The Client
A $150 million healthcare system management company with a newly completed 5-year
strategic plan was about to launch a search for a new CEO. Future success depended on linking a succession process to the
new business goals, objectives, and measures.
The Challenge
Like many mid-sized enterprises, the company had no formal succession or executive
selection processes in place. Although the board and current CEO were aware new selection criteria would be needed to install
a leader with the competencies and experience to address the new strategic goals, they had experienced some challenges agreeing
on a common set of tangible performance requirements and a consistent method to assess the viability of external and internal
candidates.
How We Helped
The first phase of the project was focused on the business impact of the new strategic
plan. The board and senior executives were engaged in a series of structured activities aimed at gaining common agreement
on the new business strategy's goals, objectives, and metrics. Since the succession plan and search were for the company's
top executive position, the strategy's goals, objectives, and measures served as the performance requirements for the CEO.
Although the search was one of the company's top priorities and a matter of urgency, not addressing the business impact of
the new strategy on the succession plan could have created several risks down the road including disagreement on the viability
of the candidate pool mid-process and, worst case, the selection of a candidate who was not a strong fit with the performance
requirements of the job.
The next phase of the project linked business impact to accountabilities.
Working with the company's board, a selection committee was formed and a common search process was developed to evaluate both
internal and external candidates, thus creating time efficiencies and addressing possible human resource compliance issues.
Finally, the CEO's performance expectations derived from the strategy were mapped to job competencies. Each job competency
was prioritized relative to its criticality to achieving the future strategy. The prioritized list was then translated into
an accountability profile describing all competencies, experience, and professional characteristics of a future CEO. This
strategic profile was the central tool used for the search.
We introduced performance scorecarding as a consistent and repeatable tool that
allowed comparison of all candidates across identical criteria. The scorecards created a simple transparency that allowed
the selection committee to quickly and easily evaluate candidates. A leading international executive assessment firm was selected
to conduct a comprehensive leadership assessment on candidates. Working together, two CEO future performance scorecards were
designed to summarize the assessment results for each candidate. One scorecard rated each candidate's potential performance
relative to a national database of leaders in comparable positions, and the second custom scorecard mapped assessment results
to the CEO profile. This second scorecard demonstrated the candidate's potential "performance fit" relative to the client's
strategic priorities. These two scorecards enabled the selection committee to not only evaluate the viability of candidates
relative to a common baseline, but also how they would perform given the unique leadership requirements of the company.
The approach enabled the client to leverage several opportunities to achieve performance
excellence. First, they were able to re-use the entire process for vacancies at the vice president level. Second, the selection
and assessment process was linked with internal talent development activities. Scorecard results were transferred into individualized
leadership development plans for internal candidates who were considered for the position, thus building future top leadership
bench strength.
Success
The client used the tools and selection process to choose a candidate with strong
leadership competencies and a sound fit with the future strategic business environment. The client ultimately saved time and
money by ensuring a clear business foundation to the selection criteria upfront. By taking the time to build a re-usable process
and linking it to other HR programs, the company was able to leverage and sustain their investment. The scorecards, selection
approach, and talent development component were recognized as best practices at two nationally attended conferences.
