Principle #7 - Clearly Defining, Developing, and Demonstrating Job Competence

Do you consider yourself to be competent in your job? Do you have the knowledge and skills necessary to perform your job right the first time and every time? If your answer to these two questions is an unqualified "yes", then you can be proud that you are doing your part in making Good Manufacturing Practice a "Lifestyle" at your company.

That's right! GMP requires that everyone be competent in his/her jobs. In addition, your customers depend on your competence. When someone buys one of your products, they are putting their trust in your ability to manufacture quality products.

It is important to remember that competence takes on a different meaning for every person, depending on the jobs, duties, and responsibilities he has.  Therefore, your challenge is to clearly identify, define, develop, and demonstrate the individual job competencies that relate to your job.

This article discusses how you can meet this challenge and do your job right the first time and every time.

Identifying Your Job Competencies

Every job consists of certain "Must Knows" and "Must Dos". The "must knows" refer to the knowledge and understanding you need to perform your job and the "must dos" refer to the basic skills required by your job.

For example, every employee must know and understand the safety requirements and regulations that apply to the workplace. Every employee must, also, have the basic skills to operate their equipment in a safe manner.

There are very general "must knows" and "must dos". In order for you to properly identify your job competencies, you must be specific. Don't let your list of "must knows" and "must dos" get too long. Try to limit your "must knows" to 16 specific areas, and your list of "must dos" should be kept to under 16 basic skill requirements. Your goal is to identify and define the key competencies to your job, not the "nice to know" and "nice to do" elements of your job. So, be specific.

Defining and Developing Your Job Competencies

Once you have identified your "must knows" and "must dos" you then need to properly define each one and begin to develop your competency in each area.

For example, let's use the safety example again. Once you have identified "Safety Requirements and Regulations" to be one of your job's "must knows", you need to define what specific safety requirements and regulations apply to your job function. After you carefully define what you "must know" about safety, you are then ready to begin to develop your competency through education and training.  These are the two essential activities in competency development.

Through education, we learn about a subject so we can understand the who, what, and why. Training teaches us the when, where, and how to perform our various job responsibilities.

One of the most important things to remember as you define and develop your "must knows" and "must dos" is to be patient! No one is, or ever will be, totally competent in his/her job. Technology changes too fast and there is always room for improvement.

Demonstrating Your Job Competence

Competence is more than just going to school and graduating. A diploma, certificate or degree doesn't automatically make a person competent.   Competence is not that simple. For example, the medical degree hanging in a doctor's office does not ensure that he is a competent physician. The physician's competence must be demonstrated by successfully diagnosing and treating your medical problem.

So it is with you. You must demonstrate your job competence every day by producing quality products in a safe and efficient manner. You must take your knowledge and skills and apply them in the "real world." Then and only then can you claim to be a competent employee.

Your job competence is critical to making GMP a "lifestyle" at your company.   Good Manufacturing Practice needs competent people. Your company needs people like you - who know how to do the job right the first time and every time.