. Or worse, they find the right candidate only to discover later that it wasn’t the right candidate after all. So how does recruiting against competencies make the difference?

What is the aim of competency-based recruitment?
Competency-based recruitment is about understanding exactly what is needed for the job in question. Next, defining a process that identifies exactly those competencies critical for job success. In terms of personality, ability, knowledge and cultural fit. Or more simply put, creating a clear distinction between personality traits (prefers to do), motivation (wants to do) and cognitive abilities (is able to do) - and recruiting on the basis of this information.

Of these, personality is typically underrated when predicting competencies and job success. As Jack Welsh, former CEO of General Electric so succinctly put it: “Too often we hire for skills and then fire for personality. I can teach skills; I want attitude.”

The advantages of competency-based recruitment
Competency-based recruitment is efficient and effective and therefore economical. The cut-e consultants can advise you on how to optimise your recruitment process. The cut-e tests and questionnaires have been tried, tested and proven to give the information critical to making better hiring decisions.