If given the choice would you hire someone based on their skill level or their talents? I can hear many of you say that one must hire on skill, the more skilled a person is the less training they will require, the quicker they can start taking care of all the various problems and challenges. I can also hear some of you faintly saying, hire talent, skills can always be taught but talent is innate.
Therein lies the challenge! As managers and leaders we tend to focus on the easy way out, the path of least resistance, hence we look to hire highly skilled individuals that would have a perfect fit for whatever role we’re looking to fill in the organization. But, is that really the best course of action?
Don’t get me wrong, skills are crucial and I am not belittling them, but there is truth that skills can almost always be taught. If you have a strong training program, SOP manuals and the like you can teach anyone to do almost anything. Talent on the other hand? Talent cannot be taught; at the most it can be improved upon much like polishing a diamond in the rough, as they say. Talent is what people are born with; it is a natural ability which is not acquired through any effort whatsoever. A person with talent for a particular job almost always receives intrinsic satisfaction when their talents are maximized!
Here’s a simplified example:
A person with very strong analytical, administrative and organizational skills is hired to work the Front Desk of a hotel. Yet, they don’t have a talent to be service driven, to be around people, to be thriving on human interactions. Would such a person succeed in their job? Most likely yes, but will they thrive? Will they excel? Will they be happy?
Conversely, a similar person with a similar skill level BUT with an innate talent for being in social interactions, service driven, thriving on human contact and interactions, is assigned to a back of house function such as Accounting, would such a person succeed in their job? Most likely yes, but will they thrive? Will they excel? Will they be happy?
Have you ever done a job or held a role where this applied to you? Do you know what your talents are? Are you happy and ecstatic going to work every day? Think about it!
Yes, hire skill but always choose talent over it!
There are two things you can do: either you do it or you don’t!
At Your Service,
Aurelian
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