Tuesday was Valentine’s Day, the day when loved ones share their appreciation for each other through gifts, cards, flowers, special meals and pretty poems. In other words, it’s “feedback” time for relationships. Typically, however, this celebration doesn’t ever get down to the nitty gritty of relationships... in other words, the strengths and areas of challenge for each individual. In fact, often those special strengths that attracted the couple in the first place result in problems later in life.

Similar circumstances can also happen in the workplace. For instance, a new CEO recruited specifically for their strengths in developing interpersonal relationships may find over time that this strength is overused and quickly becomes a weakness. Another example might be recruiting a senior executive who has developed a reputation for driving profitability. In this case, pushing this characteristic too far might drive good people right out of the organization as this personality trait overpowers the ability to develop interpersonal relationships that serve to motivate employees.

Some of these traits, and the tendency to overuse certain strengths, can be identified through such assessment tools as the Merit Profile. Any extreme score suggests strengths that may soon turn into liabilities. One way to overcome this is to set specific, measureable goals and to provide performance management feedback at timely intervals during the early tenure of a new CEO. 

Once again, there are excellent online survey instruments to provide this feedback. Typically, board members and incumbent colleagues at the senior management level are asked to complete an online feedback form which is then collapsed into one major report. This is called a “360” review. While it is easy to administer, it is often found to be threatening to both management and the new CEO alike; this instrument must be implemented with care.

Often times, the online survey is accompanied by an in-person interview that serves to provide response to open-ended questions. These reviews will cover such areas as cognitive managerial skills, interpersonal management skills, personal managerial qualities, teamwork, supervision, planning and productivity. The results provide a snapshot of each of the measures as reported by “self” and by others. The skill elements are then sequenced from the highest to lowest score which suggests areas for development. Subsequently, each of the self scores are compared to the feedback provided by the incumbent colleagues to give a full profile of the leader’s skills and areas of challenge.

These 360 style instruments have become very popular in providing feedback to senior executives. First of all, they directly link and rate a set of competencies against the behaviours being experienced by the group as a whole. This helps the board to determine if on-the-job performance is supporting their desired style of culture and if milestones are being met. These instruments provide for the input of different perspectives and result in excellent information for helping a CEO to get a good sense of their strengths and areas of challenge as seen by their management team. The data is both qualitative as well as quantitative and can provide department-by-department comparisons within larger organizations. Finally, the assessment provides a transparent and very fair process that serves to encourage participation.

Yet, these online feedback surveys aren’t without their own challenges. First of all, the selected instrument must measure the leadership competencies that are linked to the success of the organization. As well, good care must be taken to ensure that the appropriate colleagues are selected to participate. These individuals must be objective and be prepared to give honest and truthful responses.

Once the data has been collected, the feedback needs to be presented in such a way that it offers developmental opportunities for the CEO. Goals and objectives need to be set as a means to find ways to work on those areas of challenge and training/action plans need to be developed. If this step isn’t forthcoming, then the instrument is nothing short of a useless tool sitting on the CEO’s shelf. And, if nothing comes of the results, people will be reluctant to participate if ever asked again.

In my view, 360 surveys can be a critical tool to help assure a board that a new CEO is on target and is perceived as a successful leader in the organization. But don’t wait until the month of February to undertake this task... any month will do... just do it!