The nine-box grid is a balanced and clear marker of defining and, later, assessing the performance of an employee. Gauging an employee’s fitness for higher responsibilities is the ultimate purpose of the nine-box grid. It is a handy tool to have in the human resource management tool box as it gives the HR Manager a solid blueprint for promoting high-performers.
Being able to track the reasons for promoting a certain candidate over another, logging performance over time, and checking for long-term markers and trends helps them assess who possesses the mettle for leadership roles.
An organization looks to set a standard for the type of people it promotes to higher roles of responsibility – the standard comprises several managerial, leadership, negotiation, and technical faculties. With the nine-box grid, it is possible to have clear numerical indicators of proficiencies as well as gaps in a worker’s performance. This snapshot is a clear advantage for the top management to have. It helps the senior HR manager devise learning and employee development modules and clarify opportunities. These devices can, in turn, bring those with a lacuna in their competencies and soft skills up to speed.
The nine-box grid helps categorize strengths, identify gaps in knowledge, and put each member of a team in a category based on their potential and their performance. On paper, the nine-box grid allows the planner to map out the potential growth of every team member in the organization. Even better, it is formed of the feedback scores plotted for performance and potential. The revelations of both line and staff managers, and the whole leadership cohort of senior management can be involved in offering ratings.
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Executing the nine-box grid is a challenge in that it needs all the leaders to cohere with the same model. A session held to clarify the model should include the executives and the team members to be assessed so that everyone can participate in the enterprise. HR software can help enter grades and rankings so that employees are neatly segregated into categories. HR management software training might also be needed before all the users start to use it with confidence.
Involving the players in the nine-box grid allows them to see the targets of human resource planning – the roles or responsibilities on offer for the top performers. It is akin to promoting the most deserving person to the new job role after carrying out a comprehensive analysis of skills, personal attributes, and soft skills such as the ability to learn, negotiation and ability to lead others through positive and negative feedback sessions. Succession and business strategy is one of the most crucial aspects of HR planning.The cathartic effects of using the nine-box grid in a disorderly way can be long-lasting and downright demoralizing to the team.
This is why the ice-breaking session is crucial to the human resource management system. Once understood and linked to employee benefits, the model can be used for career planning, continuous engagement and professional development. This is why strategic human resource management by deploying the nine-box grid sees ample patronage among senior leaders.
References:
- How to make 9-box succession planning work for your organisation, Page Up, 20 May 2019
- Succession Planning: What is a 9-box grid?, SHRM, March 9, 2018
