Survey here, assess there…

In the current industry of employee surveys and assessments, there are a wealth of solutions to choose from if an organization wants to start producing data and analyzing its workforce. The risk is that the surveys and assessments turn into HR busy work, and forms and filling out boxes become an annual routine with little results to show.

There are many steps in the talent life cycle where assessments can enhance talent processes. Candidate assessments can improve the quality of candidates you end up interviewing and thus result in higher efficiencies in your selection process and ultimately in better quality of hire. Talent assessments certainly make workforce planning more effective. Various types of 360 assessments help in development planning. When it comes to managing the organization culture and evaluating the HR strategies, employee engagement surveys are critical in tracking progress.

However, all the assessments and surveys are just data points. There are two red flags to be cautious about.

1)      Don’t forget the human factor

In assessments, it might be easy to be seduced into letting the assessments do the ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’ decisions for us. However, assessments are just indicators. They cannot replace human judgment and interpretation.  Also, don’t think that a paper report thrown over the fence is all your employees need as a result after an assessment. They need to discuss and reflect on the findings. That is the most eye opening part of an assessment.

2)      Don’t sit on your data

We should use assessments and surveys for making decisions and acting on the data. They are not meant to be binder fillers. Use assessments to support your candidate selection. Take the 360 data and have a frank dialogue. More importantly, create a robust development plan that leverages the strengths and mitigates weaknesses. If your talent assessment identifies gaps, move people to roles where they can succeed, or provide development to bring them to the level where they need to be. In surveys, don’t ask questions unless you are willing to act on the answers. The worst you can do is ask year after year about your management or benefits and change nothing, when your employees honestly tell you what they think. Don’t create focus groups or employee councils, if you don’t plan to use their input and implement some of their recommendations. (There is a chance that their ideas are different from yours.)

The trick is to ask what you really want to know, with the intent of acting on the data you will get back. That’s the point of asking the questions in the first place.

If you need help with employee assessments or surveys and turning the data into action plans, contact liisa@forteconsulting.biz or 512-484 8263.

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The Peter Principle: Is your organization run by incompetent people?

The Peter Principle was developed by Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull in 1969, and asserts that “in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence”. In other words, according to this principle, organizations keep promoting employees until they reach their level of incompetence. What are ways to avoid the Peter Principle creeping into your organization?

Everyone in Human Resources is familiar with another principle: “Past performance is the best predictor of future performance.” This is a good rule of thumb, as long as the job role and the environment are not changing significantly. Put your star sales producer into a sales manager position and you might be up for a surprise. Your best leader in solid growth years might not be your go-to person in a turnaround crisis.

So what are your tools to make sure you have competent people in every position? First of all, be clear of what competencies are required for success in each job. When you promote internally, you should be just as specific and demanding as hiring externally.

Second, the 9-box assessment is a wonderfully simple way to discuss among the management, which employees have reached their limit and which ones have a great journey ahead. A 9-box grid categorizes employees based on their current performance (low-medium-high) and their future potential (low-medium-high). Based on these two dimensions, the organization can design targeted development programs for them.

Third, promote learning agility as a competency across your organization. Select employees that are eager to learn and try new things. Promote a culture that is open to feedback and change. Encourage everyone to learn from mistakes instead of looking for someone to blame. This creates an employee base that is less likely to get stuck in their level of development.

Fourth, create talent processes that systematically push new talent upwards. Define key positions and what type of competencies and experience they require. Slate high performers and high potentials for the positions, and intentionally create experiences they need to gain. Let them test their skills before they have to step up. Coach and mentor them until they are ready to move. When it’s time for promotion, they have already proven their competence. The Peter Principle can go and hover above some another organization.

If you need help with 9-box assessment or high potential development plans, contact Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks at liisa@forteconsulting.biz or at 512-484 8263.

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Competencies: Your building blocks of talent

Competencies are clusters of skills, knowledge and behaviors that are required to be successful in a given job in a specific organization. In a way they are like features of a washing machine you are looking to buy – what it can do for you. But, as we are talking about human beings, competencies are more elusive to measure and compare. Competencies are also not set in stone; they can be improved over time through development. Smart companies put effort into defining what competencies they need and want, and push them through their selection process. They develop, assess and promote individuals based on their competencies. Some companies even have competency-based rewards. Organizations with less visibility into competencies are playing a guessing game with their talent.

