COMPETENCY-BASED ASSESSMENT OF IT PROFESSIONALS AS A SOFTWARE ORGANIZATION TOOL

Measuring the performance of the IT professionals is one of the most important factors in determining the success of a software organization. As a fact, several studies have been conducted in order to identify the best available solutions related to the assessment of competence in IT domain. The level of IT professionals' performance is still a debated subject despite the expansion of IT Romanian organizations and the factors that influenced its development. Extensive research has been carried out focusing on learning aspects that includes the competency-based assessment. In achieving learning based activities, the human factor is the most important in influencing the success of an IT organization. Based on existing ontology, a competency model was developed by grouping all the PM competencies into three influencing factors: methodical, personal-social and strategic-organizational. An online competency assessment tool was designed and it is going to be implemented in order to measure the professionals' performance in software organizations. The subjects of the study are going to be software developers, working in departments of IT Romanian companies. Their performance is going to be evaluated through the competency-based assessment tool. The competency assessment tool will highlight the opportunities to explore innovative methods in order to assess PM competencies. The tool is focusing in linking the knowledge, the skills, the abilities and the qualifications of the IT professionals. Its benefits are related both with the employees and with IT organization's objectives. For the employees, the assessment tool provides a feedback based on several recommendations that the responder has to achieve in order to be more competitive. For the organization, the tool will help it in achieving its goals. The current paper reveals the role of the competency-based assessment within software organizations as well as the importance of a valid and transparent assessment process, underlying its strengths and its limitations.