About the Author

William J. Rothwell, PhD, SPHR, is the president of Rothwell & Associates (www.rothwellandassociates.com) and professor in the Workforce Education and Development Program at the University Park campus of Penn State University. As a researcher he has been involved with the last five competency studies conducted by Association for Talent Development (ATD, formerly ASTD). In 2012 he won the association's prestigious Distinguished Contribution Award. He is author of 81 books and 250 articles in the field and had 20 years of experience in government and the private sector before becoming a college professor in 1993. Justin Arneson is a research scientist at CPP, Inc. where he plans, directs, implements, and promotes the research and development for assessment products. Prior to joining CPP, Justin served as a research scientist at HumRRO, and as Talent Insights Manager at Target. Jennifer Naughton is the Senior Director of Competencies & Credentialing at ATD. She led ATD's most recent competency model effort and also launched ATD CI's Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP(R)) certification program. She is a people systems architect with more than 20 years of experience in consulting, competency model development, and personnel selection and assessment research. She is passionate about finding innovative and progressive solutions to address human resource and training challenges in organizations. Jennifer has a Master's in Human Resource Development from GWU and is a recognized Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).