Assessment of HR competencies in housing and communal utility services taking into account consumer perception

Abstract

There is the obvious scarcity of theoretical and practical research on human resources competencies assessment and, in particular, on establishing the specific competencies of employees that affect the speed and efficiency of providing services in the sphere of housing and communal utilities. The study aims to identify specific competencies of employees that have impact on delivery of value added services and customer satisfaction. The research methodology is based on an extended interpretation of Feingold's list of competencies in relation to the housing and communal utility sector. The survey conducted helps reveal the specific competencies of human resources that exert a significant impact on the speed and efficiency of providing services in this sphere. The questionnaires were processed using the SPSS software package. The analysis of descriptive statistics allows us to calculate the mean value of the respondents' answers and to determine the most significant competencies. The experience of Serbia indicates that employees of the housing and utilities sector pay special attention to tariff policy, service quality, availability of useful information and open communication with consumers. This helps identify and prioritize staff competencies in the field of problem solving, flexibility, communication, efficiency, use of ICT, adaptive learning, etc. The avenue for future research is the examination of the ways to develop employees' competencies within organizations for providing housing and communal utility services.