Tips for Talent Management & Assessment Use – Volume 1 / July 2016
It’s not uncommon for people to be resistant to change in their personal and professional lives and it’s a problem that many managers and corporate leaders continually work to resolve. There is no quick fix for transformation, either – remember, it is a process.
Still, with the right encouragement and push, someone may be inspired to move from an attitude of stubborn resistance to become someone who is pro-active about really improving his or her life. And one never really knows how, where, or when this push may occur.
As I think of all the great results I’ve witnessed among my clients with this shift-in-thinking dynamic while coaching them and reviewing their Winslow feedback, I’m reminded of thisstory of William Winslow’s (founder of Winslow Research).
“One of my clients, a large international high tech firm with headquarters in Silicon Valley, utilized Winslow Reports for both Applicant Selection & Employee Development. Initially, Bob, the V. P. of Marketing, had every manager in his large department take the Profile and hired me to conduct Report Debriefs with each of them.
Bob told me in advance that he was very concerned about the future of one of the managers. She had the education, knowledge, and experience required for success, but she was failing. Her Winslow Report had many Concern Scores and her PCS Net Score was very negative.
During her debrief, she was aloof and cold as I reviewed each of her Trait Scores. She did not comment or communicate with me, just listened with a bored look.
Then, I described her score of “1” in Contentment with the usual descriptors and concluded by saying, “You are not as happy and contented as God intended you to be!”At that moment, this hard, stern woman broke into tears and confirmed she was very unhappy. This “broke the ice” and she then opened up and started to share more information about what was really going on in her life.
I invested more time than usual discussing her Influential Traits and presented more suggestions than usual about how she could “control her behavior,” and not “modify her personality.” She was very receptive to my suggestions and concluded our conversation by saying: “I now understand what is causing my unhappiness, I know what I have to do to change, and I AM going to do it!” (I should mention she was very overweight, had a serious acne condition, her appearance was shabby, and overall, she did not look healthy.)”
Now, for the rest of the story…
“Several years later, I was in this company’s executive lobby waiting to see the CEO to conduct some Report Reviews on his executive staff. I noticed one of their publications and thumbed through the pages. There was a photo of the woman I described above. She had been promoted to Vice President and looked terrific . . . not overweight, great skin condition and a beautiful smile. This was the woman on the threshold of being fired and now here she was, a very successful executive!
Obviously, she was the one responsible for turning her life around. However, I would like to think her Winslow Report and the feedback we provided played some roll in her transformation.”
The Winslow Participant’s Report and Winslow Worksheet are the key ingredients to helping your employees (and you) identify performance / development glitches and then creating an action plan for capitalizing on their assets and adjusting their liabilities.
As you use Winslow Assessments for Talent Development be aware of the ways that the assessment’s feedback and coaching can and will impact each individual in your workforce. They will quickly gain better insights and stronger motivation for their professional / personal development.
A Quick Reminder About Group Profiles
Group Profiles and their respective Summary Charts are excellent for:
- Seeing a “Company Profile” – by placing all -employees on one chart.
- Seeing the strengths and weaknesses of your leadership by placing all managers on one chart.
- Determining what training, coaching or support are required by placing all salespeople on one chart. Or, create two charts – one for your successful sales representatives the other for unsuccessful sales representatives. Then notice where any concern behaviors show up and train or coach accordingly.
You may also :
- Create a Group Profile for all the applicants / candidates for a particular position on one chart and rank them to see how they compare to one another.
- Conduct “Needs Analyses” by determining which traits must be developed to enhance performance.
- Conduct Informal Empirical Validation studies by creating two charts; one with successful employees and one with employees who are struggling or have already failed.
You may conduct any these comparisons and analyses for any of the positions or
groups of employees desired.
Thank you for your business – and when you need help with:
– Winslow Account –
– Setting up Group Profiles –
– Debriefs on candidate / employee results –
– Coaching or training needs –
Please contact Lindsay at 206.533.9700
lindsay@windridgeconsulting.com
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