The word potential gets thrown around a lot in talent circles. But merely showing potential doesn’t necessarily lead to measurable success. Individual potential needs to be converted to performance so that teams, leaders, and organizations can thrive.
On episode 126 of The Science of Personality, cohosts Ryne Sherman, PhD, and Blake Loepp spoke with Melvyn Payne, commercial director at Advanced People Strategies, to talk about translating high potential into high performance throughout the talent lifecycle.
“Potential doesn’t count for much on its own,” Melvyn said. “For me, performance and delivery are key.”
What Is Potential?
Potential is mostly associated with capabilities. During consideration, it’s a matter of whether the candidate can do the job. After hiring, the meaning of potential is often associated with an employee’s ability to achieve bigger and better things over time. And therein lies the problem.
“One of the hardest things for most organizations is that big question about 'potential for what?'” said Melvyn.
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. You’re far less likely to achieve a fitness goal to “be healthy” without a clear definition of health. The same applies to organizations. They’re far less likely to search effectively for high potential without a clear definition of potential. And, just as with health, potential probably means something slightly different according to context.
Personality Assessment and Talent Strategy
Measurability is key to any well-planned goal. In fact, personality assessment is one of the most effective ways to evaluate the potential for high performance. According to Melvyn, personality assessment is relevant at every stage of the employee lifecycle.
Selection
The first place where potential really stands out is selection. Assessing candidates can take many forms, including résumés, interviews, skills assessments, and personality assessments. Of course, we at Hogan think personality assessment is one of the most valuable tools for hiring managers. Data from scientifically validated personality assessments promote fairness in decision-making and identify areas for development.
Onboarding
One mistake that organizations make is ignoring a candidate’s personality data after hiring. Instead, integrating development into onboarding can be extremely beneficial. “People want the Hogan assessments for the insights that they bring,” Melvyn said. “Using the insights from the selection process in the first 100 days for a new hire is important to create the right foundations.”
High-Potential Identification and Development
Melvyn observed that many organizations identify high potentials based on managers’ opinions of their teams. “Using Hogan assessments is about bringing some objectivity to the process,” he said. “It’s about removing personal bias and identifying talent against the key behaviors and skills that the organization needs.”
Once an organization has identified critical skills, personality assessment can inform development needs in high-potential cohorts. Melvyn described development as making the most of an individual’s talent for their role in the future.
The Role of Values
At Hogan, we use the Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI) to determine what drives people. Finding values alignment between individual values and organizational values requires a clear definition of potential. “Often what organizations think they need and what they’re prepared to live with is quite different,” Melvyn said. For instance, an organization that wants to maintain its status quo should select leaders who prefer structure, order, and stability. If the organization is seeking to change, leaders who value risk-taking or experimentation would be better suited.
But if an organization says it wants innovation while rewarding more conservative behavior, it can encounter a values conflict. “How we use the Hogan tools helps us give useful feedback to HR: ‘You’ve got a group of people who have the potential to do what you want, but here’s what might be getting in the way,’” Melvyn said.
A Holistic Approach to Talent Strategy
Melvyn described a client that adopted a holistic talent strategy based on personality assessment. After identifying critical skills using Hogan’s competency model, the organization assessed all leaders—from manager to executive. Once everyone across the organization was using the same language to talk about potential and performance, leaders then implemented assessment-based coaching and training programs to help people realize their potential.
Melvyn advised that identifying potential isn’t enough—converting potential to performance is key. “It’s easy to identify where strengths and gaps are. The hardest bit is focusing on the strategy to deliver it,” he said.
Listen to this conversation in full on episode 126 of The Science of Personality. Never miss an episode by following us anywhere you get podcasts. Cheers, everybody!