Shivaji Mohinta
Last month one of my friends returned to Bhubaneswar from UK after spending two years there. He was looking for the same driver who had worked for him earlier. The reason: He was confident about his abilities to drive a super luxury sedan. He felt comfortable and stress-free in the back seat.
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In our everyday life, we often go back to the same barber, the same tailor or doctors, lawyers and even AC mechanics. In the corporate world, too, we have seen a rise in the number of rehiring of old employees, which is also called “boomerang hiring” owing to their competencies in making a bigger impact to the success of the organisation. The natural tendency to go back to the same person for their services or skills comes from the confidence the employer has on their competencies.
Competence is the ability to perform one’s job efficiently and effectively to the satisfaction of the buyer of the goods or services
Competence is the ability to perform one’s job efficiently and effectively to the satisfaction of the buyer of the goods or services. Although there are several definitions to this term, the simple and acceptable one is that competency is an amalgamation of practical and theoretical knowledge, skills, attitude, behaviour and values that help an individual perform a specific role to the highest standards
It is a common cliché that we come across, especially in the business world, that “no one is indispensable”. But we often miss competent individuals and their unique abilities when we view the outcome holistically. We see gaps when we shift the paradigm.
Competency is the vital quality an individual brings to the table in today’s VUCA hyper-competitive world.
Indra Nooyi, the former chairman and ceo of PepsiCo says one needs to possess ‘5C’s’ to be successful and ranks competence on the top. The others are courage and confidence, communication, consistency and compass of integrity.
She narrates an interesting anecdote when she was the head of corporate strategy in PepsiCo.
When she joined PepsiCo in 1994, her two daughters were about 8 years old and one was just 9 months old. “I was in the middle of this large-scale transformation of the company between 1994 and 2000, working 24×7,” she said, adding that she decided that after 5pm, her kids were allowed to come to her office to be with her, play and sleep in the office. “That’s the price of having me work at PepsiCo, because, if I couldn’t go home and take care of the kids, my office was going to become the place where they will hang out,” she said at the 2019 Women at the World Summit in New York, recently.
When asked if her bosses were okay with this arrangement, Nooyi said, “Did they have a choice. If you want me, that’s the price of having me.” She went on to make a very powerful statement: “It comes down to, if you establish a niche for yourself that you are competent and make yourself indispensable based on competence, what can they do without you? If they didn’t want me because they didn’t want kids running around, then get somebody else, get a guy who couldn’t do the job as well.” This is the essence of competence, explained by the woman who spent 24 years at PepsiCo, of which the last 12 years were as CEO of the multinational giant.
Competency can be developed through learning, practice and experience, combined with passion and perseverance. In short, competency is made up of 3 facets abbreviated as ASK – Abilities, Skills and Knowledge.
Be a master of your craft with a high degree of competence so that you are always sought-after. After all, competence is the only currency that can keep one relevant and sustainable in the days of AI, ML, Robotics and other technological advancements.
Not the least, this can definitely make you indispensable.
The writer is a certified business coach & can be reached at [email protected].
