Assessments for High Potentials

Client need

A multinational pharmaceutical corporation had recently entered a period of growth within a changing competitive landscape. The company saw a need to identify and unleash the power of their talent to drive business results. They wanted to increase rigor and simplicity in their assessment of High Potentials, understanding their strengths and opportunities for improvement while providing feedback to serve as input for a learning and development journey. The efforts aimed to invest wisely and equitably to accelerate readiness as well as strengthen the diversity of succession plans. To achieve these goals, the company partnered with BTS to deliver a customized solution for 150 Corporate leaders, which was later expanded to an additional 90 Manufacturing leaders.

The solution…

Approach: Coupled with the BTS Assessment Practice’s science-based approach, 20 interviews were conducted with employees across multiple job titles and functional areas to define and understand pivotal moments characteristic of what Great leaders do to foster an environment that drives business results.

Tool: Through an iterative and collaborative design process with the company, a business case review, a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, a MomentsBased Assessment (MBAx), and coaching customized for participant’s strengths and development needs was developed. At the conclusion of their assessment, participants receive a customized, comprehensive report showing their individual strengths and development areas relative to the company’s competency model.

How it works

• Participants are provided a business case, then complete a SWOT analysis
• They are then led deeper into the company through a storyline of scenarios within a desktop interface that includes emails, chats, voicemails and meetings. Moments-based assessment questions are scored using an algorithm, while participant’s narrative responses to inbox and chat items are scored by BTS Assessors. These MBA and inbox scores are combined to generate automated feedback reports.
• Participants are then equipped with tools to develop their skills in 1:1 or small group coaching workshops.
• After coaching, participants commit to specific actions they will take back to their day to day roles, receiving gentle monthly ‘nudges’ to keep these goals top of-mind.

Participant feedback…

• 94% indicated they learned something about themselves through the simulation
• 93% found the online experience to be positive
• 92% found the simulation clearly related to the role of a leader at the company
• 100% found the feedback session helpful
• 97% said the feedback will help them plan development to become more effective as a leader

When asked “How likely are you to recommend this experience to a friend?”, on a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being “very likely”), across all participants the average score was 8.7.

• “The process is different than anything I do in my current role, I had to think outside the box during the assessment – it made me stretch!”
• “You think you know your leadership style – but the assessment created a whole different way of looking at things, and your own performance. The simulation was interesting it was a good experience. Models the day to day very closely. Very fast-paced.”
• “It was a fantastic simulation – you did a great job of making it feel like the real world at my company. It was a great experience!”
• “The simulation was really like being at work, it felt “normal” and typical of my workday.”