Are You A Talented Employee? Check Yourself

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-31 14:10

Andrey Zlotnikov for TSNI have not met people without a spark of God - each of us has a talent

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McKinsey employees in 1997 began a series of studies in large and medium-sized American companies to understand how they have built the process of selecting and retaining talent.

The results were disappointing. It turned out that organizations do not live the way they should, do not pay attention to talent, do not stimulate, do not teach, and do a lot of other things. But if companies start looking for, finding and employing talent, profits will rise to unprecedented heights.

Stop. Is at least one company interested in mediocre and lazy people? What is the know-how? Are they selling us a bubble again?

Know-how is the answer to what companies should focus their efforts on, where time, money, and energy should be invested. So, the recipe is this - they need to admit and realize that the people who work in the organization bring money to the organization, that the more talented its staff, the more income the company will receive.

Although in reality, of course, everything depends on a large number of variables - external factors (the situation in the industry, the economy, competition, the availability of specialists in the labor market) and internal (the remuneration system, corporate culture, qualifications of management and personnel management specialists).

So, organizations need talented people. The difference between mediocrity and talent is perfectly illustrated by this bike:

One worker went to the master and said:

- Master! Why do you pay me only five kopecks, while Ivan is always five rubles?

The master looks out the window and says:

- I see someone is coming. It seems that hay is being carried past us. Come out and take a look.

An employee came out. Stopped in again and said:

- True, sir. Like hay.

- Do you know where? Maybe from the Semyonovskiye Meadows?

- I do not know.

- Go and find out.

The worker went. Enters again.

- Master! Exactly, from the Semyonovskys.

- Do you know whether the hay is the first or the second cut?

- I do not know.

- So go and find out!

An employee came out. Comes back again.

- Master! First cut!

- Do you know how much?

- I do not know.

- So go and find out.

I went. Came back and says:

- Master! Five rubles each.

- And do not give it cheaper?

- I do not know.

At this moment Ivan enters and says:

- Master! Hay was being carried by from the Semyonovsky meadows of the first cut. They asked for 5 rubles. Bargained for 3 rubles per cart. I drove them into the yard, and they unload there.

The master addresses the first worker and says:

- Now you understand why you are paid 5 kopecks, and Ivan 5 rubles?

What does it mean to be a talented employee in today's reality?

Let's test ourselves for talent with adjectives.

1. Effective

I've had to hire effective people. For example, a sales manager for key clients worked for a company. He was a perfectly adequate employee, there were no complaints against him. He left, and a girl was taken in his place. She tripled sales in two months, and reduced accounts payable to almost zero. There were other cases when talent was not properly assessed - instead of one person, two or three employees were hired, and then they gave less efficiency.

So, being efficient means making the best use of company resources. The universal resource that the employer trusts each employee is time. Talent produces more and / or better products than other employees in the same unit of time, makes more optimal use of equipment, funds, and consumables.

2. Inspirational

There is a legend at any enterprise. In sports, it might sound like "bigger, better, faster, stronger." I have met such leaders who were the engines of their organizations. This is a walking charisma - a person-impression. Their ebullient energy developed and guided businesses and people to success. Masters of communication and relationships. If he comes to a business party, then before leaving there, get to know everyone who can be useful. Employees talk about him with a breath. His work is as pleasant to look at as water and fire. You trust him, you trust him. His orders are carried out not because he wants it, but because they seem to be their initiatives and desires.

3. Creative

Being creative means changing reality. This is the production and implementation of new products, technologies, ideas. In a job interview, you may be asked to give an example of when you were creative at work. There are many examples of creativity around me from people in positions of all levels. Office automation, customer relations, the use of energy-saving technologies, fuel meters, training development, presentations. Even an extra light bulb on the stand can create a new effect and lead to new results. It is possible, necessary, and necessary to be creative and spontaneous. From this, your demand and cost as a specialist in the labor market will increase significantly.

4. Gifted

I remember one quiet, withdrawn, who in AutoCAD drew the most complex drawings. Everyone silently prayed for him, and the success of the company depended on him. To be gifted means to have innate and acquired abilities that enable us to be successful in what we do.

5. Enthusiastic

You ask a person why he is engaged in this particular business, and he answers: "Because it is mine." To be passionate means to love what you do. Live your profession. In Alexander Solzhenitsyn's work "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," the main character experienced a trance when he was putting down a cinder block. It is a fusion of interest, ability and responsibility. A minute is not wasted. The intrinsic value of each movement is felt.

6. Responsive

Talent is forgiven a little more than others. They take care of him. But we live in social systems, and our ability to integrate into them is important. A maladaptive employee, even a talented one, does more harm than good. It destroys the team and the system. I said goodbye to talents because of their inability to fit into the team. The ground did not open and nothing terrible happened. Each time this decision was made, prizes and prices had to be weighed. But the business did not suffer significantly, and others took the place of the talented employee who had left.

Adaptability and readiness to change is the competence of the current reality. The future is knocking more and more, technology is developing and people need to fit the new world. Or their talent will remain abandoned and useless. Adaptability is a complex property of the human character, but it can definitely be developed if a person understands why he needs it.

conclusions

I have not met people without a spark of God. Each of us has talent. I have met many people who suffer from not doing their own thing. When I fired them, they rejoiced deep in their hearts, and sometimes even thanked them for alleviating their suffering.

The six criteria I have outlined for talent are not a universal or ideal method for defining it. But it is quite possible to apply it to yourself and get fairly objective results (of course, honesty is a necessary condition here). I suggest using not a two-digit "yes-no" code, but a ten-point scale. For example, you can rate your creativity at 6 points, and your adaptability at 10. The sum of these numbers will be a subjective assessment of the level of your talent.

See also: The Key to Confidence