Talent is not an inherent attribute of people but a theoretical construct that must be defined by each organization, and then located and developed in people. The results achieved with his management will depend on the clarity of this definition.
A few days ago I saw the movie Moneyball (2011), based on the true story of Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics team and how he manages to overcome the critical situation that his baseball team is going through both in terms of defeats, the departure of 3 of its stars and its precarious economic situation. Advised by an economist with totally different ideas in the way he evaluates players, he focuses exclusively on the percentage of player bases with little appeal rather than signing big stars with astronomical salaries. This strategy, despite the criticism, led him to drastically come back and win 20 consecutive games in the season. The difference? His commitment and precise, particular and accurate definition of the talent in his team.
As for the workplace, talent does not have to be a generic, expensive or merely intuitive concept. Talent cannot be established exclusively by the studies or qualifications obtained by a person , nor can we value it only according to their abilities and aptitudes. As D. Goleman says, intelligence or his intellectual abilities are not enough to predict a person’s performance.
Nor can we forget that expert knowledge in a certain field will allow us to successfully solve situations in which it would be impossible without that knowledge. In the same way, ambition and commitment will allow us to face and persevere over time to overcome difficulties and achieve goals, which without that driving force would be abandoned along the way.
For this reason, we propose that the talent construct is composed of a particular combination of 3 key areas that constitute it:
Capacity: It is what the person has done, does (competencies) or is capable of doing (potential), always taking into account the necessary capabilities for a specific situation or position, whether present or potential in the future. Competencies can be assessed through critical incident interviews, situational tests, or performance evaluation. Potential can be assessed, among others, through psychotechnical, aptitude, intelligence and skills tests.
Power: It is the driving force of a person towards action. A person’s ambition and commitment to their position, company and professional career will allow them to give themselves completely to a specific goal and overcome the difficulties to achieve it. Understanding the structure of their ambition (prestige, recognition, influence, progress, balance and/or liking) plays a key role. Of course, the power must be considered according to the needs of the position. Not considering these points is one of the main reasons for the failure of talent development programs. Tools to objectively assess potency are personality tests, semi-structured interviews, 360º evaluations and performance evaluations linked to development expectations.
Alignment: This point is what we consider key and particular in each of the organizations. It corresponds to expert knowledge and its alignment with the organization, its level of adaptation to the job and the results obtained today. It also includes their personal values, their fit with the values and culture of the organization as well as their favorable expectations of the working relationship in the cut, medium and/or long term. Expert knowledge is measured through interviews and technical tests, training obtained as well as performance evaluations. As for values, it can be evaluated through semi-structured interviews or projective tests. Valuing these aspects regardless of the needs of the environment is what leads to signing what we generically call “stars”, who in many cases are expensive, contribute little to our organization, feel little committed and are difficult to retain. A specific definition of talent in our organization will lead us to incorporate, retain and develop the Talent we need, reducing salary costs, turnover, lack of commitment or low productivity.
Once we have defined the structure of these areas for the reality of our organization, we can transfer these points to a 9 box matrix, which would be as follows: Capacity is equivalent to the vertical position of Potential, Alignment corresponds to the horizontal line of performance and Power will determine the effort of the person to improve their position within the matrix. If your ambition and commitment to the business project is low, it will be difficult to achieve significant improvements, and if, on the contrary, your commitment and ambition are high, you will have a greater capacity to successfully overcome difficulties.
Felipe Angulo, Director of Psicotec Catalunya