HR Guide: Managing Talent and Succession Planning Using the 9-Box Talent Grid.
Improving employee performance and selecting them for future leadership roles are just some of the ways you can improve job satisfaction and retention rates. The nine-box talent grid is an easy-to-use tool for HR and business managers to accomplish all that and more.
What Is The 9-Box Talent Grid?
The 9-Box Talent Grid is a simple yet powerful tool that can be used to support all areas of the Succession Planning Process — from assessment and talent review to development and talent planning.
The vertical (y) axis of the grid indicates growth potential, referring to an individual’s potential to grow within the ranks in a managerial or professional capacity. The meaning attributed to the y-axis can be changed depending on an organisation’s context and priorities.
The horizontal (x) axis represents an employees’ current overall performance, identifying whether the employee is currently below, meeting or exceeding performance expectations.
The 9 Boxes in the matrix are defined as a result of the relationship between Potential and Performance when both attributes are defined at three levels (e.g., Low, Moderate, High). The intersection of the two axis determines each employee’s current standing and required talent management action.
The 9 Box talent grid is most effective when the descriptions for the 9 Boxes or ‘categories of talent’ are clearly articulated. Clearly defining both “Potential” and “Performance” at all three levels will provide a common language and set standards by which talent can be discussed, assessments can be calibrated and succession planning decisions can be made.
Depending on the grid they end up in, the nine-box talent grid will help determine if an employee is ready to move up the ranks or needs to be re-assessed in their current position before moving up.
How To Use This Tool
To use this tool, HR and managers work together to assign employees to relevant boxes on the grid based on the two categories to help identify the top performers, those with the highest potential, those who need development intervention, and those who need coaching on performance improvement.
The constructs of performance and potential can be defined in various ways, and most organisations seek to incorporate their organisational values and culture into the definitions. The tool helps HR and managers focus on two essential employee variables:
- How well they are performing at the moment
- How well they are likely to perform in the future (their growth potential).
As an example, we suggest the following structure:
Performance
- Low performance: Talent does not match the job requirements and fails to meet individual targets.
- Moderate performance: Talent partially matches the requirements of their job and their targets.
- High performance: Talent fully meets the requirements of their job and their targets.
Potential
- Low potential: Talent is working at full potential and is not expected to improve, either because they are at optimal capacity or lack motivation.
- Moderate potential: Talent has the potential to further develop within their current role. This can be in terms of expertise or performance.
- High potential: Talent is eligible for promotion, either immediately or in the nearest future.
The next step is to plot potential and performance on a 3×3 grid, resulting in the nine-box grid. The intersection of the two will help determine the employee’s current standing and where intervention may be needed. The model’s most significant value is the talent management recommendations it provides for each of the nine boxes within the grid.
To derive the optimal value from the tool, it is important that HR and managers start the process with the end in mind and clearly establish the outcomes they want at the beginning. They should also ensure they act upon the discussions and recommendations generated by the process.
The template below describes the attributes of employees that fall into each of the nine grids and specific talent management actions that should be employed to improve their performance and develop the employees.
Please click link to download an editable version of the template → https://bit.ly/39nKpVI
Why Use The 9-Box Grid?
1. It’s a valuable tool to facilitate a dialogue amongst the senior leadership team. Teams can use it to calibrate their ratings and performance expectations from employees.
2. It’s an effective way to diagnose development needs and ease the transition to development planning
3. It provides a framework for succession planning
4. It allows for easy assessment of leaders on two key dimensions — performance and potential
5. It encourages multiple perspectives for a much more accurate evaluation (team vs single opinion)
6. It creates a shared sense of ownership for an organisation’s talent pool
The Limitations of The 9-Box Talent Grid
There are no perfect tools, and the 9-box grid isn’t without its own set of limitations. The biggest concern about using the matrix is that it can be prone to some degree of subjectivity and human error. Managers’ perspectives can sometimes be subjective, skewed or incorrect due to miscommunication or personal bias. We are all human and subject to discrimination and mistakes of one form or another. We all come from diverse backgrounds and have different perspectives that lead us to make decisions, especially when managing people.
Furthermore, there are concerns about the plausibility of measuring ‘potential’ as a category, with many considering it to be too closely linked with ‘performance’. After all, it’s rare an employee would measure well for potential whilst their performance is poor, for instance. As a result, some organisations have replaced potential with other measures, such as agility or aptitude for change which may provide more context relevant and objective criteria.
Some also worry that assigning employees into categories promotes employee labelling, which then becomes challenging to unstick, and managers use these labels as shortcuts when discussing employees. For example, If an employee is assigned to the bottom left corner of the grid, they’re considered a weak employee, and it could be difficult for them to shake this label.
Despite these limitations, the 9-box talent grid is one of the most utilised strategic HR tools. It provides a practical framework to facilitate talent management conversations, particularly around employee development, placement and succession planning.
The framework has been a useful tool for us at the Workforce Group (both internally and for our clients). It has proven quite effective for making accurate talent and leadership assessments, setting a strategic talent direction and creating targeted development plans to take each employee to the next stage of their careers.
When used correctly, the 9-Box talent grid can be a valuable and versatile tool. HR professionals will do well to become thoroughly familiar with it before they attempt to use it. Like any other tool, it is only as good as the hands that wield it and could create unintended consequences if misused.
