CLIENT STORY: Developing an evidence-based model of high potential.
The Work Psychologists are an award winning ‘people-first’ business psychology consultancy, whose primary purpose is to help individuals in organisations thrive, and to make the world of work better for everyone.
Being able to assess the potential of senior leaders in high stakes appointments is a core element of their business, but they became increasingly frustrated and disillusioned with the tools and frameworks available on the market to meet this client need. Too many existing frameworks failed to assess ‘true’ potential, lacked a clear evidence base or shoe-horned existing personality questionnaires into a ‘high potential’ assessment.
What they needed was their own proprietary and independent evidence-based model of high potential that could be used in both the assessment and development of high potential leaders… and they asked Psychology Works to help them achieve this.
THE CHALLENGE.
With a clear focus on being able to identify leaders of the future, we quickly defined the objectives and scope for the project. Readily agreeing that the model needed to not only have a rigorous scientific evidence base, but also work in the real world and stand up to scrutiny of some of the UKs leading FTSE100 companies.
Furthermore, with the founder of The Work Psychologists having a with a background in marketing, they challenged us to create something that would not be scientifically robust but also embody their brand, be distinct in the market and engage their client base. Unwieldy, boring or overly complex it must not be!
Challenge accepted!
THE ACTION.
We embraced this challenge with gusto and took full advantage of the opportunity to ‘get out geek on’. We scoured every research paper, academic reference, published book and news article we could find on the topic of high potential. Multiple deep dives into the definition of ‘high potential’, understanding the difference between ‘performance’ and ‘potential’ were completed, as well as a thorough market analysis to understand what models and frameworks were available and currently being used by organisations.
This initial research and analysis phase robustly identified which constructs related to high potential had an evidence base – and which did not. A clear scientific evidence-base was the price of entry to our newly emerging model of high potential. No fluff or filler here!
What emerged as a viable framework and evidence base on which to develop The Work Psychologists own proprietary model of high potential was the work of Silzer and Church. The question then became how to modernise and expand upon this body of scientific research for the unique challenges that businesses now find themselves facing when identifying high potential. For example, entrepreneurial drive is often now as vital and valued within organisations as it is for those starting or running their own business.
With the research phase complete, the challenge was on to create a truly unique and contemporary framework for both defining and assessing high potential.
Agreeing the model architecture of the acronym FUTURE was quickly landed on as a way of both structuring and framing how The Work Psychologists wanted to conceptualise high potential. What came next was a robust phase of mapping our understanding of the high potential research against this framework, so that each element worked independently, and together as a whole, with no overlap.
Many discussions were had about what to include or not include, what subfactors might look like, as well as considering how certain concepts contained in the original Silzer & Church model had evolved since its original conception. For example, conscious and considered decisions were made to not include factors such as past performance, emotional agility, culture fit or technical skills to keep the model as ‘pure’ as possible when it came to assessing high potential.
As clarity was achieved over the final framing of the model, we then came back round to the question as to how best to assess each of the elements and what psychometrics to use (lucky we did that market research in phase 1!). We were also tasked with designing a report template that would allow The Work Psychologists consultants to pull all of the information together from an assessment process seamlessly in one easy to understand narrative.
Finally, as these conversations evolved, so did the idea of talking about assessing high potential as unearthing a leader’s DNA – which ultimately also became the visual hook for the model.
THE RESULT.
The FUTURE Leader model, comprising six key elements, has become central to The Work Psychologists' assessments:
Firepower (Cognitive Ability) - The cognitive firepower and critical thinking needed to reason, plan, adapt and learn
Uniqueness of You (Personality) - The core essence of who we are - our Leadership DNA. Reflected in how we think, act and feel
Transformational Purpose (Motivation) - The inner energy and fierce ambition that fuels our passions; motivating us to accomplish our goals and push through in the face of adversity
Uniqueness of the Role - The unique knowledge, skills and abilities required to excel in the leadership of people and teams within a specific organisation
Reflective Learning - The capacity and relentless willingness to continually learn from experience. Achieving growth through proactive use of feedback and self-reflection.
Entrepreneurial Drive - The ability to innovate, recognise and pursue opportunities and be a positive force for change and progress.
With the framework, report template and assessment tools mapping complete, The Work Psychologists could pilot the model with a hand-picked selection of clients to identify opportunities for refinements and improvements.
From the client-side, the FUTURE Leader was a resounding success during testing and trialling. For the consultants using it, opportunities to simplify the report were identified, and well as a bit of refinement on the exact combination of psychometrics to use..
Since the original model development in 2019, the FUTURE Leader model has been used in high stakes assessment and selection activities for a range of organisations, transforming how they identify high potential and fill vital leadership vacancies.
WHAT NEXT?
The Leader of the FUTURE framework continues to inform and revolutionise the selection process for high profile appointments for organisations in the UK and beyond. However, The Work Psychologists are not standing still, with plans for creating a better candidate experience when completing some of the online assessments by bringing them together into a single platform.
The Work Psychologists have also identified shortcomings with some of the tools on the market when it comes to the psychometrics available to them. So, not surprisingly, they are now collaborating with one of the UKs leading psychometricians to create their own tool assess responsiveness and adaptability to change (linked to Reflective Learning in the FUTURE model).
We’ll also be supporting them on this journey in a small way, and looking forward to seeing how one of our favourite client/collaborators continues to disrupt the industry!
(We love a good sequel!)
Find out more…
If you would like to know more about high potential or the services Psychology Works offer in this area, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
In the meantime, why not check out some of our other blogs and thought pieces. For real time updates and insights you can also find us on LinkedIn, our social media platform of choice: @PsychologyWorks and @mariagardner
The encore.
Love a case study and still wanting more? If so, then why not check out these other client stories, articles and thought pieces on high potential, assessment and leadership development….
