‘I am a strong advocate of using a standard set of competencies and skills, rather than the potpourri of attributes, competencies, skills, and traits that most recruiters use today.’

Most employers don’t assess for talent, which isn’t surprising given the paucity of articles that describe how to assess for talent.

Do we really want to go back to the Competency Is King days when most executives tell us that competence is not enough for job success? The book ?First break all the rules, what the world?s greatest managers do differently? is an excellent resource on the subject of talent.

Competent applicants come in two varieties, 1 – future successful employees (they have the talent) and 2 ? future unsuccessful employees (they don?t have the talent). Assessing for talent helps hiring managers differentiate between the two types. By the way, the best candidates make the best employees about 20% of the time. Should we hire competent applicants with the talent for job success or without the talent for job success? If we don?t assess for talent, aren?t we stuck with hiring both types?

When we hire the best candidate without assessing for talent who gets blamed when the new hire fails to become a successful employee? Yes, you guessed it, the new employee.

When we hire a competent candidate with inadequate talent who gets blamed when the new hire fails to become a successful employee? Did you guess the hiring manager? If you did, you guessed correctly.

Talent assessments put the responsibility for bad hires where it belongs?on the hiring managers. That is the bad news. The good news is that hiring managers who hire for talent avoid making bad hiring decisions.