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ABBOTT LABORATORIES
DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
FEEDBACK REPORT
AMR AL FASS
This is a strictly confidential assessment report that is to be used under the guidance of a
trained professional. The information contained in this report is confidential to the recipient.
This analysis should be considered in the context of other relevant information such as actual
experience, vocational interests, skills and aptitudes.
Assessment Date: 16th
& 17th
November, 2005
Assessors: Tracy Stodart
Tracey Beard
Quentin Fogg
Feedback Date: 14th
December, 2005
Feedback By: Tracy Stodart
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................3
SET VISION & STRATEGY.......................................................................................4
BUILD OUR ORGANISATION & INSPIRE OUR PEOPLE ..................................6
KNOW THE BUSINESS.............................................................................................8
DRIVE FOR RESULTS ........................................................................................... 10
MAKE DIFFICULT DECISIONS............................................................................. 12
ENCOURAGE OPEN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS & KNOWLEDGE .................... 14
OVERALL SUMMARY............................................................................................. 16
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INTRODUCTION
This report is based on observations of your performance during a series of
structured simulation exercises which included a case study / presentation, a group
exercise, an in-basket exercise and role-plays conducted during your Development
Centre. It is also based on the input provided by the psychometric tools used during
the centre that included:
Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ), a measure of personality and
typical behavioural style in the workplace
GRT1, an assessment of verbal and numerical reasoning.
The comments documented within have been agreed by the assessors, who have
been trained in behavioural observation. This document can be considered a valid
assessment of your performance. The purpose of this document is to provide you
with a summary of strengths and opportunities for development. It also provides
management with a ‘snapshot’ in time of this individual against the six key
competencies previously identified. It should not be used in isolation and should be
considered in conjunction with other relevant data when assessing an individual’s
suitability for specific development and/or candidature for specific roles within Abbott.
Feedback is detailed under the competencies that were previously agreed for this
Development Centre along with some suggestions that may be considered for your
development.
How To Use This Report
Concentrate on one or two things at a time rather than many. You have more
chance of success if you approach it this way!
Discuss the development suggestions with your manager and/or Career
Development specialist to determine if they can be part of your development plan
for the next six months.
Practice in a ‘safe’ environment first (one where you are unlikely to be criticised if
you do not get it right first time), then in increasingly more demanding areas.
Set goals for yourself and monitor them.
Involve someone else in your development e.g. boss, husband or wife, colleague.
Tell them what you are trying to do and ask for feedback. E.g. if you are trying to
be more assertive ask them to point out to you when there was an opportunity for
you to practice your skills but you missed it.
If you disagree with something in this report, think about why the assessors did
not see what you feel you are capable of. How can you make what is obviously
‘hidden’ more visible?
Ask a trusted colleague to help you identify situations in which this assessment is
accurate (e.g. when you delay decisions) and when it is not (e.g. when your
colleagues find you decisive). See if you can identify what is different between
the two situations.
Lastly, see this report for what it is – A DEVELOPMENT TOOL. Use the
information to grow and develop, for your own success and that of Abbott.
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SET VISION & STRATEGY
Determines objectives and sets priorities; anticipates potential threatsor opportunitiesto ensure proposed solutions
and plans are consistent with the business and competitive strategyof the organisation in a global economy
Directly influences and contributes to the organisation’s vision, strategy and direction
Articulates the journey betw een current position and desired future state w ith clarity and vision
Understands trends, their implications and opportunities, in the global environment and translates this
competitive advantage for the organisation
Gathers information frommultiple sources including customers, peers, staff and externalexperts
Identifies opportunities and threats and develop long term strategies to respond
Prioritise goals, projects and plan appropriately
Considers implications of action beyond ow n role or department and creates value fromcross – division
capabilities
Summary of Results:
Your responses in the personality questionnaire suggest you have something of a
dislike for dealing with abstract and theoretical concepts, preferring a practical
approach, which could limit your willingness to take a strategic or visionary approach.
However, you also report that you are as keen as most to focus on long term issues
and detail is apparently of little appeal. As such, you should be fairly keen to lift your
perspective to consider big picture issues.
