Case Studies
Performance appraisals and development plans 
Objective: To introduce an appraisal system that addressed the different levels of employees within the business, from administrators to graduate and management-level accountants. The performance appraisals needed to measure employees’ competencies and behaviours, which related to key performance indicators outlined in their job descriptions. The appraisals and development plans also needed to include processes that would help motivate employees to raise their performance, further their career and personal development and increase job satisfaction.
Process: A performance appraisal and development plan was set up for each level of employee within the business. Templates were created that could be managed internally and easily populated with specific employee information, including targets, training goals and other aspects relating to agreed actions.
The appraisal and performance plan consisted of:
Training was given to managers to ensure consistency in the rating of employee performance. Following the appraisal process, managers were responsible for the recording and following up on agreed actions; though equal responsibility was given to the employee to achieve the agreed targets and actions.
Outcome: The appraisal process effectively managed performance in relation to business objectives and individual targets. As the employees progressed through the business, they would be measured against differing but relevant requirements and key performance indicators reflective of their position.
Benefits:
Process: A performance appraisal and development plan was set up for each level of employee within the business. Templates were created that could be managed internally and easily populated with specific employee information, including targets, training goals and other aspects relating to agreed actions.
The appraisal and performance plan consisted of:
- Competency-based questions
- Behavioural questions
- Agreed areas for improvement (as highlighted from the responses)
- Targets for the next three, six, nine or 12 months
- A training and development schedule
- Feedback on previously agreed goals related to training
- Training requirements for the upcoming six months/year
- An upward appraisal process – feedback on the management, culture and work environment
Training was given to managers to ensure consistency in the rating of employee performance. Following the appraisal process, managers were responsible for the recording and following up on agreed actions; though equal responsibility was given to the employee to achieve the agreed targets and actions.
Outcome: The appraisal process effectively managed performance in relation to business objectives and individual targets. As the employees progressed through the business, they would be measured against differing but relevant requirements and key performance indicators reflective of their position.
Benefits:
- Employees felt that the appraisal was personal to them
- The process was more objective and fair
- The process identified skill gaps in individual employees and within the business as a whole and allowed for a means of addressing those gaps
- The emphasis on career development served as a retention method
- The development aspect ensured that an effective succession plan was in place for key roles
- The process enabled the business owners to make informed and objective decisions regarding remuneration, reward and promotions
Team building workshop
Objective: To undertake a team-building session that took into account the diverse range of personalities amongst staff. The activities needed to show that, while personalities differ, individuals and teams can effectively work together in ways that complement one another, ultimately benefiting the business and customers (children and parents).
Process: Prior to the team-building session, each employee was asked to complete a Jung Type Indicator assessment, which is a modern alternative to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The dimensions measured included:
The session highlighted employees’ differences, their frustrations and the ways in which they could support their colleagues. For example, a highly extroverted employee may feel that their introverted colleagues never have anything to contribute because they don’t say anything. Conversely, introverted employees may have great ideas to contribute but say nothing because they feel their ‘louder’ colleagues are never quiet long enough to allow them to speak up. In response to the assessment, extroverted colleagues often realise the need to ask introverted colleagues for any feedback, suggestions or comments, and allow them time to respond.
Some activities separated the different personality types and some activities required similar types to work together on problem-solving exercises, emphasising personality strengths. At the end of the session, participants were given their reports confirming their ‘type’.
Outcome: Employees learned how to work together effectively as a team. They learned to recognise and appreciate the diverse strengths and challenges of their colleagues and how they could effectively work together to achieve the same goal.
Benefits:
Process: Prior to the team-building session, each employee was asked to complete a Jung Type Indicator assessment, which is a modern alternative to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The dimensions measured included:
- Extroversion/introversion
- Sensing/intuitive
- Perceiving/judging
- Thinking/feeling
The session highlighted employees’ differences, their frustrations and the ways in which they could support their colleagues. For example, a highly extroverted employee may feel that their introverted colleagues never have anything to contribute because they don’t say anything. Conversely, introverted employees may have great ideas to contribute but say nothing because they feel their ‘louder’ colleagues are never quiet long enough to allow them to speak up. In response to the assessment, extroverted colleagues often realise the need to ask introverted colleagues for any feedback, suggestions or comments, and allow them time to respond.
