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What is the difference between skills, knowledge, capabilities and competencies?
In the way that CompTrack treats these items, there are no differences. In the way that humans think about them, there is sometimes a lot of difference. At Terris Consulting we tend to use the terms interchangeably but we prefer the term capabilities because it is more encompassing. However, within some areas, competencies have come to mean tasks or components of a job that a person can perform to a certain standard, ie, the application skills and knowledge in a particular context. We find it is more useful to track behaviors, skills and knowledge because they change more slowly and a behavior or skill can be used to perform many different tasks. |
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What type of competencies or capabilities can be held in CompTrack?
Any. You can hold proprietary frameworks (with the owner's permission), task-type competencies such as units, elements and performance criteria, lists of equipment, software languages, behaviors (initiative, team work, etc), formal qualifications, licenses, years of experience, psychometric test results, preferences, mobility, security clearances - in general, anything that you need to describe your workforce. And they can be mixed and matched, so you can hold all of the items, even when they are very different in nature. CompTrack can store all types of attributes in a single dictionary. |
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Can dictionary items be rated?
Yes. Any competency can be rated or have a number (up to 99) stored against it. Numbers can also be used to indicate degree of expertise or years of service; to record test results or however you want to define it. When assigned to records, items in the dictionary can use different rating scales - you do not have to use the same scale for every item. Positions can also hold ranges, eg, a position may require a capability anywhere in the range of 3 - 5 in terms of level of expertise, or it may require 10 - 15 years of experience. |
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Can competencies be weighted?
Yes. CompTrack distinguishes between essential (must have), must not have, and desirable for position requirements. In addition, rating ranges can be applied. |
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Can CompTrack do 360°, / multi-rater surveys?
CompTrack can produce a single-response questionnaire from a position profile and can store one response - usually the result of discussion between an employee and his/her supervisor. To do automated 360° surveys with full response tracking, you should consider using a purpose-built software system such as Survey Manager. |
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What security levels are available?
There are seven security levels available ranging from an individual employee being able to view their own record up to full system administration. A supervisor can see all his/her subordinate employee records and the training manager can see all records but does not have reference table editing ability. Courses can be differentially accessed and this is set up in the course screen. For example, a supervisor can create a schedule for a course and register his/her employees on this course but not accredit them and yet for another course the same supervisor cannot create a schedule, but register employees and accredit them with course capabilities. |
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Can an employee see his or her own data?
Yes. The information displayed in the module is adjustable. For example, the employee can see or not see his/her performance review data. This can be offered over your intranet, for example, through an existing self-service kiosk. |
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Do you have to map the competencies of the whole workforce? Is it possible to only do part of it?
You can map and store as much or as little of your workforce that you want. Some organizations store a little bit of information about all employees; some organizations store a lot about some employees; and some store a lot about all employees. How much information you store about an employee and how many employees you hold information against will affect how you can use the information. For example, to do succession planning in CompTrack, you need to have comprehensive competency information about some positions and many, but not all, employees. |
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Is it possible to purchase an "off the shelf" generic competency dictionary for a workforce?
Yes and no. Many competencies are common to many organizations, especially key behaviors such as achievement, initiative, time management, etc, and generic skills such as writing, budgeting, making presentations, etc. These common skills and behaviors make up about 80% of most jobs and we can supply this standard dictionary. However, it is difficult to build or buy a comprehensive dictionary that will fully describe all the technical or specialist skills of your organization. ASR has built dictionaries for organizations in many different industries and we can assist in helping you build a customized dictionary very quickly. |
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Can CompTrack be used by supervisors and line managers, ie, does it require specialized HR knowledge?
CompTrack can (and should) be used by all levels of employees in an organization. It does not require specialized skills or extensive user training. |
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Can CompTrack be used for training administration only, without using its competency profiling and matching features?
Yes. Conversely, CompTrack can be used to manage competencies without using its training administration features. The two major functional areas of CompTrack have been designed to operate independently. However, CompTrack is also capable of integrating capabilities with training administration and career development. |
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Can you use CompTrack as a stand-alone system? Do you need to have a payroll or existing HR system?
Yes, you can use CompTrack as a stand-alone system. However, if you have an existing system, we can quickly build an interface that allows you to download critical information as and when you need it. |
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Can the software be accessed nationally / internationally?
Yes. |
