Partnering with SDI, our clients have the unique ability to leverage our talent development software, Expectancy Learning, to monitor if (and how well) their employees practice skills related to their job roles. More importantly, the detailed analytics and planning tools provided by Expectancy guide employee development conversations and create a solid action plan.
My previous article described the values at the core of our own organization. Using Expectancy, we assess the skills associated with each core value (i.e., Integrity, Intelligence, Communication and Collaboration, Common Purpose and Commitment, Confidence) for our own employees, regardless of their job role.
Defining Job Skills and Performance Levels
In addition to defining core values for our own employees and those of our clients, we also carefully define skills for each individual job role. Those skills have four distinct performance levels, which become the matrix and custom roadmap that drives development for our employees and clients. We customize Expectancy to create a skill assessment model and rating system that caters to unique business and culture needs.
For example, if a client encourages their employees to effectively collaborate with their team members, we could define the following Performance Levels for that skill:
Performance Level 1 | Performance Level 2 |
Employee does not perform the skill or has not had the opportunity to perform the skill. | Participates in collaboration and brainstorming sessions and offers insight when asked. |
Performance Level 3 | Performance Level 4 |
Consistently engages with the team to flush out new ideas and concepts and overcome challenges. | Proactively offers insight and ideas that improve and innovate the direction of the team. |
By defining each job skill to this level of detail, we create a solid set of data with a clear assessment of current performance, as well as a definite indicator of the behaviors that need to be accomplished to improve performance in the future.
After job skills are assessed, Expectancy compiles the data from both the supervisor’s assessment and the employee’s self-assessment to generate a report that compares all the data visually in a chart format.
Expectancy has the ability to conduct various assessments, depending upon the need (self, supervisor, mentor, peer, 360º, etc.). In addition to compiling and summarizing rating data, Expectancy compares assessment data all the way down to the individual skill level and allows for open form comments and feedback that funnel directly into development planning.
This data guides critical employee/supervisor conversations regarding performance rating discrepancies, strengths and weaknesses, opportunities for improvement and eventually, a solid employee development plan. Stay tuned… My next article will demonstrate the creation and execution of Expectancy’s Employee Development Plan.
To better understand how Expectancy Learning is connecting performance management with employee development, click here, or contact us with any questions on how to accomplish this for your organization.