Skills MappingOnce the key behaviors in a job have been identified, they become the basis of the criteria to be predicted. This helps structure the assessment tools subsequently used in the assessment center, i.e. directly linked to the skills demonstrated to determine effective job performance. Almost always, the job holders themselves are at the heart of the process, but this can often involve peers, subordinates, superiors or even clients. Involving senior management in particular can often pay dividends in terms of commitment and promoting a sense of ownership, which ties in with the points made in the first module regarding ensuring senior management buy-in to the project.Key ThemesThe elements involved in obtaining senior management commitment during the competency derivation process include:• Involvement of managers in the design of the competency framework.• Familiarization with the competencies and the behavioral assessment process.• Applying the framework to solve pressing business/organizational issues.• Reviewing the competency framework on a regular basis as the business strategy develops. The benefits of an organization-specific competency model include: • Specifying a visible set of agreed standards. • It can serve as a model for improving all aspects of recruitment and development. .• It specifies what selectors should assess in candidates.• It provides the basis for the design of the assessment center.• It removes subjectivity from assessment and performance review.• It facilitates assessment of validity, reliability, fairness and cost benefits. .• It gives a sense of ownership of the list of skills.• It describes the skills in language that is relevant to the organization. There are, however, some disadvantages to having an organization-specific list of skills: • Developing the list can be time consuming. • Skills still need to be weighted according to their importance. • It lacks the research basis of many generic models. Although it is important to be clear about the distinction between specific behavioral skills and areas of competence, it must be remembered that skills are only descriptions of behavior and if a skill is too general then it may be impossible to accurately assess the specific behavioral skills involved. It is generally better to work at a more detailed level when designing the job analysis, which will allow related skills to be organized into groups under a common heading later, than to design the job analysis to work at this level from the start and find it later. that the skills are too general to be of any use.