In the above-mentioned study, attention was paid to the naming of the specific characteristics of gifted individuals who are in balance. A sensitive and emotionally rich person, living intensely. Use was made of the Delphi method and the result of this study is an existential model from which the following picture of commonly shared characteristics can be distilled:Ī gifted individual is a quick and clever thinker, who is able to deal with complex matters. playing the violin exceptionally well), or who does not occupy a good social position, to still be called gifted?įor this reason, in the Netherlands throughout the year 2006/2007, a national consensus trajectory was carried out regarding what a group of experts (people who are themselves gifted and who also work with the gifted, including psychologists, coaches and career coaches, occupational health physicians, and a psychiatrist), precisely consider to be giftedness. In other words, is it possible for someone with no educational qualifications, and who has not produced any tangible achievements (e.g. Differences in insights were often linked to the question of whether the diagnosis of gifted referred only to the IQ (the top 2% of the scores in a valid IQ test) or whether the person being assessed was required to achieve high-level performances. In practice, various definitions of giftedness exist, a fact which has not made the communication concerning giftedness any easier. Knowledge of the interaction between a favourable or unfavourable work environment and the gifted employee is of great importance if a clear problem analysis and effective guidance is to be achieved.Occupational health- and insurance physicians can recognise gifted employees based on a number of the characteristics.And finally, we will describe what the gifted individuals can do for themselves. We will also briefly discuss the guidance offered by psychologists and other professionals. We will then provide a number of practical tips for the occupational health- and insurance physician, based on the current state of knowledge and experiences.

In this article, we will discuss briefly the results of this study, with the emphasis on the relation between the gifted individual and the work environment. That is why in 2006/2007 a so-called Delphi study was conducted into the characteristics of giftedness. Additionally, the image of gifted individuals was not always a positive one. However, until fairly recently, many misconceptions existed concerning what giftedness actually is. One result of this is that some parents come to discover that they too are gifted.Īnd with the founding of various think tanks and the attention being paid to retaining special talents for industry, the subject is now on the political agenda. In the last six years, increasing attention has been focused on this subject, for example for gifted children in education. On various occasions, we heard that both employee and employer literally acknowledged ALL the points!Īdditionally, many occupational health physicians were able to better recognise gifted individuals by using this table, thereby enabling them to provide more effective guidance.Īs a source of information and as an aid to recognition, the article continues to prove its worth. What particularly caught people’s attention was the table presenting side by side two perceptions of problems encountered by the gifted in fitting in with their environment: one from the perspective of the gifted employee and one from that of his/her environment. The article thus provoked many responses. Up until then, little had been published on the subject of giftedness and work, even outside the Netherlands. In November 2002, an article was published in this journal entitled Gifted individuals at work. Related book: Gifted workers: Hitting the target by Noks Nauta, Sieuwke Ronner (April, 2016). Key words: GIFTEDNESS, CHARACTERISTICS, FAVOURABLE AND UNFAVOURABLE ENVIRONMENTS The editor agreed with translation and publication on this website. Publisher: Bohn Stafleu Van Loghum, Houten, The Netherlands. This article was published in Dutch in Tijdschriftvoor Bedrijfs-en Verzekeringsgeneeskunde (Journal for Occupational Health- and Insurance Physicians), TBV 16, no. Giftedness in the work environment: Backgrounds and practical recommendations

Gifted adults signs