ARCHIVED - Professional Development and Certification Program for the Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property Community: Learning Toolkit

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A Guide to the Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property Community - Core Competency Profile

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to provide you, the procurement, materiel management and real property community specialists, with a core competency profile and the tools required to assess your knowledge and skills, which will assist you in managing your ongoing learning and development requirements in the context of the Professional Development and Certification Program. The program is designed to enhance the competencies, professionalism and value-added contribution of the procurement, materiel management and real property community across government in the delivery of programs and services to Canadians and the organizations in which they are employed (see roles defined in Appendix A).

The Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property Core Competency Profile (Appendix B) defines the competencies that are common to all three functions-Procurement, Materiel Management, and Real Property-in the federal government in its transition from a transaction-based community to a more strategic, knowledge-based one. These three functions are viewed as one community because they are all involved in the life-cycle management of assets: the planning, acquiring, maintaining/using and disposing of assets. For purposes of this guide, the word "asset" refers to the management of both moveable and fixed assets, goods and services. Consequently, some of the knowledge and skills required to perform these functions are common to all three groups of specialists.

The core competency profile is a tool to help you to identify gaps in your competencies and then to determine which learning activities would best address those gaps. You can use this tool to determine the knowledge and skills you require to carry out your responsibilities, and to develop yourself to reach your potential.

The competency profile is not intended as a screening tool for staffing, classification or other human resource management processes. It is meant to help you strive for excellence as a procurement, materiel management or real property specialist, and to meet the challenges of working in today's government environment. Whether you are a new employee or an experienced one, in a regional office or at head office, you can use the Core Competency Profile to better manage your learning and development. Even though this is a voluntary process, managers and the community are encouraged to invest in their continuous learning.

Importance of Developing a Competency Profile

This initiative is in keeping with the TB Policy on Learning, Training and Development and the Framework for Competency-Based Management in the Public Service of Canada, which provides the legislative, policy and practical guidelines for using a set of competencies to manage people’s performance, including the learning they undertake, within the Public Service of Canada.

Human Resource Modernization, the government-wide initiative to renew the Public Service, also recognized the importance of identifying the competencies required for success in a changing work environment. As a result, many government departments are in the process of developing, or have developed, competency profiles for their own communities.

Because government priorities and policies are constantly evolving, one of the methods to address the gap between required and existing skills and knowledge is continuous learning and professional development. Specific areas of knowledge must be developed and/or strengthened to enable the community to meet the challenges of the government’s environment and requirements. The core competencies identified in support of the professional development and certification program provide the community with a self-directed approach to effectively manage its learning and development needs.

The recommended approach is for you, the employee, to complete your self-assessment using the Core Competency Profile. Your manager will then use the assessment tool to identify the competencies you need in order to carry out your responsibilities. Finally, your manager will assess your current competencies against that profile. Once you have completed your self-assessment, you can meet with your manager to discuss your competency development needs and goals. This way, you can jointly identify your learning requirements and prepare an individual learning plan.

If this approach is not feasible, you should still assess your competencies so you can identify the areas where you need further development and learning, and to choose from the solutions offered in the Professional Development and Certification Program.

Structure of the Core Competency Profile

Competencies Defined

"Competencies" are the knowledge, skills and attributes expressed as observable behaviours that are necessary to perform successfully in a particular business role.

A "competency profile" is a set of competencies and levels of proficiency for each competency required for achieving quality results in a specific business role.

Each competency is associated with statements regarding observable behavioural indicators that relate to progressive and cumulative degrees of complexity (basic, intermediate, advanced). These degrees do not correspond with job classification levels but rather with the complexity of the behaviours needed to meet the work objectives.

In any given context, an individual's profile will be made up of a combination of competencies with various degrees of complexity.

No one is expected to possess all of these competencies. In fact, some specialists will see that their competencies lie primarily in one category, legitimately so because they have focused on developing exceptional skills in that particular area, or that is what their job requires. Each procurement, materiel management and real property specialist's profile will be unique and will change over time as he or she learns and demonstrates new capabilities. Profiles will also differ depending on factors such as whether you work at head office or in a region, if you are in a large or a small department, or if you work in a department or an agency, or as a common service provider. Accordingly, the profile you develop is only a guide to planning your learning and development requirements.

This competency profile can also be used in combination with or to supplement other functional competency profiles developed for specific job families in your department or in the public service.

Competency Clusters

View an outline of the competency clusters and individual competencies that are contained within each cluster of the Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property Competency Profile. A complete definition for each competency is provided along with the behaviours in Appendix "B".

Methodology Used to Develop the Core Competency Profile

The core competencies were identified by a subcommittee of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Continuous Learning Working Group, which provides advice to the TBS Program Management Office in the development and implementation of the program. The committee members represented various departments and agencies in training, procurement, materiel management and real property functions. The competencies were also validated by other members of the community from various departments and agencies and from PIPSC across Canada to ensure that they reflect the knowledge, skills and attributes required to meet the challenges of modern government.

The creation of the core competency profile also involved:

• analysis of related information and other competency profiles through literature, studies and database review, models, and interviews with members of the community;
• integration of various competencies from the Middle Manager and Financial Officer Competency Profiles developed under the leadership of the Public Service Commission and the Treasury Board Secretariat.

