Success Profiling
What is Success Profiling?
There is an undeniable logic to the premise that if an organisation
does not have a clear and well-defined profile of what it
wants in its future leaders, managers and knowledge workers,
there is little probability beyond chance that it will be
able to develop either existing staff or high potential people
effectively for future business critical roles.
The process for determining the essential requirements for
an incumbent to perform effectively at a given level or in
a business-critical role is called Success Profiling. As illustrated
below, Success Profiling is a critical link between business
strategy and the identification of development gaps.
Success Profiling is similar to Job Analysis
or Competency Profiling but the information
that stems from Success Profiling is more detailed, comprehensive
and focused on the future.
Success Profiling answers the following questions:
- What behavioural competencies are critical for success
in the role?
- What traits, qualities and work preferences will underpin
effective performance?
- What knowledge is required to perform this role effectively?
- What key experiences are required to prepare a successful
incumbent for the challenges of the role?
Success Profile Elements
A well-defined Success Profile should contain four types
of information:
- Competencies - clusters of behaviour
that are related to success in a given role.
- Enablers and Derailers - personal attributes
that may facilitate or hinder success in a role even when
everything else is effective. Cognitive ability is sometimes
included here as it is, in the broadest sense, a personal
attribute.
- Key Knowledge - the degree of understanding
that incumbents need to have about the organisation and
how it operates.
- Key Experiences - the kinds of situations
that someone entering a business critical role or progressing
to a more challenging role should have experienced or at
least have had some exposure to.
Success Profiling Process
There are a number of robust processes for developing Success
Profiles but there is no "one size fits all" approach
that will suit every organisation and every level of role.
Although we will work with organisations to develop a process
that meets particular needs, there are core elements that
underpin an effective Success Profiling process.
Background Review and Analysis: An effective
Success Profile emerges from a clear understanding of an organisations
vision, strategy, values and critical success factors. A review
and analysis of documents that contain this type of information
is the foundation of a successful Success Profiling process.
Data Collection: In our experience, the
most effective data collection methods are:
Incumbent Interviews or Focus Groups:
The aim here is to determine what high performing
incumbents actually do in their role.
Critical Incident Meetings:
The aim of a Critical Incident Meeting is to flesh out specific
behavioural examples of specific incidents or events that
define effective (and sometimes ineffective) performance
in the role.
Repertory Grid Analysis:
This is a well established method used with managers who
operate above the target level being analysed, to map out
their broader perspectives on job/role issues and demands.
A structured interviewing process is used to compare and
contrast different employees’ performance with one
another. The technique is used to capture systematically
a top down management perspective on the behaviours which
lead to superior and less effective performance.
Visioning Discussions:
Normally conducted with senior executives to gather
information to help understand the broader organisational
vision and strategy as well as the desired values and culture.
Validation: This is a critical step that
can make or break the utility of a Success Profile. Essentially
this means going back to those people who participated in
the data collection initiatives to validate a draft Success
Profile. This normally involves asking participants to review
the Success Profile(s) and rate comprehensiveness. And, there
is often a process for rating and ranking the competencies
contained in the profile.
Relevant Case Studies:
» View
a Client Success Profiling Case Study
» View
a Client Job Analysis Case Study
» Contact CompAssess
for more information on Success Profiling
» Learn more
about CompAssess's Competency Management and Job Analysis
Software.
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