APPENDIX A
Diagnosing the Health of Your Human Capital/Talent Management Practice
To what extent are your current leadership practices contributing to, or detracting from, your operational excellence? The answer to this question is critical. Research clearly shows that organizations that excel in their human capital/talent management practices:
• Enjoy higher engagement and retention levels of their most talented people.
• Experience higher quality and customer satisfaction results.
• Realize significantly higher profit levels and revenue.
At JohnMattonePartners, Inc. (JMP) we have spent over 29 years partnering with all types of organizations across the globe. Our focus and passion has been helping our clients realize significant and impressive returns on their leadership and human capital investments.
Our approach is to help each client diagnose the various elements of their human capital/talent management practices, determine where they are strong and vibrant (or not), and devise a cost-effective prescription that will make a positive and lasting difference in how leaders, individual contributors, and teams execute their work.
To that end, we have created a simple, yet powerful diagnostic tool designed to help you—the HR leader, OD Professional, LD Professional—isolate an Index of your organization’s relative health in your human capital/talent management processes. The higher the score, the more likely your company is to be formulating and executing practices that are positively impacting operating results.
This Index provides a cursory view of your organization’s human capital/talent management processes. The ideal way to use this assessment is to deliver it as a survey, much like an engagement or pulse survey. Alternatively, you can use the assessment as part of interviews or focus groups with executives. Ultimately, your Index should be viewed as a starting point in identifying improvement areas and goals.
Stealth Fighter Index (SFI)
Rating Scale
Instructions: Use the rating scale to rate the statements in the Index.
Deployment
1. We are recruiting, selecting, and promoting talent based on the competencies required for success.
2. We have a lot of bench strength.
3. Our screening assessments effectively identify five to ten outstanding candidates for each available position.
4. We hire and promote top-shelf management talent.
5. We hire and promote top-shelf management talent that does not turn over.
6. We utilize interviews to prescreen and then later in the selection process to confirm assessment results and determine the candidate’s fit.
7. We identify high-potential leaders.
8. We effectively and correctly identify high-potential leaders.
9. We utilize succession planning to identify who will be ready for management positions when they become available.
10. Our selection/promotion assessments measure leadership Capability (i.e., skills and competencies that determine that the candidate can execute the requirements of the position).
11. Our selection/promotion assessments measure leadership Commitment (i.e., the motivation, drive, and passion—the will to execute).
12. Our selection/promotion assessments measure leadership Alignment (i.e., how overwhelmingly connected and aligned the leader is to the vision/mission of the organization and how effectively they will get their team aligned).
13. We recognize that predicting future leadership performance is more complicated than just looking at a leader’s past performance.
14. Our selection/promotion assessments yield a readiness rating.
15. Our selection/promotion assessments are valid, reliable, and job relevant.
16. Our selection/promotion assessments provide rich developmental information that can be leveraged post-hire/promotion.
Diagnosis
1. We don’t have skill and talent gap issues.
2. We have a lot of bench strength.
3. Our leaders, individual contributors, and teams consistently function at superior levels.
4. Our leaders and individual contributors are highly engaged.
5. Our leaders and individual contributors stay; we experience very little undesirable turnover.
6. We benchmark (using assessment) our leaders, individual contributors, and teams—every six to twelve months—so we can get calibrated on our levels of Capability.
7. We benchmark (using assessment) our leaders, individual contributors, and teams against an external competitive database.
8. Our diagnostic assessments that we use for leaders and individual contributors are linked to the relevant competencies required for success.
9. Our diagnostic assessments that we use for leaders, individual contributors, and teams provide accurate information relative to strengths and development needs, behavioral feedback, and recommendations for improvement.
10. We use multiple diagnostic assessments to assess leader and individual contributor Capability, Commitment, and Alignment levels (i.e., multirater, situational judgment assessments, personality, communication style, etc.).
11. Discrepant information is uncovered and surfaced (as a result of using multiple assessments); this is where subjective observations of an individual’s performance in fact disagree with the results surfaced by objective assessments.
12. We value discrepant information; it is the basis for uncovering situations where individuals are either over- or underinflated, which then is the foundation for targeted coaching/development to unleash their performance.
13. We believe that our leaders, individual contributors, and teams are consistently performing at levels required for us to ensure our long-term success.
Development
1. Our leadership development programs and coaching are linked to the competencies required for success.
2. Our leadership development programs and coaching are linked to objective assessment results.
3. Our leadership development programs/sessions are relatively short and require minimal time away from the job.
4. Our leadership development programs are multifaceted (i.e., we use coaching, workshops, e-learning, institutes, and on-the-job development).
5. Our organizational structure is ideal given our vision and strategy as an organization.
6. Our leaders, individual contributors, and teams are well prepared for the inevitable changes that go with being part of a fast-paced, innovative organization.
7. As an organization, we are innovative.
8. Our leaders and individual contributors create Individual Development Plans (IDPs) based on a combination of subjective feedback from their manager and objective assessment results.
9. Our leaders and individual contributors partner with their managers in creating their own IDPs.
10. Learners are able to track their development progress/certify their knowledge and skills as they progress through development programs.
11. We are focused on ensuring that leadership development efforts produce an effective return on investment.
12. We are focused on ensuring that leadership development is a continuous process, not event driven.
Demarcation
1. Performance management is a joint process between manager and employee; it is not a top-down event.
2. Performance management is a continuous process, not event driven.
3. The word accountability is a critical theme; it is believed in and practiced.
4. Performance management is well beyond a form or software.
5. Goal setting and performance planning are aligned with the strategic direction of the organization.
6. Goal setting and performance planning are linked to earlier interim metrics, such as previous coaching discussions, objective assessments, etc.,
7. A players are clearly identified in our organization.
8. A players are accurately identified in our organization.
9. A, B, and C players are accurately identified in our organization.
10. A players receive better rewards than B and C players.
SFI Scoring
255 Outstanding: Talent management processes positively operating results.
204–254 Very good: There are opportunities for improvement.
153–203 Mediocre: Many areas need attention.
102–152 Cause for concern: Red flags are everywhere, and business may be at risk.
52–101 Struggling: Not much ROI from human capital function.
51 Can’t get worse.