Delve into the depths of the 9 box grid: understanding its structure, the criteria for placement, its applications in talent management, and strategies for effective implementation. 9 Box Template by WorkDove What is the 9 Box Grid? A ‘nine-box grid’ is a matrix tool used to evaluate and plot a company’s talent pool based on two factors, which most commonly are performance and potential. Typically on the horizontal axis is ‘performance’ measured by performance reviews. On the vertical axis is ‘potential’ referring to an individual’s potential to grow one or more levels in a managerial or professional capacity. Nine-box grids are actively used during the talent review process. During this process, a group of managers/leaders work together to manually place individuals on the X-Y axis to help identify the highest potential individuals, who needs development, and who needs coaching on performance improvement. Request Demo Advantages of the 9 Box Grid High-performing organizations look to the future by strategically identifying top talent and investing in ways to professionally develop employees who exhibit leadership potential. The following list highlights the advantages of using the 9-box grid for leadership succession planning. 1. Develops Future Leaders The 9-box grid is designed to provide a visual of employees who have a record of high past performance and display behaviors that indicate strong leadership potential. A tool like the 9-box offers a simple, easy-to-use way to highlight those stellar employees and place them on the path to coaching and development faster.  2. Reduces Bias Without a coaching tool like the 9-box grid, leadership succession planning is often dependent on tenure or likability. The tendency is for current leaders to promote employees who have traits they see in themselves or who have a history of high performance without considering other important factors. Assessing both performance and potential through open discussions and performance data helps to reduce subjectivity in selecting leaders and therefore significantly decreases the risk of biased 9-box decision-making.  3. Identifies Coaching Opportunities Because the boxes within the 9-box model cover the range of low to high performance and potential, the 9-box grid also highlights those employees who require coaching and direction. For example, an employee who is placed in the High Potential, Low Performance box can then work with their manager to create an individual development plan to lead them to increased performance results.  4. Increases Accountability The ‘potential’ category on the 9-box grid elicits structured discussion amongst current leadership. Organizations can decide beforehand the competencies and behaviors they are looking for when identifying employees with potential so that once it is time to make placements into the 9-box grid, conversations can be centered around a set of standards. These discussions bring to light multiple perspectives across various roles and departments, increasing accountability for employees and those in decision-making positions. How to Use the 9 Box For Measurement As stated above, a 9-box grid measures two factors: performance and potential. The understanding is that future leaders of an organization must possess a track record of exceeding performance expectations and must display behaviors and competencies that indicate their ability to take on leadership roles. The 9-box model provides a visual representation of both of these components on an x and a y-axis. Performance Typically, the ‘Performance’ axis is calculated based on appraisal results that measure performance objectives, goals, or a combination of the two. This axis relies upon documented performance data for accurate 9-box placements. There are a few ways organizations determine how to translate performance data to the 9-box grid but most commonly performance is separated by low, moderate, or high performance placements.  Low- The employee’s performance has not met expectations Moderate- The employee’s performance has met expectations High- The employee’s performance has exceeded expectations   Some organizations may choose to associate a number range to performance categories, such as 0-3 is low, 4-6 is moderate, and 7-10 is high. Regardless of what measuring tactics work best for each team, each of the boxes in the 9-box grid indicates a certain level of performance efforts.  Potential In contrast, the ‘Potential’ axis in the 9-box grid is unique to each organization. Some teams identify leadership competencies and skills that every potential leader must demonstrate prior to 9-box grid conversations and placements. High-performing teams will learn from past leaders how to best identify future ones. Often this looks like recalling and documenting positive traits and skills in successful leaders and less desirable traits or skills in problematic leaders.  The most important factor to consider when placing employees on the potential axis is that a general set of standards is applied. Though the concept of ‘potential’ justifiably leaves plenty of room for nuance, specific leadership abilities should be identified and formally discussed before placements are made in the 9-box model.  How WorkDove Uses the 9-Box Grid with the Performance-Values Matrix Many organizations choose to utilize WorkDove’s 9-Box leadership succession planning tool alongside WorkDove’s Performance Matrix. The impetus for using both resources together is due to our clients seeing great value in gaining data insights to identify top performers and potential successors. The evidence is clear that the two tools complement each other by providing deeper knowledge about individuals’ performance and potential development opportunities. 9-Box Grid Example  WorkDove’s 9-box grid labels each of the 9 boxes with specific verbiage to help leaders share a common language when making 9-box placements, such as ‘Potential Gem’ or ‘Star.’ Performance-Values Matrix Example  Similar to the 9-Box, WorkDove’s Performance-Values Matrix (PVM) rates two dimensions: the employee’s performance and core values/behavioral alignment.  “Stars” in the upper right section of both grids are coached for succession; transpose the lower right-hand boxes and the upper left-hand boxes from the PVM, and it’s visible to see who has potential and who needs further development. The lower left-hand corner in both grids represents employees who require a “crucial conversation.” 9 Box Grid Template Leaning on the Performance-Values Matrix, managers’ star ratings in the performance review of the employee’s performance and behaviors are combined to form a single Total Performance Score. … Continue reading What is the 9 Box Grid? Tips For Using It Alongside the Performance-Values Matrix