Technology turnaround aided by talent assessment and leadership

In an organisation confronted with immediate need to turn around a negative financial situation, there is little time for naval-gazing.

Getfeedback formed a strategic partnership with a leading technology organisation to help leverage existing talent and focus on high levels of customer satisfaction.

To refocus the company on this new principle, the organisation needed to quickly identify the skills and abilities needed in current and future employees. Getfeedback specialises in individual and business performance evaluation and development, enabling the organisation to create a talent pipeline and plan meaningful employee development.

There was clear internal recognition that the success of this vast project was the best chance for recovery and future growth in their congested marketplace.

A comprehensive approach

Getfeedback needed to get immediate results. At the same time, it was necessary to develop a long-term plan that considered business forecasts and upcoming trends to ensure the right skill sets would be available a few years down the road.

The first step was to not just define, but also validate what qualities were needed in the company's employee and management base.

“We needed to create or recruit high performers,” said the CEO,“But there was also recognition that we'd need a good mix of talent, not clones. ”

Getfeedback handled the assessment of internal and external candidates with minimal disruption to day-today business. What followed was a gap analysis, determining where the talent was lacking. The study was highly focused down to the individual level.

The audit, combined with development-oriented business planning, revealed a strong need for team development across the organisation. “It gave us insight into what type of leadership skills the business needed to develop, and at which level, ”, said Alison Gill, CEO of Getfeedback. “For example, we identified a need for bid team coaching in one division.”

Building on internal strengths

Integrated development programs were the next step, to engage employees in the change and to start the transformation process. Getfeedback developed a series of high-impact programmes including venue-based training, action learning, coaching and team-based programmes. Online self-service career planning also helped demonstrate commitment to promoting from within when possible.

Existing employees couldn't do it all though, and to fill the gaps Getfeedback helped develop a targeted recruitment programme.

Results that speak to the CEO

The organisation is now firmly on track to meet financial targets, and the company has a clearly defined process and structure in place to manage talent to meet future needs.

The CEO describes the assessment process Getfeedback developed as, “exactly what we needed - at last!”, confirms Alana.

The cost of recruitment has been halved, and the core leadership development programme is rated at 4.3 on a 5-point scale.