Competency Builder™

One of the main challenges for any organization is to get the right knowledge to the right people. Static libraries typically deliver the same books to all individuals in an organization, be they executives or junior salespeople, marketers or finance staffers,Total Quality Management (TQM) project members or strategy team members.

Clearly, different groups of people need different sets of knowledge that reflect their levels in the organization and their job responsibilities. And their knowledge needs can change year to year, even month to month. Knowledge is dynamic and context-sensitive.

The Chief Learning Officer needs to be empowered with tools that enable him or her to respond to myriad organizational-learning opportunities.

With getAbstract's advanced Competency Builder™, Learning Officers can quickly and easily create Competency Reading Lists in a matter of minutes. So now when a special off-site is being held, you can have a reading list available for the team right away. And when the CEO decides to focus on customer service, you can propose a Competency List immediately.

getAbstract Competency Lists™ are bookshelves or reading lists that can be tailored to fit a company’s specific needs: You can coin reading lists to target specific subject areas or to enhance learning for different employee populations. You can also create "Book of the Week" miniportals on your LMS. These lists can be dynamically configured to automatically change on specific dates, so that you will always feature fresh, interesting content on your website without labor-intensive manual intervention.

Also, these Competency Lists can be served up via one of getAbstract's Advanced Delivery™ options, directly to your browser – either as PDF downloads, RSS feeds or podcasts. They are available where, when and how you want them.

Competency Lists™ in action

The Board of Directors has asked the CEO how the company is developing its management talent. It would like to see a plan for all levels of the organization: executive, business unit managers, managers of managers and new managers.

A list of key skills, or competencies, is developed for the various management levels. Then, using getAbstract's Competency Builder™, a set of Competency Lists is created for each management level.

For international companies, one topic of concern, given global changes, is how to manage more effectively in four culturally diverse regions: the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Hence, the Competency List for managers may include the topic Managing Across Cultures. The book summaries that follow show the selected titles for Managing Across Cultures, along with their corresponding getAbstract ratings.

Different companies require different competencies; the Competency Builder™ tool allows you to address the individual needs of your enterprise.