In the exciting world of human resources, there are several topics that arouse special interest on the part of professionals. Without a doubt, one of the most demanded is the evaluation of talent and its critical aspects that we must consider to achieve a success assessment.
From Psicotec today we want to shed a little light on this matter and therefore, nothing better than to start at the beginning.
First of all… What do we mean by talent assessment?
Assessing talent means understanding the people in our company as individuals and in the context of their roles, responsibilities, and potential. A talent assessment can help us to assess their strengths, their areas for improvement, to discover hidden talents in our organisation, training gaps that we must raise or even to shape ambitious succession plans that mark our future horizon.
As we can see, its purpose can be multiple. Everything will depend on the object that motivates our evaluation in the first place. Depending on this, we can differentiate two main types of assessment:
- Developmental: It seeks to analyze the levels of certain competencies in a group of collaborators or individuals. Its purpose is to detect possible gaps and then propose different training itineraries that allow the development of the participants.
- Management: Similar to the previous one, but focused on team management positions. In this typology, leadership, communication, project management and similar skills become more relevant.
On the other hand, depending on the number of participants, and depending on the context that motivates the implementation of the assessment, we can also differentiate between group or individual assessment.
Based on this preliminary reflection, there are three aspects to which we must pay special attention and that will condition the success or otherwise of our assessment processes from the outset: the rigor of the methodology, the personal interview and the feedback.
Quality, rigour and methodology.
An evaluation process without an optimal methodological substrate would be of little use. Psicotec’s commitment to rigor in the evaluation of People has always been one of our main characteristic features and that is why in 2013 we became the first Spanish-speaking human resources consulting firm to obtain the ISO 10667 certification that guarantees quality in the processes of evaluation of people. groups and organizations.
Any approach that does not start from a rigorous methodology, an in-depth analysis of the type profile and the competencies to be assessed, as well as a fixed assessment scale, will easily fall into bias, something that we must avoid at all costs.
Whatever the assessment format we use, whether face-to-face or online, when carrying it out, the quality of the information must be our maxim.
The interview.
On the other hand, although it may seem obvious, any pool of tests that we decide to include in an assessment or development center must always incorporate a personal interview. This interview will help us to confirm those perceptions that we have collected and to delve into all those aspects that we need to be able to evaluate the candidacy in depth.
As for the interview, based on all our experience since 1985, we always recommend that you combine two aspects: the competency-based interview and the values-based interview.
While a good competency-based interview will allow us to know what the strengths of the people evaluated are, the values-based interview will help us to analyse which values are most important to them.
The information resulting from the combination of both will be especially valuable since we will not limit ourselves to checking if people have a series of knowledge and experience, but we will be able to discover if they fit at the level of competence with the profiles we need and, perhaps most importantly, if at the level of values there can be a lasting match between person and organization.
Whatever company we are in, what truly makes it unique are the people who are part of it and who bring diverse experiences and perspectives. Fitting in that diversity through shared values is today not only an aspiration, but a necessity.
El Feedback.
And finally, something that we must never forget is the importance of providing feedback.
Even if it is for an evaluation aimed at drawing up internal training plans, all people who face an evaluation process feel that they are being measured and judged and this situation generates a certain dose of anxiety.
To turn it around and turn it into an opportunity to link our employees, the best tool is feedback. If we dedicate a small space of time to explaining the results of the evaluation, highlighting their strengths and providing guidance on how to work on their areas of improvement, we will be doing a lot for the development of the person and the relationship between person and organization.
Never underestimate the power of feedback, which even in an external talent selection process can leave a mark that turns a discarded candidate into a potential brand ambassador. Do we want to miss the opportunity?
As we can see, the assessment is a powerful tool that crosses almost all the functions that we find within an HR department. Despite its importance, sometimes the lack of time leads us to incur small and large defects of form and substance that can jeopardize its quality and effectiveness. Therefore, when the workload increases, one of the best options for professionals in the sector is to turn to an evaluation expert. If that’s your situation, don’t hesitate. At Psicotec we will be happy to help you.