Description of Competencies: Skills and Personality Traits of Public Servants in a Centralized Institution

Abstract

This article presents the first part of a study on the competencies of public servants within a centralized institution, based on a graduate thesis. The aim is to describe public servants’ competencies in relation to their personality traits and aptitudes, using Alles’ model and the theoretical and psychometric frameworks of Allport and Manzione. The research follows a post-positivist paradigm, employing a quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional, and nonexperimental approach. The study uses fieldwork methods and psychometric techniques, including surveys. The sample was selected using a representative, random, homogeneous, and convenience-based method. Key findings reveal that a significant percentage of public servants are familiar with legal instruments, regulations, and institutional plans. They exhibit strong competencies in verbal comprehension, reasoning, spatial and numerical skills, and scientific intellectual efficiency. Participants are sociable, emotionally stable, and exhibit a range of traits, such as being helpful, introverted, flexible, shy, confident yet occasionally distrustful, and sometimes conservative or radical. Overall, these traits were relevant to the study’s population.