In the past, examining experience and past performance was sufficient enough to assess an employee. Today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous business environment is requiring that organizations begin to not only examine past performance, but to look forward as well. According to Harvard Business Review, a key indicator to employee success is, in fact, potential. Talent assessments able to identify potential, along with the strengths and weaknesses, are now more important than ever before. 

Yet, only 10% of large organizations agreed or strongly agreed that their internal talent assessment efforts were effective (McLean & Company HR Trends and Priorities 2016). Managers will often struggle to assess their employees or avoid doing it entirely, lacking direction. Talent assessment done ineffectively can hurt the bottom line of your organization, causing failed programs, employee disengagement, and regrettable turnover.  Moreover, those that suffer most are the employees when only provided with generic development goals or even no development at all, offering no means of growth.

The 9-box Talent Grid blueprint is a great structure that supports an organization to understand where their employees are in terms of potential and performance in a standardized process. An employee can be a very high performer but low potential, and vice versa, and this can affect their development plan. Understanding where an employee stands allows for more accurate identification of top talent, core performers, as well as bottom talent. By gaining an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, tailored development plans will pave the way for your succession and development planning later on.

This blueprint will help you:

·         Identify talent based on performance and potential, and is accompanied by definitions for each type of talent.

·         Is customizable to the unique needs of your organization based on audience and language, and is a guide to assess placements.

·         Incorporates well with a talent review and calibration process, and a manager training deck on how to participate in the process.

·         Supports talent and learning development programs to increase efficiency and effectiveness of their results due to better accuracy.

Blueprint path: www.aseonline.org Dashboard > My Resources > McLean & Company > Research> Talent Management > Talent Assessment > Build and Implement a 9-Box Talent Grid to Assess Employee Talent