ABSTRACT
The innovativeness of an organisation is on the one hand acknowledged to be a manifestation of the competencies that it holds, while on the other hand it is assumed that an enterprise must work on building its own innovative potential while striving to develop. In terms of innovative activity, this potential encompasses the possibilities and innovative abilities availed of in the creation, implementation and management of innovations. One of the elements of innovative potential is that of the internal resources of the organisation, in which an indisputable and significant role is played by the employees and their competencies. The appropriate management of this type of capital provides the enterprise with the possibility of enhancing the level of competitiveness, while also facilitating the acquisition of greater innovative abilities. The changes occurring in this environment illustrate a high degree of variability, while also being unexpected and radical, thus there is the need to search for the sources of competitive advantage of innovative enterprises on the basis of the competencies that support them. The competencies of these organisations are created on the basis of the competencies of the managerial staff and the particular employees, especially on the basis of teamwork with the use of the creativity of particular people, their imagination, creative output, while also other key competencies.
The principal notion of this chapter is an attempt to indicate the competencies of employees who in the times of Industry 4.0 play a significant role in terms of building innovative firms or are sought after with regard to the prospective approach to management in the area of the human resources of these organisations. This chapter contains introductory elements of the essence of competency from the viewpoint of the employees and the organisation, while also analysing the composite elements of competencies. On the basis of the afore-mentioned deliberations in this chapter, an attempt was made to find answers to the following questions relating to which competencies are significant from the viewpoint of innovativeness, which competencies are currently sought after and shall be sought after in the future of employers.
