Competency Mapping
Competency mapping is a process through which one assesses and determines one's strengths as an individual worker and, in some cases, as part of an organization. It generally examines two areas: emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ), and strengths of the individual in areas like team structure, leadership, and decision-making. Large organizations frequently employ some form of competency mapping to understand how to most effectively employ the competencies of workers' strengths. They may also use competency mapping to analyze the combination of strengths in different workers to produce the most effective teams and the highest quality work.
Competency mapping also requires some thought, time, and analysis, and some people simply may not want to do the work involved to sufficiently map competencies. Thus, a book like the above is often used with a human resources team, or with a job coach or talented headhunter. Competency mapping alone may not produce accurate results unless one is able to detach from the results in analyzing past successes and failures. Many studies find that people often overestimate their abilities, making self-competency mapping results dubious.
The value of competency mapping and identifying emotional strengths is that many employers now purposefully screen employees to hire people with specific competencies. They may need to hire someone who can be an effective team leader or who has demonstrated great active listening skills. Alternatively, they may need someone who enjoys taking initiative or someone who is very good at taking direction. When individuals must seek new jobs, knowing one's competencies can give one a competitive edge in the job market.