The Global Leadership Forecast estimates that hiring well and
promoting from within can have a success rate of 70 to 80 per
cent, so understanding how a potential employee will react to dif-ferent
work situations is critical. Using employee analytics allows
organizations to hire employees whose behavioural assessments
and skillsets best fit the job assessment. They also ensure that em-ployees
who are joining an established workforce mesh with the
organization’s culture. This is the critical first step to building the
right pool of talent from which to later identify and draw future
leaders.
Bell Mobility initially turned to behavioural analytics to better
understand their employees’ proficiencies, their fit in their exist-ing
roles and their compatibility with the corporate culture. They
quickly realized that by analyzing employee behavioural assess-ments,
they could also identify patterns that led to stronger teams
and improved communications. Senior management was also able
to use behavioural assessments to identify forward-thinking em-ployees
who could be trained as future corporate leaders.
Today, 85 per cent of Bell’s employees have a career develop-ment
plan based on behavioural data. This has allowed Bell to
develop a close-knit workforce, build a management team with
a strong understanding of employee needs and motivations and
create an identified list of potential leaders who will protect the in-tegrity
and longevity of the organization.
2. CREATE THE GOAL BY DEFINING THE
LEADERSHIP ROLE
Believing that the current top performers will be the organization’s
best candidates for future leadership is a common misconcep-tion.
Executive positions may require skills that are undeveloped
or personal characteristics that are absent among those currently
excelling in their current roles. To successfully identify future lead-ership
talent, organizations must first define the role that needs to
be filled. Only after this is done can a match between employees
and leadership roles be identified. While the predictive index (PI)
behavioural assessment provides the analytical data to access em-ployee
behaviours, the performance requirement options (PRO)
job assessment captures the behavioural requirements for a spe-cific
role.
Flynn Canada, a fast-growing Canadian trade contractor of
complete building envelope solutions, understands the value of
cultivating a solid corporate culture. With 19 locations coast-to-
coast, Flynn executives place an extremely high value on
understanding their people. Each employee knows their own be-havioural
assessment results and those of their team members.
Managers are well versed not only in the behavioural assessments
of their teams, but also use the PRO to compare Flynn Canada’s
needs with the skillsets available in their talent pool. Throughout
this process, the management team has been able to identify skills
gaps for additional training and also recognize high potential em-ployees.
As a result, Flynn Canada’s employees have more than a
job, they have a career path that aligns both their own goals and
the organization’s needs. Carefully planning employees’ paths
helps Flynn Canada grow as an organization while providing per-sonal
growth and advancement opportunities for employees.
3. IDENTIFY LEADERSHIP TALENT AND CULTIVATE
THEIR SKILLS
Properly identifying and developing leadership talent is an
investment over time. It is a product of extensive planning, men-toring
and guidance that begins when behavioural analytics show
a strong match between an employee’s behavioural assessment and
the job assessment of a leadership role. Using this wealth of em-ployee
data, managers can develop a personalized plan to groom
the employee for a future leadership role.
By focusing on developing their people, Oil Country Engineering
(OCE), an employee-owned engineering firm in the oil and gas
industry, differentiates themselves from others in their field. By
analyzing employee data and ensuring a close match to the job as-sessments
developed for leadership roles, managers at OCE tailor
training and coaching to support future leaders. With a company-wide
understanding of behavioural analytics, OCE ensures that
everyone understands each other’s abilities. Quarterly check-ins
with employees facilitate the development and growth of natural
talents to allow employees to reach their full potential. This has
allowed OCE to become a strengths-based organization with suc-cession
planning seamlessly integrated into their business strategy.
An added benefit of this approach has been a 60 per cent improve-ment
in productivity and a significant reduction in turnover.
Succession planning is an ongoing process that constantly needs
to be adapted to a continually changing work environment. By
measuring employee analytics, organizations take much of the
uncertainty out of planning for the future. This also allows com-panies
to continually strengthen leadership, reinforce corporate
culture and meet strategic priorities while developing the next
generation of leaders. If done successfully, businesses nurture and
hold on to talent with critical leadership skills while also making
the organization attractive to top talent who seek a workplace with
development and career advancement opportunities. This thriving
environment provides the best foundation for an organization’s fu-ture
growth. n
Doug McCann is a managing principal of Predictive Success
Corporation.
technology
SUCCESSION PLANNING IS AN ONGOING PROCESS
THAT CONSTANTLY NEEDS TO BE ADAPTED TO A
CONTINUALLY CHANGING WORK ENVIRONMENT.
vs148 / Shutterstock.com
34 ❚ NOVEMBER 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
/Shutterstock.com