Page 208 - Psychological Management of Individual Performance

measuring and developing high potential 191
position was being assessed, allowance was made, particularly, for a person’s service
record. The specialised employees who were the best achievers were appointed to man-
agement positions. In the present situation, where the success of a company seems
increasingly to be directly determined by the human resources, given the high demands
made by the market, more account is increasingly being taken of the (development)
potential of the personnel in those areas in which the organisation pursues its goals. In
order to keep the organisation moving, a considerable amount of attention is paid to
developing the “human factor” within the organisation. Here, assessment is a crucial
instrument to determine an employee’s development and indicate his/her career perspec-
tives (Schoenmaker & Geerdink, 1991). Whereas in the traditional situation assessment
was used to ‘reflect’ on the performance of the employee, in the present trend of Human
Development management, a combination of reflection and potential prognosis is the
case. It is exactly this potential prognosis that is of importance because, in the interests
of the organisation and the employee, a career path must be outlined. It goes without
saying that personal development plans (see Figure 9.3) form the connection between
measurement and actions to be taken.
Within the policy area of Human Development, a number of activities exist that are
directed towards the development of the potential that exists within the organisation. The
activities that we most often encounter in organisations are:
Traineeship

Management development activities/leadership development

Job rotation

360-degree feedback.

Traineeship
To date, traineeship has always been directed towards offering an extensive training
and developmental programme for a target group which is explicitly described as “high
potentials”. In general, a trainee training programme consists of a three- or four-year
process in which a participant, in addition to a quite comprehensive and in-depth train-
ing component, gains hands-on experience at various locations within the organisation.
The aim of a traineeship is ultimately to obtain a (higher) management position. The
selection of this target group therefore requires extra care. On the other hand, labour
shortage entails that other and specific forms of recruitment and selection, such as head-
hunting and search, must be used to attract highly qualified people from the labour
market. These people are subsequently increasingly offered a career or, as referred to
here, traineeship instead of a position within the organisation. Companies will then have
to ask themselves how they can trigger the target group to apply and, more importantly,
what they can do to keep this target group motivated to develop within the company.
Young, highly educated people, new to the labour market, increasingly select companies
on the basis of the training programmes on offer and possibilities with regard to individual
development.
The latter factors, but also the other developments which were identified earlier in
this chapter, demand a review of the structure of the traditional traineeship. It is our
experience that organisations are at present striving to create a breeding ground for the