EXPLORING HUMAN RESOUCE POTENTIAL
G. Ravishankar
Article opens:
Have you ever wondered how the potential
of people remains dormant? Is it possible to utilise their skills? Can we combine will to work with skill?
Great managers start by helping each individual measure and identify their talent (T). The best managers, and the best organizations, recognize the value of skills, knowledge, and experience, but understand that talent is the key to
performance. These managers and organizations seek talent first, and use psychometrically sound structured interviews to identify it.
The use of these instruments adds to the success rate of the individual and the company. A meta-analysis of Gallup's structured interviews reveals an improvement in the prediction of job performance of 40% over random selection. This confirms that individuals who have the talent for a particular role are likely to outperform those who lack the talent needed for a role. Great managers help their
employees achieve world-class performance by maximizing their talent.
Second, great managers care how people feel about their work . Therefore, they engage the passion or the hearts of their employees. Employees give more of themselves when they care about the people they work with and the manager they work for. The best managers create a workplace culture in which employees develop relationships that allow and encourage them to use their talents more often.
Many workplaces are war zones, where employees constantly protect and defend their turf. The best managers set up an environment in which employees feel safe about using their talents to help one another. In this environment, employees depend upon and celebrate the talents they each possess. Great managers add relationship (R) to talent, because they know that our talent develops through our relationships with other people.
Third, great managers identify what an individual does best, then assign that specific task to them . That is, they involve the "hands" of employees -- what they do well naturally -- to accomplish outcomes. And they set expectations (E) that encourage employees to succeed.
These managers know that employees respond with world-class performance when given opportunity and freedom to accomplish tasks in their own unique fashion. Great managers add expectation to talent and relationship. They do this because they know that employees who get to do what they do best every day, with people whom they care about, are likely to exceed expectations.
Fourth, great managers reinforce the right behavior through recognition and reward . The best managers are always on the lookout for opportunities to recognize and reward (R&R) their people. They recognize employees publicly; they tell others when an employee has had particular success; they hold up that employee as a role model, so others can see what they did and can learn from his success.