Some activities separated the different personality types and some activities required similar types to work together on problem-solving exercises, emphasising personality strengths. At the end of the session, participants were given their reports confirming their ‘type’.
Outcome: Employees learned how to work together effectively as a team. They learned to recognise and appreciate the diverse strengths and challenges of their colleagues and how they could effectively work together to achieve the same goal.
Benefits:
- Encouraged employees to understand the value of working together and improved working relationships
- Improved communication skills
- Increased performance and employee motivation
- Greater satisfaction from the perspective of children and parents attending the day care as the employees are happier in the workplace
- Better able to create project teams that achieve successful outcomes
Candidate reference checks
Business: Government agency
Objective: To undertake behavioural competency-based reference questions on behalf of the client; 125 candidates required two references from referees in countries throughout the world. Project was to be completed within seven days.
Process: 125 completed references, typed verbatim.
Outcome: The client was able to make decisions on whom to offer employment based on the information provided.
Benefits:
Objective: To undertake behavioural competency-based reference questions on behalf of the client; 125 candidates required two references from referees in countries throughout the world. Project was to be completed within seven days.
Process: 125 completed references, typed verbatim.
Outcome: The client was able to make decisions on whom to offer employment based on the information provided.
Benefits:
- Competency-based references enabled the organisation to check that the information given during interviews was supported by previous employers
- Consistency was achieved in terms of the person undertaking the reference questions, probing where necessary to obtain full and detailed responses
- Equipped the client with sufficient supporting information upon which to make employment decisions, alongside the candidate’s CV and their performance at the interview
Psychometric assessment for recruitment and selection
Business: Car manufacturer
Objective: To carry out psychometric assessments on six short-listed candidates for two key senior executive positions within the business. The reporting and feedback of the psychometric assessments was to be delivered to a board of senior managers, enabling them to compare the differing strengths and areas of potential development for the six candidates.
Process: The six candidates performed personality and ability assessments. Reports were then prepared that gave feedback on specific competencies, details on each candidate’s interpersonal style, thinking style, coping style, management and support role preferences, team role preferences, general mental ability in the areas of verbal, number and abstract, and critical reasonability relating to verbal and numerical capabilities.
Outcome: The reporting and feedback process served as part of the overall recruitment process and this information, along with candidates’ CVs, interview performances and references, enabled the client to make objective decisions on each candidate’s likely performance and suitability.
Benefits:
Objective: To carry out psychometric assessments on six short-listed candidates for two key senior executive positions within the business. The reporting and feedback of the psychometric assessments was to be delivered to a board of senior managers, enabling them to compare the differing strengths and areas of potential development for the six candidates.
Process: The six candidates performed personality and ability assessments. Reports were then prepared that gave feedback on specific competencies, details on each candidate’s interpersonal style, thinking style, coping style, management and support role preferences, team role preferences, general mental ability in the areas of verbal, number and abstract, and critical reasonability relating to verbal and numerical capabilities.
Outcome: The reporting and feedback process served as part of the overall recruitment process and this information, along with candidates’ CVs, interview performances and references, enabled the client to make objective decisions on each candidate’s likely performance and suitability.
Benefits:
- Enhanced objectivity in the selection process with standardised assessments that put all candidates on an equal footing
- Unbiased, reliable and relevant information concerning the likelihood of job success and job satisfaction
- The process improved chances of appointing productive, high-performing staff
- The psychometric assessment gave structured and measurable insights into each candidate’s likely behaviours and ability levels, their probable strengths and areas where further training or initial job support could be offered.
- Face-to-face feedback to those making recruitment decisions by the person responsible for interpreting the assessments further facilitated the process and provided a forum for addressing any questions relating to the psychometric interpretation. It also aided the effective comparison of candidates for the two different roles.
Redundancy outplacement - employee support
Business: Private investment company
Objective: As a result of the economic climate, the business owners were forced to make their finance manager’s position redundant. The objective was to help the businesses manage the redundancy process as smoothly as possible.
