WorkLore

In HR, we have an idea we call “latent” skills or competencies. Latent, of course refers to something that has potential, that is subconscious, or perhaps we can better say, unconscious. And that’s where latent skills come into HR. 

Ask yourself: how much do you know about your employees’ experiences before they joined your team? Or their experiences outside of work?

As managers, we frequently aren’t conscious of the full potential of our employees. Even when we are the ones hiring them and have seen their resume, we are focused on what they can do in the role we hired them for, and usually not much else. When we inherit a team, we have even less insight.

But we are all more than our jobs. 

When we map a full range of skills for our employees, we better understand how we can create development opportunities and what’s possible. 

Take for example, an employee who is an amateur photographer. They will have developed skills that translate well to the workplace: 

Amateur photographer competencies

Attention to Detail: Care and tracking of equipment, eliminating distracting background objects

Planning: attending to weather conditions and developing contingencies for outdoor shoots

Spatial Awareness: applying geometric principles to portraiture, understanding of visual perspective

Patience (part of Customer Service): patience for the right conditions, right angle, right light 

Time Management: allocating time to photo shoots, image selection and display

Analysis: paying attention to inputs (lighting, framing) to achieve best possible results

Interpersonal skills: analyzing portrait sitters to identify their smile triggers to obtain the best results

These are all skills that might not show up in their current role but are nonetheless often of value in an organization. An individual with these skills might be ready to take the lead on a project, but as their manager, we might not know that. 

The more we know, the better we can develop our teams.