COMPETENCES – ARE THEY USEFUL TO TRAINERS?

Describes one area of the Custom & Excise organization and its introduction of a competency‐based approach for its staff. Looks at the problems involved in trying to use competences where the highly‐trained staff show an adverse reaction to it. Ultimately, because of this, it was adandoned for a more flexible personal development plan (PDP). This is now running successfully and the staff voluntarily involve themselves in the scheme as it would appear more relevant to them than the competence model. Trainers must conclude that flexibility is the key when using training methods for staff.