DETERMINANTS OF COLLECTIVE COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

ABSTRACTThis article aims to identify the critical factors for the development of collective competences of the public servants in the human resource management area from Universidade Federal of Campina Grande (UFCG). To provide a theoretically understanding the phenomenon, we held a review of the literature on the concept, process, and individual and organizational factors associated with the development of collective competences. The study, qualitative in nature, was carried out with managers and servers of the Department of Human Resources Management (DHRM) from UFCG, through the realization of interviews and focal groups. The analysis of the results allowed the identification of eight determinants of collective competences development. Some factors identified represent limitations to competence development in the collective level and others facilitate this process. The absence of team unity is a limiting factor in the development of collective competence due to the fragmentation of activities and the lack of integration between the coordinators. From the results of the study, the research brings a theoretical and practical contribution to the public sector context. In relation to theoretical contribution, the study brings together the main approaches on the subject that oriented the proposed categorization in the results, enabling a broader analysis of the conceptual aspects and allowing for a critical evaluation of the dissemination of the National Policy of Personal Development. As a practical contribution, the study presents elements that can support a management project by competences in the social context of the research, as well as in other public institutions. Both the barriers identified and the determining factors of the collective competences, as described in this paper, can be useful in planning the deployment of a management system by competences, not only focusing on the individual, but also worried about the collective environment. Although the study has been carried out in a specific context (DHRM), of a specific university (UFCG), we believe that the results of this research can also characterize other institutional contexts, in relation to historical, cultural and social trajectory that is marked by legal provisions which guide strategic and operational decisions of human resource management in Federal Institutions of Higher Education (FIHE).