Process: As part of the redundancy process the finance manager was offered outplacement assistance. The services chosen by the employer and employee were a mix of personal assessment, coaching in job research, applying for jobs, interview preparation, action planning and goal setting. Throughout the process, the employee was required to undertake exercises that encouraged him to think about all aspects of his life, as well as his career. After undertaking a psychometric assessment to identify his areas of interest, skills, strengths and possible areas for development, an action plan was created addressing his career, home life and activities outside the workplace.
Outcome: With a revised CV and a winning attitude, the employee was able to secure an excellent position at a higher level than his previous role within a culture that he truly felt part of.
Benefits:
Objective: As a result of the economic climate, the business owners were forced to make their finance manager’s position redundant. The objective was to help the businesses manage the redundancy process as smoothly as possible.
Process: As part of the redundancy process the finance manager was offered outplacement assistance. The services chosen by the employer and employee were a mix of personal assessment, coaching in job research, applying for jobs, interview preparation, action planning and goal setting. Throughout the process, the employee was required to undertake exercises that encouraged him to think about all aspects of his life, as well as his career. After undertaking a psychometric assessment to identify his areas of interest, skills, strengths and possible areas for development, an action plan was created addressing his career, home life and activities outside the workplace.
Outcome: With a revised CV and a winning attitude, the employee was able to secure an excellent position at a higher level than his previous role within a culture that he truly felt part of.
Benefits:
- Displayed the business’ commitment to the employee whose role was made redundant
- Helped to reduce the employee’s feelings of negativity regarding the redundancy
- Supporting their employee helped him to be positive and attain a new rewarding position
Personal career guidance
Business: Private individual
Objective: To find a new role for our client that utilised her skills and paid well. Our client possessed a PhD and worked for a voluntary organisation for a modest salary. She wanted to find a role within project management but felt that she lacked the skills, experience and confidence to perform in such a role. In addition, she did not feel that she could manage financially on the salary that a person at entry level project management could command. Through our career transition process, our aim was:
Process: Three processes were undertaken: a psychometric assessment, the use of the FutureSelves programme, which encourages the individual to focus on where they want to be in the future, and the consideration of our client’s career to date. From this, it was determined that our client did possess ample project management experience. After focusing on specific roles of interest, we were able to determine the level at which she should apply for roles, through emphasis on the required competencies and behaviours. We narrowed it down further by ensuring that the positions she applied for matched her aspirations, i.e. her lifestyle, location preferences, culture and product/service. When our client applied for jobs, she could do so with real passion and a knowledge that she possessed the skills needed to succeed in the role. The content of her CV was reworked to give her previous experiences a slant towards her project management capabilities. Through interview preparation, we were able to ensure that our client was comfortable and confident in her ability to respond with appropriate examples in an interview situation.
Outcome: The position of project manager within a not-for-profit organisation.
Benefits:
Objective: To find a new role for our client that utilised her skills and paid well. Our client possessed a PhD and worked for a voluntary organisation for a modest salary. She wanted to find a role within project management but felt that she lacked the skills, experience and confidence to perform in such a role. In addition, she did not feel that she could manage financially on the salary that a person at entry level project management could command. Through our career transition process, our aim was:
- To determine whether our client had the skills and experience necessary to do this type of work
- To find out what further training would be necessary
- To create a CV that demonstrated our client’s transferable skills and relevant experience
- To apply for relevant positions
- To prepare our client for competency-based interviews
- For our client to obtain her dream job
Process: Three processes were undertaken: a psychometric assessment, the use of the FutureSelves programme, which encourages the individual to focus on where they want to be in the future, and the consideration of our client’s career to date. From this, it was determined that our client did possess ample project management experience. After focusing on specific roles of interest, we were able to determine the level at which she should apply for roles, through emphasis on the required competencies and behaviours. We narrowed it down further by ensuring that the positions she applied for matched her aspirations, i.e. her lifestyle, location preferences, culture and product/service. When our client applied for jobs, she could do so with real passion and a knowledge that she possessed the skills needed to succeed in the role. The content of her CV was reworked to give her previous experiences a slant towards her project management capabilities. Through interview preparation, we were able to ensure that our client was comfortable and confident in her ability to respond with appropriate examples in an interview situation.
