TALENT MANAGEMENT

Forget the rating, it's all about the conversation, says D a n Lucy

onsiderable effort is invested been adopted in many organisations as A

C in identifying talent, building

--------- bench strength and helping to
part of an overall talent strategy. The
tool is used to assign employees to a box
based on two dimensions - their current
High
potential

Low
performance
High
potential

Medium
perform ance
High
potential

High
perform ance
ensure the continued competitiveness
performance and their future potential.
of organisations. It is common to Medium Medium Medium
Typically, the horizontal axis has potential potential potential
hear of one framework or another
three levels of performance and the Low Medium
being used to identify high potential perform ance perform ance
High
perform ance
vertical axis has three levels of potential.
employees. Having heard a deal of
Managers make a judgment on where
frustration expressed with some of Low Low Low
each employee is placed. Organisations
these frameworks, and their potential potential potential potential
often attribute different labels to each
impact on employee engagement, the Low Medium High
box, beyond the obvious high potential/ perform ance perform ance performance
Roffey Park team explored the issue
high performance. A simple representa­
further, focusing on the Nine Box Grid. Performance
tion of the Grid is shown right.
Here we outline key insights
from this research, 1 highlighting how what potential looks like in their context
Involve managers in can engender greater ownership of the
successful implementation of the
determining potential Grid process and enhance capability
Nine Box depends on clarity about
Our research found that managers, when making assessments of potential.
what it means to be a ‘high potential’,
not surprisingly, struggled most with The perceived value among
and targeted development to build
assessing staff for their potential as managers of using the Grid appeared
the confidence and capability of
opposed to their performance. They to hinge on level of seniority and
managers to hold effective develop­
talked about feeling that judgments of degree of involvement with the
ment conversations with their staff.
potential were too subjective or strug­ overall process, including meetings to
gling to find evidence to support them. cross-validate box ratings. Here, the
Talent strategy tool
Engaging managers in determining Grid appeared to provide a helpful
The Nine Box Grid is a tool which has

