In Innovisor we have had the opportunity to be involved in talent work in some of the greatest and most admired companies. Somehow their talent challenges and opportunities are almost universal.

This has led Innovisor to formulate a gross list of 9 hypotheses that we recommend diagnose as input for better practice talent management.

I believe the list of hypotheses is of general interest, so here it is:

1.     Our “talents” are not energizers: The ability to energize is one of the most overlooked competencies… Energizers are “people magnets”, but very often this is overlooked during talent identification Talent: She was the Glue in the Business Unit

2.     There is no correlation between being a talent and the position in the collaboration network:. Consider if you can be a valuable talent, when you are not integrated in the collaborative networks? Why The Dark Horse Got Promoted

3.     Our Leadership do not know the go-to people: Often there is a strong disconnect between who leadership considers to be the go-to people and who the employees consider the go-to people.

4.     We disregard introverts in our talent identification: Introverts are much more trusted by their peers than extroverts, who in return more often are appointed as talents. How can we avoid that introverts are disregarded as talents Why Introverts Have More Influence

5.    We do not know the cross-organizational knowledge brokers Typically “brokers” are invisible to leaders, and also less rewarded as they sit in the periphery of ALL functional networks… But they are the only ones acting across, as is needed

6.    Education matters too much in talent identification: Does education matter when identifying a talent? – Yes, but only to a certain extent Does Education Matter?

7.     We are biased towards talents that are just like us: Most do. We are biased towards own gender, educational background and so forth. Just think of the Ivy League networks Who are you collaborating with? – Chances Are She Is Just Like You?

8.    We incentivize talents for the wrong behaviour The person that might be outperforming on the individual level, might be dragging the team down. Consider, if incentive models should be reworked to be more team oriented Why You Should Treat Your Lone Wolf as a Black Sheep

9.     We do not know what happens, if our talents get hit by a bus Have you made your organization so lean that you are running at risk? – and do you know, where you are running the risk. Probably not. What happens, if you key employee gets hit by a bus

It is fascinating how answers to those nine hypotheses can change talent management practices.

Do you have any talent hypotheses you would like answers to?

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-introverts-have-more-influence-jeppe-vilstrup-hansgaard/