The Science of Dream Teams

Leaders cannot afford to treat workers as replaceable cogs in a machine.

Workers represent most organizations’ largest expense. Your workforce also contributes more than any other factor to your company’s success. Workers bring a complex mix of personalities, potential, skills, cognitive abilities, aspirations and traits to their organizations: One-size-fits-all talent management doesn’t work.

As disciplines from advertising to logistics embraced hyper-individualization, leaders and managers must, likewise, focus on each worker. Guide your talent optimization actions by getting to know your employees. The roles and jobs employees fill often prove as varied as the workforce itself. Putting the right worker, in the right role, at the right time constitutes talent optimization. 

Behavioral assessments sort workers into categories – for example, flexible versus stable, or internally versus externally-focused. These tools shed light on employees’ personalities, including whether a worker tilts toward innovation and creativity or structure and results. They can also show whether a person thrives...