Professional baseball and other sports teams are on a constant search for talent. Current players get older, their skills diminish, perhaps they get injured or traded in an attempt to shore up a team weakness. At any rate, there is a steady churn of talent through the organization, prospects get scouted, drafted, and signed. Their progress and development is carefully monitored, and if the organization is exceptional at identifying talent at a young age, accurately assessing the strengths and weaknesses of these young players, employing capable coaches and other support staff to help in the development of these prospects, and finally creating the kind of environment where players can excel, then usually the organization acquires a reputation as a respected and admired talent factory.
The traditional starting point for young player evaluations and assessments is the scouting report, this (especially in the days prior to YouTube), often was the sole source of organizational data on an individual prospect. A team employee known as a scout would personally observe prospective draft choices as they competed in high school or college games, keep a set of detailed notes, then transfer those notes to an official team scouting report that would be submitted to the team's management to be used as input to inform decisions around player selection, assessment, and even compensation.
A copy of one of these scouting reports, in this case a classic version from 1980, is in the image on the right. This scouting report was prepared by a member of the New York Mets scouting staff about the then high school player named Darryl Strawberry, who later went on to star for many season in the major leagues. 
Take a look at the report, as a combination of a performance review (of Strawberry's play in high school) and assessment tool, (as a predictor of potential future performance), the report is remarkably simple, yet powerful. On one sheet of paper, skills are rated, suggestions for development are indicated, potential for success at the highest levels are considered, and even possible compensation amounts are factored in to the overall report.
There are a few lessons to take away from the simplicity, organization, and content of this kind of report as organizations seemingly continually wrestle with the best ways to evaluate employee performance and to better assess candidates that are being considered for open positions.
Consistency - Notice in the area of the report where specific baseball skills (Power, Base running, etc.) are assessed, the scout is advised to 'Grade at Major League standards, not amateur'. This is important for at least two reasons. One, as prospects at different levels of current competition are evaluated, these scores can still be used as a valid basis of comparison. In other words, rating all high school, college, and other free agent players on the same 'major league' scale makes comparisons valid. Second, applying a rating criteria applicable to the highest level of competition attainable offers some insight as to the ultimate potential of the player. The Mets were not simply trying to find players to stock low-level minor league teams, they were in search of players that would eventually excel at the highest, major league level and they kept that goal in mind from the initial player assessment.
Completeness - Despite being a one-page form, the report is detailed and thorough in its assessment. 'Hard' skills like batting, running, and throwing are included along with what in business would be considered 'soft' factors, (dubbed 'mental makeup' on the report). The baseball scout and executives all too well have come to understand that physical skills alone are not the only criteria that must be assessed when evaluating prospects. And even knowing that these 'mental makeup' criteria are important does not guarantee that mistakes will be made, as in reality Strawberry eventually had multiple 'character' and legal problems in his career. But the larger point is that skills, potential, development and more are all included and on a simple form. Performance reviews and candidate assessments that stretch to multiple pages (either hard copy or online) could definitely learn something from the simplicity and layout of the scouting report.
Reality based - When I saw this report, the item that caught my eye at first was the simple question, 'Will He Sign at Your Price?'. The scout is asked to make a determination based on his/her understanding of the player's ability and potential, current market conditions, and potential competitor's for the player's services to provide an assessment if they believe that player can be obtained at a compensation level that is in-line with the organization's compensation approach and ability to pay. This takes the role of scout (and in business the recruiter), beyond simply evaluating skills and to one that is more complex and valuable to the organization. Every baseball team would today rate Albert Pujols of the Cardinals as a fantastically gifted player, but only a very few of them have the financial means to attempt to sign him to a contract, given the enormous value the market places on his skills. Assessing 'signability' is an important lesson in business as well, it does not make sense for recruiters to chase candidates that the organization simply has no shot at actually landing.
I could go on and on, but I think the point is pretty clear. Think about your reviews and assessments in these types of simpler, clearer terms, apply a consistent method and approach, and make sure that you keep a foot in reality when engaging prospects and it is likely your processes and capability will improve. Thinking like a professional baseball talent scout, and applying some of the scout's tools could just be the way your organization lands the next Joe Mauer or Tim Lincecum, (non-baseball fans, that would be very, very good).
