Practice 03
Talent, Capability and Performance
From competency frameworks and talent management to performance management and succession planning, we connect people development with business priorities.
Who it's forHR leaders and managers who want reviews that change performance.
01 —Business challenges
Sound familiar?
- Performance reviews do not change performance.
- Almost everyone is rated above average.
- Goals are set once a year and forgotten by the second quarter.
- Key people leave, and no one was ready to step in.
02 —Approach
Six stages, the same every time
Every engagement moves through the stages of the Architecture Chain, so you always know where the work stands.
Diagnose
Find where the chain breaks, with evidence, before proposing anything.
Define
Agree the principles, scope and decisions the design must respect.
Architect
Design the structure, roles, measures or rewards, layer by layer.
Quantify
Cost the design and test it against budget and market data.
Govern
Set the policies, owners and decision rules that keep it working.
Implement & evolve
Roll it out with an owner, a first step and a date; then review and adjust.
03 —Scope
What the work covers
- Link goals and measures to the strategy and to each role
- Design the performance cycle: goals, check-ins, reviews and calibration
- Define the capabilities each role needs
- Identify critical roles and plan succession for them
- Prepare managers to run the conversations
04 —Deliverables
What you receive
Performance framework
Goals, measures, the rating scale and the yearly cycle, written as policy and guidance.
Capability framework
The capabilities each job family needs, described at each level.
Succession plan for critical roles
Who is ready now, who will be ready later, and what closes the gap.
Manager guides
Short guides and templates managers can use in their next conversation.
05 —Outcomes
What changes afterwards
- Ratings that tell real differences apart.
- Goals that people return to during the year.
- A named successor, or a plan, for every critical role.
06 —Engagement models
How we can work together
Advisory
Regular sessions with your leadership or HR team to test decisions, review designs and unblock work you run yourselves.
Best when your team has the capacity and wants a second opinion.
Defined project
An agreed scope, deliverables and dates, from diagnosis to an approved design and a plan to implement it.
Best when the question is clear and a decision is due.
Embedded support
We work inside your team for a set period, alongside the people who will run the design after we leave.
Best during implementation, or when internal capacity is short.
For this practiceUsually a defined project, often followed by manager training through our programs.
08 —Book
Talk to us about Talent, Capability and Performance
Tell us what is happening in your organisation. We will reply with a suggested first step.
- You describe the situation in a few lines.
- We meet for a first conversation.
- You receive a short proposal: scope, deliverables and dates.