An examination of competencies in the officer corps of the United States Coast Guard

The Unites States Coast Guard has struggled to effectively apply the theoretical construct of competency modeling as a human resource and management tool, though it has been shown to be an effective instrument in a variety of both public and private sector organizations. Of note is how little competency modeling is used in the other U.S. armed forces as well. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of the use of competencies across a spectrum of human resource management functions in a military organization: specifically, the officer corps of the United States Coast Guard. The broad perspective of this study was important because previous work on competencies in the military has been limited to distinct performance areas or subject matter and because the military has a unique culture and constraints not found in other organizations.; Three research questions were used to examine the viability of large-scale competency modeling in the Coast Guard: what competencies existed among different job families in the officer corps, what relationships exist between identified competencies and performance, and how a competency-based management tool might be appropriate to lead and manage the officer corps? The study methodology was modeled after Maxwell's (1996) interactive approach for qualitative research. Through the combined use of expert panels and analysis of written textual comments taken from officer evaluation reports, the researcher identified competencies, assessed their validity, and considered their application across various human resource functions. Key results included identification of distinct competency sets found among the various officer communities and demonstration that higher performing officers displayed these competency sets in their performance more frequently than average or below performing officers.; From a positive social change perspective, the use of competency modeling was found to be feasible with the Coast Guard officer corps. Positive uses include incorporating competency modeling into the officer recruiting, performance management, succession planning, and human resource development processes. This study also provides a competency model that other military services can use to improve individual and organizational performance.