Mapping Talent on the 9-Box Grid

So you have almost wrapped up your performance appraisals for the year, and are getting ready of the holidays. Congratulations! But what about next year? As you move into the new year, do you have the right people in the right places to meet your organizational goals? Is there any way to organize your employees based on their performance that will help you see who can contribute the most and who needs to go? 

Kathryn Tyler, in the August 2011 HR Magazine, discusses an interesting approach to mapping talent. It's called the 9-box grid, and it's pretty simple to use. Here is an example of how you might use this. Note that I have labeled the X-axis as managerial potential, but you can pick your own labels depending on the type of positions you want to analyze.

The way this get used is collaborative in nature. Current managers sit down together and go through their employees, placing each one on the grid in the appropriate area. Once everyone is placed, allocate resources to the best performers, and get rid of the lowest performing employees. In a way, this is a ranking system that differentiates individuals from other employees. There are a few issues you need to watch out for.

• Defining potential is always an issue. For some it may mean one thing and to others another. Whoever is doing the sorting of employees on the grid should get together before hand and discuss and decide on what constitutes potential. 
• Defining performance is another concern. If you have done a good job outlining to all managers what performance is by providing examples of each of these categories, then you could probably use the current employee evaluation score. If not, you need to discuss what performance in each category really means, providing examples that all can use to guide their placement. 
• This tool is used for comparisons of individuals, not for individual performance measurement. And don't expect it to do too much. Use it in conjunction with other evaluation tools.
• Make clear distinctions between employees. Everyone cannot be a star. And once you know who the stars are, give them the resources to excel. Equal treatment is not fair. High performers do more, so it is not fair to treat them the same as a low performer. 

If you decide to use a tool of this nature, I think it is best to be transparent about its use in the organization. Introduce it, educate employees about how it works and what it is for, and then show them where they fall on the grid so they can make adjustments as necessary if they are not happy about their placement. In the end, we want the best performers because they are the most productive. Good luck finding your next star!