Your ability to set the vision and strategy in the Hallbrooke case study was
reasonably well demonstrated. You talked about a number of factors that affected
the company’s growth such as the quality of the products, the market share and the
possible acquisition of more outlets. While you were clear as to what actions you
wanted to take, for example you said, “Head count relocation among branches,
emphasise the heritage of the corporate brand, redesign training to include customer
service training as mandatory for all”, you did not mention the organisation’s core
objectives and you did not ensure that your recommendations reflected these. You
talked about long term versus short term recommendations, such as focusing on staff
relocation, training and pay issues in the short term, however it would have been
good if you had considered the risks and benefits of these actions. For example you
talked about acquiring the low performing BuzzDeals stores to increase the number
of outlets, but you did not acknowledge the risks involved in this.
You tried to get Jamie to see the big picture when presenting your projects during the
Project Agreement Meeting role play. For example, when discussing training you
said, “But what if we don’t train them and they stay? It’s not about training them and
then they leave.” This was good as it helped Jamie to see the benefit of additional
training. You also encouraged Jamie to look at other options for her project funding
when you asked, “I was thinking that this project is important for the company but we
need to look at alternatives.” However, although you recognised the impact of one
area on another, it would have been good if you had done more to ensure the
projects selected reflected the concerns in the customer survey and the
organisation’s objectives.
Overall, your readiness to consider strategy and vision were reasonably good. You
mentioned some quite strategic themes and your approach prompted longer term
thinking and consideration of the bigger picture, at times. However, increased
linkages between your recommendations and strategic objectives would have
strengthened your demonstration of this competency.
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Development Suggestions:
For development, you could give some thought to the strategic objectives of your
department and division. Consistently link these to the operational directives and
goals that you work to each day. Try to think about where deficiencies exist and
speak to your manager about these.
Also, when you are next striving to achieve a certain result, try to think beyond your
own objectives to those around you and the broader organisation. If you have time,
write a list that contrasts the immediate benefits with those of the longer term.
Finally, read relevant professional magazines, books and newspaper articles which
deal with strategic trends that may influence Abbott Laboratories. Consider the
implications for your own department and the possible modifications that might be
necessary.
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BUILD OUR ORGANISATION & INSPIRE OUR PEOPLE
The abilityof setting a productive climate where all concerned are motivated and their potential utilised to the
maximum through continuous support and encouragement
Assures a strong talent poolfrom various disciplines, backgrounds and cultures, continuously developing people
skills, know ledge and ability.
Encourages people to innovate, collaborate, make decisions and exercise authority and responsibility.
Establishes clear expectations, provide timely, accurate feedback – both positive and negative and take
appropriate follow – up actions
Serves as a role model by acting in a consistent, fair manner, exuding enthusiasm; remaining accessible;
demonstrating confidence in others’ abilities, leads by example
Willingly demonstrates ow n skills to assist others understanding.
Builds trust by being consistent w ith behaviour and actions taken
Gives recognition to others w here it is due and rew ards appropriately
Develops formal systems and programs to ensure that development is fostered
Extremely approachable to peers and subordinates
Summary of Results:
In the personality questionnaire, your responses suggest that you are very unlikely to
consult others when making decisions and you see yourself as slightly less inclined
than most to appear caring and supportive of others. You also indicate that you are
less inclined to tailor your approach to best suit other’s motivational needs, which in
combination with the above, does not really bode well for your efforts to build the
organisation and inspire people. However, you do report slightly elevated readiness
to taking charge and provide direction for others. In the feedback session, whilst you
agreed with the personality profile, you said that others do regard your efforts toward
this competency as an area of strength. You commented that you had been trying to
focus on your levels of sensitivity and inclusiveness over the last few months.
Your effort to build the organisation and inspire people in the Brand Promotion
Opportunities group discussion was well demonstrated. You tried to help establish
the way forward at the start by suggesting that each group member talk about their
product using brand, date of launch etc and you recommended each take five
minutes. Throughout the meeting you helped guide the discussion by and kept the
group aware of the time. It was you who suggested using the flip chart to summarise
the points raised by the group and this helped the group put the facts and figures
discussed in to some perspective. You also helped others clarify points by asking
them to repeat key points of information. For example early on you asked one team
member, “You spend two million pounds to cut prices?” Overall, you helped the
group develop a sense of purpose and direction which aided achieving its goals.
You facilitated the discussion well during the Project Agreement Meeting role play.
