A GENERAL FRAMEWORK FOR A STANDARDIZED COMPETENCE ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE

The methodological rigour in the competence assessment represents a strategic choice to achieve a successful promotion of human capital. The role of personal and professional competences has been recognized in every professional areas and a huge number of studies have contributed to better understand how competence affect individual and organizational behaviour and what are the best methods to assure its effective assessment. The paper aims to propose an operative and standardized competence assessment procedure coherent with the more recognized international qualification frameworks, even if allowing customized reports. The proposed procedure is the result of the operationalization of a general framework able to offer good contextual and intra-individual adaptability. A four-step procedure has been identified. Each step or phase is structured in some specific sub-phases, which in turn are articulated into several activities, with a view to culminating in a structure coherent with the European Qualification Framework (EQF), where competence are described in terms of Knowledge, Skills, Ability and Other characteristics (KSAOs). The procedure, coherently with proposed framework, can be implemented both in the early stages of the job search, as i.e. graduate employability, or to detect highly specific competence finalized to promote individual and/or organizational performance. In this regard, the standardized competence assessment procedure appears to be a valid instrument to enhance individual potential, encourage competence-based organizational development and to promote Human Capital as organizational competitive resource. (C) 2017 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK