With the rapid pace of change facing most organisations, there is an increasing demand to select people who match the wider context of working within the organisation, such as fitting with the organisation's vision, values, culture, relationships with colleagues and customers and the physical environment such as facilities and the technology the organisation uses.

Competency based assessments and interviews are based on the premise that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour and is all about being able to not only do a job well, but also show potential to grow and develop within the business. However, competency-based recruitment isn't simply a case of substituting one list of requirements for another. It means changing the way we think about recruitment and possibly using different selection tools.

Competency based assessments are structured, with exercises and tests that relate directly to the essential criteria/competencies required for the post and research into recruitment and selection methodology suggests that structured, competency based assessments can be one of the most reliable and accurate forms of recruitment.

• Descriptions of work tasks or job outputs - a 'competence'. These competencies have their origins in the development of qualifications. For example, a definition of the concept of competence is 'the ability of a person to perform to the standards required in employment'.
• Descriptions of behaviours - a 'competency'. A competency could be described as 'an underlying characteristic of a person in that it may be a motive, a trait, a skill, an aspect of one's self-image or social role, or a body of knowledge which he or she uses.'

  In practice competency based recruitment should include a mixture of tasks, job outputs and behaviours as descriptions of competence/competency.

  When using competencies for recruitment and selection it is for the organisation to consider the full range of competencies required, including the basic requirements, to ensure that a candidate is selected who matches the competency requirements of the job.

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