Clients often ask my opinion on promotional decisions they want to make in their company. Not all the time, but they ask. I thought about why there were not consistent asks for all the promotional opportunities. Where and why was there a hesitation or a doubt?
Questions
Those who know me well know that I will ask several questions before I provide an opinion. For instance:
- What decision-making talents does the new job require?
- Does the person you want to promote have those talents?
- What type of personality does the new position require?
- Does the person you want to promote have that type of personality?
Depending on the answers I may be able to give a good answer, but will it stand up? In my practice I go by the adage – Why guess when you can know? So, I will suggest three steps.
Develop a Profile
First, profile the promotional position to identify how the person in the position will be required to think and make decisions, what should be the person’s motivational style and drivers, and what should be that person’s preferred behavioral style.
The Assessment
The second step is to create an assessment that can measure the position’s WHAT, WHY and HOW (i.e., What natural talents are desired, Why is the person in the position motivated to use them, and How does the person in the position prefer to use them).
Take the Assessment
The third step before I render an opinion is to give the person who is being considered for the promotion the assessment we have developed. The results of the assessment (actually three assessments in one instrument) help me interpret whether the person is going to be a strong match to the position requirements. Again, why guess when you can know?
Make Sense?
When you think about using assessment tools to evaluate promotional opportunities you realize it takes the guesswork out of the choice, as well as that hesitation and doubt. If you are wondering about the ability of an assessment tool to help, fear not. Take this complimentary IMX ADVanced Insights Assessment to find out your own talents, drivers, and preferred behaviors. As part of my talent assessment system, I can tell you with confidence it works quite well. Now, that is an opinion I am willing to share!