Last updated Aug 23 1995 3:00pm
| Can perform this task/competency with | |
| more than acceptable speed and quality, | 6 |
| with initiative and adaptability and | |
| CAN LEAD OTHERS in performing this task | |
| Can perform this task/competency with | |
| more than acceptable speed and quality, | 5 |
| and with INITIATIVE and ADAPTABILITY | |
| to special problem situations | |
| Can perform this task/competency with | |
| without supervision and assistance | 4 |
| with MORE THAN ACCEPTABLE SPEED | | **
| AND QUALITY of work | | Originally created 1968
by Robert E Adams
| | | as the DACUM Rating Scale
| Can perform this task/competency | 3 | with input from:
| without assistance and/or supervision | | LeBlanc Sweeney Lantz Doucet
| | | West and Shaw
| Can perform this task/competency | |
| satifactorily, but requires PERIODIC | 2 |
| supervision and/or assistance | |
| | |
| Can perform this task/competency | |
| but NOT without constant supervisonC | 1 |
| some assistance. | |
| | |
| Cannot perform this task/competency | |
| satifactorily for participation | 0 |
| in a work environment | |
| | |
Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
Performance ability of each individual is measured for each skill against the 7 levels of the scale. Performance levels are recorded directly on each skill/competency in the chart form.
If there are 200 skills on the AMOD chart, each is rated using the same AMOD scale. No need to design new measures for each skill. With 200 skills, we now have 1200 measures.
The baseline in the AMOD scale is the 3 level. It is where we begin looking at the scale. Then look up or down to the other levels. Always return to the baseline as a reference.
The scale is linear. The steps build on each other. A performer cannot go to a higher level without having performed and earned a rating at the previous levels. Just because someone with a 3 in a skill finds an opportunity to teach someone else how to perform that skill, it doesn't qualify them at 6. They must first prove they perform at the 4 level, then at the 5 level, then prove they perform that skill at the 6 level.
The AMOD scale is intended only to measure competence only in individual skills. It is not an overall measure, nor can ratings be averaged in any meaningful way. When ratings are recorded, it is like a map that shows data like the elevation of landmarks.
By attaching the scale to a DACUM or AMOD description of the skills, it is instantly possible to judge and quantify the performance of someone in the occupation or in a training program. Adding the DACUM or AMOD scale makes it a competency model.
ORIGINS
The intent was to:
a) greatly shorten program development time
b) greatly reduce development costs
c) greatly increase industry input and control.
The scale was originally designed to better reflect how people are actually assessed in industry, by being observed by their supervisors or peers who are highly skilled in the same skills. They know how well others perform. The scale simply allows them to quantify that knowledge of ability to perform.
| Can perform this task/competency with | | The job foreman or
| more than acceptable speed and quality, | 6 | superintendent or
| with initiative and adaptability and | | an instructor in a
| CAN LEAD OTHERS in performing this task | | trade training program
| Can perform this task/competency with | | The Highly skilled
| more than acceptable speed and quality, | 5 | Trouble-shooter who
| and with INITIATIVE and ADAPTABILITY | | everyone turns to
| to special problem situations | | for help and advice
| Can perform this task/competency with | | The experienced well
| without supervision and assistance | 4 | skilled tradesman, the
| with MORE THAN ACCEPTABLE SPEED | | one the boss sents on
| AND QUALITY of work | | calls to fussy customers.
| | | The new, young, fully
| Can perform this task/competency | 3 | qualified journeyman
| without assistance and/or supervision | | in a traditional trade
| | |
| Can perform this task/competency | | A helper or apprentice
| satifactorily, but requires PERIODIC | 2 | always assigned to work
| supervision and/or assistance | | directly with a
| | | journeyman or foreman
| Can perform this task/competency | | A helper or apprentice
| but NOT without constant supervisonC | 1 | always assigned to work
| some assistance. | | directly under the eye of
| | | a journeyman or foreman
| Cannot perform this task/competency | | Cannot perform well
| satifactorily for participation | 0 | enough to be paid for
| in a work environment | | the performance in
| | | the trade
Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
------------
| | A typical performer in the
| 6 | occupation might have skills
| |* distributed over all the levels.
------------** Most would be aat the 3 level,
| |*** with fewer at the fourth level
| 5 |***** distributed in a bell shaped
| |******* curve. Even a good solid performer
------------**********
| |************* Even a good solid performer will
| 4 |**************** have some at the zero level, has
| |****************** never learned to perform them,
------------******************** and some at only the 1 level.
| |********************* These may be skills that are less
| 3 |********************* needed by the average performer.
| |*********************
------------******************** Average performers may have a
| |****************** few skills at the 5 and even 6
| 2 |**************** levels, those they have an
| |************* opportunity to practice and
------------********** perform to a high level
| |******* TYPICAL
| 1 |***** AVERAGE Many can happily perform
| |*** PERFORMER confidently with this profile
------------** as a valued employee, with
| |* striving to advance to upper
| 0 | level jobs and upper level
| | profiles
------------
Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
------------***
| |********** An exceptional performer's ratings
| 6 |******************* would be skewed toward the upper
| |*********************** levels.
