Mona Kassim

Abstract


This paper is written from a practitioner’s perspective, and presents an Islamic competency framework that can be used to develop a pool of talented and pious workforce to support the Maqāid of the Sharī’ah, applicable in multiple sectors and industries. Much has been covered on the importance of using competency frameworks as a human resource management guide, especially in strategic talent management and competency development processes in organisations. They represent the critical competencies and behavioural attributes that are required for the particular job and are useful in the selection and recruitment, development and retention of a talented workforce that will drive through organisational success. The Civil Service of the Government of Negara Brunei Darussalam have also adopted this approach using their own specific frameworks that contain Islamic-based competencies and values. However, it is debatable if these models, which are heavily influenced by Western conceptualisations, are appropriate for its holistic application in Brunei Darussalam, as it does not specify ‘piety’ as a critical competency that all employees must have within the Islamic organisation. This paper reviews various competency frameworks from an Islamic and international perspective, and synthesise it into a working framework, called the taqwa-based competency framework, to highlight the importance of ‘piety’ for work productivity. This framework would be more suitable to develop a pious Muslim workforce and population to support Brunei’s transformation to become a Zikir Nation.

Keywords: Applied Ethics, Islamic Ethics, Greed, Collective Consciousness, Ideal Corrective

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