You began by stating the objectives as you said, “We have one hundred thousand
pounds, we have to decide in the next thirty minutes and we can have all the Finance
projects or Marketing projects or all four. But let’s look at different scenarios.” You
then asked Jamie to describe her projects before outlining the details of your
projects, which allowed the meeting to flow logically. You came up with some
innovative solutions to the funding allocation, for example you suggested that Jamie
reprint fifty thousand of the old brochures to get though the year and then instead of
printing a brochure for the flow device, include the success stories in the new
company brochure the following year. This meant Jamie’s projects were funded at
forty thousand pounds and you were able to undertake your projects, albeit to a
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limited extent. Overall, you maintained control and adopted a calm and collaborative
manner in order to achieve a good solution.
Overall, in contrast to your responses in the personality questionnaire, your
demonstration of your capacity to build the organisation and inspire people was well
demonstrated. You provided good direction and interacted constructively with other
group members.
Development Suggestions:
For development, to address the concern raised in the personality questionnaire, you
could think about times when you have needed to give negative feedback to a team
member or colleague. How have you done this, is it possible that the way you
delivered the message was too direct? What was the result and impact of this? How
might you handle it if the situation arose again?
You could also review the extent to which you involve your team in issues that affect
them. Your responses in the personality questionnaire suggest that you may not
consult enough and as a result, your team may feel somewhat uninformed and
uncommitted to the decisions that you make.
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KNOW THE BUSINESS
The abilityto understand the business and its environment thoroughly, so as to guide decision-making and actions
taken
Continuously secure and evaluate relevant information, identifying key issues, trends, relationship and
cause/effect as they impact the business
Demonstrate a strong personalcapacity for learning new aspectsof the business and encourage others to do
the same
Uses commercial, externalinformation in decision making
Manages financialrisk and performance through applying financialand economic principles
Anticipates trends and customer needs, translates movement in market place to opportunities for organization
Summary of Results:
Your personality profile suggests that your interest in knowing the business may not
be that strong. This is because you report being less interested in data and facts
than most people. You also report much less willingness than most to evaluate the
merits of business related solutions that you put forward. However, the extreme
focus that you described in relation to competitor activity should drive your
awareness of the market and other players within it, to a certain extent.
During the Brand Promotion Opportunities group exercise, you made effective use of
the information you collected from the other team members. You used this to
compare investments and returns on those investments and related this to the task
objectives. For example, you were conscious of the impact investments in some
brands would make to the company overall and your arguments illustrated that you
had evaluated each proposal on their merits of potential for profit and growth. For
example with one proposal the short term benefit was not large but the following
year, it was substantial. You helped argue this case saying that it deserved support
as it would contribute significantly to the company turnover in the long term. This
demonstrated good commercial awareness and an ability to place organisational
interests before personal ones. Overall, you demonstrated a good understanding of
business and its environment.
Your understanding of the business and its environment in the Key Account Meeting
role play was well demonstrated. Your approach was sympathetic to Sanderson’s
difficulties and you made much effort in helping Sanderson resolve their problem.
You acknowledge the need to determine the cause of the paint discrepancy and
without apportioning blame you, you helped Kim build a strategy for investigating it,
which was acceptable to both parties. For example you suggested an independent
investigator and sending Kim a report. You managed to recover Sanderson’s custom
by finding a solution on the issue of compensation without making a big issue of it,
and you managed to add value to PX Paint’s business by gaining larger orders and
longer-term contracts by suggesting initiatives. You were able to protect PX Paint
interests by tying compensation in with laboratory results and offering alternative
solutions to the proposal of discounts on larger orders. Overall, your desire to help
Sanderson, while safeguarding the interests of your company, was evident in this
exercise.
In summary, your demonstration of the competency Know the Business was strong.
You built an effective strategy of collaboration and mutual gain in one of the
exercises and in the other, showed a good awareness of commercial realities.
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Development Suggestions:
Whilst this is an area of obvious strength, for development and to address the
concerns raised in the personality questionnaire, you could work with a colleague or
your manager to review a recent piece of work or project that you undertook. Take
account of the resources, costs, adherence to budget etc. Try to determine if there
were ways in which you could have considered the issues in greater depth in order to
understand the business more thoroughly.
