An organization’s most valuable asset, and its most important investment, is its employees. Smart leadership will understand this, and work hard to actualize the skills, talents, and abilities of their staff. However, employee growth can be measured on a number of different metrics, some starting as soon as the employee is hired. Getting an understanding of and a benchmark for the potential talent of an employee is an important step to take initially. During the interview process, candidates should be asked about their desire to grow within the company, and what their future potential could be. Then, after being hired, the employee's training should be evaluated. Leadership should measure this using a cost return model, examining what the expenditures of training are versus what employees gain. Engagement is another important metric by which leadership should measure employees. Engaged employees are more productive, and disengaged employees can weigh down an entire team. There are numerous other metrics by which employees can be evaluated, but it is important that employees are held responsible for these metrics and evaluated on a regular basis.