With the FIFA World Cup quickly approaching I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my primary school years when I was sure I would grow up to be a major league soccer player. I spent countless hours (or at least countless in the eyes of an 8 year old) kicking a soccer ball against my garage door confident that soon I would be scoring goals in front of thousands of fans cheering my name. Needless to say I did not become a professional soccer player, but I sometimes wonder whether I could have made it to the big leagues with a little more natural talent, assertiveness, or just plain practice.
In my current role as a consultant I have found these same key principles (natural ability, personality, and hard work) are what separates high potential employees from those who are best suited in their current role. They key word is the previous sentence is potential, which is fundamentally different than performance. An employee’s current performance is one of many criteria to consider when evaluating an employee’s advancement potential. AAI understands this challenge and has developed the Advancement Potential Inventory to help organizations identify those employees who are most likely to succeed in a manger or executive role.
The API combines measures of cognitive ability and work behaviors indicative of growth potential to create a composite Advancement Potential Score. Employees’ results will be compared to ability levels and work behaviors found to be associated with successful leaders of organizations across industries, so organizations allocate their limited development resources into the most worthwhile investments. Just like in finance, no investment is a “sure thing”, but there are many useful indicators that can give your organization a competitive edge.
