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Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Potentialdiagnostik

English translation:

testing employee potential / potential assessment

Added to glossary by Dr Andrew Read
Aug 12, 2014 18:51
9 yrs ago
German term

Potentialdiagnostik

German to English Bus/Financial Human Resources HR testing
It's in a letter to new employees about a 'Potentialaudit' that they have to undergo. I'm translating that as 'Audit of Employee Potential', which is not snappy but is clear. This bit explains more about the general process as follows:

"Was ist ein Potentialaudit überhaupt?

*Potentialdiagnostik* ist ein Verfahren zur Ermittlung und Bewertung von verschiedenen Kompetenz- und Persönlichkeitsbereichen, die für ihre Tätigkeit von Relevanz sein können oder bereits sind. Dieses Verfahren ist wissenschaftlich fundiert und gibt uns eine nachvollziehbare und messbare Meinung über Ihre Kompetenzen, Ihre Stärken und Schwächen und Ihre gewöhnlichen Verhaltensmuster."

It therefore seems to be similar to a Belbin test, etc. but the catch-all term 'psychometric testing' seems too broad.

Thanks in advance!
Proposed translations (English)
3 +4 potential assessment
3 potential diagnostics

Discussion

Lancashireman Aug 12, 2014:
Not a problem if... .. you use those 'inverted commas' (or "double quotes" for the American market). They have a wonderful power for 'encapsulating and distancing' the enclosed phrase.
Dr Andrew Read (asker) Aug 12, 2014:
Hi Andrew S. Afraid I don't like your suggestion, but you have correctly described the reason for my wavering over 'employee potential audit' - because of the adjectival use of 'potential' in English. But that's alsso a problem with your proposed translation of 'potential diagnostics', n'est-ce pas? :) Let's see what else people suggest. If not I'll just go with 'psychometric testing'.
Phil, IMO it's not quite a synonym but rather a description of the more generalised process of which the company's Potentialaudit is an example, but it's a subtle difference...
Lancashireman Aug 12, 2014:
Phil When I recommended a 'literal translation', I was not advocating diagnosis (see below)
Dr Andrew Read (asker) Aug 12, 2014:
I'm already wavering between 'employee potential audit' for the first thing but I can sort that; there's a reason for my wavering.
It's the 'Potentialdiagnostik' where I'd like some help.
Agree with Phil that it wouldn't be appropriate to leave it untranslated as it's neither company-specific nor Germany-specific as the description goes on to say. My current choice is simply 'psychometric testing', which fits the description well and is the standard term, but as I say might be a little too broad.
Lancashireman Aug 12, 2014:
Phil It's what the company call it, but here they are trying to explain the jargon to the great unwashed ("It's in a letter to new employees...")
philgoddard Aug 12, 2014:
And "audit of employee potential" isn't snappy, as Andrew R. says, but "employee potential audit" is.
philgoddard Aug 12, 2014:
I disagree, Andrew S. Why leave it untranslated?
It's clearly a synonym for Potentialaudit, since the question is "Was ist ein Potentialaudit" and the answer is "Potentialdiagnostik ist..." And a literal translation wouldn't work either, since in English diagnosis refers to problems, medical or otherwise.
Lancashireman Aug 12, 2014:
It's the first word in a paragraph... ...which then goes on to define it. Strong case for leaving untranslated in inverted commas? Alternatively, a literal translation, also in inverted commas.

Proposed translations

+4
1 hr
Selected

potential assessment

In the world of psychometrics, "Diagnostik" in German is often "assessment" in English, so "assessment" seems the obvious word to use here. "Potential assessment" googles well too.



What is potential assessment?

Potential assessment is a test that forms part of the selection process for admission to several of the programmes offered by tTUT..
http://www.tut.ac.za/enrol/potential/Pages/default.aspx
Peer comment(s):
agree Lancashireman : "What is potential assessment?" Assessment that may (or may not) take place [smiley]. Anyway, Andrew R. says: "Afraid I don't like your suggestion...", so this could be a face-saving option.
14 mins
One could always use "assessment of potential" - but the term "potential assessment" is pretty widely used, so I don't think the more wordy version is necessary.
agree Rachel Waddington
1 hr
agree Ramey Rieger (X) : has good potential
14 hrs
agree B. Dickinson
18 hrs
Something went wrong...
3 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks very much for this, Armorel. I rephrased in the end as something like 'tests of employee potential' to avoid the problem caused by the use of 'potential' as an adjective that means something may or may not happen. I did, though, use 'assessment' elsewhere."
23 mins

potential diagnostics

What they call it...
http://www.arentz-partner.com/potential-diagnostics.1424 M52...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 44 mins (2014-08-12 19:36:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"My current choice is simply 'psychometric testing'..."
I don't think the client would appreciate this degree of tampering with the source text.

The problem in EN is that 'potential' is both a noun and an adjective. Consequently, 'potential audit' could be misread as an audit that may or may not take place. The only safe solution in EN is to turn the construction around and use a preposition:
audit of (employee) potential
diagnostics for (employee) potential
Something went wrong...
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