Management Competency Observational Index (M-COI

The Management Competency Observational Index (M-COI) measures current management potential as pertaining to TWELVE management competency areas:

 

 

Self-management refers to the candidates competency set enabling him/her to manage self in areas such as EQ, Values, Professionalism, Stress, Wellness, Development, and Work-Life balance.

Leadership is the ability to influence others towards goal achievement.  In the modern era various leadership constructs and approaches exist, such as, servant, authentic, and neuro leadership.  All of them still fit with the two broad leadership approaches, namely transactional and transformational.  The modern-day leader should be able to competently manoeuvre amongst situations, by selecting and applying the most productive leadership approach at that time - contingency leadership.  John Maxwell famously said that everything rises and falls with leadership.  Leadership competency is in high demand as effective leaders achieve higher engagement of the human capital component in the organisation via motivation, fairness, clarity of vision, and the like.

Operational management competencies refer to the classic management functions, such as, planning, organising, controlling, project management, and budgeting.  These competencies allow the person to effectively manage the resources of the organisation in an efficient manner, thereby increasing the return on assets and capital invested. for the shareholders and/or owners.  

Knowledge refers to the candidate's knowledge of job-related technical content & and organisational matters, e.g. strategies, culture and politics.  People with high levels of knowledge usually provide higher return on human, intellectual and knowledge capital for the organisation, as their knowledge levels allow them to operate highly efficiently. 

Thinking & problem solving refer to a very specific competency set which includes the ability to diagnose problems and get to their root causes, by applying both analytical as well as creative thinking modalities.  It also suggests competent utilisation of of team processes, as well as the abilities to formulate recommendations, calculate cost-benefit, implement and measure the effectiveness of implementation. 

Decision-making competencies include elements such as understanding one's range of authority, circle of influence, EQ, resilience, logical-rational thinking, risk analysis, and monitoring and evaluation.  Highly competent managers utilise a clear methodology to reach and execute decisions.  They also possess the necessary assertiveness and resilience to 'push through' in the face of resistance.  Their high EQ competencies allow them to work with a team, as well as to change direction, if the situation so demands/indicates. 

Communication is the information 'blood flow' of the organisation.  Managers who communicate clearly, craft their messages for their audience, listen effectively, and feed back to the team continuously, make for highly competent managers in this area.

Organisations are social environments and people are its human capital.  Managers who manage their teams of people with high levels of interpersonal competencies, such as diversity management, conflict handling, motivation, care, and the like, are usually very successful.  These organisations are inevitably characterised by engaged and productive employees, and very low levels of disciplinary issues and staff turnover. 

Steve Jobs (late CEO of Apple) maintained that teams of people make an organisation work, not committees and/or heavily layered bureaucracies.  He is of course on point here, as the synergies created by highly efficient teams of people, unlock vast potential for the organisation - think about all the innovations at companies such as Google, Amazon, and many others.  Competent team focussed managers know how to construct, enable, develop and resource their teams.  These managers are also very good at coaching and facilitating cooperation among team members.  They also do not shy away from managing team conflicts effectively, nor to reward great performances. 

Human capital refers to the skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by employees, viewed in terms of their value to an organisation.  In the modern day, managers should view their employees as valuable units of human capital, i.e. an investment on which the organisation can make a return,  versus employees simply being viewed as a cost to company.  The human capital approach leads to the application of management competencies, such as, scientific recruitment practice, learning & development, talent pipe line and talent management.  The most recent development in the field of people metrics, also becomes part of the competent human capital manager. 

Managers who possess high levels of total quality management (TQM) competencies, add continuous value to the organisation's quality and profitability margins.  Via their operational management competencies, they focus on continuous improvement, lean management, reduction of waste, and strive for zero defect products and services.  In their quest for extreme high levels of quality, they employ evidence based/empirical problem solving and decision-making principles, and measure people, processes and products continuously, in order to create optimal organisational functioning and outputs. 

The modern-day organisation finds itself operating in an increasingly VUCA environment - Volatile, Uncertain, Chaotic and Ambiguous.  Change is therefore the only constant!  It is also one of the management competency areas which is scarce in supply.  Managers who have mastered the art and science of change management, understand and apply competencies, such as, change planning, team involvement, using change champions/agents, communicate effectively, create a sense of urgency, celebrate the wins, consolidate the changes, and effectively deal with resistances.