Categories: Management

Balance in the Nine Box Grid for Talent Management

Removing Line Manager Blocks to Encourage Talent Management

Its not all about people that are identified as being in the top right of a model. Talent is required at all levels and for all jobs. If all a business employed were high fliers then staff turnover would be unsustainable. True talent management is about harnessing and utilising what we have.

The nine box grid is a valuable and yet simple tool in the planning and management of people talent in any organisation. Its simplicity is its strength.

Key points to remember:

1) People identified in one area may advance or regress over time

2) There is no “right place” to be

3) All employees need to be included

4) The nine box grid is just a tool, not a decision making process

5) Managers need hands on involvement

History

The nine box grid or matrix, is believed to have originated within McKinsey to assess different business units and to prioritise the investment in individuals. This was developed for GE in the late 1960s and 1970s to enable them assess the potential of individuals in its business and prioritize their investment and overall strategy.

Application

The nine box grid is often treated as the process – it is not – it is the output from a process. One approach is to identify what staff would fit in which area:

The only area of danger on this grid is the bottom left – or marginal performers. Those with a low performance and a lot potential for improvement.

We need people in all the other positions, not just the top right.

Any effective talent management process should encompass all staff and not just the high flyers. For the process to add value to both the individuals and organisation the process needs to be transparent. The criteria for each “box” or performance assessment needs to be an integrated part of an appraisal process. Some of the most effective talent management processes may well be designed by HR or OD functions, but they are owned and managed by the line. Managers need to be rewarded for supporting and proposing promotions and transfer of people out of their responsibility – or the biggest barrier to talent management in any organisation is the manager that does not want to lose his/ her best employee/ performer to another part of the business. What gets measured gets done – and this is just as true for the identification of talent as it is anything else.