Assessment and development of senior management

There is a myth that a highly paid top manager invariably has all the competencies required to be a successful manager. In practice, however, this is far from the case.

ASSESSMENT

According to the data of Western research, the forecasting of an individual’s performance, built on the basis of the positive track record of the candidate and good recommendations from the individual's previous place of work, has little bearing on the individual’s future success. In addition, the more senior the candidate's position and the more global the tasks that the candidate is expected to resolve, the harder it is to identify possible risks when recruiting through an interview process. It is also often the case that recommendations do not make it possible to gain a full impression of the candidate, as the top manager may be successful in certain business environments, but turn out to be ineffective in a new environment.

Consequently it is important at the assessment stage to create conditions that enable a candidate to display the skills that he/she will need to demonstrate in a new position in a new organization.

Professional assessment of senior candidates for top positions enables a company to avoid possible employment risks attributable to the high salary of the top manager during the period of work, payment for the company's services on personnel recruitment and also the price of management errors committed by the employee.

To select personnel for senior management positions, we propose a flexible individual assessment procedure, which will make it possible to forecast with high degree of accuracy the successfulness of a candidate in a new organizational structure and/or when resolving new business objectives.

DEVELOPMENT

The following difficulties arise from the development of senior management: as they are at the top of the hierarchical pyramid of the organization, they have virtually no opportunity to obtain feedback from their entourage either due to political considerations, time constraints or a lack of understanding that this is necessary. If we now turn to the CEOs, it is often the case that a company simply does not have people who are ready to provide feedback to top management. Furthermore, any conversations about the developments of certain abilities or skills of senior managers tend to include a discussion of personality traits or specific situations in an organization, which it is far simpler and safer to decipher by employing the services of an external consultant, including the signing of a strict confidentiality agreement.

Senior consultants at Detech provide one-on-one consultations for top management relating to the development of their competencies. As a rule such consultations are conducted after an initial assessment at an Assessment Center or an assessment of the personality traits of the individual. Based on the assessment results and taking into account the business objectives facing management in a situation of trust our consultants enable the individual to recognize his/her strengths and weakness and select the most appropriate development paths.

We draw on methodologies devised specifically for the individual assessment of top managers and a unique scheme for developing feedback, which differs in principle from the scheme presented in textbooks.

During one-on-one consultations we work on a specific problem identified as a result of the assessment. The lessons aim to change the individual's behavior and are tied to specific situations at the organization, taking into account his/her personality traits. We work according to a clear-cut plan compiled prior to the start of the lessons and agreed with the client. As a rule it only takes four-five meetings to achieve tangible results.