------------************************
| |************************ This profile might represent
| 5 |************************ that of a skilled foreman or
| |*********************** supervisor, or an instructor
------------********************** in a training program for the
| |****************** occupation.
| 4 |****************
| |************* Even though considered highly
------------********** skilled, such performers can have
| |******* low ratings in some skills,
| 3 |***** EXCEPTIONAL because they are rarely mneeded
| |*** PERFORMER in the current job, or because the
------------** performer is part of a team where
| |* someone else regularly performs
| 2 | them.
| |
------------
| |
| 1 |
| |
------------
| |
| 0 |
| |
------------
Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
------------
| | This is the kind of ratings
| 6 | distribution one might find in
| | a typical entrant to a learning
------------ program.
| |
| 5 | Most learners vcome to training
| | programs wiht some skills. That
------------ is why they pursue the training.
| |
| 4 | Most beginners in computer
| | science and programming likely
------------ arrive already possessing some
| | skills in basic programming,
| 3 | learned at high school
| | or on a home computer.
------------
| | TYPICAL
| 2 |* LEARNER
| |** ON ENTRY
------------****
| |******
| 1 |**********
| |***************
------------*******************************
| |********************************
| 0 |********************************
| |********************************
------------********************************
Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
------------
| | On leaving training a learner
| 6 | will still not have a profile like
| | a typical performer.
------------
| | That comes after cosiderable
| 5 | experience on the job.
| |
------------ The learner may have a zero rating
| | TYPICAL LEARNER in some skills, those not included
| 4 | ON COMPLETING in the training program.
| |* TRAINING
------------** Learners will be able to use this
| |**** kind of profile to obtain an entry
| 3 |******* level job and do productive work.
| |**********
------------*****************
| |***************************
| 2 |*****************************
| |*****************************
------------*****************************
| |*****************************
| 1 |***************************
| |*****************
------------*************
| |*******
| 0 |***
| |*
------------
Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
If your screen seems to split the ascii text lines apart, you may have the wrong line height. All ascii diagrams and ascii art will look funny, seeming to be too tall. Many software packages, especially Windows and DOS come with the default line height for Courier 12 text set to 6 lines per inch instead of 7 or 8. Just go into your pull-down menus and select Courier 12 and change the line height and try it.
We will soon load some graphics files that show examples of DACUM charts, and display flow charts and other diagrams that explain how the system works.
In the meantime, we have some extra copies of a good example of a DACUM chart, and many copies of the same chart marked up to show minimum levels for certification. If you would like to have one to see what the chart really looks like, please send email giving your name and postal address, and I will mail a paper copy out to you right away.
Robert E Adams ac200@chebucto.ns.ca
The completed chart is a self-directed model for employees and learners to determine their current ability to perform, then begin to take self-directed action to improve their skills and illustrate they are ready for a more skilled position or a higher level of certification.
The analysis is conducted by a committee in a 3-day workshop. Once they have finished, the statements are typed and arranged for printing in AMOD chart form. usually just 2 or 3 days later. This 5-6 day process greatly compresses normal development time.
Always called DACUM, we have changed the name to AMOD to distinguish it from the many variations that have evolved. AMOD is the version initally created at Nova Scotia NewStart and nurtured for several years by Competency Systems.
Currently being developed is a process called IMOD. It can be used for roles where there are only one or two skilled performers to create the model, or where a number of skilled people can participate in an email committee led by a skilled coordinator. A partly completed IMOD model is shown here in 2 stages. The principles and statements are the same. The method of display differs.
We will attempt later to put a sample AMOD chart on these pages. It means finding a format that all who want will be able to view. In the meantime, we must rely on the little ascii diagrams to provide the visual concepts.
Please send email if you are unable to see them properly
Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
The coordinator sits facing the committee and records ALL statements, places them on the wall, and later moves them several times as directed by the committee. Members never touch the materials on the wall. The long table serves as a barrier. It is also for writing notes and for cups and glasses.
Large cards containing General Area of Competence statements are on the right near the coordinator, to frequently bring members' attention to them during the workshop.
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/()\
/ /
----------------------------------------------------\--/-
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/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
\()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/
/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
\()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/ \()/
Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
These are categories into which the members believe all of their skills will fall. They are NOT formal categories in the occupation. The members may modify them as the workshop progresses, when they recall other skills that must be fitted in.
