Competency-Building Course Based in Spy-Training Programs Focuses on Skills Recruiters Desire in MBA Graduates

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Rooted in a Cold War spy-training program, an innovative course at the University at Buffalo School of Management is helping MBA students develop intangible skills that are the difference between being a good executive or a great executive.

UB's three-credit PACE (Personal Achievement through Competency Evaluation) course is a challenging semester-long program of self-improvement designed to identify and transform students' personal weaknesses into strengths that will help them land attractive jobs and excel in their careers.

These traits -- also called competencies -- include communication and leadership skills, team building, interpersonal and cultural sensitivity, initiative and proactivity, problem-solving and decision-making, integrity and change management.

The origins of UB's PACE course can be traced to U.S. spy-training programs of the 1940s that equipped U.S. operatives with skills believed to be crucial to their success in the field, says PACE founder Jerry M. Newman, interim dean of the UB School of Management and SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor.

According to Newman, competency training as a corporate tool was pioneered in the 1950s by AT&T, which built assessment centers to help its managers develop skills the company had identified as common to its best-performing executives.

Although many leading corporations today use competency assessment and training to develop employees' skills, the UB School of Management is the only U.S. business school to offer students a formal competency-building program, says Newman, an expert on human-resource strategies.

"We went directly to corporate recruiters and asked what skills they most desire in their employees," Newman explains. "Then we created a program designed to develop exactly those skills in our MBA students."

Enrollment in the PACE course, launched in 1998, is competitive among UB MBA students and is growing in popularity. More than 110 students applied for 40 spots in the class this fall, with admission awarded to those students most dedicated to the goals of the program and willing to undergo the intensive self-analysis required.

Students accepted into the course initially participate in a series of individual- and group-assessment exercises to determine their skill levels. From those results, each student produces an action plan for building proficiency in areas where he or she is deficient.

The action plan of second-year MBA student Alisa Brown, for example, emphasizes development of communication and leadership skills, as well as initiative and proactivity. Shortcomings in these traits, she says, affected her performance as a project manager at an architectural and engineering firm prior to enrollment in the UB MBA program.

"At meetings my ideas weren't always heard," recalls Brown, who currently is fielding job offers in operations management. "And I think I could have better motivated members of my team who weren't meeting our objectives."

Brown's action plan requires her to seek out public-speaking opportunities, take initiative in directing group assignments, encourage the contributions of others and to focus on meeting deadlines. To develop her skills, Brown has taught a technology course for Erie County Central Police Services, completed a leadership course, entered the MBA program's Case Competition and has learned to be more appreciative of her classmates' different leadership styles.

Her efforts are augmented by bi-weekly PACE seminars on topics such as multicultural sensitivity, ethics in the workplace, leadership, conflict management and public speaking.

"PACE is essentially a course about 'you' and your individual strengths and weaknesses as a manager and leader," explains Muriel Anderson, PACE coordinator and manager of student services for the School of Management's Career Resource Center. "It requires students to take a hard look at themselves and to follow diligently a measurable plan for improvement."

According to Anderson, participation in PACE is a unique selling point for students during job interviews because it shows they possess skills and qualities most prized by corporate recruiters.

Rick Steinberg, regional leader for human resources at Praxair, an industrial gases company, is impressed with the abilities of UB PACE students. The Fortune 500 company uses a similar competency-based model to cultivate its employees.

"PACE does an excellent job preparing students for the real world -- where soft skills are absolutely critical to success," Steinberg says. "These are the type of skills that can make or break a person's performance and overall effectiveness in an organization."