Outcome: The position of project manager within a not-for-profit organisation.
Benefits:
- Structured career guidance and career transition process
- One-on-one coaching and guidance
- Assistance with confidence building, creating a professional CV and interview preparation
- Focused career and job search
- Clear direction through an action plan that includes SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) goals
- Ongoing contact and support to help our client stay on track and achieve her desired outcomes for her career path and other areas of her life
Management training using Emotional Intelligence
Business: Marketing
Objective: To provide leadership training to further career development. Our client had a talented employee within his team whom he wanted to develop further into a managerial role, but he felt that some form of leadership coaching was necessary prior to promotion.
Process: Having outlined the benefits of the emotional intelligence survey and coaching programme to our client, it was imperative that the employee could also understand why she was being asked to participate in the programme and understand the potential benefits. Once everyone was clear on the benefits, we performed a 360-degree multi-rater assessment. This required feedback on the employee’s performance in relation to seven emotional intelligence dimensions, which relate to an individual’s ability to perceive and understand their own emotions and those of others in the context of the workplace.
Feedback came from the employee herself, her manager, her peers and direct reports. The feedback was discussed with the employee in the first coaching session. There were some areas in which her responses closely matched and other areas where there was huge disparity between her responses and those of the other raters. The responses led to considerable discussion relating to why particular responses would have seemed likely. It became evident that there were three areas that required significant improvement.
Through the following months we worked through a workbook of activities during coaching sessions that specifically addressed those emotional intelligence dimensions. Without doubt, some of the activities pushed the employee outside of her comfort zone, but the progress was immense and achieved over a relatively short period.
Outcome: The employee soon achieved her promotion and successfully demonstrated that she was capable of understanding her emotions and how they influence others. She also demonstrated an understanding of the emotions of others and how she could use this to benefit her working relationships.
Benefits:
Objective: To provide leadership training to further career development. Our client had a talented employee within his team whom he wanted to develop further into a managerial role, but he felt that some form of leadership coaching was necessary prior to promotion.
Process: Having outlined the benefits of the emotional intelligence survey and coaching programme to our client, it was imperative that the employee could also understand why she was being asked to participate in the programme and understand the potential benefits. Once everyone was clear on the benefits, we performed a 360-degree multi-rater assessment. This required feedback on the employee’s performance in relation to seven emotional intelligence dimensions, which relate to an individual’s ability to perceive and understand their own emotions and those of others in the context of the workplace.
Feedback came from the employee herself, her manager, her peers and direct reports. The feedback was discussed with the employee in the first coaching session. There were some areas in which her responses closely matched and other areas where there was huge disparity between her responses and those of the other raters. The responses led to considerable discussion relating to why particular responses would have seemed likely. It became evident that there were three areas that required significant improvement.
Through the following months we worked through a workbook of activities during coaching sessions that specifically addressed those emotional intelligence dimensions. Without doubt, some of the activities pushed the employee outside of her comfort zone, but the progress was immense and achieved over a relatively short period.
Outcome: The employee soon achieved her promotion and successfully demonstrated that she was capable of understanding her emotions and how they influence others. She also demonstrated an understanding of the emotions of others and how she could use this to benefit her working relationships.
Benefits:
- Improved productivity and performance from the employee
- The employee’s increased interpersonal effectiveness
- Greater leadership capability
- Improved teamwork and working relationships
- Increased job satisfaction and motivation
- Retention of an employee who had good technical skills and the potential to develop further in the business
Psychometric assessment for business development
Business: Retail property manager
Objective: Our client had two directors and was looking to introduce a third director to complement the existing strengths of the business. All three men undertook personality and ability assessments to determine their preferences and likely behaviour, strengths, areas of potential development, interpersonal, thinking and coping style, likely management style and preferred team type. The purpose of this exercise was a pre-requisite to a strategic planning session for the business. Each director would be assigned key areas of responsibility to assist with the growth and development of the business.
Process: There were a number of differences between the three individuals and the exercise served as an effective tool to assist with the strategic planning session. The decisions made during this session supported the future development of the business.
