Competence applies to any work that directly or indirectly affects organizations’ ability to consistently deliver products and services that meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements and improve customer satisfaction. A job description is used to determine the competences required for each organizational role to achieve a job performance that will ensure expected results in line with the organization’s performance objectives. These competences can be determined for a single group or for groups of similar jobs with each other. Beware because this need is not fixed but can change over time and should therefore be reviewed periodically and not only when a new job position is implemented within the organization (i.e. when there are new job specifications, new operating instructions, new technologies, when plans are made for the adoption of new equipment, when an analysis of nonconformities, customer complaints and other issues dictates that new skills must be sought to improve the situation).

Determining necessary competence entails identifying the required results or outcomes of a job, position, task or role, the criteria or standards of performance to be achieved, the evidence required and the method for achieving them (refer to table for processes). The starting point, then, is to define the outcomes expected from a job in order to define, consistently, what makes those who perform it successful practitioners and to establish the basis for competence assessment and development.

Organizations beginning to work on this could start with a risk-based approach, determining the potential impact on product and service compliance and customer satisfaction of not applying the competence requirements in certain cases. This requires the organization to determine and map the competences needed by the person(s) whose work falls within the scope of the standard and which affects the efficiency and effectiveness of the management system, and to ensure that those individuals are competent by education, training or experience.

Establishing the necessary competencies for all job roles helps focus the minds of managers and employees on what criteria are important for achieving certain performance within a particular job role. This helps significantly during the human resource recruitment and growth processes of the organization, as well as in identifying skills mismatches and professional development opportunities for the staff coherently with individual job roles and organization’s objectives. Where there are mismatches between the competencies needed and those possessed by personnel, action should be taken to enable them to acquire the necessary competencies (see Training plan).

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