Page 201 - Psychological Management of Individual Performance

184 assessing potential and future performance
THE CONCEPT OF POTENTIAL AND FUTURE PERFORMANCE:
THE RELEVANCE OF THE COMPETENCY APPROACH
IN PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

WHICH FACTORS DETERMINE THE CONCEPT ‘POTENTIAL’?

Lohaus and Kleinmann (this volume) give a broad overview on the constituents and
definitions of potential analysis. We adhere to this by stating that ample support has
been found for the role of intellectual qualities and personality factors in predicting
(managerial) success (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998; Barrick, Mount, & Judge, 1999).
Other factors have also received much attention in the practise of management
(or more broadly human) development, particularly managerial competencies (e.g.
Boyatzis, 1982); and when talking about competencies, this concerns behavioural
dimensions on a relatively low abstraction level, for example, ‘steering’, ‘building and
containing relationships’ and ‘strategic vision’ (from the PMC model, SHL, 1996). The
advantage of the competency approach is that a more direct link is possible between
the predictors and the criterion behaviour that needs to be predicted. In this way, com-
petencies can be considered to be concrete expressions of underlying factors, such as
intellectual capacities, personality, norms and values. In practising human resources
management today, competency measurements have become very popular for the de-
termination of potential (SHL, survey competency management 1997). This, to a large
extent, is due to the fact that these can be coupled to follow-up measurements and activ-
ities within management/human development as well as other HRM activities, such as
the 360-degrees feedback method and coaching on competencies.
In the competency approach several aspects are taken together: a competency is a
result of intellectual qualities, personality factors, motivational factors, values and en-
vironmental influences—aspects that can measured by several methods (see below).
Competencies, as defined nowadays, are the result of many factors, but they can be
described in such a concrete way that they can be just as related equally to organisational
goals as they can to personal goals and job descriptions (SHL, 1996). Thus, starting with
Boyatzis (1982), the concept of competency has undergone a development in itself. Most
important in this respect is the fact that competencies provide a common language in the
job expectations and the direction to develop (Altink, Visser, & Castelijns, 1997). This
might explain the popularity of this approach within organisations when dealing with
questions in the area of management and human development.
Before we go into the factors that relate to measuring potential, an important question is
whether competencies can be developed. Lohaus and Kleinmann (this volume) discuss
this issue in the context of the concepts and factors that make up competencies. In
addition to this we present a model that takes into account the importance of a process
approach.

THE ROLE OF PROCESS FACTORS WHEN MEASURING POTENTIAL

In the day-to-day life within organisations potential is also determined by that what
an individual contributes in the process of experiences that are offered to him/her.
Odiorne (1984) had depicted this in his portfolio analysis in which high potentials
(or ‘stars’) are considered persons that score high on potential and high on performance