Benefits:
Objective: Our client had two directors and was looking to introduce a third director to complement the existing strengths of the business. All three men undertook personality and ability assessments to determine their preferences and likely behaviour, strengths, areas of potential development, interpersonal, thinking and coping style, likely management style and preferred team type. The purpose of this exercise was a pre-requisite to a strategic planning session for the business. Each director would be assigned key areas of responsibility to assist with the growth and development of the business.
Process: There were a number of differences between the three individuals and the exercise served as an effective tool to assist with the strategic planning session. The decisions made during this session supported the future development of the business.
Benefits:
- Highlighted individual strengths in terms of who should lead the development of differing aspects of the business
- Emphasised individual strengths in relation to project planning and problem-solving
- Served as a tool to determine the future direction of the business
- Identified areas of development for each individual director, providing them with information on aspects to personally develop further
- Enabled the two existing directors to make a decision as to whether the third individual had complementary skills that would be beneficial to the business
Job analysis - matching job functions with business goals
Business: Private medical practice
Objective: The owner/manager of the private medical practice was finding that much of his time was spent on the general running of the practice and less time was spent in clinic with his patients. This was a concern as he employed both a full-time office manager and a part-time receptionist to run the practice. Our objective was to investigate the following aspects to determine the issues and effectively address them:
Process: Through assessing the existing job descriptions, conducting job expert interviews with the office manager and staff, and observation of the office manager and receptionist in their workplace, we were able to respond to the concerns which had been raised.
Recommendations
Benefits:
Objective: The owner/manager of the private medical practice was finding that much of his time was spent on the general running of the practice and less time was spent in clinic with his patients. This was a concern as he employed both a full-time office manager and a part-time receptionist to run the practice. Our objective was to investigate the following aspects to determine the issues and effectively address them:
- Working relationships between the office manager and receptionist
- Functions of the office manager and receptionist
- General administrative processes within the practice
Process: Through assessing the existing job descriptions, conducting job expert interviews with the office manager and staff, and observation of the office manager and receptionist in their workplace, we were able to respond to the concerns which had been raised.
Recommendations
- A short course in managerial training for the office manager
- Revision of the job descriptions – clarifying the roles and giving more ownership to the office staff
- Improvement of processes relating to end-of-shift hand-overs and effective cover during staff absences
- Improvement of processes to ensure operations continued smoothly regardless of the flexible hours worked by office staff
- Outsourcing of some functions, i.e. medical typing
- Introduction of regular catch-ups/feedback sessions between the manager and office staff as well as a formal appraisal process
Benefits:
- Through specific training, employees had the necessary skills to perform their jobs successfully
- Job descriptions gave the employees ownership of their roles, provided clarity regarding expectations and helped to motivate the employees, resulting in increased job satisfaction and improved performance
- Ensured that all functions performed by the team members were aligned to the business objectives
- Improved processes, decreased duplication and ensured the efficient use of time; full documentation of processes helped employees understand the task functions and requirements and reduced the reliance on one person who had all the information ‘locked in their head’
- Regular feedback sessions let employees know how their manager regarded their performance in relation to agreed tasks and goals
- Work relationships improved and there was less requirement on the manager to spend time addressing conflict within his team
Employee survey
Business: Private consultancy
Objective: To undertake an employee survey to determine the level of staff commitment and their understanding of the business. As a result of the economic recession, the director of the consultancy felt that she needed a better understanding of how her staff were feeling so that she could better implement programmes focused on motivating and retaining them, as well as addressing any issues. The main areas in the survey focused on:
Process: The employees undertook an anonymous online survey. While the results revealed that the majority of employees were happy, it indicated that they were concerned about the lack of work, which caused feelings of uncertainty.
Outcome: The survey results prompted the need for an action plan which focused on:
Benefits:
Objective: To undertake an employee survey to determine the level of staff commitment and their understanding of the business. As a result of the economic recession, the director of the consultancy felt that she needed a better understanding of how her staff were feeling so that she could better implement programmes focused on motivating and retaining them, as well as addressing any issues. The main areas in the survey focused on:
- Culture of the organisation
- Leadership and managers to whom employees reported
- Perception of employees’ roles and value within the organisation
- Communication
- Training and development
- Performance feedback
- Rewards and recognition
Process: The employees undertook an anonymous online survey. While the results revealed that the majority of employees were happy, it indicated that they were concerned about the lack of work, which caused feelings of uncertainty.