20 IOCTOBER 2016 ITJ @TRAININGJOURNAL


framework for opening up dialogue
about the broader potential of people
in different areas of the business, and
led to some useful discussions about
how to find new or different ways of
developing and nurturing talent.
Where managers were not involved
in these debates, they often struggled
to think how best to provide devel­
opment opportunities for their staff.
Create a clear strategy
To our surprise, we found that
while the majority of high potential
employees felt motivated by their
rating, one-third felt it didn’t change
anything and another one in ten felt
less positive about their future in the
organisation. A further two-fifths of
employees rated as ‘medium potential’
felt switched off by their experience.
Digging deeper, the real reason
for this was raised, and then unmet,
expectations. A lack of clarity about
what it meant to be regarded as a ‘high
potential’, and what opportunities would
follow, left many feeling let down.
WWW.TRAININGJOURNAL.COM
A sense o f unfulfilled expectation
was left hanging after the exercise. I
fe lt 'so w hat \ and the high potentials
I know often had a high expectation
o f development or promotion that
simply wasn’t managed orfulfilled. ”
'“I understood where I was positioned
and why, but could see no clear link tofuture
opportunities w ithin the organisation. ”
Too often, then, there was a lack
of clear strategy behind the use of
the Grid and a lack of joined-up
thinking. This was particularly needed
where there was an intention for the
Grid to help encourage and facilitate
movement across the organisation,
changing expectations around how
people are managed and developed.
“The biggest issue is: what's n ext?
Is it ju s t a tick-box exercise or w ill it
become something that has more o f a
cultural shift in how opportunitiesfo r
development are made available?"
Constructive feedback
Throughout the research, we were
interested in exploring whether or not
the introduction of the Grid helped
to get development conversations
on the radar and engender a greater
focus on development by managers.
Where managers were skilled
at giving constructive feedback and
having open, engaging conversations
with their staff, the Grid was a useful
prompt. Where managers were not so
skilled, there was little evidence of the
Grid driving a different, more devel­
opmental approach, unless appropriate
support was given to managers.
it
Managers need
to give their
views on what
potential looks like
Managers who had the right kind of
support spoke of asking more questions,
employing higher-level listening
skills, and feeling more open and less
defensive when discussing ratings.
“I think i f you are honest w ith yourself
you know where you sit on the Grid', but
there is a great value in being told as it
leads to a meaningful conversation about
w hat development is needed. I t could be a
life-changing conversation. I f people think
they are stuck in a box then it w ill have no
value, but i f they can see it as a stepping
stonefo r development, then it has. ”
Difficult conversations
In our discussions, managers revealed
they found some types of employees
more difficult to rate and have conver­
sations with than others. These include:
►Ambitious employees seeking quick
progression Individuals who are
highly ambitious, but not yet showing
all the characteristics necessary to be
rated as high potential caused some
difficult conversations to take place,
in order to re-establish expectations.
►Technical experts If the definition
of talent in an organisation is more
about leadership than technical
expertise, technical experts may be
rated as ‘low potential’, which in some
cases led managers to be concerned
about the potential motivational
impact on these employees.
►Demotivated employees Employees
who were demotivated, perhaps -»
TJ | OCTOBER 2016 I21
TALENT MANAGEMENT
due to missing out on promotion,
or following a restructure, risked
further demotivation in some cases
from seeing their rating downgraded
from where it had previously been.
►People lacking in aspiration
This group contained people who
were either unclear of their own
aspirations or showed no desire to
move on, perhaps because they had
been in the same role for a long
time. In particular, people close
to retirement were mentioned.
►People experiencing personal
challenges There was recognition
that employees experiencing difficul­
ties outside of work could be hard to
rate due to inconsistent performance.
The ability of managers to hold effective
conversations with their staff, no matter
the situation, was critical to the success
of the Grid and the sense of engage­
ment of employees. Managers spoke
Despite the difficulty
of some conversations,
if handled the right
way there is much
to be gained for the
employee, the manager
and the organisation
about conversations which opened
out avenues previously unexplored,
managed expectations and changed
perceptions in a positive way. There was
a sense that, despite the difficulty of
some of the conversations, if handled
the right way there is much to be
gained for the employee, the manager,
and ultimately the organisation.
What makes for a good
conversation?
W hat seems to make for a good
conversation is the ability of
managers to employ four key skills:
►Great listening Managers should
develop higher-level listening skills,
intentional rather than reactive
or proactive listening. In reactive
listening, we listen at a superficial
level, reacting to what matters to us
and agreeing or disagreeing with
22 I OCTOBER 2016 I T J
what we hear. At the proactive
level, we listen for something not to
something, keeping our ears open
for opportunities to advance our
own agenda. Intentional listening
is focused totally on the person,
listening without presumptions
or our own agenda in mind. In
our daily lives, we rarely employ
intentional listening and it is so
powerful precisely because we are
so very rarely really listened to.
►Compassion Daniel Goleman
talks about three levels of empathy,
the highest level of which is
compassionate empathy. Cognitive
empathy is about understanding
how another person might feel,
something he points out that can
be used to manipulate and may be
present in the archetypal corporate
psychopath. Emotional empathy is
about feeling what the other person
feels, something which, without the
right ability to manage emotion, may
lead to being overwhelmed by others’
feelings of distress. Compassionate
empathy is to feel what another
feels, but not to be overwhelmed by
it and ultimately be moved to act.
►Focusing on behaviours not judg­
ments Managers need to focus on
giving feedback about behaviours not
the person, and to be mindful of where
they may be rushing to judgment.
►Presence and embodied leadership
W hen holding difficult conversa­
tions, managers can benefit from
reflecting on how they are holding
themselves, how that conveys their
thoughts and feelings and affects
how they ‘show up’. By adjusting how
they hold themselves, they can adapt
to pressures in the moment better.
What can L&D learn from all this?
There are perhaps three key
learning points that L&D should
consider alongside the Grid:
►Involve managers as much as
possible Managers need to give
their views on what potential looks
like in their context. Involving
managers more widely in peer
calibration meetings can help
them think about the leadership
pipeline and identify development
opportunities beyond their own area.
►Equip managers with the capability
to hold effective conversations
Introducing a process to identify
high potential talent such as
the Nine Box means that many
employees who are performing well
in their jobs maybe disappointed
and, may view their career options
within the organisation as limited.
There is a risk, then, that a
process to identify high potentials
can disengage the ‘core’, the bulk of
effective performers who help make
the organisation work. Any process of
selection will lead to success for some
and disappointment for others, but
the message here is that managers,
H R and L&D need to be alive to the
impact of such processes. Managers
need to be equipped with the capabil­
ity and skills to hold effective devel­
opment conversations with employees
at different stages in their careers.
►Be clear about what it means to be
high potential It is critical that there
is joined-up thinking between H R
and L&D about what it means to be
‘high potential’, what opportunities
will be available to those identified
and in what timescale. Keeping em­
ployees with high potential engaged
demands clarity about what is on
offer, and taking clear and confident
steps to meet expectations. T J
is Head o f Research at
D a n L u cy
Roffey Park Institute. Find out
more at www.roffeypark.com
Reference
1 Jane Yarnall, Dan Lucy, Is th e N in e Box
G rid a ll a b o u t b e in g in th e to p rig h t?
E m ployee experiences o f th e N ine Box
G rid, Roffey Park Institute, 2015
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