Definition of talent
Among the four meanings that the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy) gives to the term talent, two of them are summarised in a single word: intelligence (understood as the ability to understand) and aptitude (understood as the ability to perform something).
Thus, as a broader definition, talent could be defined as the qualities, whether innate or acquired, of a person to perform activities or tasks with the particularity of doing so in an outstanding manner, with above-average ease or effectiveness.
As can be seen from the RAE definition, it can be linked to both aptitude and intelligence and can manifest itself in any field.
A talented person is someone who is able to perform tasks with great ease, even if they have not been trained to do so or if it is the first time they have attempted to do so.
Precisely for this reason, it should be clarified that talent and skill are not synonymous, despite being similar. Skill is marked by having acquired, perfected and achieved a certain ability through learning and practice.
Types of talent
Now that we know how talent can be defined, let’s look at some of its main types in the business world.
- Natural talent. As you can guess from the name, this is a skill that each person is born with and has not acquired through experience, study or practice. Another characteristic feature is that it is usually above average.
- Obvious talent. In this case, we are dealing with a series of abilities that the employee has already developed. It is easy for the company to identify, both in the selection process and in day-to-day tasks. Technical, linguistic, social or communication skills are examples of this type of talent.
- Potential talent. This type of talent refers to the abilities that a person can achieve. It is important that companies’ human resources departments are able to detect and encourage it through appropriate development or training plans.
- High-performance talent. In addition to the skills linked to talent itself, there is also the ability to stand out through effectiveness, efficiency and remarkable results.
- Hidden talent. This is usually considered the most difficult talent to identify, as the remarkable skills are unknown to both the employee and the company itself. It emerges or is identified when new tasks, roles or activities are assigned to people with these undiscovered talents.
Talent by area
Depending on the areas of application, there are other types of talent, such as technical or specialised talent, which refers to specific areas as varied as engineering, data analysis or programming.
More closely linked to other professional fields, creative or innovative talent offers the possibility of coming up with original or novel ideas.
On the other hand, leadership talent is characterised by the ability to motivate and inspire teams.
The ability to work in a team or communicate effectively to achieve objectives can be enhanced by those who have collaborative talent.
And speaking of communication skills, we also find people who have the ability to be clear and persuasive when conveying their ideas or proposals, either orally or in writing—or both—in what would be considered communication talent.
