WHE-UK adopted very much a partnership approach which helped us succeed in developing and piloting a competency based performance management system

Managers design the selection process for their own jobs in a restructure

Changes to operating conditions and strategic goals led a senior management team (SMT - the CEO, Heads of Functions and non executive directors) to agree a new structure based on directorates. There would be fewer directors than existing Heads of Functions and the existing heads would be the main candidates for director roles.

We involved those who would be directly affected by the changes in developing and managing their change. We helped the SMT identify the new challenges for directors, the competencies required to meet these challenges and the methods by which candidates would be assessed. Assessment methods would sample the new director roles and include a competency based interview. In brief, the candidates defined the criteria, drafted the assessment process and helped produce specifications for the assessment methods. We created and conducted the assessments, the CEO and non executive directors conducted the interviews while we took notes (we trained them in competency based interviewing and provided interview guides) and we helped the CEO and non executive directors evaluate the data collected. We then provided candidates with detailed feedback.

The process was considered fair and there was no contesting of the outcomes. The process was designed and delivered within a few weeks of the initial consultation.