Core competencies

Often, companies start with defining core competencies. These are qualities they seek in all employees across the board. Examples of core competencies might be collaboration, integrity or customer focus. Core competencies should align closely with the core values of the organization. It is not uncommon that core competencies are almost identical to core values. It is important to translate the core competencies into descriptions that are meaningful in the day-to-day work at any level of the hierarchy. Core competencies are the basis for evaluating culture fit.

Functional competencies

Functional competencies describe what it takes to get a job done in a specific role. A good rule of thumb is that you only want to get to the level of detail that you are willing to manage, track and enforce. Functional competencies describe the technical and functional specialties that are required for good performance in each job role. Functional competencies help determine the qualifications for a job. In some industries, competencies are guided by professional certifications and best practices.

Leadership competencies

Management development is very important for the future leadership pipeline. Most companies have specific competencies defined for their manager role. As the organization grows and the management layers increase, it is often necessary to define distinct competencies for executives, middle managers and frontline managers.

Where to start?

Competencies can be defined in many different ways. You want to use your top performers, your current culture and your future strategy as your guiding light when you start sketching the outlines of your ideal performer.  Your tools are interviews, job analysis, focus groups and assessments. When you have the right set of competencies, they will feel right: half-way between where you are today and where you want to be tomorrow.

If you need help with competencies, contact Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks at 512-484 8263, or liisa@forteconsulting.biz .

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Lighthouse management: Are you visible to your people?

As a leader of your organization, think of yourself as a lighthouse. You provide direction and assurance in the dark. People look up to you. Everything you do is very visible. The higher you get, the more attention your actions and decisions attract. Being a lighthouse is not for the faint of heart. Is all the scrutiny and responsibility worth the rewards? Make up your mind, because a lighthouse without a light is quite useless.

Light up the vision

The lighthouse manager brings clarity to the team or the organization. Every initiative and task has a purpose and is connected to the overall goals of the company. The leader is the one who reminds the team of the ultimate purpose when it’s hard to prioritize, and pulls people back from the tactical noise when it gets in the way of what really matters.

Light up the values

The lighthouse manager walks the talk. S/he leads by example and illustrates the core values of the organization with every action and decision. People notice what managers disapprove, tolerate, approve or encourage, so the lighthouse manager is very intentional about it.

Light up in tough times

In stormy weather, lighthouses are more important than ever. People need assurance that everything will be OK, that the company will survive this. They need a clear vision of how to get through the worst and what their role will be in it. Lighthouse managers will make themselves even more visible in times of change or trouble.

You don’t need to be with your people every second of the day. You just need to provide a frequent cadence of brightness, enough to provide confidence that they and the organization are on the right track.

Want to move from B-talent to A-talent?

Let me warn you – moving from B-talent to A-talent is a bit like going on a diet. It SOUNDS easy – Eat less and exercise more – but it’s a pain to follow through. You will be more successful, if you consider it as a permanent change of lifestyle instead of an event. It’s not just going through the motions, but really starting to think differently about talent.

Set the baseline

First you have to answer the question: What does A-talent look like to you? If you don’t define this clearly, you will get what you ask for; anything. Competency definitions and clear job descriptions are the foundation of an A+ organization. Once you know what talent you need, do a thorough talent assessment. Who meets your performance, skill and culture fit standards and who doesn’t? The next hard question is this: of those who don’t meet the standards, who can be developed via training, coaching or reassignments? Brace yourself for finding some employees who may not be up to par and need to be managed out. For the rest, create a serious development plan to reach the level of performance that you aspire to.

Fill in gaps with A-talent

Most likely, your talent assessment reveals gaps that need to be filled with new talent. If you cannot fill the positions internally, it’s time to go for the top performers out in the market. This is the first test of your new hiring strategy. Using your new criteria, you only select those who meet your standards. Go for the best. This requires a competitive rewards package and an attractive employment brand. If you are still building your brand, your challenge is to be tuned into the personal priorities of the candidates you are competing for.

Make it sustainable

Once you have an existing arsenal of A-players, you can’t afford to erode it. Maintain a no-compromise selection process that brings in more top performers. Develop a performance management process that relies on frequent feedback and mature managers. Reward and promote best performers. Make sure you are market competitive. A-players are on constant lookout for more challenges. Train your managers on using developmental assignments and having career discussions. Create growth opportunities through expert and leadership pipelines.

Create a talent culture

Make talent development and high performance part of your everyday culture. People development should be a top-of-mind issue in managers’ decision making and goal setting. Mentoring, feedback and setting challenging goals should become a way of living. For A-talent it already is.

If you need help moving from B-talent to A-talent, contact Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks at 512-484 8263, or liisa@forteconsulting.biz .

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