Potentia Prelude

In large organisations, for example the NHS, there are strata of people containing very large numbers. When the third tier is taken into account, the numbers explode. It is even more difficult at middle management levels in large organisations, where there may be many talented team leaders or first line managers, but it is costly to discover who they are.

To carry out a full Potentia profile on each person in the top three tiers of even a modest-sized organisation has always been possible, but very expensive.  It also stretches the capacity of the Potentia provider to deliver a quality product, especially if the profiles are required in a short timeframe.  To this end, we have developed an alternative to the full Personal Profile assessment called Potentia Prelude, which is shorter and more manageable.

Features of Potentia Prelude include:
• Brief; six explorations per day is the delivery goal
• Categorical (stop/go; to the right or to the left) rather than numeric
• Well-balanced between its estimate of Intellect and its estimate of Action-orientation
• Accurate, valid and reliable
• Interesting and fun, but hectic
• Able to provide useful feedback, albeit brief

Reporting and feedback

A generic report is developed, along the same lines as the full Personal Profile report, but much shorter, and generalised to a nine cell classification. The person can be Strategic or Strategic Access or Operational in role preferences, and the Strategic or Strategic Access or Operational arena occurs for Qualities of Intellect (Solving Problems) and for Qualities of Temperament (Implementing Solutions). The nine combinations could be labelled IO (Intellect Operational), IS (Intellect Strategic), IP (Intellect Access to Strategic), TO (Temperament Operational), TS (Temperament Strategic), TP (Temperament Access to Strategic).

The feedback follows along the lines of the information above. For one group, there is a development path to the more strategic roles within the organisation. This group often carries the label of ‘high potential’, a label that can be quite divisive. We have instead chosen the label ‘strategic minded’. For the other group, there should be, and often is, a development path that follows more practical lines of training and coaching on the job, acquiring further technical or specialist expertise, and being exposed to work situations which broaden and hone their skills. It is preferable for feedback purposes, if the latter development path is formally articulated within the organisation. However, if this is not the case, it is almost certain that such precedents can be indicated as existing informally.

Comparison between Potentia Prelude and the full version

Full Potentia Personal Profile

Potentia Prelude Profile

Produces a value for each sector of Intellect and Temperament

Produces a category of either up to Sector 3+ or beyond Sector 3+

Three hour (maximum) process

One and a quarter hour  (maximum) process

Project description enables estimate of transfer qualities and metacompetences

No project description

Case study allows preparation and note-taking

Only time to read the case study is allowed

Full feedback is given, including suitability of the profile to certain types of roles, described in full profile terms

Only brief feedback is given. Conclusions can be drawn regarding role suitability for categorised roles only

Full report is provided, with reasonable degree of customisation

Short report is automated, drawn from a  template


If you would like any further information regarding Potentia Prelude, please contact us on +44 (0)20 7865 2180 or email potentia@gtuk.com.