We usually try to arrive at 7-10 GACs. Some committees will create 20 or more that the coordinator records and places on the wall. They will eventually be combined and reduced to the 7-10 GACs that will be used, before any skill definition is attempted.
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Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
Members mention skills as they come to mind, and they are written and placed on the wall in that order, beginning on the right, and progressing to the left.
The coordinator will not post statements that are not competencies or skills. They may be jotted down, but will not be posted if they are not action statements, lack an action verb, or are obviously knowledge items.
The committee is not permitted to offer competency statements that belong in other GACs. They keep working on the current GAC until the Coordinator is fairly sure they have identified all the skills.
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Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
It is very important to begin posting the skills at the right and work to the left. When skills are posted left-to-right the committee will begin sequencing the skills, and will not offer important skills they think may at the moment be out of sequence. Dominating members will reject contributions of others "because they are out of sequence".
Each GAC is completed before moving to the next. Members are not allowed to skip ahead to record statements for new GACs, although they will be allowed to add skills that were overlooked to previous GACs
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Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
Here the coordinator has chosen the 7th GAC. While the statements are being sequenced, the Coordinator places the cards evenly along the length of the wall.
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Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu
Then they are asked to scan the chart vertically, glancing up and down as they progress across the chart, looking for any skills that are obviously out of place. A few skills may be moved left or right to bring them nearer to related skills in other bands. A skill or two at the far left or right may be moved to the center. They now realize it was wrongly placed there in an earlier step. They may find two statements in different bands that really describe the same skill, so they combine them into one.
In the last stage of structuring the members are asked to quietly contemplate the chart, glance left and right and up and down to see if they can visualize a new employee coming on the job and gradually growing in the occupation over a time. A few more cards may be found out of place, and moved.
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Back to DACUM - AMOD Menu The best way is to quickly print and give draft copies to several practitioners, provide them with rating instructions, then have them self-rate their own skill levels.
Have the more senior performers go through rating interviews with each other to confirm their skills profile, or modify it. Then have the senior ones conduct rating interviews with the others. In effect this is like a small scale installation of the AMOD chart for certification, or to establish advancement in a job.
If these parties have no difficulty in using the AMOD chart as a working tool, it is deemed valid. Only rarely has it been necessary to redefine a skill or two before printing.
Then the employee begins to self-rate, marking in each skill statement the rating level that would best describe current ability to perform. The ratee thinks, "What kind of rating would my supervisor (or instructor) give for my competence in each skill?"
Next the employee sits down with the supervisor to validate the self-ratings. They sit across a table, the employee pointing out the self-ratings, while the supervisor marks confirmed ratings on a fresh copy of the chart, a Master Copy.
They may disagree. The employee may insist on a higher rating in a skill. The supervisor may mark a lower one, saying, "I am not sure of your ability to perform at that level. It is up to you to find an opportunity to show me.
Many times the employee will lower the self-rating on seeing the lower supervisor rating being marked. If unsure about a rating, the supervisor may ask detailed questions about the performance, and say, "Yes you indeed perform at that level. I wasn't aware you learned it while on another project.
At times the employee will raise the self rating, on learning from the supervisor that the skill isn't as demanding as thought, or that the performance was a lot better than thought.
An employee in a job when AMOD is just being installed. All employees self-rate. The more senior, highly skilled ones then interview each other to confirm ratings. They become the raters for all the others.
An applicant for employment. The applicant is given the chart and asked to entry rate, then is interviewed by an expert to determine the applicant's profile and how well the applicant fits the job.
An applicant for certification in an occupation. The applicant will self-rate, then be rated by an expert/peer. If/when the expert feels the applicant is qualified, the applicant and expert will meet with areview panel of senior raters to confirm the profile.
An entrant to a learning program, perhaps in a college, will self- rate, then be interviewed and formally rated by an instructor who is skilled in the occupation. Most learners bring some skills to the training program, especially learners with a lot of work experience.
Learners may be able to increase a couple of skills every day or two. They are introduced to these new skills at a rapid pace. If they know their performance has improved, they simply mark a new rating number for those skills.
Employees will more likely perform work using clusters of skills, and may less often reflect and decide to place higher ratings on the cluster of skills.
The learner who has increased self ratings will approach the instructor for confirmation. They meet briefly in the lab or over a machine, with both marking their charts if there is agreement. Instructors must keep master charts handy.
An employee will likely ask for a quick rating interview to go over a cluster of skills.
Applicants for certification will most likely increase their ratings and have them approved at longer intervals that coincide with regular monthly or quarterly meetings of the certification body.
