The definition of a “good hire” is a person who will contribute to the success of the company both financially, by doing a good job and culturally, and by getting along with others. According to Wayne Johnston, a staffing professional responsible for hiring scientists at a major pharmaceutical company, a “high potential” hire is someone who will also progress through the ranks of the company, take on increasing responsibility and who will actually enhance the culture of the company. Johnston states his company is always looking for “high potentials,” and that consistently identifying, selecting, and hiring high potential individuals is the holy grail of the corporate staffing professional.

High potentials have higher level of multiple smarts
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Alfred Binet devised a measure to predict which Paris youngsters would succeed and which would fail in the primary grades. This began the practice of IQ measurement and was based on only one type of intelligence. Only recently, when Daniel Goleman wrote his defining book Emotional Intelligence in 1985, and the concept of EQ caught on, was the idea of multiple intelligences introduced to the public. Today it is widely accepted that there are multiple types of intelligence. High potential individuals are distinguished by higher levels of multiple types of intelligence.

In his book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences Howard Gardner defines multiple intelligences which can be classified as follows:

Intelligence Description
Abstract Intelligence - Symbolic reasoning
Social Intelligence - Dealing with people
Practical Intelligence - Getting things done
Emotional Intelligence - Self-awareness and self-management
Aesthetic Intelligence - Sense of form, design, music, art and literature
Kinesthetic Intelligence - Whole-body skills like sports, dance or flying a jet fighter

High potential individuals have higher levels of at least the first four of these multiple intelligences. The challenge is to develop a selection process which identifies the level of these intelligences in a prospective employee. Selection tools, such as standardized assessments and behavioral interviewing techniques, attempt to identify individual traits which when added together indicate the presence of these intelligences. However, these tools have relatively limited success.

The limitation of these selection tools is due to their simplistic definition of intelligence. For example, Social Intelligence is defined as the ability to get along well with others and to get them to cooperate with you. Social Intelligence is typically thought of as “people skills”; traits such as listening, considering others, being cooperative, articulate, and a good team member. However, Social Intelligence is a far more complex set of skills. It includes a depth and breath of life knowledge, a deep understanding of one’s culture, and an accumulated wisdom that comes from constantly observing and learning what happens in a multitude of human situations. It also includes understanding the value of complex interpersonal ideas such as helping other people feel good about themselves as a way of achieving one’s own goals and knowing when to speak and when to hold one’s tongue.

Better selection starts with awareness
Stating the obvious, identifying and selecting good employees is a complex and difficult process. Johnston comments that every person who comes to an in-person interview in his division is carefully screened and can clearly perform the technical/scientific aspects of the job. It is identifying the levels of multiple intelligences that challenge the interview team, according to Johnston. Even with an industry standard selection product and standardized behavioral interview questions, Johnston acknowledges there is still room for improving their selection process.

Awareness of multiple intelligences and their contribution to success on the job enables hiring teams to make better hiring decisions. Hiring for multiple intelligences can make the difference between a bad hire, a good hire, and the holy grail of employee selection: the high potential hire.