Practical Competencies

I wrote last week about how developmental competencies are typically born from on job experience or training however, because of the specific needs of services they now ask some developmental competency questions. These next three should be very easy and I have practical, real-world examples for each.

Assertiveness is the ability to use authority confidently and to set and enforce rules appropriately. Examples people typically think of is someone that is violent or very over the top. This is not necessary, lets break this competency down. First off, don't allow yourself to get carried away with the idea of being assertive, chances are if you've ever worked a returns desk or some sort of customer relations, customer representation or in sales you've delt with a pushy person where you've had to put your foot down. I wouldn't want you to go the opposite way with this competency and not use someone that was at least being difficult but I often see people trying to think of examples where they saved the day here or had to deal with a crazed person, think of that passive agressive employee you had to discipline or the nasty customer who talked to you or a co-worker in a rude way. These are very good situations to draw from with this competency.

Initiative is demonstrating the ability to be self-motivated and self-directed in identifying and addressing important issues. A great initiative example is one that involves something you took upon yourself to do, something that is beyond your normal duties, job description and definetly something you weren't directed to do. For instance, you noticed the fire extinguisher had very low pressure, you contacted the company responsible for maintaining the fire extinguisher and asked them to recharge or replace it. Perhaps instead you simply made your boss aware of it but also checked the other fire extinguishers and fire alarms while it was on your mind. What did you make the extra effort to do?