Ability

Matching our abilities

We all want to match our abilities to those required in the roles we have at work and roles we aspire to.

This match is often difficult for us to precisely achieve.

With changing demands and needs in the workplace, we need to continue to develop our skills and competencies to meet these requirements, grow as professionals and progress in our careers.

To be successful in any role, we need to exercise a combination of physical abilities and mental abilities.

Mental abilities: Intelligence

Our mental abilities are often labelled as our 'intelligence'.

Intelligence is the subject of much debate and research.  There are classic views of intelligence, some abstract views and much controversy. 

Writers such as Goleman have suggested that traditional views of intelligence often overlook vital needs in today's worksplace, such as Emotional Intelligence.

Whatever the research or views of the theorists, most roles at work will be assessed to define the intellectual skills they require.

Organisations try to determine the level of intelligence of the people it employs through a variety of means, often through some form of psychological test as part of the recruitment process.

These tests basically fall into two categories, defined by the British Psychological Society as:

• Tests of Typical Performance: no correct or incorrect answers but preferences and strength of feeling sought
• Tests of Maximum Performance: general tests or specific ability tests like numerical reasoning.

These tests have been subject to a degree of challenge and controversy over the years.

Disputed outcomes

A lot of the controversy arises from the inability of an organisation to standardise and effectively and objectively run the various tests and analyse the results consistently.

In addition, many people who take the tests find the them intrusive and difficult to understand and as a result find them threatening.

Supporters of psychological testing argue that the tests introduce a more consistent and objective element to the assessment of individuals and help predict performance. 

Others are clear that these tests are just part of a package of information and can be costly to administer, difficult to replicate, inconsistently applied and analysed and without standardisation.  

These detractors point to misuse and inappropriate use of results.  Others go further and see them as an intrusion and an inappropriate practice.

Given these conflicting views, it is important that you carefully review the use and administration of intelligence testing, as well as the different proprietary products on the market vs. your needs.  Consider the arguments for and against noted above and assess whether this approach is suitable for your organisation. 

Physical abilities

Some roles at work require physical abilities.  These may range from typing at a keyboard to heavy manual lifting.  

The physical needs of our roles should be carefully defined and understood.  

Understanding our abilities

Our own understanding of our ability and how it is recognised can be critical to feeling capable, confident and happy at work.  

Being faced with tasks and challenges at work that are clearly beyond our ability can lead to stress and tension.  To address this tension we can either attempt to acquire the ability or we have to defer to others or fail at the task.

As the stress of not being able to do something can be great, we need to pay care and attention to our abilities and how they match to different roles and tasks.

Planning development

It is useful to list the abilities needed to perform well in your current role and any other role you might aspire to.

Next to this list determine on a scale of importance from 1 to 10 how important each ability is within your current role and future roles.

Then mark out of ten how well you can demonstrate that ability now.

Analyse the results and list the abilities in importance order, examine your current performance scores.

From this simple analysis determine the gaps that need closing to relieve stress now and in the future, improve your performance and develop your career.

Capability

It is worth remembering that our abilities is where we start.  Do we have the ability to swim for example?

However the application of that ability takes a different complexion when turned into capability.  Yes you can swim but can you swim a world record or across the English Channel?

You should work with your manager to assess your ability and capability, as together with several other factors, they will lead to a view of what performance can be achieved.

Action

Keep the list of your abilities up to date and use it as a memory jogger during your personal development discussions.  Plan actions that will help you grow and develop your skills to keep you moving forward in your role and in your career.