Boss examination

Noel Gaffney thinks that his approach to problem-solving is realistic. “If someone asks me to irrigate the Sahara by tomorrow, I won’t say ‘yes we can do it’.” To some of his colleagues, however, this down-to-earth attitude comes across as negative.

Gaffney knows this because they told him by means of a 360-degree assessment, where peers, line managers, reportees and clients all scored him and commented on his leadership skills. Mace uses these assessments as part of a leadership course for senior managers and has recently bought an online package which speeds up the process and saves learning and development manager Alex Michael literally weeks collating all the answers.

Sensitive souls best steer clear of this assessment method, however. “You have to be fairly open and quite thick-skinned,” says Michael. “This is not an ego boost. Be prepared to get some negative feedback.”

Everyone’s first reaction is to work out who made the criticisms, admits Michael, who’s been through the process herself, but after that you have to move on. “You have to start thinking about what they said and how you change your behaviour in order to change their perception of you.”

Gaffney, an operations director for Mace Solutions, Mace’s contracting arm, at Heathrow Terminal 5, already has experience of 360 degree assessments. At Birse, from where he moved five years ago, they were de rigeur along with psychometric testing.

The test at Mace came just before he embarked on a six-month ‘Authentic Leadership’ course with around 15 other operations directors and senior managers. The aim is that the assessment will highlight areas on which the managers can focus during training. A year down the line a second assessment will show if they have improved or not.

His results didn’t show any real problem areas, but did give him some food for thought. He scored lowest in the attitude and stress management section, whcih came as a surprise to him. The two questions which people had marked him down on were on approach to problems and his handling of criticism. “I can see now I need to keep my mouth shut and think about how to respond,” says Gaffney.

He also received a lower score on personal leadership/ management which on examination was an externally held view.

Michael says one-to-one sessions with a “coach” are vital to help analyse the results.

You have think about what they said and how you change your behaviour to change their perception

Alex michael, mace

“If you don’t have a professional to help interpret the results, it can be quite damaging,” she warns. “It could demotivate people.”

It’s good to talk

Gaffney, with all his experience of these tests, still finds this part the most tricky. “I always find it difficult to talk about myself for long periods of time,” he says. “When you get to a certain age and a certain position there are plenty of other things to do other than sit around thinking about things that you don’t want to think about.”

But it worked. The coach helped Gaffney work out that he needed to put more effort into communicating with his line manager, or manage upwards better. The survey results showed that his reportees marked him very similarly to how he rated himself, whereas his manager differed on many points. Gaffney reckons this is because he has been working closely for two and a half years with them, whereas his manager only appears if there are issues to resolve. Which is rare.

It could be because the people below him didn’t want to mark him down. Because although there is some anonymity, you can work out who said what. Michael thinks this is a good thing because it means people can’t get too bitchy. She also warns that firms with a blame culture could really come a cropper if they tried 360 degree assessments.

The introduction of an online system has meant that Mace can offer it to more people.

So if someone is moving role and needs a steer as to how to develop their skills, they can request one. And Michael is using it for a career management trial in Manchester, where staff carry out an assessment before a session with a career manager, someone senior who sill stick with them throughout their time with Mace and who has been trained in coaching.

Meanwhile, Gaffney has chosen a project for the leadership course which he hopes will raise his profile with those above him, and with those outside the organisation. It’s all about taking a more strategic view of the project as it approaches close-out and getting everything right.

“I want to spend less time sitting in front of the computer, getting hooked on detail, and take a couple of hours each week to think about where we want to be after the job ends,” says Gaffney. “I want to finish this job successfully, but also think about what I want to do next.”