Today, the quality of leadership appointments is a decisive factor for the success of any organisation and is of particular importance in transformation processes. The question that managers are often so reluctant to ask themselves: ‘Have I filled my key positions with the best managers?’ And then honestly: ‘Yes or no? The question may not be easy to answer, but ‘hand on heart’: What is my role and responsibility as a manager? Depending on the role requirements, an appropriate professional competence and experience profile is sometimes good, sometimes perhaps not sufficient. For example, in the case of transformations. Our experience is that technical experts are still often placed at the head of transformations or people who take on this role as functionaries or whose personality and attitude are more in favour of preserving the tried and tested. The question then arises as to what could be achieved more effectively with a different line-up. There may often be a lack of alternatives. This makes it all the more important to conduct a development-orientated assessment that focuses on personal suitability, attitude to leadership and performance, key competencies in cross-divisional collaboration and leadership effectiveness. Conflict skills (dealing with resistance), emotion management (storytelling) and empowerment skills (winning others over to the path) should be diagnosed and developed, especially in transformation processes. When ensuring the quality of appointments to key positions in companies, it is therefore important to find a better balance between the necessary technical expertise, past biographical and performance data, the recognition of potential and the consistent assessment of key leadership skills.
However, one thing is certain: not every expert with excellent technical expertise is automatically a suitable manager. It is also no secret that wrong appointments not only cause immense economic costs, but in many cases are also no longer an acceptable way of finding, attracting and retaining good employees. What needs to be done? Put the issue of staffing quality at the centre of HR policy. Act more consistently – no compromise with people – and look for new solutions together with those affected with respect and appreciation. What does it take? Courage, a proactive approach to this conflict-prone challenge and, above all, scientifically sound diagnostics (profiling) and position assessment that focus on the development of the person in a suitable role (best fit / best placement). We speak here of ‘leadership evaluation’.