Using the Assessment Tool

The assessment tool contains 22 competencies that are expressed as behavioural questions that cover all 4 competency clusters. The assessment tool enables you and/or your manager to determine the following:

1. The competencies required for your responsibilities.
2. Your individual competency strengths and gaps.
3. The learning solutions required to address the gaps.

As previously mentioned, this is a voluntary process. Furthermore, the self-assessment information in the Web-Based Competency Assessment Tool is designed to maintain your privacy. However, both you and your manager are strongly encouraged to use the assessment tool to determine your learning needs. While the tool is designed to support this joint process, you can complete it as an individual process. The assessment will be based on your and your manager's perceptions of the competencies required for your responsibilities, as well as on an assessment of your competencies. Therefore, a discussion with your manager would be an important step in clarifying your learning needs as they relate to your responsibilities, assignments, workload priorities, constraints, etc. Comparing the two assessments will give you a comprehensive picture of your competency status as well as of your learning and development needs.

Rating Scale

You will use the rating scale shown below to select the competencies required for your responsibilities and to assess your level of proficiency against those competencies:

• 0 – Not applicable
• 1 – None
• 2 – Low
• 3 – Medium
• 4 – High

Steps in the Assessment Process

The process to identify the competencies required for your responsibilities and to assess your level of proficiency in those competencies entails four steps:

Step 1 "Preparing a Competency Profile for Your Responsibilities"

It is important to take an inventory of all the competencies associated with your responsibilities. This ensures that the competency profile reflects all the behaviours required for you to achieve your work objectives.

If your manager has identified a competency profile for your responsibilities, review it prior to creating your own competency profile and/or completing your self-assessment.

Select all the competencies associated with your responsibilities and role in your position.

Review all the behavioural questions of each competency you have selected, and rate the ones that you need to meet your work objectives (see the Rating Scale above).

Review your resulting competency profile to see if it is accurate.

Step 2 "Assessing Your Competencies and Identifying Your Learning Gaps"

Once the competency profile for your responsibilities has been established, you can identify any variance between the competencies you need and those you possess. You will then be able to establish your learning priorities.

Rate your ability to demonstrate each behaviour.

Based on your answers, an assessment report will be generated. This will state your competency ratings, indicating your strengths and gaps. This will help prepare you for a meeting with your manager, and will help you to formulate your individual learning plan.

Step 3 "Identifying Your Learning Needs and Developing Your Individual Learning Plan"

Contact your manager to set up a counselling session, and send him or her a copy of your assessment results. If your manager has also done an assessment of your competencies, read that report before your meeting. To take full advantage of your counselling session, be prepared to play an active role in the discussion.

During the meeting with your manager, review the factors identified on your assessment printout. Ask questions to make sure you understand the rationale behind your manager's interpretation of your assessment results. If your self-assessment led you to a conclusion significantly different from that of your manager, try to find out why your opinions diverge.

You can also use the discussion to further brainstorm and discuss other opportunities to develop your competencies. What new skills or knowledge should you acquire or develop? What kinds of assignments should you seek to develop your competencies? What courses should you take? Consider these before and during your counselling session.

Be aware that not all identified gaps must be filled immediately. The following should be considered in determining where to focus your priorities for learning:

• setting priorities;
• balancing current responsibilities versus future-oriented competency gaps;
• balancing individual development versus business/organizational needs;
• budget and workload constraints.

You and your manager should set progress milestones for you and discuss your competency development opportunities. This can be the basis for your plans and achievements during the coming year.

Step 4 "Evaluating Competency Progress"

Regular monitoring and recording of your progress will draw more attention to the tangible improvements you make throughout your learning and development program, serving as both a reward and motivator.

Ongoing monitoring also allows early identification of areas that require more effort and/or time to develop than originally planned. This will allow you to modify your learning plan proactively and on a timely basis.

An annual review of your competencies and individual learning plan should be conducted to see if you have achieved your learning objectives and to identify further developmental requirements for the coming year.

Your Individual Learning Plan (ILP)

You are strongly encouraged to develop an individual learning plan (see the template in Appendix C) once you have completed the assessment of your competencies. To be useful, a learning plan should be as concrete as possible, listing achievable objectives, steps and measures to assess progress. As a result of your self-assessment and reflection, the plan will identify the areas in which you can improve. It also allows you to articulate the steps and progress measures required to achieve these objectives. This is the part you will want to discuss with and have endorsed by your manager.

You should review your learning plan periodically, taking into account your progress as well as any new needs that arise.

The Professional Development and Certification Program’s required training and Certification Courses

To help you select training that corresponds to each of the five Core Competencies areas, consult the Core Competency Learning Curriculum.

For availability and electronic registration information for the Program Courses, please refer to the following Web sites:

• Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) at http://www.myschool-monecole.gc.ca/
• Public Works and Government Service Canada (PWGSC) at the Program’s website: http://www.pwgsc.gc.ca/cgsb/certpers/tools_training/training-e.html
• General information and assistance is also available from the TBS Program Management Office at pmmrp-agmbi@tbs-sct.gc.ca.

Instructions for Using the Web-Based Core Competency Profile Tool

The "How To Use" section explains how to use the Web-Based Competency Profile Assessment Tool. Please review these instructions before you begin your assessment.

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