ASSESS TALENT
WHY IT MATTERS
An organization’s ability to propel itself forward has a direct correlation to the talent of its people. The best team, comprised of the most talented players, will always have the best chance to win. Leaders that accurately assess talent surround themselves with top performers and other strong leaders by consistently hiring the right people and placing them in the right positions. Because they have the best people, placed in situations where they can continuously succeed, they go farther and faster than everyone else. Leaders that can’t assess talent accurately will block their ability to succeed with people who aren’t qualified for their jobs, are overmatched by their work, or who provide more problems and drag on the organization than solutions and lift.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
Leaders that excel at assessing talent understand that an organization’s best chance for success comes when the right people are placed in the right jobs. They believe a person’s talent and potential can be assessed through rigorous effort. They invest more into the hiring process than just a random guess or a gut feeling. They accurately determine the skills, knowledge, attributes, and abilities that people possess, and match them to jobs where they will most likely succeed.
Leaders that excel at assessing talent implement uniform definitions, processes, and tools to assess talent across their organization. They invest in standardization. They know the risks and hazards that come from making poor hiring decisions. They know it costs less to invest in getting the right person in the right position than it costs to manage an under performer.
Leaders that assess talent are people observers. They observe their strengths and weaknesses in real work situations. They are hesitant to pass judgment on talent if they haven’t personally witnessed the individual in action. If they can’t observe a person’s performance they create scenarios in their talent assessment processes that allow for a close approximation to on-the-job performance.
Leaders that assess talent base their assessment on hard data instead of relationships, personal bias, or a singular experience. They collect as many different data points as possible to ensure the accuracy of their conclusions. They rely on past performance, the perspectives of others, and results from assessment tools to form a judgment about the talent and potential of every individual they consider for hire.
Leaders that excel at assessing talent make definitive decisions about people’s abilities. However, they believe that people’s abilities can change and grow over time. Just because someone does not measure up to the requirements of a certain job today, they are willing to consider that individual again in the future. They critically assess people’s talents at a moment in time without labeling that person for the rest of time.
Leaders that excel at assessing talent pay people the respect of sharing their assessment conclusions. They want people to succeed, even if they are not a good fit for a particular position. They share their assessment of strengths and weaknesses and give people ideas for how to improve themselves to better qualify in the future.
BELIEFS
BEST PRACTICES
SELF-REFLECTION
WORDS OF CAUTION
PSYCHOMETRIC 360 QUESTIONS
An organization’s ability to propel itself forward has a direct correlation to the talent of its people. The best team, comprised of the most talented players, will always have the best chance to win. Leaders that accurately assess talent surround themselves with top performers and other strong leaders by consistently hiring the right people and placing them in the right positions. Because they have the best people, placed in situations where they can continuously succeed, they go farther and faster than everyone else. Leaders that can’t assess talent accurately will block their ability to succeed with people who aren’t qualified for their jobs, are overmatched by their work, or who provide more problems and drag on the organization than solutions and lift.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
Leaders that excel at assessing talent understand that an organization’s best chance for success comes when the right people are placed in the right jobs. They believe a person’s talent and potential can be assessed through rigorous effort. They invest more into the hiring process than just a random guess or a gut feeling. They accurately determine the skills, knowledge, attributes, and abilities that people possess, and match them to jobs where they will most likely succeed.
Leaders that excel at assessing talent implement uniform definitions, processes, and tools to assess talent across their organization. They invest in standardization. They know the risks and hazards that come from making poor hiring decisions. They know it costs less to invest in getting the right person in the right position than it costs to manage an under performer.
Leaders that assess talent are people observers. They observe their strengths and weaknesses in real work situations. They are hesitant to pass judgment on talent if they haven’t personally witnessed the individual in action. If they can’t observe a person’s performance they create scenarios in their talent assessment processes that allow for a close approximation to on-the-job performance.
Leaders that assess talent base their assessment on hard data instead of relationships, personal bias, or a singular experience. They collect as many different data points as possible to ensure the accuracy of their conclusions. They rely on past performance, the perspectives of others, and results from assessment tools to form a judgment about the talent and potential of every individual they consider for hire.
Leaders that excel at assessing talent make definitive decisions about people’s abilities. However, they believe that people’s abilities can change and grow over time. Just because someone does not measure up to the requirements of a certain job today, they are willing to consider that individual again in the future. They critically assess people’s talents at a moment in time without labeling that person for the rest of time.
Leaders that excel at assessing talent pay people the respect of sharing their assessment conclusions. They want people to succeed, even if they are not a good fit for a particular position. They share their assessment of strengths and weaknesses and give people ideas for how to improve themselves to better qualify in the future.
BELIEFS
- When people fail, part of the blame should be placed on the manager who placed them in the wrong job to begin with.
- People can change. The result of one talent assessment at one point in time can always change with the passage of time.
- Talent assessment should be based on hard data and multiple perspectives. In hiring, gut instinct is not sufficient by itself.
- A wise leader uses industry tools and best practices that have been developed for assessing talent, not just traditional interviews.
- It is always harder and more expensive to remove a “bad hire” than it is to hire the right person to begin with.
- Talent assessment should mean more than just a few interviews. It should be as robust as you can make it.
- Talent assessment is best when it is standardized across the organization in terms of processes, definitions, and tools.
- Make sure you hire people based on their capabilities, and not on your personal biases or how much you “like” a candidate.
BEST PRACTICES
- Ignore your personal biases.
- Judge people strictly on their talent.
- Assess people’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Meet with people multiple times.
- Listen if people disagree with your assessment.
- Project how people will act in certain situations.
- Rely on real data and not just your judgment.
- Implement a systematic approach to hiring.
- Don’t be too persuaded by a person’s looks.
- Be a close observer of people’s behavior.
- Invest in assessment before it is too late.
- Allow your assessment to change over time.
- Don’t let relationships influence assessments.
- Assess everyone with equity and fairness.
- Use available industry assessments.
- Involve other people in the selection process.
- Gather as many data points as possible.
- Apply data, experience, and your gut instincts.
- Be willing to admit when you get it wrong.
- Believe that people can change.
- Know the best practices for talent assessment.
- Know the rules of good interviewing.
SELF-REFLECTION
- Do I invest in ensuring talent is accurately assessed, or have I yet to invest in accurate talent assessment?
- Do I make talent assessment processes standard across the organization, or do I allow people to do whatever they want?
- Do I recognize the costs of incorrectly assessing talent, or am I blind to how bad a “bad hire” really is?
- Do I rely on hard data to form talent conclusions, or do I make my talent assessment using soft data only?
- Do I assess people’s strengths and weaknesses in real situations, or do I form judgments without observation?
- Do I tell people the reasons behind my assessment conclusions, or do I allow them to wonder where they stand?
- Do I leave my conclusions open to change, or once I label someone does that label tend to stick forever?
- Do I consider myself an accurate assessor of talent, or do I worry about my ability to hire the right person?
WORDS OF CAUTION
- Don’t rely on data so much that you ignore your gut feeling when you are absolutely convinced of someone’s potential.
- Don’t over complicate talent assessment in situations where a simple approach would do more than meet the need.
- Don’t stick with someone longer than you should, if possible, because you won’t admit you hired the wrong person.
PSYCHOMETRIC 360 QUESTIONS
- I’m a good judge of people.
- First impressions are sometimes wrong.
- I get a good feel for what a person is like the first time we meet.
- People are like books; you shouldn’t judge them by their cover.
- Everyone has something that they are really good at doing.
- I enjoy understanding people’s differences and similarities.