Delivering a Capability Assessment to Validate Leadership Readiness and Support Succession Planning for a Government Regulatory Body
The Brief
The CEO of a government regulatory body engaged Future Leadership to conduct a Development Assessment for Succession, focused on evaluating the readiness of an internal candidate for a CEO role. The objective was to provide the CEO and Board with benchmarkable insights into the candidate’s leadership capability, strategic alignment, and development needs to support growth and succession in the for-purpose sector.
True Cost of Turnover
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) estimates that replacing an employee can cost between 30% and 150% of their annual salary, highlighting the financial benefits of using structured assessments to improve retention. (SHRM, 2019)
Capability Assessment
Research from the University of Queensland found that skills tests combined with structured interviews significantly improve the predictive power of hiring decisions compared to traditional methods.
Well Matched Roles, Lower Turnover
Studies suggest that employees who are well-matched with their roles are less likely to leave, even in high-stress industries.
(Barrick & Mount, The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis, 1991)
Structured Interviews Enhance Diversity
Structured interviews and scorecards significantly reduce bias and improve diversity outcomes by ensuring consistent evaluation criteria across all candidates.
(Source: Diversity Australia)
The Process
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The assessment process was delivered across several stages:
- Stage 1: Planning and Co-Design
Co-designing with the client, Future Leadership conducted a situational mapping of the context for the assessment and confirmed priority capabilities and critical experiences to develop an agreed assessment criteria and assessment methodology aligned to our proprietary Model of Leadership. - Stage 2: Executive Assessment
A series of executive assessments included a career path analysis, behavioural and reference interviews, psychometric assessments and Global Leadership Profile to determine how they interpret their own and others’ behaviour, maintain power and respond to complexity. - Stage 3: Draft Executive Development Report
Synthesising information and insights from multiple assessments, we drafted Executive Development Report to provide a sound basis for discussion with the leader regarding strengths and development areas and career aspirations. Coaching sessions facilitated deeper understanding of the implications for readiness to the CEO role and a development plan to support readiness for future opportunities and growth within the current role. - Stage 4: Finalise Executive Assessment Report
A triad debrief and walk through of the final Executive Assessment Report with the project sponsor preceded a playback of the report for consideration by the Board Chair.
- Stage 1: Planning and Co-Design
The Outcome
The engagement delivered strategic insights and practical recommendations:
- Readiness Validation
The assessment confirmed the leader’s alignment with organisation’s strategic priorities and identified areas for targeted development to support learning and growth for current and future roles. - Development Roadmap
A personalised development plan was created, focusing on stakeholder engagement, strategic communication, and leadership agility. - Board Confidence
The Board gained a clear, evidence-based view of internal succession potential, enabling informed decision-making and future planning.