______________________ | | | Skill/Competency | | Statement | | | | | | | | [1] | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~By convention, ENTRY RATINGS have a little diamond shape drawn around each. Here for simplicity we show them in a square bracket
The employee or learner records entry self ratings that way.
The supervisor or instructor marks the verified entry ratings in the same way on the Master Chart
______________________
| |
| Skill/Competency |
| Statement |
| |
| |
| |
| [1] (2) (3) |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
\ \3/25/95
\
3/14/95
The employee one day realizes
competence has increased, and marks
a higher rating level "2", cirles it,
and notes the date.Some time later the supervisor will be asked to approve it, and if it is agreed, the supervisor marks the same rating in a circle on the master chart.
With each perceived increase in ability to perform, a higher rating number is recorded in a circle and the date is noted nearby.
______________________ | | | Skill/Competency | | Statement | | | | | | (2.49) | | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In a global way a supervisor may average the ratings of all employees in a skill, then mark that number in the skill block.
In this case the firm may see they are reasonably covered for that skill, and concentrate training efforts elsewhere
If the average were 1.37, they might see this as a training priority, because only a few could have any skill.
______________________ | | | Skill/Competency | | Statement | | | | | | | | | | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5 14 5 3 2 1A better way is to note counts of employees at each rating level. The rating levels are marked in the skill block and the numbers performing at each level are marked below.
Here we have 30 employees. It is obvious raining must be provided for this skill, with most at the 0, 1, and 2 levels.
It is also obvious that 3 performers should not be included in training because they are highly skilled. Three people at the 3 level might need a different kind of course.
Even when all the data is analyzed in a spreadsheet or database, it is best placed back on a chart in this fashion, so a manager can glance at all skills at once and see priorities emerging.
Many other kinds of analysis can be done in this way.
______________________ | | | Skill/Competency 5 |A | Statement | | 2 |B | | | 3 |C | | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Here we might have a skill on a cooking chart. The number at A might be the minimum needed to qualify as a Chef de Cuisine. B might be the minimum needed to be a Garde Manger. C might be the level needed to be a Journeyman Cook.
In a mechanics occupation, a firm might mark similar minimums for a Lead Hand, a Bench Tech, and a Field Technician. The chart is the same, but each of the specialists may need different ratings.
A firm could mark an entry level minimum profile needed to be employed in a specific technical job. It would be given to applicants and they would be asked to self rate so they will know what is required in the job and the learning expected of them.
The applicant is given an AMOD chart, will listen to a tape telling how to rate, then proceeds to self rate in each skill on the chart.
The applicant will be introduced to a rater/coach who will first conduct an entry rating interview to verify the self ratings.
The applicant goes over all the self ratings. The rater/coach will question the performance in each skill, and if in agreement will record the same rating on a master chart.
If the performance is not deemed adequate, the rater/coach will mark a lower, more appropriate rating, and may counsel the applicant on how to go about improving the performance.
At a later date the applicant comes forward with new increased ratings.
If the rater/coach agrees with all of the ratings, and all match or exceed the minimums required for certification, the rater/ coach will recommend the applicant to the certification committee.
When next they meet, the committee rigorously interviews the applicant. They may also require the rater/coach to attend.
If they too agree the applicant is qualified, they formally forward their recommendation to the executive.
A certificate chart is prepared, showing the highest rating in each skill, and presented at a suitable association ceremony.
All in the occupation are given a copy of the chart in order to self rate.
They learn how to self-rate in a group presentation, or by following an audio tape or video presentation.
A number of respected senior performers who have self rated are invited to become the first rater/coaches. They gather, and as a group interview each other to verify the accuracy of the self ratings. One who is found wanting in a few skills will be asked to improve those skills before proceeding. The others will pitch in and coach and teach the individual through.
Those who rate very high and are respected by the executive become members of a certification committee.
All the others become rater/coaches, acting somewhat as mentors, helping others less skilled with entry rating, and guiding them to resources to improve their skills. Some rater/coaches are assigned to the applicant by the committee, Others may be approached and selected by the applicant, who wants them to help in reaching certification.
When a candidate comes forward with adequate ratings approved by a rater/coach, the applicant goes through a lengthy interview with the certification committee, who again question and verify all the skills to their satisfaction. The rater/coach may attend.
If they agree, the applicant is issued a certificate at a formal association event. If they disagree, the applicant may be asked to improve certain skills even further, then return for another interview when they are certain the applicant now qualifies.
Officers of the association serve as watchdogs, making sure procedures are followed, and by giving final approval.
Built into the certificate is the AMOD chart, marked with the highest rating the applicant was awarded in each of the skills.
The certificate can be used for many purposes:
o to take back to the firm to apply for a pay increase
o to show to prospective employers in job terviews
o to show to dubious customers or clients
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