Well, businesses are reopening! Depending on your State’s COVID-19 reopening procedures, you are reopening.  So, let me ask you.  Have you thought about whether your business model will be competitive in the post-pandemic business world?  Are you thinking perhaps that you need to re-align your business strategy to that new world – and along with that, have you been thinking about the mix of employees you need to help you remain competitive?

It’s a lot. I know. These are conversations that are necessary, however.  We will discuss strategic assessment in another article.  Today I want to discuss your talent assessment system.

One of your first considerations is bringing back employees who have either been laid off or furloughed.  I have listed several areas for consideration during this recovery period and beyond.

Talent Assessment Systems

A talent assessment system (TAS) is not a talent management system (TMS).  A talent assessment system –

  • allows a business to assess all job candidates,
  • assists in the hiring process,
  • provides support to promotional opportunities and succession planning,
  • provides the basis for more directed training programs, and
  • assists in more accurate performance reviews.

Sounds like a lot – right?  It’s actually quite simple. Let me explain.

Assessing All Candidates (and Employees)

That’s right!

  • Should you re-hire all who have been laid off or furloughed?
  • Are all your employees using their natural talents to excel in the position they were in, or are they more suited for a different position?
  • Assessing a candidate’s decision-making talents, behaviors, and motivators are essential to understanding what they can be great at – and what they are not great at.

Assess these characteristics to understand if a person is going to be a fit for the position, or not.

Assuming that each person is the right fit without knowing can impact achieving your business goals – at exactly the right time when you can’t afford mistakes.

Ordinarily businesses only assess candidates when there is a position open.  Assessing all candidates continuously however, enables your business to know what talents and strengths candidates have so that when a position does become open you will know quicker if there are candidates who might be more suited for the position.

Hiring Talent

Every position has a series of functions that relay on certain talents, behaviors, and motivators to help each person in that position to be successful.  Hiring someone who is not a fit will result in less than optimal performance results.  In this post-pandemic business climate, can you afford less than optimal?

Promotions and Succession Planning

When you have a functioning talent assessment system you can identify growth potential in your employees. You can use that data to help in your promotional decisions as well as identify employees who can be involved in the succession process.

Directed Training

When you know a person’s decision-making talents, motivators, and behaviors – their what, why, and how – what natural talents they have, why they are motivated to use them, and how they prefer to use them; you have the ability to provide more targeted and beneficial training in communications, customer service, team development, sales development, leadership, and management.

Performance Reviews

Let’s clarify – this is not a typical review. Once you understand an employee’s what, why, and how you can then identify if they are naturally suited for their job or if they have to adapt – sometimes too much – to perform the job’s functions.  Alignment, engagement, and efficiency is important in these reviews to help understand how your employees can turn right than left and use their genius more effectively.

Next Steps

You are making business decisions every minute. When it comes to talent assessment can you afford to make a mistake?  Perhaps not!  To start, consider taking this complimentary talent assessment to understand better your own what, why and how.