Putting the Science of Potential to Work: Your Questions Answered (Part 1)

Hfi hosted a live webcast titled “Putting the Science of Potential to Work”, exploring how potential is one of the most powerful predictors of leadership success, from frontline managers to C-suite executives.

Potential plays a critical role in how we recruit, select, develop, and promote talent. Yet many organisations still struggle to define and measure it effectively. The session walked participants through how to quantify potential using psychometric tools and how to apply those insights to make smarter talent decisions.

During the session, participants submitted thoughtful, practical questions about how to begin measuring potential and how to integrate it with existing tools like the 9-Box Grid. We couldn’t answer them all live, so we’re addressing them here in a two-part blog series.

Question 1: What are the best psychometric tests for measuring potential? – Ellie & Chan

At hfi, we’ve spent decades developing and refining our psychometric toolkit. While we’re proud of our own assessments, we also recognize that the best solution depends on your context. Here are four core tools we use to assess potential:

• 16pf (by PAN) – Our go-to personality assessment, backed by over 60 years of research. It’s comprehensive, reliable, and ideal for both selection and development.
• PI-5 – A shorter, five-factor personality tool, perfect for high-volume or time-sensitive assessments.
• GRIT (General Reasoning International Test) – Our proprietary cognitive ability test, available in 30+ languages and benchmarked against a global database of 15,000+ professionals.
• AST (Analytic Skills Test) – Measures critical thinking, a key transferable skill for leadership. Unlike cognitive ability, these skills can be developed over time.

We often supplement these with assessments of motivation, management style, and business approach to build a full picture of potential.

Question 2: How do we decide which competencies to measure? – Jason

We recommend a structured approach to job profiling. Our methodology combines critical incident interviews, repertory grid analysis, and cluster analysis to define the competencies that truly drive success in a role.

If you don’t have the resources for a full analysis, structured interviews and task reviews can still be effective. Just be sure to validate your model, ideally using multiple regression analysis, to ensure your competencies actually predict performance.

Question 3: Is the 9-Box Grid effective, given its subjectivity? – Maria

The 9-Box Grid is a powerful visual tool—but only if the data behind it is objective. Performance is relatively easy to measure. Potential, however, is often based on guesswork unless you use validated psychometric assessments.

Managers can’t reliably predict how someone will perform in a future role they’ve never seen them in. That’s why we recommend combining a solid competency model with psychometric data to make your 9-Box Grid truly meaningful.