The Competency Architecture as Error Limiting Element and Efficiency Enhancer in Business Processes

Currently the environment surrounding organizations forces them to constantly change themselves, in order to allow them to keep competitiveness, effectiveness and to adapt to new markets.The introduction of competencies in human resources management is one of the changes that organizations are making, with the purpose of picking the most competent workers for each position in the organization.The competency architecture allows the introduction of the term competency in the organization culture and sets the way how competencies should be managed and how organizational positions must be filled according to demanded competencies for that position and the workers competencies.Currently, in the Portuguese Air Force, human resource management is done according with the rank, specialty and qualifications. As for structure, the organization is not fully prepared for competency management.This paper presents an ongoing study on the introduction of competencies in human resources management in the Portuguese Air Force, through the application of a competency architecture, in order to minimize error occurrence and enhance efficiency in business processes. A model of a competency architecture is developed to introduce, define and organize competencies in the organization, manage personnel competencies and select the right worker for each position.