Talent Scouting Employees' hidden star qualities might be just the thing to put your business's name in lights.

Do you know how talented your employees really are? Everyemployee has hidden talents that could take your company from goodto great. "People come with more talent than the jobthey're hired for," says Robert Kelley, a professor ofmanagement at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Tapping the talent zeitgeist is more important than ever before.Employees want their hidden talents to be recognized and developed:When Indianapolis loyalty research firm Walker Information Inc.surveyed 2,400 employees last year, it found two-thirds wanted toleave their companies because there weren't enough developmentopportunities.

While skills and knowledge can be learned, talent isinstinctive. An administrative assistant could have a knack fornegotiation, or an accountant a penchant for spotting industrytrends. Employees may also have "black market"talents-like photography or musical ability-that don't seemrelevant to the workplace but can "make new thingshappen" if used strategically, says David Magellan Horth,program manager and a senior faculty member at the Center forCreative Leadership, a leadership training and research firm inGreensboro, North Carolina. He points to one manager who opened ameeting by playing his cello to get employees thinking. Itworked.