This article looks at the importance of appointing personnel who have the ability to work under pressure, have excellent client facing skills, are empathetic and have the 'soft' skills necessary to rally the resources necessary to achieve the end object. Using the sporting vernacular, these are the corporate superstars. The article takes a historic perspective on predicting employee performance with specific emphasis on the importance of emotional intelligence (EI) and its application in the workplace. (PDF file, 5 pages, 166 KB)

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Unformated preview of the document: 'The Art of Picking the Superstars' (Part 3):

coaches operate…they train
the naturally gifted. Business Managers should do the same. Look for those with a
genuine, instinctive interest in other people’s experience and mental worlds. It is an absolute
pre-requisite for developing emotional intelligence”.

Goleman argues that managers and their staff need completely different skills, and that it is
sometimes dangerous to promote the technically accomplished.

In a recent Australian Financial Review interview he says “this is one of the things that I
have learnt from the data…people who have qualifications for specific technical tasks don’t
necessarily have any prerequisites for leadership.”

“They are not mutually exclusive, but they’re not inclusive; they are a different set of
skills”.

Naturally, this becomes highly important when determining hiring strategies, succession
plans, promotional criteria and individual training programmes.

Conclusion

It is now no longer sufficient to hire staff based on their skill profiles alone. In order to
achieve the very best it is important for the enterprise to hire the very best.

The art is therefore to identify candidates who not only have the skill portfolio but also the
emotional competencies necessary to meet the challenges. The ability to evaluate highly
capable and emotionally mature individuals is a skilled task and should be undertaken with
expert support.

Psychometric assessments and personality profiling may offer you an indication as to
someone’s disposition; however these should be used as a guide to support the
behavioural interview and to validate the track record through the reference check.

Author:
Bert Franzen
Executive Director
SelectAssociates Pty Ltd

Bibliography
1. Emotional Intelligence
Dr Daniel Goleman, 1995
2. Working with Emotional Intelligence
Dr Daniel Goleman, 2003
3. The Luck Factor
Dr Richard Wiseman, 2003
4. Approaching the Corporate Heart
Margot Cairnes, 1998, 2003
5. Feeling the Business
Bill Pheasant, Financial Review BOSS Magazine, 09/05/2003
6. Managing the Mood
Harvard Business Review, 08/05/2004

Unformated preview of the document: 'The Art of Picking the Superstars':  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3