The Art of Measuring Talent

Perfecting the art of measuring employee imprint is a singularly important business opportunity. Effective, skillful job measurement can transform an organization from mediocrity to excellence. Measurement improves performance. That's why achieving organizations are careful to measure their talent frequently and effectively. 

We need to have expectations of people. What's more important is understanding them well enough to have the right expectations. Developing understanding requires communication. 

Everyone does something well. We need to find what their something is. When we don't know, we risk putting the right people in the wrong slot. This not only reduces the employee's opportunity for growth but the organization's profit. 

Effective measurement begins with knowledge. In the future, much of it will be provided by formal profiling and evaluation. Knowing people improves understanding what they want, what brings them satisfaction, and at what speed they learn. It also positions the observer to look for glimpses of excellence, situations where they're operating comfortably within their own system of success. 

We perceive the ideal working environment as a group of people at peace and without conflict. In at least one respect, that's not ideal. Talent becomes discontented when results fall short of expectations. If the leader is fair-minded and the employee is reasonable (nobody likes arrogance or prima donnas), measurement can turn discontent into something positive for both parties. For the business, it's an opportunity to learn about expectations; for the employee, an opportunity to communicate the problem. It's a cooperative effort leading to mutual understanding. 

Too many supervisors shortchange employees, passing them off as naturally lazy, as folks wanting to get off as easily as possible. While that's true in some cases, most have enough motivation and energy to meet any reasonable expectation. That's the key. The supervisor is responsible for setting expectations. What we expect is what we get. Success doesn't happen until somebody expects it. 

Real achievement can't exist without expectation. A critical aspect of leadership is to see that expectations are in place. 

A talented person can be defined as someone having the capacity for excellent performance. However, talent is maximized only in tandem with an expectation. Expectation must be within the ability of the available talent, or we simply have a square peg in a round hole. Don Clifton, founder of Selection Research, Inc. in Lincoln, Nebraska, refers to the importance of having the right expectations. He suggests that we "shouldn't try to make a pig sing—all we'll accomplish is making ourselves mad and frustrate the hell out of the pig." 

Predictability is another requirement of effective measurement. Talented people not only want to know how they're doing but need security that expectations have purposeful continuity and predictability. This requires the presence of a predictable leader whose goals transcend periodic emotionalism or lapses in judgment. 

Predictable leaders aren't predictable by accident. In addition to having deeply-held philosophies, they enhance their predictability by working from a strategic plan that serves as an organizational guidepost. 

Our identification of talent begins during the hiring interview. One trait of the talented interviewee is spontaneous recall. The applicant who is asked challenging interview questions, and who responds adroitly, is providing a first clue that extraordinary talent may be present. 

Talent identification is also performance related. High achievement isn't an aberration. It's a predictable, recurring, consistent, and observable behavioral pattern. Appearance, punctuality, behavior toward superiors or underlings, reliability, predictability, etc. are unchanging. They are indelible patterns of life. Watch for them. 

Accept the probability that such living patterns are permanent. This will minimize our attempts to "make the pig sing." As former Oklahoma football coach, Barry Switzer, said, “When the whistle blows, the great players play." And, I would add, the poor players don't. 

Rules of Effective Measurement

There are only three, but they are the foundation upon which good measurement technique depends: 

1. Keep it understandable and objective. If the employee can't readily understand it, change it. Objectivity requires an arithmetic calculation, not an opinion or subjective estimation. 
2. Differentiate between busy-ness and productivity. It's easy for someone to look busy. That game is an art form for some. What and how much gets done is the important factor. ‍
3. Measure the work, not the worker. Emotions creep into every human relationship, but effective measurement requires that we be as unemotional as possible. The question is not how much you like the person–it's how much you like the person's work. When measuring performance, measure the work. It's counterproductive to measure the worker.