The client is a local authority with about 15 thousand employees. Located in Northern Italy, it is involved in the management of public services through the production of goods and activities with social purposes and the promotion of economic and civil development of the territorial community of reference. The Authority is characterized by a strong orientation towards social, technological and digital innovation and is systematically involved on issues related to mobility, energy, security, integration and networks.
Foreword
With a view to considering possible organizational transformations, in 2021 the Entity decided to undertake a managerial enhancement process on its resources. Starting from an analysis of the as is on the entire managerial capital present in the Organization, the intention of the Executive Board was to proceed with an assessment of the potential of the Executives in terms of aptitude, ability to cover the role and orientation to change, including at the level of re-evaluation or enhancement of the position held in the current organizational structure, in order to evaluate and address possible changes and career plans in line with the possible new organizational structure.
The project was entrusted to PRAXI, which has distinguished itself for its extensive experience in Italy and around the world in private, utility and public administration settings, for its research and innovation in evaluation and development methodologies, and for its constant comparison with academia and best practices at the international level.
The perspective of intervention adopted was an organizational one, with corporate objectives at the center of people development action and a strong empowerment and involvement of participants in the process.
The project involved a total of 110 Executives. The critical success factors were:
- Skills and previous experience in designing and managing evaluation processes on high numbers of key figures involved;
- The ability to interact with complex Organizations;
- a team of Assessor’s with high experience in the field and holding major certifications, which made it possible to use specific tools
and to analyze and manage the numerous data collected; - the ability to integrate and enhance different technological solutions in the assessment process, always taking into consideration the need for personalization, empathy, involvement and transparency of the people involved;
- The presence of a figure constantly available and supportive of the participants for any needs.
The critical points taken into consideration, as particularly delicate for a Local Authority, were – on the one hand – the organizational mindset, unaccustomed to participating in assessment projects, which therefore required constant attention to communication processes during all steps of the project, and – on the other – the importance of finding full terminological and methodological alignment with the Internal Assessment Board.
Project
The project included an initial phase of collection, analysis and systematization of all data related to organizational culture, present managerial mindset, critical factors and methods used in HR management and development, in order to define the basis for the design of subsequent actions. Information was exchanged through meetings and interviews with key players in the initiative. On these occasions, moreover, the description of competencies, the evaluation scale, the definition of the target profile with its expected levels for each managerial capacity, the criteria for analyzing the cover index and potential, the professional guidelines for vertical and horizontal mobility, learning agility and the choice of measurement tools most in line with the expected outputs were also discussed and decided upon.
Special attention was paid to the study of communication methods, from project kick-off to data return. The analysis, design and communication activities of the project were preparatory to the implementation of the Assessment on the entire management population with the administration of the various instruments previously identified.
This was followed by the processing, study and systematization of the data into an overall report addressed to the Principal and individual reports addressed to the individual participants. The delivery of the reports to the managerial population was accompanied by training moments lasting about two hours, aimed at providing all the information to be able to independently “read,” understand and transfer into managerial action what was reported in the individual report.
Results
The activity carried out has enabled the Entity to obtain:
- a management dashboard to support organizational change, to professionally and consciously guide the various internal mobilities and ensure full role coverages, without forgetting the motivations of individuals;
- a timely training plan, based on the needs that have emerged, to activate interventions perceived by individual Directors as necessary and related to each one’s experience, easily expendable in daily operations;
- An increase in self-awareness on the part of each of the 110 Executives in terms of strengths and areas for improvement, which are key elements in activating a sense of responsibility and individual development capacity.
The project was concluded in the time frame of one and a half months, thanks in part to the fundamental cooperation of the Client, who, at the end of the activities, was particularly satisfied, appreciating the professionalism with which the individual activities were conducted and sharing the interest also shown by the Executives who gladly joined the project.
Future
The project has paved the way for future important activities for the development of the resources involved in the Executive Assessment. Specifically, it envisages the implementation of the training plan designed, promised and requested by the Executives themselves, aimed at developing the skills that emerged in need of training, conducted with the most varied and functional learning methodologies (for example, interactive training modules conducted with the learning by doing approach, team coaching sessions and individual coaching sessions are planned). In this way, it will be possible to see the value placed on people by the Entity recognized, and thus strengthen involvement, engagement and well-being within the Organization.
