Supporting competence: A company develops its capacity

The situation

A medium-sized company has developed very fast and exceptionally successfully. An interesting product, highly committed employees as well as the solid and flexible company management by the founders were the success factors. The company has now reached a size which makes adaptation of the processes and structures necessary. Coping with the next growth phase depends decisively on the management competence of the leadership team and the quality of employees' behaviour.

Intervention: Competence definition, measurement and support for employees and managers

1. Status analysis:
   The company for which the leadership team is characterised by high specialist competence and little leadership know-how and experience starts the process of strategic competence development with a status analysis of all the managers. For this purpose it uses a standardised 360° feedback tool as a benchmark. The company is provided with an overview of the status of its managers.
2. Future-ready: A definition of strategic leadership competences
   What challenges must the leadership team master for the next step into the future? What will their tasks look like, what will depend on them? How must the team be compiled? In order to work out answers to these questions, the members of management describe the entrepreneurial draft for the future in a strategy workshop. With this mental picture, they define the leadership behaviour which must be expected from their managers in view of these strategic challenges, using a tool. Thus 6 strategic core competences are defined for the managers. The company which had not so far itemised many concrete requirements of its managers hence now defines the leadership roles and provides orientation for its managers. All managers now have information regarding their personal development.
3. Future-ready: A definition of strategic employee competences
   Which competences must we specifically observe and support in order to achieve our objectives? This is the central question to which an answer must be searched for and then found. The fields are mapped out roughly in a Board meeting. A cascade of interviews with selected employees and managers surveys behavioural patterns which are seen as important and successful for the respective area and its requirements for the future. The company defines 9 strategic core competences which will be decisive for employee development and which it also wishes to use to assess employees.

If you can quantify it, it can be improved

1. Using in-house tools to develop feedback and support culture
   Both managers and employees are requested to provide regular feedback regarding their behaviour. A 360° online feedback tool which mirrors the strategic core competences and helps superiors and managers to work out clear development fields in the yearly assessment interviews is developed for the managers.
   
   A 270° online feedback tool with several area-typical profiles is created for the employees. This increases the significance and use of the assessment tool and its acceptance by the employees who can see themselves described very clearly and understandably in their field of work. They then receive an understandable feedback from their superiors and also from their colleagues. The opinions of the superior and the employee can be balanced in the assessment interview and task-related development areas defined.
   A guideline on carrying out a feedback workshop helps the respective managers and their employees to process the feedback received together and to understand it better. The company is on the way to expanding its strategic behavioural patterns and to gain a regular overview of the status of competence development of managers and employees. The tools are readily accepted.
2. Personal development in an individualised coaching programme
   The intended direction for development is known – the management competence of the leadership team should be developed - all managers know their own status, based on their own 360° assessment and are also aware of their personal development focus. In order to do justice to the differences and the various starting situations, the company decides to use a management development programme which provides management the opportunity to work on individual questions and situations with a highly individualised coaching process. This is augmented by workshops which extend the communication and self-conception within the leadership level as well as supporting working out your own solution options.
   

Perspective: If it needs improving, support it

The first round of employee status analysis is performed. Development fields will also result from this and can, in part, be processed by task enrichment or on-the-job support within one's own area. The status analysis will also show the managers and human resources development where there are needs for development which need to be addressed across departments. Therefore, investments in employee development are related to both objectives and strategy. It is possible to estimate the success and the ROI of the interventions.
With their development steps to date, the company has current information pertaining to the competence development of its workforce and can develop it strategically. A company in a phase of radical change demands more of its employees than good work, a high degree of flexibility is also called for. The requirements which arise due to growth and the accompanying cultural and organisational changes are occasionally hard to accept. With the establishment of further leadership levels, the gap between management and employees grows - information is only then passed from above downwards or from below upwards. How do the employees view the situation, how loyal are they, what's on their minds currently, what does management actually need to know and observe? In the future, this topic should be clarified by a regular employee questionnaire, a barometer which shows management in a differentiated manner and in good time where action is needed.