Also, your manager could try to enhance your business awareness by creating
opportunities for you to conduct market or competitor research. Analysis of trends
and their implications is likely to be of assistance to you and others.
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DRIVE FOR RESULTS
Takes initiative to do more than is expected in the job, act before being prompted or forced byevents, begin tasks
independently, seize newopportunities to put ideas into practice and achieve businessgoals
Collaboratively set realistic, challenging, measurable goals and timetables
Keep self and others focused on key performance indicators
Be w illing to adjust goals to meet changing business needs
Set short-termobjectives that drive tow ardslong term goals or strategies and monitor
Stay w ith a plan of action
Show s high personalenergy in getting things done
Persists in achieving a task in spite of difficulties; displays resilience
Follow s up criticalissues proactively
Takes accountability for completing w orkassignments, meets commitments and deadlines
Is w illing to performa taskbeyond the assigned role to increase effectivenessin ow n role
Constantly tries to set stretching but realistic targets for self and others; is keen to learn in preparation for
challenges/new responsibilities
Adapts tactics to achieve positive, timely outcomes
Summary of Results:
Your responses in the personality questionnaire suggest that you should show more
drive for results than most people, because you report being extremely competitive
and fairly ambitious and career focused. You also prefer to be busy and have a lot to
do. In the feedback session, you commented that your GM’s say you are crazy in
driving results.
Consistent with this, your drive for results during the Hallbrooke case study was quite
evident. You conveyed good personal energy and your enthusiasm in presenting
your solutions was clear. You produced a clear plan of action with some firm
recommendations that arose from the customer and employee opinion surveys and
from this you formulated some short term and long term recommendations after also
taking into account the market analysis. You displayed some initiative by suggesting
a buyout of a competing poor performing chain of stores and you also recommended
some good training redesign ideas. Your report was quite structured, with a clear
breakdown of issues and your recommendations also stood out. You used your time
well in the presentation to cover all the issues in a logical manner, although your
delivery was quite fast which reduced the impact of your ideas. Overall, your good
planning, drive and demonstration of initiative assisted you to achieve the objectives
set for this exercise.
In the Chameleon Corporation in-basket exercise, you made good progress and
appeared keen to get things done. Your action orientation appeared reasonably
strong as you had addressed every item, either taking action yourself or requesting
others to do so. For example, you wrote directly to a team member who had
received a complaint from a customer advising him to call the customer to apologise.
However, some of your decisions were not that strong and you frequently needed
more detail to support them. For example, with regard to the sales staff recruitment,
although you gave your approval to run the advert and you recommended a
personality questionnaire to support the process, you needed to explore the issue of
budget more closely. Overall, you appeared keen to make progress, but a little more
focus on the objectives of the business would have been good.
During the Brand Promotion Opportunities group discussion, you demonstrated a
good drive for results. You seized an opportunity at the beginning to direct and guide
the group process. You also set criteria for discussion and a time limit on each team
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member’s speaking time so that the group would have time to discuss all proposals
at the end. You tried to simplify the process by suggesting the use of a flip chart to
highlight each case’s points. You confronted problems as you saw them. For
example in the discussion towards the end you said “We should decline advertising
and only think of promotion” as this confused short term and long term investment.
This example also illustrated a change in direction when it became apparent that the
proposals could not be compared equivocally. You seem to have assimilated much of
the information discussed at the table, accordingly you seemed well prepared and
your comments well considered.
Overall, your drive for results was well demonstrated. You showed good levels of
personal energy and your commitment to outcomes was strong. A little more depth
of analysis and focus on objectives would have been good at times
Development Suggestions:
For development, you could think about times in the past when you have not
achieved to the standard you would have liked. You could reflect on how much you
pushed yourself and to what extent you demonstrated your eagerness to deliver on
your commitments. You could also ask your manager for feedback on the extent to
which you persist and persevere with tasks that are assigned to you.
Also, give some thought to the areas of your work where your performance is
weakest. Construct a goal that tries to address this and tell your colleagues about
your efforts to improve. They can give you feedback on your progress.
