Build leadership pipeline using multi-rater feedback

Backdrop: One of India’s largest private sector banks, as they embarked on a journey of high growth, realized the need to move to competency-based HRM systems.  After deploying Potentia supported Leadership Practices, the need of the hour was that the top 2% of employees (the vice-president cadre) role-modeled the espoused competencies, demonstrating supportive behaviors.

Requirement: The competency map built on the meta framework of Strategic Thinking, Execution Excellence, and Customer Focus needed articulation of observable behaviors and an assessment of leaders.   The plan was to carry out 360-degree feedback for developmental purposes.

Solution: Potentia designed competency framework and associated exemplar stories from the Bank were leveraged to finalize the observable behaviors for obtaining multi-rater feedback.  The communication strategy and the features of Leadership Compass ensured psychological safety and a candid view about each leader emerged.

Outcome: The comprehensive individual development report, including the open-text responses, benefitted this exercise at multiple levels.

(a) competency centric HR practices got mainstreamed — buoyed by the outcome, other HR systems (most notably Recruitment and Training) deployed the competency-based practices with ease.

(b) Leaders took charge of their own IDP (Individual Development Paths) — a series of workshops titled ‘Raising the Bar’ helped participating leaders accept feedback.  The workshop hastened the SARAH process of coping with difficult feedback. The leaders took charge of their IDP (Individual Development Paths), sometimes aided by individual coaching.

(c) The top-management’s continued commitment to using the exercise for development purposes and not to make evaluative decisions helped improve the trust quotient.

(d) Over the years, multiple rounds of this exercise and an expanded scope covered a layer above and below the original 2% population.  Complementing the other management initiatives, this process has contributed to embedding higher trust, pipeline readiness for leadership succession, improved capability, and performance-oriented culture.

Situation: A global IT company with multi-country teams with a significant presence in India needed to improve its multi-rater feedback process.

Requirement: The needs included a simplified experience, an easy-to-respond interface for culturally diverse teams spread across continents, and individual feedback.  An employee-friendly self-decipherable report (minimal need for interpretive workshops) was another requirement.

Solution: The customization features of Leadership Compass such as the embedded names/ identity pointers within the feedback statements and photographs.  The language toggle options for French, Spanish, Russian, and German at the feedback collection stage.

Outcome: Notwithstanding the global managers’ confusion about Indian names and the high matrix structure, the smooth collation of feedback occurred.  The faster turnaround of reports and group-level analysis helped the management make decisions on succession and on-the-job training.