Cornhill Insurance has always made extensive use of internal and external assessment and training for the development of its 250-strong management team. Changing market conditions within the insurance industry, however, have prompted a re-think.
We needed to address a range of cultural and organisational issues brought about by the consolidation, new entrants, product innovation and new technologies that are now a major feature of the insurance and finance sector. We also wanted to “out-manage” the competition, and management development was an important strategy.
Therefore we decided to introduce assessment for the three different management levels – junior, mid and senior. We approached training consultants Kiddy and Partners and they helped us to define the distinguishing characteristics of successful managers, and to design the assessment materials that would match managers against them.
Working closely with us, Kiddy looked at what we needed our managers to deliver. Once we had established what these outcomes were, we were able to determine the skills and behaviours they would need to achieve those business goals.
With Kiddy's help we introduced a series of high-performance assessments, focused on the key requirements at each of the critical junior, mid and senior management levels. A range of exercises was developed favouring one-to-one interaction with the assessors.
One of our first actions was to audit the skills of our senior management team. Last autumn some 50 senior managers were put through a Kiddy assessment where individual performance was reviewed. As well as identifying how candidates can play to their strengths and improve areas of weakness, the analysis examined the actual thought processes behind specific decisions or courses of action.
We are now using this approach for assessment for entry and promotion to all levels of management.
We have been able to gather excellent data on our management team, which will be a significant aid in making succession and development decisions. The feedback has been very positive. Our managers feel more involved in the process and can see a clear link between the HR strategy and the business needs.
