Talent Management and Grit
from the Turning Good People Into Top Talent blog series
Angela Duckworth, Ph.D. , psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania and magna cum laude at Harvard is one of the smartest people on the planet. She is also an energetic and charismatic teacher, and a brilliant empirical researcher who focuses on “grit.”
Grit, at least in psychological terms, is the ability to maintain sustained performance toward a goal over time. Think of the Mattie Ross character in the book and movie(s), “True Grit,” who was relentless in her pursuit of the man who killed her father.
In personality psychology, grit is a character strength and virtue related to persistence, perseverance and self-discipline. Others might define it as good, old-fashioned “stick to-it-ness.”
Do your employees have a healthy dose of grit? Do you? Is it important in the workplace? Does is really matter? Here are some of the findings that Dr. Duckworth and other research psychologists have found:
- At West Point, grit was a stronger predictor than SAT scores or physical attributes as to who made it through Beast Barracks, the grueling boot camp indoctrination for freshmen.
- In the sales force of a major company, grit was the strongest predictor of commissions and retention.
- In the National Spelling Bee, grit predicted the winners more than IQ or learning skills.
- At Wharton business school, grit was a stronger predictor of academic performance than college extracurricular activities or entrance exams.
Most companies don’t even think about measuring grit as part of their hiring or assessment processes. However, the Talent Management Institute provides a selection and development system that includes measurement of factors like Consistency, Reliability, Personal Drive, Self-Discipline and Send of Duty.
Imagine the impact on measurable results when you have a “gritty” workplace team that can “sustain its effort over time” in pursuit of a goal?
Click on the following link to get a free sample report.