Difference Between Competence and Competency

It becomes confusing when we want to know the difference between “competence” and “competency”, many questions arise when answering this question. Are these terms used interchangeably in organizational context or do they really hold different meaning?. I found an article named “Competence, competency and competencies: performance assessment in organizations” in which the authors wanted to tackle this issue and try to discover the difference between both terms.

Burgoyne (1989) states that “competence” can be defined as “the ability and willingness to perform a task.” (Burgoyne as cited in Moore, Cheng and Dainty 2002) the authors suggested that this definition posses the added element of willingness rather than the ability to do. Furthermore, Hayes (1979) perceived “competence” as being more than just a blend of ability and willingness and “defined it in terms of a number of possibilities; generic knowledge, motive, trait, social role, or skill of a person.” (Hayes, as cited in Moore, Cheng and Dainty 2002) Boyatzis (1982) defines “competence” as “an underlying characteristic of a person which results in effective and/or superior performance in a job.” (Boyatzis, as cited in Moore, Cheng and Dainty 2002) this definition from my own point of view demonstrates that an individual competence should be applied to their skills and abilities in order to effectively perform a work task. Moreover, Woodruff (1991) suggests that the term competency is being used to refer to two factors: “.... (1) The proven ability to perform a job competently (i.e. standards required in employment); and (2) the sets of behaviour the person must display in order to perform the tasks and functions of job with competence.” (Woodruff as cited in as cited in Moore, Cheng and Dainty 2002)

Based on Woodruff (1991) suggestions, Moore, Cheng and Dainty (2002) stated that in the first meaning competence can be used to refer to areas of work at which the person is competent or in other words...