Make use of everyone’s talents

Are you aware of the specific talents of each of your different staff members? Probably not, say the studies on this topic. Of course, you have identified their competencies. And you probably have at heart to help them build from them, and even to reinforce them. Yet, it appears that the majority of organizations leave numerous individual aptitudes unexploited.

Gallup institute highlights it is a pity. Its studies since the 90’s show that a good use of natural talent is a particularly reliable performance indicator: enterprises that seek the best match between individual talent and the assigned missions are for the most part 48% more profitable than the average!

Enabling everyone to be a high performer by using what talent he or she has sounds obvious. Why don’t all enterprises make it a priority?

In fact, everything leads the organization to leave these talents unknown. Often, the concerned people do not realize what their talents are: they find their achievements natural, without realizing the extent to which they would be difficult for others. As for HR processes, they place the focus on normalized competences, which can overlook original qualities.

Taking full advantage of the staff members’ talents demands a voluntary approach along three axes:

- Lead a true investigation to see your own team members’ gifts surface. Individual talents are not always visible in daily professional life. You need to create the conditions for them to express themselves.

- Concentrate on the development of each member’s strengths, rather than on the shortcomings that need fixing. In effect our talents can become true excellence zones if we work on them.

- Dare implementing a customized management. Each staff member has a unique set of gifts. Only personalized management will build upon them.