Purpose: The current research was conducted with the aim of designing the competency model of managers of the country's water resources management company.
Materials and methods: In terms of purpose, this research is fundamental-applied, and also, in terms of data type, it is mixed (qualitative-quantitative) of the exploratory type, which in the qualitative part of the data is systematic and in the quantitative part, it is descriptive-survey. The studied community in the qualitative part included academic (faculty members) and organizational (responsible for the country's water resources management company) and in the quantitative part it included all managers and experts of the country's water resources management company. The sample size in the qualitative section was 19 interviewees according to the principle of saturation and the purposeful sampling method, and in the quantitative section, 242 people were selected based on the calculation of the sample size in structural equations and stratified random sampling method. The data collection tool was semi-structured interviews in the qualitative part and a researcher-made questionnaire in the quantitative part. The validity and reliability of the instruments were measured and confirmed. The method of data analysis was theoretical coding in the qualitative part and Pearson correlation in the quantitative part, sample t-test, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling).
Findings: The findings of the qualitative section showed that the competence of the managers of the country's water resources management company includes the dimensions of cognitive-skill competence, attitudinal competence and managerial competence. Also, the factors affecting the competence of the managers of the country's water resources management company include talent management and individual characteristics. The consequences of the competence of the managers of the country's water resources management company were also announced including the components of job performance and responsibility. The mechanisms for implementing the competence of the managers of the country's water resources management company include managerial, technological and behavioral mechanisms, and the obstacles to improving the competence of the managers of the country's water resources management company include managerial, regulatory, legal and structural obstacles. The existing platforms for implementing the competence of managers of the country's water resources management company were also introduced, including environmental, social and educational platforms. The findings of the quantitative section showed that the identified factors are related to each other; Also, the existing status of the factors identified in the model was slightly higher than the average.
Conclusion: Finally, based on the identified factors, a model was designed for the competence of managers of the country's water resources management company, which had a good credibility.