Good workplace competency consists of a careful blend of unique elements. Just like the perfectly balanced petrochemical compound, getting the mix right is crucial – one wrong ingredient and things can quickly turn volatile.
The Process Safety Leadership Group (PSLG) says workplace competency is a combination of “practical and thinking skills, experience and knowledge”.
While this is an excellent reference to the ‘ability’ of workers to perform tasks, two key compounds are missing from the mix.
The secret ingredients
‘Understanding’ and ‘attitude’ draw a clear line in the sand between good and bad workplace competency.
This may seem simple. But worker behaviour is always the driving force behind the application of “practical and thinking skills, experience and knowledge”.
Let’s pull these elements under the microscope:
| Skill = comprises practical and mental aptitude to carry out the task at hand, to a recognised standard, on an unwavering basis. | |
| Experience = develops over time as we become familiar with processes and tasks. Be careful, though. If good practice can be embedded into your daily work routine, bad habits may also creep in. Luckily, habits can be broken. | |
| Knowledge = the ability to undertake specific tasks, in the right order, with the correct resources. It can be derived through classroom-based and onsite training as well as continuous development within the workplace. | |
| Understanding = a deeper aspect of knowledge. It represents individual awareness of the consequences of the actions you take, be those good or bad. | |
| Attitude = Attitude plays a huge role in the delivery of safe process operations. It is influenced by a variety of factors including personal aspects of our lives that may affect concentration and the impact of others on your work performance. |
Stirring the competency melting pot
‘Skill’, ‘experience’ and ‘knowledge’ are key attributes in the competency melting pot. We must always remember, though, that any competence regime relies on worker performance being consistent at all times – this is underpinned by ‘understanding’ and ‘attitude’.
Good workplace competency is not just about a one off review, observation or audit. It lays the foundations on which safer performance is built and embedded in an organisation, its culture, workers and business. That’s why we have to get it right.
By integrating this formula into training courses and competency assessment programmes, we can provide industry with the assurance that delegates achieve the highest standards.
