Identifying High Potential Diamonds

Can you spot a diamond in the rough? They exist inside every organization, but most managers fail to identify them. Meanwhile, research indicates these diamonds will never reach their potential because they are in the wrong job. Or worse still, they’re in the right job, inside your very own company, but are being mismanaged.

“If hiring managers are allowed to interview candidates who have an 80% to 90% job match, most performance and retention issues go away.”

Why are so many people in the wrong job?

- Experience and education do not a superior performer make. Yet, management bases their hiring decisions on education and experience. There is no research to support that hiring based on education or experience leads to successful job performance. If there was, then all educated and experienced people would be top performers.

- They were a perfect fit – for the job description, not the work. Hiring managers fail to understand the job. A job description does not provide a basis from which to interview and hire. Instead, the job must be defined by key accountabilities; usually not more than three to five for most jobs. Once these are identified, they provide a basis for specifying the knowledge, certifications, behavior, motivators, experience, personal skills and education required to fit the job.

- The hiring manager loved them. Hiring managers tend to hire with their heart, not their head. But they need to look for the chemistry between the person and the job, not the chemistry they feel toward the applicant.

Finding Diamonds

Finding those diamonds in the rough starts with clearly defining the job with key accountabilities. Once the job has been defined, a system to qualify and screen candidates can be established.

For more information on finding diamonds, contact Vantage for a demonstration of our benchmarking, leadership development and recruitment process.