{"id":1801,"date":"2019-05-16T13:15:38","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T11:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dazzlepop.net\/site\/?p=1801"},"modified":"2019-05-16T13:15:41","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T11:15:41","slug":"why-you-should-hire-for-skills-not-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dazzlepop.net\/site\/why-you-should-hire-for-skills-not-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you should hire for skills, not talent"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By changing your focus, you can find people with a track record for tackling and overcoming challenges, says HR consultant Suzanne Lucas.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This post is part of TED\u2019s \u201cHow to Be a Better Human\u201d series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from someone in the TED community; browse through all the posts<\/a> here.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTalent\u201d is a prized commodity in the business world.<\/strong> Instead of employee assessments, now there are talent assessments. Companies used to have directors of recruiting; now they have directors of talent acquisition. What do senior leaders worry about most? Talent shortages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it\u2019s time for organizations to stop fixating on talent and to focus on skills instead, says Suzanne Lucas. <\/strong>AsLucas, an HR consultant and writer of the Evil HR Lady<\/a> blog, explains, \u201cWhen we use the word \u2018talent\u2019 to refer to employees, what we\u2019re implying is you need to have the knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job perfectly from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucas arrived at this conclusion thanks to a close friend with a unique profession \u2014 she\u2019s a professional organist. <\/strong>One day after a fantastic performance, Lucas gave her \u201cwhat I thought was a compliment,\u201d she recalls. \u201c\u2018Liz,\u2019 I said, \u2018You are so talented.\u2019 \u2018Thanks,\u2019 she said. \u2018But I\u2019m actually not more talented than most people; I\u2019ve worked very, very hard to get to where I am today.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her reply opened Lucas\u2019s eyes to the role of learning, effort and practice in our professional development.<\/strong> Yes, there are prodigies among us: \u201cMozart wrote his first minuet at five,\u201d she says. Still, many great achievements \u2014 just like her friend\u2019s performance \u2014 are the result of hard work. \u201cIt took Lin-Manuel Miranda a full year to write a single song for his musical Hamilton<\/em>,\u201d Lucas says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the next time you\u2019re filling a job, shift how you evaluate applicants.<\/strong>Lucas explains, \u201cWe need to not only look at \u2018Does this person already know how to do something?\u2019 but \u2018Can she learn it\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you tell if someone can learn something?<\/strong> \u201cWell, have they learned hard things in the past?\u201d asks Lucas. \u201cDo they know similar things? Do they have a history of recovering from failure? Somebody that has failed and then succeeded has demonstrated they have the grit and guts necessary\u201d to tackle and overcome new challenges. As we face a future of great uncertainty in terms of the kinds of jobs available, the people who can learn new skills \u2014 especially those with resilience<\/a> and a growth mindset<\/a> \u2014 will be among the most valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Screening candidates for skill rather than talent might take you more time.<\/strong>You\u2019ll need to look more closely at people\u2019s resumes and cover letters and possibly even read between the lines. But the extra effort will be worth it, says Lucas. \u201cWhen we remove talent from the equation, it\u2019s easy to see that just about anybody can learn just about anything with hard work and dedication,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen businesses are willing to invest in training and development, they\u2019ll find that the talent shortage disappears because it never existed in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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