Assessment of potential should be zero-based
(i.e., a new evaluation each year) Why???
Four reasons:
People change
Managers deserve more than one chance to demonstrate
potential
Some good people can be overlooked and lost
if only assessed once
Potential also interacts with available opportunity."
- Potts & Sykes Executive Talent
"Research over the past 15 years has illustrated
that key development events in the work lives of managers have been as
a result of : touch assignments (38%), role models (good and bad) (21%),
hardships (19%), and course work (just 9%)."
- McCall, Lombardo, & Morrison The Lessons
of Experience: How Successful Executives Develop on the Job
"Our bottom line is that good executives do
not grow on trees. They are "grown" by responsible corporations that provide,
over a period of many years, the nurturing and developmental experiences
necessary to equip individuals to master the ultimate executive responsibilities.
It is therefore essential that each corporation has a system to grow its
own executives."
- Potts & Sykes Executive Talent: How To Identify
and Develop the Best |
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Executive
Development and Succession Planning
Overview
There
is actually a good deal known about how to select leaders. There are now
well over 7,000 books, articles, and presentations on leadership, and some
reasonable consensus has emerged about the key issues related to the topic.
First, a definition:
Leadership
Persuading
others to transcend their personal concerns and to pursue a collective
goal that is meaningful for a group and that will further their collective
welfare; it is persuasion, not domination; it involves creating cohesive
and mission-oriented teams; and effective leadership has a direct causal
relationship to team performance.
Research
strongly points to the following set of predictors as the most reliable
and valid indicators of leadership potential:
Effective
predictor 1:
Actual
performance of the candidate's team or organizational unit. Therefore,
evaluate real-time performance data.
Effective
predictor 2:
Peer,
supervisor, and subordinate feedback on the candidate's effectiveness has
high predictive validity. For example, it's been demonstrated that subordinate
ratings are as effective as (and much less expensive than) assessment center
data in predicting managerial performance seven years later.
Therefore,
use 360° instruments as a key component of the assessment process.
Effective
predictor 3:
The
presence of derailment factors in the candidate's profile. Therefore, look
for tendencies to over control, exploit, micro-manage, resist using appropriate
consequences, or to be arrogant, political, egotistical, irritable, passive-aggressive,
vindictive, abrasive, insensitive, or aloof. All are proven correlates
of managerial careers that flounder, stall, or derail.
Effective
predictor 4:
Cognitive
ability and four specific personality characteristics account for most
of the variance in leadership effectiveness. Therefore, measure the following
psychological characteristics:
Intellectance:
broad range of interests, creative, broad-minded,
curious, open to experience, and raw intellectual horsepower.
Conscientiousness:
prudent, will to achieve, responsible, solid
integrity, strong work ethic, planful and organized.
Surgency:
extraverted, assertive, high-energy, fluent speaker,
desire to advance, eager decision maker, and persuasive -
"leaderlike".
Emotional
Stability: self-confident, self-accepting, balanced,
stress resistant, tolerant of uncertainty, graceful under pressure,
flexible, and effective at handling conflict and negative feedback.
Agreeableness:
diplomatic, cooperative, empathic, friendly,
effective communicator, trusting, and good-natured.
Succession
Planning Process
I.
Objectives
Inventory key managerial candidates in terms of their leadership
styles, skills, gaps, and ultimate potential.
Design an advancement plan for each advancement candidate and
incorporate it into their performance management process.
II.
Analyze Top Jobs, Future Jobs, and Critical Success Factors
Review current job descriptions and identify any needed revisions.
Integrate key leadership competencies (from research, Leadership
Skills, and/or Leadership Styles) with the job descriptions.
Build a job profile: How critical is each success factor and how
proficient must the job holder be in each factor?
III.
Interview and Test the Candidates
Test for the five key predictors of future success: intellectance,
conscientiousness, surgency, emotional stability, and
agreeableness and related sub-skills and characteristics.
Test for vocational interest and preferences, likes and dislikes, and
motivational determinants.
Collect 360° data on Leadership Skills and Leadership Styles.
Develop reports for candidate and management that detail strengths,
gaps, and potential.
IV.
Feedback Meeting with Candidate
Debrief each candidate on their report, focusing on strengths, gaps,
and potential.
Have each candidate design a development and advancement plan
draft to present to their own manager for collaborative refinement and
finalization.
IV.
Consult with Candidate's Manager
Debrief manager on overall findings.
Discuss key issues: strengths, gaps, development needs, potential,
capacity, and options/opportunities for the future for each candidate.
Prepare candidate's boss for collaborative meeting with the candidate
re: development and advancement plan.
IV.
Facilitate Advancement Plan Meeting
Convene meeting with candidate, consultant, and manager to reach
consensus on the individual's plan.
Ensure that plan is fully linked with business' going-forward strategy.
Identify high-impact development opportunities for each person.
Set in motion a mechanism by which advancement plan is integrated
into performance management process and audited on a regular
basis.
Build in feedback loop to ensure that advancement plan is updated and
fine-tuned on a real-time basis.
VII.
Exploit ED/SP Best Practices
Link ED/SP initiatives directly to the business strategy
Focus on performance development and results
Provide candidates with diagnostic feedback and then encourage
self-development
Define a clear role and responsibilities for the person's manager
Use competencies as the platform
Risk placing talented people in jobs or tasks for which they are not
fully qualified; those fully qualified for an opportunity are least likely
to develop in it.
©
Copyright 1999 The Global Consulting Partnership
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