If you’ve ever been in a position where you had to assess someone’s skills, you know there’s a big difference between competence and competency. Competence is simply having the skill set to do the job, while competency is being able to execute that skill set effectively. In order to be competent, you need only have the ability to do something. To be competent, you also need to demonstrate that ability through your actions. Many people are technically competent but lack the competency necessary to be successful in their field.
What is Competence?
- Competence is the ability to do something successfully or effectively. It is typically used in relation to skills and knowledge. For example, someone who is competent in math is able to solve mathematical problems effectively. Competence can also refer to traits or qualities that enable someone to do something successfully.
- For instance, a competent leader is someone who is able to inspire and guide others effectively. Competence is generally seen as a positive quality, and it is often viewed as an important ingredient for success.
- While some people are naturally more competent than others, it is also possible to develop competence through practice and experience. Ultimately, competence is about having the ability to get things done and achieving desired results.
What is Competency?
- Competency is the combination of skills, knowledge, experience and behaviors that allow an individual to carry out a task effectively. In other words, it is the ability to produce desired results consistently, to a specified standard.
- Competencies are not just about being able to do something, but about being able to do it well, time after time. This is why competency-based assessment is such an important tool in the workplace – it can identify not only whether someone has the required skills and knowledge to do a job, but also whether they have the required level of expertise.
- By assessing competencies, employers can be sure that they are hiring people who have the potential to be high performers in their roles. Competency-based assessment can also be used to benchmark the performance of individual employees and identify training and development needs. In short, competency is a critical factor in ensuring that people are able to do their jobs effectively and contribute to organizational success.
Difference between Competence and Competency
Competence and Competency are two words that are often confused in terms of their meaning and usage. Though both these words denote capability, there is a distinct difference between the two.
- Competence refers to the ability of an individual to do a particular job or task. Competency, on the other hand, denotes a cluster of related abilities, knowledge, and skills required to perform a certain job.
- In other words, competence is the ability to do something while competency is the range of skills required to do something. For example, the competence of a candidate for the post of manager would be judged by his ability to lead and motivate his team while his competency would be judged by his ability to communicate effectively, handle customer complaints etc.
- Thus it can be seen that though both these terms are related to each other, they differ in their meaning and usage. To sum up, competence is an individual’s capability to do something while competency is a cluster of abilities required to carry out a particular task effectively. Competence refers to skill while competency refers to behavior.
Conclusion
Competence is what you know and competency is how well you can do something with that knowledge. When it comes to being competent in digital marketing, there are a few key things to remember. First, competence requires continual learning. You’re never done learning in this industry; new trends, technologies, and changes happen all the time. Second, be open to change. What works today may not work tomorrow so always be testing and tweaking your campaigns. Third, practice makes perfect. The more you do something, the better you’ll get at it so start small and scale up over time. Finally, focus on the customer experience.