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MAKE DIFFICULT DECISIONS
Willingnessto challengethe status quo or traditional wayof doing things and to make/accept unpopular decisions
Recognise crisis situation, problems or errors wither with processor people and take corrective action at the
earliest indication
Demonstrate w illingness to admit mistakes, learn from them and be held accountable to their impact
Develop new insights into situations and applies innovative solutions to make organizational improvements
Explore beyond existing practices and methodology when tried and true approaches are inefficient/ineffective
Challenge existing or accepted technology and pushes innovation to gain competitive advantage
Analysis - pros/cons; strong rationale etc
Summary of Results:
In the personality questionnaire, you described yourself as one to be quite decisive.
However, you also report an extreme reluctance to consult others and hear their
views and your focus on data, detail and the evaluation of the solutions you put
forward may also be rather limited, given the preferences you reported. In the
feedback session, you commented that by way of consultation, you like to ask
relevant others for one page summaries to describe their views and you said that you
go over these in detail when decision making. It may that one to one interaction
could achieve greater levels of buy-in and understanding however.
You appeared to be quite willing to make difficult decisions in the Hallbrooke case
study. You were clear in outlining the problems as you saw them and recognised
that some significant solutions were required. For example, you noted the need to
“tackle pay and fringe benefits” as you linked the poor customer survey response rate
with distrust in management and dissatisfaction with the pay. However, consistent
with your reponses in the personality questionnaire, you could have done more to
incorporate more detail into your recommendations, for example you noted that, “Pay
issues are a hot potato” but did not specify any clear solutions for addressing this.
Overall however, you put forward some good rationale for your recommendations,
which flowed logically from the issues you identified. A little more focus on detail in
your recommendations and on outlining risks and benefits would have been good.
During the Chameleon Corporation in-basket exercise, your readiness to make
decisions was apparent. You made decisions in nearly all of the items and did not
appear to deliberate unnecessarily. Some of your decisions were well supported to,
such as the customer complaint. However, some of your decisions were not as
comprehensive as they needed to be and sometimes, you made decisions based on
limited information or variables. For example, when making a decision about
discounting some pc’s, while you considered the margin, you needed to investigate
this a little more and consider the implications of such a move. Finally, in terms of
making tough decisions, it would have been good if you had applied more pressure in
relation to some of the items. For example, when advised that a contractor was likely
to fail to deliver an effective spray booth in time for a product launch, you appeared to
accept this, despite the investment made by your company. Overall, while you
seemed keen to make decisions, it would have been good if you had taken a more
comprehensive approach at times.
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In the Key Account Meeting role play, you identified that possible causes of the paint
problem may have arisen from both sides. You suggested solutions to resolve these.
You negotiated an optimum solution which enabled you to recover Sanderson’s
custom and delay other influencing matters until a later time. That is, Sanderson be
re-supplied with PX Paints while investigations and compensation issues were
pending. You did this by applying an approach which sought to assist Sanderson,
while at the same time, securing and adding value to PX Paints business. You were
happy to make difficult decisions which enabled you to get movement on the above
issues. For example you made a decision about compensation but managed to relate
it to the pending investigation. This satisfied Sanderson and you provided a solution
for reassuring Kim of the quality of your product. Overall, your ability to analyse the
problem and make the difficult decisions was well demonstrated here.
Your performance on the Numerical Reasoning Test placed you in the well below
average category when compared to the reference group of other GCC based
managers and professionals who have completed this test in the past. This suggests
that you may have some difficulty understanding complex numerical concepts and
you may not be particularly good at dealing with involved numerical problems.
Your performance on the Verbal Reasoning Test placed you slightly above the
average when compared to the reference group. Such a score suggests that your
verbal reasoning ability is as good as, or slightly better than, that of most.
Consequently, you should be able to understand complicated instructions and
explanations and will be able to use words in a logical, rational way.
In summary, your readiness to make decisions and put forward sound
recommendations was reasonable good. Your decisions were generally well
thought through and timely, however, it would have been good if they had been more
detailed and comprehensive at times to really maximise outcomes.
Development Suggestions:
For development, you could try to involve others more when decisions are required.
This will enable you to sound out the ideas of others and potentially build them into
your own solution. This would ensure a more inclusive decision making style and
should ensure that you gain more support for your decisions.
Try to ensure that you place enough emphasis on a critical review of the data and
facts with which you are presented. Also, once you have arrived at the solutions you
favour, be sure to check them for faults and inaccuracy as your tendency to avoid
detail can lead to errors at times.
