The phenomenon of "competence": assessment of the competencies of managers: factors of preference

Background. The study of the application of the competence-based approach in the professional training of specialists in the management sphere remains an urgent issue for many researchers, psychologists, educators and teachers. We began our consideration of this problem in a first approximation in a material published in the previous issue of the journal (Tolochek, 2020). The main issue is to identify the limitations of the competence-based approach as factors of its development and the conditions under which its implementation will be more constructive and effective. It is stated that, in line with the competence-based approach, there remains unresolved issues about the number and content of the qualities of subjects that affect the effectiveness of their activities; on the competencies of subjects performing different labor functions, working in organizations; about the place of competences in the structure of professionalism, about their role in career success.

Design: expert surveys, a differentiated and level analysis of frequency matrices of assessments (choices) of competencies by experts.  

Results. The cycle of studies of competencies and the specifics of their assessment included 69 managers differing in gender, age, seniority, managerial experience, positions in different companies. It was shown that out of 29 competencies, 19 were identified in at least 40% of experts; 8 were identified in at least 66% of experts. Competencies assessed as in demand are associated with individual features, with the evolution of managers as subjects and the characteristics of their activities.

Conclusions: 1. Only part of the competencies from the initial list of competencies described by foreign specialists were identified as relevant for managers by experts (employees of Russian companies). Among the competences, there is a “core” of basic, key qualities, and several “belts” (“shells”, “levels”) - less significant (universal) competencies associated with the effective activity of a manager in different areas. 2. Assessments of competencies relevant (important, significant and / or preferred) for managers differ depending on the individual characteristics of experts (gender, age, experience, position, career success, managerial potential) and the length of the list of assessed qualities. 3. Lists of competencies in the range of 15-20 qualities can be considered optimal for solving both scientific and applied problems. The basic list of 29 competencies can be considered “sufficient and redundant”; list of up to 19-20 competencies - “sufficient and necessary”; a list of 8-10 "nuclear" competencies - "essential basic".

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