Assessing individual differences – Selecting right people for the right job
Assessing individual differences – Selecting right people for the right job

Each one of us has a particular orientation towards work and we all approach our work with a certain set of values, dispositions, interests and aspirations. Today, it has been accepted by science that there exists individual differences in natural and inherent traits, abilities, talents, interests and aptitudes and it is the responsibility of the organization to ensure that the task of mobilizing these differences for their maximum use and contribution to the organization as well as for maximum personal satisfaction to the individual is done sincerely.

The concept of identifying a person’s skills and talents and to fit the individual to a right job in an organization is not new.

The statement made in the Bhagvat Gita, Chapter 4, Verse 13 is perhaps the most outstanding and specific.

The Gita theory classifies society into four varnas (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra) on the basis of the dominant gunas, viz. sattva, rajas, and tamas. Rajas is in essence passion; it is the source of yearning, Tamas is born of ignorance and Sattva bids for a life of ease and peacefulness. The gunas basically determine a person’s tendencies, aptitudes, potentialities, aspirations, and directions of successful social contribution by the individual. They also determine the trends of a person’s traits and character. All the karmas i.e. activities necessary for the social organization upkeep and progress were classified in accordance with these psychological characteristics in the individual called gunas.

The principles on which varnas used to be based was either on the principle of choice of the duties prescribed for any of the varnas or the principal of the gunas – the innate psychological disposition of a person determining his inclination towards one of the four broad groups of vocations and duties. The varna of a person was fixed on the basis of what the man does or rather what he is actually capable of doing, amongst others and not merely on the basis on whom he is born of. Social classes were very flexible and open as to admit transition of individuals from one varna to another on the basis of their potentialities, without any undue emphasis upon mere descent.

To reiterate, it was understood that there are a variety of activities requiring a variety of abilities, talents and aptitudes and there is also a variety of talents to be found among the members of the society. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the society to have a system whereby individuals are placed in proper positions in accordance with the kind of talents and skills they possess.

This is exactly what we talk about today when we refer to assessing the characteristics of the individual and then placing him/her in the right job.

From the organization perspective, be it recruiting, selecting the right person for succession planning, it requires the organization to assess the individual and match the skills and capability of the person to the job at hand e.g. is the person capable of carving out company strategy in the boardroom? Or can he/she lead a meeting to promote a new employee initiative? What does the person expect from his career? Or, would the employee prefer a more low-profile, back-office job? One needs to answer many such questions to bring about a good fit for a new job. A mis-match can result in feelings of unrest, discontent and lost productivity. That is a key activity for business success.

Here are the steps that an organization could follow to effectively assess its employees

  • An individual could be assessed on a personal level to create a profile for his values, personality, temperament, aptitude etc. Many standardized tools are available to support this assessment.
  • An individual’s group behaviour could also be assessed using a series of exercises.
  • A more holistic way of doing the assessments would be to conduct an intensive assessment center to get data about an individual.

A lot of organization have used a variety of assessment tools / methods and have benefitted immensely.

  • Assessment plans that focus on employee development can ensure a steady supply of talent for the growing organization.
  • Assessments help design any training or development program, finding out depth of knowledge, preferred ways of learning or motivations for learning.
  • They can also create levels of self-insight into respective strengths and weaknesses and set goals as part of effective development plans.
  • Many organizations have meticulous succession plans, and assessment centers are a key element of identifying the sorts of job experiences and assignments a potential executive should have in order to develop and demonstrate specific job-related skills.

On this backdrop, we need to critically examine what processes are being followed in our organizations to assess individual differences? Do we make efforts towards making a perfect person-job fit? What methods do we follow to assess the aptitudes, potential, the areas of improvement of a person to make sure he/she is placed in proper position that suit his/her talents and skills?

To learn how TMTC can help, please contact
Pearl - pmascarenhas@tata.com

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