Practice Exchange

Ilene Gast, Associate Editor

This column highlights innovative assessment programs of interest to assessment professionals. If you are conducting a project that would interest the ACN readers, or if you know someone who is, please let me hear from you. I can be reached by phone at (202) 305-0590, by fax at (202) 305-3664, or e-mail at IFGAST@AOL.COM.

INS Develops a Taxonomy of Technical Competencies for First-Line Supervisory Border Patrol Work.

The Research and Development (R&D) Division at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has completed a taxonomy of technical competencies required for performance of the Supervisory Border Patrol Agent (SBPA) job. This taxonomy builds on the Competency-Based model established for INS' competency-based promotional system described in previous issues of the Assessment Council News. The competency model consists of five competency domains: Technical Skills, Suitability, Thinking Skills, Leadership, and Administrative Skills. (See Figure 1 below.)

Figure 1: Changing Importance of Supervisory and Managerial Competencies

The Technical Skills domain differs from the others in important ways. Technical Skills are occupation-specific. They encompass specific knowledge and skills that individuals must apply on their jobs. For example, SBPAs must be able to apply the Immigration and Nationality Act, Border Patrol policies, and Border Patrol operating procedures. Unlike Technical Skills, the remaining four domains are considered "core competencies" because they are essential across occupations and supervisory levels. In addition, Technical Skills, although critical for first-line supervisors, become less important as an individual ascends the managerial hierarchy. In contrast, Administrative Skills are relatively unimportant in lower-level supervisory jobs and increase in importance as an individual moves through the managerial ranks. Suitability, Thinking Skills, and Leadership remain important for all levels.

Technical Skills, because of their occupation-specific nature, are not addressed by INS-wide supervisory and managerial training. A taxonomic study, conducted at the request of INS's Training Division, was performed to ensure that SBPAs had both the core supervisory competencies required by all occupations and the more specific ones required for first-line supervisory Border Patrol work. Working with INS' Training Division and the Border Patrol, R&D began the study by identifying similarities and differences between the past and present supervisory training programs. The review confirmed that the new program did not address many of the specific Border Patrol competencies. Given the importance of specific occupation-based competencies for first-line supervisors in the Border Patrol, R&D began to develop a taxonomy of technical competencies.

As a first step, R&D convened a panel of Border Patrol supervisors to identify technical competencies. This panel of subject matter experts represented the geographic variation within Border Patrol supervisory jobs. Through brainstorming, the panel members developed a list of nineteen technical competencies. The panel members rated the importance of each competency for first-line supervisory tasks identified as important in a previous job analysis. Subsequently, the list was reviewed by a second panel of SMEs. This second panel reviewed the list, expanded it to include twenty-two competencies, and then developed a description for each competency. Next, the R&D staff used the technical competencies and their descriptions to develop a draft taxonomy of technical competencies for first-line SBPA work. Finally, the taxonomy was presented to a panel of senior-level Border Patrol managers, who reviewed the list and made recommendations, which were incorporated into the final version of the taxonomy. Examples of technical competencies included in the taxonomy are: Dealing with Traumatic Incidents, Submission of Cases for Prosecution, and Alien Removal Procedures.

The resulting taxonomy was presented to the Training Division and the Border Patrol. They will use the Taxonomy jointly to develop a strategy to ensure that first-line SBPAs either possess or can acquire the technical competencies required to perform their work. In the future, INS will be developing similar Taxonomies for other occupations within its Officer Corps. Once completed, this system of taxonomies can be used to build career ladders within the various occupations and to build career lattices between them.

For more information, contact Tom Lyons at (202) 305-4884.