TDD# 1-800-846-5277
STATE OF
DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE
BATON ROUGE,
October 10, 2007
General
Circular No.1712
To: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource
Directors
Subject: Implementation of Supervisory Potential Assessment
Tool
Issue Date: October 10, 2007
The Department of State Civil
Service is excited to announce the implementation of a new workforce planning
instrument, the Supervisory Potential
Assessment Tool, as part of
The Supervisory Potential Assessment Tool is composed of 100 questions,
divided into five competency areas with 20 questions each. The competency areas are: Overseeing
Completion of Work, Planning & Organizing, Communication & Conflict
Resolution, Analysis & Problem Solving, and Leadership. The assessment tool will be available on the
Department of State Civil Service Website.
The Supervisory Potential Assessment Tool will not be used as part of a
selection procedure and the results should not affect any employee’s promotion,
present pay grade or job classification.
The tool is intended for employees to gain productive results in
assessing their individual supervisory potential.
How it works
The on-line assessment takes
approximately two hours. Once an
individual completes the assessment, they will receive their results. Individual results will not be saved in the
system, so employees will need to print out their results. These results are confidential, but can be
shared with their agency if the employee chooses to do so. The results notice will indicate the
individual’s level of skill in the five competency areas. The notice will also include recommended
reading lists, websites and CPTP courses identified by competency. These
suggested resources will expose the employee to information that can assist the
employee in improving their skill level in the appropriate individual
competencies.
Agency Benefits
The Supervisory Potential Assessment Tool will greatly assist state
agencies. With over a fourth of
classified state employees eligible for retirement in five years, succession
and workforce planning has become very important to all agencies. Agencies will now have a tool to recommend to
their employees to determine their skill level in supervisory
competencies. When an employee’s results
are shared with the agency, this can assist the agency in training, mentoring
or coaching the individual as part of succession planning, leadership
development or workforce planning.
Agencies can get a head start toward a goal of developing a pool of
potential employees for replacing their retiring supervisors. There is no cost to the individual employee
or the agency for use of this assessment.
Employee Benefits
State employees with interest
in future supervisory roles will now have a no-cost and highly accessible tool
to gauge their level of proficiency in supervisory competencies.
Identifying developmental
needs is a very sound strategy for employees, because it allows them to know
where they are strong and to begin work on those areas where they need
improvement, before they begin seeking promotional opportunities. While not an individually tailored
development plan, the information in the results notice can help with an
employee’s own development plan as part of an agency’s workforce planning or
leadership development.
Employees who are already in
supervisory level positions may also take the tool and identify their
developmental needs. Professional
development continues after movement into a supervisory role, and the
assessment tool can help identify areas where present supervisors can grow
their own supervisory skills.
Availability
The Supervisory Potential Assessment Tool will be located at the link
“Workforce Planning Resources” under HR Reference on the Department of State
Civil Service Website. The tool will be
available on October 24, 2007.
A flier for agency employees
is attached to this general circular regarding the Supervisory Potential Assessment Tool. There is also an attached brochure for hiring
managers. We strongly recommend that
Human Resources Directors share this information with both their agency
employees and hiring managers. Employees
may begin taking the assessment tool as soon as it is available on our website.
The Supervisory Potential Assessment Tool is part of this Department’s
continuing work to support and expand the state’s workforce planning efforts.
If you have any questions concerning the assessment, please contact
Sincerely,
s/
Director
ATTACHMENTS