Talent assessment: a powerful tool to scale development

Addressing talent shortages through strategic talent assessment

Talent scarcity occurs when the demand for a specific skill set exceeds the available supply in the job market. According to Manpower Group, this challenge has intensified globally, with 75% of employers reporting difficulties in filling roles. It is making it harder for organizations to meet their goals, impacting profitability, growth, innovation, and competitiveness for long-term success.

Factors contributing to this issue include:

Technological advancements: rapid innovations are creating new roles faster than skilled professionals can be trained.

Demographic shifts: aging workforces are leading to retirements, leaving skill gaps that younger generations may not yet be equipped to fill.

Educational mismatch: academic institutions are not keeping pace with evolving business needs, causing a disconnect between available skills and companies’ requirements.

To navigate these challenges, organizations should prioritize upskilling and reskilling their existing workforce over relying solely on external hiring. Developing internal talent not only ensures a better cultural alignment and employee engagement but also helps bridge skill gaps more efficiently. By investing in current employees, organizations can foster loyalty, reduce recruitment costs, and build a workforce that is adaptable to future demands.

But how to identify employees who are ready for a new challenge and the potential to step into a new role? That is where talent assessment comes in!

What is talent assessment?

Talent assessment is the process of evaluating an individual’s skills, competencies, and behaviors to determine their potential for success within an organization. Unlike traditional approaches that rely on education, experience and performance, talent assessments offer an objective, data-driven way to make decisions about internal mobility, succession planning, and leadership development.

The cost of ineffective talent assessment

Failing to implement a strategic talent assessment process can lead to significant business consequences:

• Untapped talent opportunities: talent assessment allows you to identify high-potential employees for leadership roles. You might miss your best assets without strategic assessment.

• Ineffective development programs: Generic training fails to develop employees properly. The right employee assessment will give you the right insights to design targeted and custom development plans to enhance your employee’s skills.

• Misaligned decisions: Without data-driven insights, the talent development strategy can lack consistency. Organizations risk promoting individuals into roles that don’t match their strengths or their aspirations. An effective talent assessment aligns development decisions with business needs, culture and future growth.

• Low retention and engagement: Employees placed in the wrong roles are more likely to disengage and leave. Talent assessment insights ensure employees are matched to roles where they can thrive.

• Heavy processes that don’t scale: Relying on weak insights prevent from building a solid strategy, inefficient methods create bottlenecks, making talent management cumbersome.

How to implement a scalable talent assessment framework

1. Define what “top talent” means in your organization

Top talent looks different in every organization, depending on industry, business objectives, and workforce needs. To ensure a successful talent assessment strategy, companies should collaborate with leadership teams to identify the key competencies required for each role. This means aligning talent assessment efforts with broader business goals and workforce planning strategies, ensuring that the right people are positioned for success.

2. Personalize your approach

Organizations must develop a talent assessment framework that is tailored to their unique business context, needs, and goals. A one-size-fits-all approach does not effectively identify or develop top talent. Instead, companies should define expectations that align with their strategic objectives, key roles, and workplace culture. By taking these factors into consideration, businesses can create an assessment process that is not only relevant but also impactful.

3. Develop a competency model

A competency model serves as a roadmap for defining the essential skills, knowledge, abilities, and behaviors that contribute to success within an organization. Developing this model ensures that talent assessments are aligned with business objectives and provide meaningful insights. By using this framework to guide the selection of assessment tools, organizations can create a structured and fair evaluation process.

4. Select the right assessment methods

A well-rounded talent assessment strategy leverages the right tools to gain a comprehensive understanding of candidates and employees.

You can pick among 360-degrees assessment, psychometric assessment, performance review, cultural assessment, and skills-based technical assessment (more details in our article How to drive growth and unlock potential with effective employee assessment).

Be careful, you don’t want to have too many of them, or it will be heavy to manage and less actionable. Make sure you assess both the soft skills and the hard skills, they are both essential. We’d recommend a comprehensive psychometric assessment and a technical skills assessment to get a good understanding of an individual.

5. Provide actionable feedback

Talent assessment shouldn’t just be about evaluation—it should also be a tool for employee development, enhancing their self-awareness. Transparent feedback empowers employees to understand their strengths, identify areas for improvement, and seize career growth opportunities. When employees receive meaningful insights about their assessment results, they are more engaged in their development journey and can actively work toward improvement.

6. Continuously improve your talent assessment process

A talent assessment strategy should evolve alongside business needs. Organizations should regularly review and refine their assessment methods to ensure they remain relevant and effective. Tracking key metrics such as promotion effectiveness, retention rates, and leadership pipeline strength provides insight into whether the assessment process is truly supporting business objectives.

Real-world application: CAE talent assessment approach

CAE, one of the world’s leading providers of training and simulation solutions, has implemented a structured talent assessment approach to identify and develop leadership potential across its vast workforce. They used SuccessFinder behavioral insights to build a common framework aligned with CAE’s leadership pillars for recruiting, onboarding, promoting, evaluating, and developing leaders.

By using this data-driven approach, CAE has significantly improved high potential identification, allowing employees to progress into leadership roles based on demonstrated potential rather than tenure alone. This strategy has led to a steady pipeline of high performing employees with leadership potential for succession, improving employee engagement and the organizational culture, reinforcing the company’s commitment to long-term talent development.

The future of talent development: skills as the new currency

The future belongs to organizations that harness the power of data-driven talent assessments to unlock potential at scale. By deeply understanding their workforce’s capabilities and proactively investing in continuous development, businesses can cultivate a resilient and high-performing team that remains agile, competitive, and adapts to evolving challenges.

Are your employees prepared for the future? Using a psychometric assessment for your talent assessment framework ensures you get a comprehensive understanding of your people to get the right individuals in the right roles, driving innovation, engagement, and long-term success.

Learn more about our assessment here.