The ‘Competency’ Approach

Abstract

It is currently fashionable to examine individuals’ performance in terms of ‘competencies’. There is a great deal of value in such an approach, as it offers somewhat more scope than a rigid structure based simply on skills, but the expression ‘competency’ is relatively new and it is legitimate to be concerned about clarifying terminology. In particular, there is some risk of confusion between ‘competency’ and ‘competence’, and indeed some writers alternate between the two, which is not helpful. It is as well, therefore, to clarify what is to be understood by the terms and how they will be used in this work.