Competency Interest Factor

The Competency Interest factor compares resource competency interests against the specified competencies on a resource request. Resources can indicate their level of interest in performing work that requires the use of that competency. Each resource request can include a list of resource competencies that are important to the success of the assignment. Resource Matching uses resource interest levels for competencies to calculate Competency Interest fit scores for each resource-and-resource request combination.

Resource attitudes toward various characteristics of an assignment can range from Very desirable to Very undesirable. Resources may be motivated to work on some types of assignment, and not interested in working on other types. It may be important to consider resource preferences when deciding which resources are the best fit for resource requests. Giving resources the ability to express their preferences—and the knowledge that those preferences are not ignored—can improve the quality of the competency proficiency data associated with a resource. For example, resources with a lot of programming expertise can rate their proficiency as high. However, if they have a desire to branch out into other areas, they can rate their degree of interest in programming as low.

For each competency value, resources can select one of these five options to characterize their preference for the competency:

  • 4–Very desirable

  • 3–Desirable

  • 2–No Preference

  • 1–Undesirable

  • 0–Very undesirable

Resources with interest in a competency that is specified on a resource request are assumed to be interested in that assignment. Competency Interest factor fit score ranges from 0 to 100. The score is:

  • 100 for resources who consider the competencies Very desirable that are specified on the resource request.

  • 0 for resources who specify an interest level of Very undesirable for the competencies that are listed on the resource request.

  • 0 for resources if the competencies that are specified on the resource request do not exist on the resource profile.

Resources who assign higher interest levels on their resource profile for a competency will have higher Competency Interest factor fit scores than resources who assign lower interest levels or do not have the competency on their profiles. It is up to your organization to enforce standards regarding the definition of each preference rating.

Understanding the Relationship Between Competency Importance and Competency Interest Fit Scores

When specifying competencies on a resource request, you indicate the importance of each competency—Desired or Required—to the success of the project. This importance rating does not impact the Competency Interest factor score.

There are several reasons to assign a high importance to a requested competency. For example, if a large portion of the work to be done on the assignment involves the use of that competency, it is important that the resources have expertise in that area. Another example is if the competency is necessary to ensure the success of a high-priority task. The critical nature of the task means that it is extremely important that the resource has the requested competency, even if it won't be used often. Because it is impossible to know why a given competency has been marked as important, no assumptions are made regarding whether a resource would be more or less interested in an assignment based on the importance ratings assigned to competencies on the resource request.

The competency's importance level does not affect the calculation of the Competency Interest factor fit score.

Resource Matching evaluates resources for resource requests even if the resources do not express an interest in a Required competency.