Welcome to mastering employee development assessment! Here's a key insight that will transform how you evaluate your team: development isn't just one thing.
Most managers think "Sarah's a high performer" or "John needs development." But that's oversimplifying what's really happening during assessment.
Engagement Message
Think of someone on your team who excels in one area but struggles in another—who comes to mind?
Development assessment actually has two separate dimensions. The first is competence - someone's skill level and knowledge in a specific task or area.
Think of competence as their technical ability. Can they actually perform the work well when you assess them?
Engagement Message
Which skill do you assess so confidently that other managers ask for your input?
The second dimension is commitment - someone's motivation and confidence for that specific task or area.
Commitment combines how much they want to do something with how confident they feel about succeeding at it.
Engagement Message
What's a responsibility you're skilled at but rarely feel motivated to assess?
Here's what makes assessment powerful: competence and commitment can vary independently. Someone might have high skills but low motivation, or high enthusiasm but limited ability.
They're separate measurements, not connected when you evaluate performance.
Engagement Message
Why might confusing competence with commitment lead to the wrong development plan?
Real assessment example: Maria excels at data analysis (high competence, high commitment) but struggles when presenting to executives (moderate competence, low commitment).
Same employee, same evaluation period - but she needs completely different development approaches for each area.
Engagement Message
Which area energizes your team members—and which one consistently challenges them?
