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Many hiring managers and human resources professionals claim to be great talent identifiers, pointing to the accomplishments of their existing candidate pool as proof.  However, they are not talent identifiers.  They are talent selectors, and the difference could not be more striking, or possibly more damaging to an organization’s sustainable growth.

Talent selection is the culling of employees with the current ability to participate and be successful in events taking place in the near future.  Talent identification, on the other hand, is the prediction of future performance based upon an evaluation of current professional, technical, tactical and psychological qualities.  Talent selection is pretty simple, while talent identification is an art form.  One yields great results today, whereas the other builds elite and winning teams for the future.

Here are 3 steps to become an organization focused on talent identification:

Step 1 – Educate hiring managers to understand the difference between selecting and identifying talent, and then teach and encourage them to develop talent in addition to seeking proven superstars. Investing more time in the hiring process through introducing the candidate to other members within the organizations, helps to ensure that the candidate will blend naturally with the other team members to round out their skills and fit with the overall culture.

Step 2 – Careerbuilder.com indicates that 76% of full-time workers, while not actively looking for a new job, would leave their current employer if the right opportunity came along. Focus on developing all levels of employees in order for them to be able to grow within the organization.  Train management to inspire their teams, share their expertise, and offer opportunities for professional growth.  This will provide a much larger pool of talent in the future as employees look to advance within an organization.

Step 3 – Eliminate a win-at-all-cost mentality, and develop a culture that is supportive of smaller, continual accomplishments, not just the more momentous victories that tend to be more sporadic. Additionally, create a team environment where all members can feel at least some level of equity for their part in each accomplishment, which will build a more cohesive department that is poised to accomplish more in the future.

The question at hand remains, is it better to be a talent selector or a talent identifier in the hiring processing?  Talent selection can be an extremely beneficial hiring process when there is an immediate need for a position to be filled and begin to drive results quickly.  However, a hiring process solely focused on talent selection is short-sighted.  While an organization filled with super-stars sounds ideal, it can create an environment of competition that does not foster professional development or team camaraderie.  Furthermore, the departure of a super-star can be detrimental to the organization if a suitable replacement is not located in a timely manner.

Conversely, talent identification is more of a marathon than a sprint in terms of results, as it takes time and resources to build and develop a team.  Alternatively, a hiring process focused on talent identification tends to yield more engaged employees that are emotionally attached to their organization and motivated to succeed.  Under this method of hiring, in the event of an employee’s departure, an element of rebuilding does not exist, as the organization can simply reload with another member of the team that has grown and is able to take responsibility for the role.

Hiring managers can find both hiring processes to be beneficial to their organization if intermixed correctly.  Talent selection will support immediate growth and profitability when the need for results is urgent.  Yet intermixing talent identification for non-urgent result needs will ensure future team engagement and development, ultimately making the organization stronger over time.  The key for hiring managers is to determine which fusion of hiring processes best suits their organization, its needs, and long term goals.