Assessing Employee Performance & Potential with THE NINE-BOX GRID

One of the most commonly used models for employee assessment is the 9-Box grid. But, how does it work and why would you use it? While it can’t tell you everything, it can offer an insightful glance into employee performance. At one point or another, every company needs to assess its talent pool to determine what’s working, what isn’t and what the future holds for its employees. Here’s how the 9-Box grid works, and why you might want to consider using it today.

The Nine-Box Grid measures individuals’ performance and potential – identifying areas for improvement and highlighting their development needs.

The Nine-Box Grid is especially popular in organizations and among professionals who are particularly focused on developing their current and potential leaders, and for whom developing talent is a priority. In essence, it takes a view of an individual’s success and effectiveness in their current role (performance), while adding the perspective of their future potential – what they are capable of contributing and achieving. The grid can help organizations understand what is needed for success both now and in the future, and how to ensure that people are recruited and developed in the most effective way possible, benefiting the organization and each individual.

The grid’s greatest value lies in the dialogue it creates and the focus it provides. The multiple perspectives provide for a much more accurate assessment than simply one person’s opinion. Also, the process helps to identify development needs as well as highlighting where performance needs to be improved.

Using the Nine-Box Grid: key questions

When assessing a person’s performance and potential, it can help to keep several questions in mind:?

? How well have they achieved their goals and objectives? What evidence is there?

? What do they do successfully and how can they improve their performance?

? What are this person’s motivations? How can I get them engaged with the changes that are needed?

? What are their development needs? What activities might work best to help them make progress and achieve their potential?

? What will success look like?