Identifying Your Organization’s Core Competencies to Drive Business Growth - Core Competencies

Identifying Your Organization’s Core Competencies To Drive Business Growth

As a business owner, one thing you should ask yourself often is what exactly makes your business unique or stand out from your competitors.

Every day, the world seems to be getting smaller. Differentiation and brand recognition are also becoming more essential for any business to survive and grow. Why do you think someone will decide to purchase from you, work with you, or even invest in your organization? These are very important questions that business owners ask. However, the fact remains that differentiation remains very important and every business that wants to succeed must work toward that.

Now, how do you make your business stand out, or what makes it different from others? It is your business’s core competencies that make your organization grow and differentiates it from others.

Your business's core competencies that make your organization grow.

What Are Core Competencies?

Core competencies are the skills and knowledge that set a company apart from its competitors. They are the capabilities that make it possible for a company to provide unique value to its customers. A company’s core competencies can be divided into three categories: technical, managerial, and market-facing. Technical competencies are the skills and knowledge required to produce a company’s products or services. Managerial competencies are the skills and knowledge required to manage a company’s resources effectively. Market-facing competencies are the skills and knowledge required to understand and meet the needs of a company’s customers.

A company’s core competencies should be aligned with its strategic goals. They should be the foundation upon which the company builds its competitive advantage. A company that fails to invest in its core competencies will eventually lose its competitive edge and may be forced out of business.

When you are aware of your business’s core competencies, you can create a solid reputation for your brand, promote it and improve it by getting potential customers.

Examples of Core Competencies in Business

As you’re now familiar with core competencies, it is normal to wonder which goods or services are your core competencies. If you didn’t notice any initially, it’s okay because core competencies can also be abilities and skills. We will discuss a few real-life instances of business core competencies that are not goods and services soon. But first, let’s take a look at the list of common core competencies below:

  • Consistent high quality
  • Ceaseless creation
  • Incomparable value
  • Good customer service
  • Smart, successful marketing

For better understanding, let’s see an illustration of a leader in every of these core competencies.

Consistent High Quality

So far, Google remains the world’s number one search engine. It is also one of the most frequently used email, calendar, and cloud, storage platforms. This is because the quality of its software has been consistently high, regardless of the instrument being used. You may visit old memories with Google photos, create and edit texts with Docs, or get around swiftly with Map. The reality is, you are always going to Google for easy access, a contemporary look, and wide organization choices.

Ceaseless Creation

QuickBooks has taken over the industry of accounting software for years now. This is because it always includes new instruments and features that other platforms do not have. The company’s ceaseless creation or innovation is the essence of its competency model. It is an important reason it has been recognized as the first accounting software option for businesses of any size.

Incomparable Value

A lot of firms make use of Dropbox for fast and easy file distribution. It’s not just because it makes tasks simpler, but also because it has a very reasonable cost for its services. For abundant cloud storage, accessing files offline, design tools, and watermarking attributes, business owners pay less than $20 every month.

Great customer service

This is another form of a business core competency. Amazon is a good example of a brand with a global presence. A large part of its business success and growth comes from its excellent customer service. The company’s main goal is to ensure its customers are always satisfied with its services. This goal is why they keep coming up with innovative strategies to ensure they keep up with customer service satisfaction.

Smart, Successful Marketing

Not minding where you live, there are many departmental stores to buy all sorts of items and the competition is quite stiff. However, despite the competition, departmental stores like Target have continued to grow and expand. This growth is because of good marketing strategies and awareness of core competence, which they use to their business advantage.

Identifying the core competencies of your organization to drive your Business Growth

Now you know what core competencies are all about and some examples of core competencies. It is time to identify the core competencies of your organization using these simple steps;

5 simple steps to identify the core competencies of your organization

Step 1: Revisit the mission statement of your organization

The very first thing any organization does is to set its mission and vision statement and work towards achieving it. Now if you want to identify your business’s core competencies, then you should start with your organization’s mission statement. The mission statement gives you a clear understanding of what is important for your business and how far you want it to go. For instance, if your company is into buying and selling, your core competencies should be providing quality customer service to your customers. This will keep them coming and expand your business because the more customers you have, the more your business grows.

Core Competencies for business growth

Step 2: Know your customers’ perception

It is time to think about what your customers fancy in your company. Why do you think they chose your products over others? Do you have excellent customer service? Do you think the quality of your product is unique? If you can answer all of these questions, then you can identify the core competencies you have. If you think your product is unique, then you should continue to provide unique products with high quality because it is your competence and it will help your business grow.

Step 3: Consider your organization’s internal policies

Asides from your customers, you need to survey yourself and your employees as to what your organization’s core competencies are to see if there is a common theme. You need to think about what you believe your company does well and what sets you apart from the competitors. If you can know this, then you have successfully identified your core competence.

Step 4: Compare every competency you identified

Using the few points above, if you have been able to identify your organization’s core competence, then you need to compare them to the criteria above and if they meet the three criteria, then you need to consider them a core competence for your business growth.

Step 5: Write down the core competencies you have identified

Once you have identified the core competencies of your business and believe your business can work with them, write them down in detail. Use the core competencies you have identified as a guide when you begin to think about further developing your business.

Conclusion

Now that you have identified your business’s core competencies, use them to your advantage to strengthen your business. If your core competence lies in your unique products or marketing strategy, focus on creating quality and unique products and watch your business grow better than imaginable. However, if you still find it difficult to identify the core competency of your business or employees, Lumofy professionals can help you discover your core competencies and maintain business growth in alignment with your strategic direction. Asides from identifying your organization’s core competencies, we will also help your employees identify their core competence that will lead to the growth of your business.

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