A Critical Evaluation of the State of Assessment and Development for Senior Leaders

Abstract

Practice and research with senior leaders can be rewarding but also challenging and risky for industrial and organizational (I-O) psychologists; the fact that much of the work with these populations is difficult to access elevates these concerns. In this article we summarize work presented by prominent researchers and practitioners at a symposium organized to share common practices and challenges associated with work at higher levels of organizational management. We review implications for research and practice with senior leaders by examining how assessments are applied at senior levels, how assessments and development practices can be linked, and the challenges associated with research and evaluation conducted with these leaders. Also, we offer suggestions for advancing research and practice at senior levels.

Corporate University: A Systems Thinking Situating Senior Leader Assessment and Development in Context to Enhance Organizational Viability

“…Our systems thinking of corporate university provides one answer to the critical question asked by Reynolds et al (2018), "How to address questions of readiness for specific future roles within the context that will exist for the role and acknowledge that context is constantly shifting?" (p. 638).…”

“…Proposition 2: A corporate university that functions as a learning mechanism to integrate processes of strategy making, communicating, implementing, and revising will strengthen its organization's sustainable competitive advantage. Reynolds et al (2018) identified clear communication and alignment across the organization as accepted wisdom for assessing senior leaders. A corporate university under our definition provides a mechanism for effective alignment not only for leader assessment but also for strategic management as a whole.…”

“…Proposition 3: A corporate university that functions as a platform for talent acquisition, assignment, development and retention will strengthen its organization's sustainable competitive advantage. Reynolds et al (2018) describe a dilemma of integrating assessment and development for senior leaders, where the integrated approach provides potential benefits while conflicts also exist if the same assessment data are used for both decision making and developmental purposes. Our systems thinking helps to facilitate this integration because a corporate university connects all elements of the whole HR architecture and keeps track of data on an ongoing basis.…”

“…Thus, this framework goes beyond the scope of senior leader assessment and development, as it describes a full organic system where an organization is in constant interaction with its external environment, business partners, internal systems, and workforce. We believe that this framework will help to implement many concepts and suggestions made by Reynolds et al (2018), who emphasize the importance of multilevel, contextualized, and dynamic views of leader assessment and development. Moreover, we argue that this systems thinking may be the best way to cultivate an organization's leadership bench strength for long-term organizational development and viability.…”

Leveraging Cultural Context for Leader Development

“…The authors begin the article by advocating the use of validated tools to inform ongoing leader development, much as we, as a field, advocate the use of validated tools in other domains, such as selection or performance appraisal (Reynolds et al, 2018). In discussing assessment, the authors note that its successful implementation is contingent on the broader context in which the leader's development is taking place.…”