Outcome: The survey results prompted the need for an action plan which focused on:
- Clearer communication and direction from the director regarding what was happening in the market and any impact it may potentially have on employees
- In-house training from the managers and director to help employees develop more skills which would benefit clients and add value to their services
- Formal appraisal and development plans
- Recognition programmes or reward structures
Benefits:
- Employees felt that their concerns were being addressed
- The anonymous format of the survey enabled the employees to confidently express their feelings
- Identification of the strengths and areas of development needed within the business
- Enabled the management team to address how to retain employees
- Improved teamwork and more confidence within the team
- Staff development of skills resulted in greater customer satisfaction and increased quality service delivery
Improving selection and retention processes
Business: Security firm
Objective: To retain staff. The directors of the business were concerned about the number of people leaving the business and the lack of processes in place in relation to selection and retention.
Process: By conducting exit interviews with key staff members we were able to elicit some trends that were impacting on the retention of employees – namely, there were no job descriptions or induction processes; employees were uncertain as to their exact job function and purpose. The directors were often too busy and unavailable to address concerns of their employees. In addition, there was no regular administrative support to enable managers to delegate certain functions that would enable them to focus on their core, strategic roles.
To facilitate the process, job descriptions were created for a number of positions, including the general manager and administrator. Interview processes were designed to ensure that when meeting candidates, attention was directed to the competencies required to perform the job rather than subjective consideration of the status of previous assignments and roles. An administrator was recruited to the role following a competency-based interview, a psychometric assessment and competency-based references. Hand-over and procedure notes were produced by the temporary administrator and full induction training was commenced on the first day of the administrator’s new employment.
Outcome: Processes were set in place in relation to selection and retention
Benefits:
Objective: To retain staff. The directors of the business were concerned about the number of people leaving the business and the lack of processes in place in relation to selection and retention.
Process: By conducting exit interviews with key staff members we were able to elicit some trends that were impacting on the retention of employees – namely, there were no job descriptions or induction processes; employees were uncertain as to their exact job function and purpose. The directors were often too busy and unavailable to address concerns of their employees. In addition, there was no regular administrative support to enable managers to delegate certain functions that would enable them to focus on their core, strategic roles.
To facilitate the process, job descriptions were created for a number of positions, including the general manager and administrator. Interview processes were designed to ensure that when meeting candidates, attention was directed to the competencies required to perform the job rather than subjective consideration of the status of previous assignments and roles. An administrator was recruited to the role following a competency-based interview, a psychometric assessment and competency-based references. Hand-over and procedure notes were produced by the temporary administrator and full induction training was commenced on the first day of the administrator’s new employment.
Outcome: Processes were set in place in relation to selection and retention
Benefits:
- Exit interviews helped to identify strengths within the business and highlight areas for development. The feedback also enabled the directors to focus on their strengths and weaknesses and address who should manage which aspects of the business
- The creation of job descriptions with measurable performance indicators helped clarify role function for the employees
- Working relationships between employees and the directors were improved as a result of roles being clarified. Employees felt they had greater autonomy to perform their work without constantly seeking assurances from the directors. This, in effect, freed up time for the directors to concentrate on business development and strategic planning
- Competency-based interview guidelines helped lead the directors through the process, ensuring that they were asking relevant questions and that the interviews were fair and objective
- Competency-based reference questions were designed to validate the responses of the interviewees, again helping to ensure a good fit to the role
- The recruitment of the full-time administrator relieved pressure on the managers and enabled them to perform their core functions. As the administrator took part in a formal induction process, she was quickly capable in her role and clear about her functions and the expectations of her
- The psychometric assessments used to test the administrator candidates focused not only on the competencies of the role but the coping styles of the candidates – a key factor for consideration given the nature of the business and the issues surrounding confidentiality and privacy.
