To prehistory of a competent approach in the applied psychology
The article considers the problem of revealing and evaluation of features and qualities of the subject of professional activities, influencing the process of its performance and results; in this article are discussed traditions, formed in the national and foreign industrial psychology in this area. It represents the essence of the competency building approach, in the modern psychology, the meaning of such notions as competence, competency, professionally important feature of the organizational behavior, professionally important quality and its kinds, profession, specialty, determined work, work analysis, professional psychology, psychology of professions. It describes historical analogues and predecessors of the competency approach (“Enlightment experience”, experience of scientific management, of the industrial psychotechnique and reflexology). It considers job specification (free characteristics method, O. Lipmans checklist, observation method of labor products analysis, method of mistakes analysis, records method, work method, artificial and natural deautomation method, critical incidents method, characterological method, collective discussion method, statistic method, or intergroup differences method, comparative method, experimental & psychological method) and its use in the analysis of work, labor tasks and labor subject features. The article describes the experience of studies of professions in labor psychology, achievements and problems of professions psychology in 20-30s XX century. The reference to works of predecessors of the competency building approachis useful for experts of personnel management services from the point of view of the experience, accumulated in work psychology and psychotechnique, scientific administration. The historical and scientific reflection of the offered type is useful for the normal functioning of the modern applied psychology, for the theory and practice of assessment centers, testologists, dealing with the forecasting of professional success, career consulttants and professional orientators.