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ENCOURAGE OPEN EXCHANGE OF IDEAS &
KNOWLEDGE
Fosters a work environment with continuous open communication and knowledge sharing, for positive results
Solicit ideas and encourage the expression of opposing and different points of views
Practice effective learning skills; listen and think about diverse or different ideas before responding
Demonstrate a w illingness to learn and change
Encourages audience participation and responds confidently and know ledgeably to questions asked
Gains cooperation from others to obtain information and accomplish goals
Facilitates tw o way communication betw een self and others
Passes on necessary know ledge and skills to those w ith w hom they interact
Promotes culture that supports objective and constructive feedback
Is open to change and new information
Promotes change and actively adopts required changes to ow n job
Summary of Results:
In the personality profile, your responses indicate that you may encourage the open
exchange of ideas and knowledge to a slightly lesser extent than some people. This
is because although you reported being very keen to have your say and you report
combining this with high levels of social confidence, as mentioned previously, you
mentioned that you tend not to consult or actively seek the views of those around
you.
In the Brand Promotion Opportunities group discussion, you expressed your ideas
clearly and coherently. You maintained good eye contact and asked many questions
of each team member when they delivered their proposal which indicated that you
were listening and interested in what they had to say. This became apparent when
you were able reflect and paraphrase comments from others and ask clarification on
points previously raised. For example, you asked on team member, “Are you facing
problems with distribution?” to help make their information clearer, as it was not
clearly stated by them. At another point you said, “I think he is saying he needs to
launch new products” when one other team member challenged the sum of
investment he desired. Consistent with your responses in the questionnaire, you
were confident throughout the discussion, able to assert your ideas and you
assumed an active role guiding the discussion with ease.
You adopted a very open and encouraging style in the Project Agreement Meeting
role play. However if would have been good if you had spent more time establishing
the relationship and emphasising the need for a collaborative meeting, as you went
straight into the projects within the first minute of the meeting. You listened well,
nodding frequently, saying, “OK, hmmm” and maintaining good eye contact. When
discussing your projects you also used some persuasive phrases such as, “This has
been a chronic problem for a long time” and, “They can’t do their job well, we are not
seeking luxury, just the basics.” When you were proposing some solutions, it would
have been good if you had asked Jamie for her views and input, as you tended to
state what you planned to do and then waited for her response, for example, “We’ll
do fifty thousand of the old brochures” and, “Tell them we are going to do Purchase
Order for the whole quantity.” Overall, you were clear, persuasive and demonstrated
understanding, however a little more focus on encouraging ideas and seeking
agreement would have been good.
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In summary, communication skills were well demonstrated. You showed a capacity
to clearly and quite persuasively convey your perspective. You also used summaries
to good effect at times. However, slightly more focus on encouraging those you
interacted with would have been good.
Development Suggestions:
Your manager could give you feedback on the extent to which you listened and allow
others to have their say and the ways in which your contribution could be improved.
You could also focus a little more on ensuring that you actively seek the views of all
those you interact with. Eye contact, direct questions and encouraging comments
will prompt others to enter the conversation and should ensure that they feel listened
to and included. This is likely to facilitate the discussion and the results you achieve.
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OVERALL SUMMARY
Summary of Strengths:
Overall, in contrast to your responses in the personality questionnaire, your
demonstration of your capacity to build the organisation and inspire people was well
demonstrated. You provided good direction and interacted constructively with other
group members.
Your demonstration of the competency Know the Business was strong. You built an
effective strategy of collaboration and mutual gain in one of the exercises and in the
other, showed a good awareness of commercial realities.
Drive for results were well demonstrated. You showed good levels of personal
energy and your commitment to outcomes was strong. A little more depth of analysis
and focus on objectives would have been good at times.
Communication skills were well demonstrated. You showed a capacity to clearly and
quite persuasively convey your perspective. You also used summaries to good effect
at times. However, slightly more focus on encouraging those you interacted with
would have been good.
Summary of Areas for Development:
While no overwhelming development areas were identified in the exercises you
completed, in contrast to your other strengths it you could place more emphasis on
the following:
When thinking strategically, increased linkages between your recommendations and
strategic objectives could strengthen your demonstration of this competency.
Also, when decision making, it could help if your solutions are more detailed and
comprehensive to really maximise outcomes.