Bringing a Measurement Perspective to Talent Management

By Posted in - Talent Management on July 29th, 2011 0 Comments

I was talking to a friend recently who recommended I look at a video of a Simon Sinek presentation on the topic of The Power of Why.  It was a good recommendation and I thought the message was powerful.  Sinek talks about a sense of inspiration and driving purpose that differentiates outstanding companies from other competitors.  It has to do with answering the question, Why does this company exist?  In applying this question to OMNIview, I immediately answered, “To bring a measurement perspective to talent management technology.”  Let me explain what I mean.

Talent management technology has traditionally focused on driving efficiencies through automation.   Some examples would include making performance evaluations paperless, managing candidate flow and communications, and making multi-rater surveys paperless.  Talent profiles are created using technology but are comprised of mostly descriptive information that is not predictive of future success or useful for informing and driving talent decisions.  There is a noticeable absence of measures that matter and have been shown to be proven predictors of job performance (see our white paper, Talent Management Redefined).  These measures include:

·         Competencies – competencies provide the behavioral component of predicting success.  They also provide a blueprint for developing key behaviors associated with success in a role.

·         Experiences – experiences provide the foundation for knowing how to respond to critical challenges and situations.  They are the well that individuals draw from when faced with new or unexpected situations.

·         Traits – traits are our inherent predispositions and reflect critical characteristics that may or may not be consistent with the demands of a given role.

·         Abilities – abilities are the native or acquired tools that individuals use to achieve results, the most important abilities being mental abilities.

·         Motivations and Preferences – motivations and preferences are important determinants of job satisfaction.  It is important to have individuals who are both able and willing to perform a role.

·         Accomplishments – accomplishments provide a view of what the individual is capable of achieving.  They are important because past behavior is a good predictor of future behavior.

OMNIview not only provides the tools to gather these important measurements but leverages the information to create powerful analytics and reports.  Here are some examples of analytics:

·         Quantifying Potential – OMNIview utilizes a multi-dimensional model of potential to create a norm-based analytic (see the white paper, Unlocking the DNA of Potential for a full discussion).  This model includes raw potential (inherent predispositions and mental abilities), motivations (interest in advancement), experience (overall experience foundation) and multi-rater information (competency performance).

·         Quantifying Job/Person Match – OMNIview compares the full talent profile of an individual to a comprehensive job requirement profile to actually compute the percentage match of the individual to a specific role.  This matching analytic takes into account the relative importance of each measure for job success.  It also provides the granularity to identify specific areas of non-match that need to be addressed to improve readiness to fill the role.

·         Identifying Performance Intervention Points – Goals setting is a key component of performance management but managing goal performance effectively requires providing immediate visibility to goals that are at risk of not being met.   Using data from interim reviews and taking into account the linkages between individual goals with department and corporate goals, OMNIview quickly identifies corporate goals that are at risk.  OMNIview also provide managers with dashboards that provide immediate visual identifiers of individual goals that require additional support and or resources.

Let’s look at some examples of reports that drive evidence-based decision making:

·         How to maximize individual/group development investments – Group strengths and development needs reports show those areas that have the greatest common need for development whether experience gaps or competency gaps.  They inform developmental focus decisions.

·         How to identify top performers with advancement potential – Nine block reports show which high performing individuals also have high advancement potential and inform differential investment decisions.

·         How to deploy talent – Matching reports and talent review reports inform deployment decisions such as role assignments, successor identification or promotion decisions to ensure the right person is put in the right job at the right time, every time.

The reason why OMNIview exists is to be a game changer and help organizations move toward evidence based decision-making.   This is our passion as well as our purpose.   If you are interested in learning how OMNIview can assist you in evidence based decision-making, please call us at 877.426.6222.

Patrick Hauenstein, Ph.D.

About Patrick Hauenstein, Ph.D.

Patrick Hauenstein is the President and Chief Science Officer for OMNIview. During his free time Pat likes to cook. He is particularly fond of traditional southern cuisine. Pat is also an animal lover ...
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