A Nine-Box matrix is typically used in succession planning to plot the potential of an employee to move up in the organization on one axis and performance ratings on the other axis.  This allows you to compare, contrast, and desk check that you are considering as many individuals as possible for succession plans.

But, why should we stop there?  Aquire is implementing some great creative usage in the 9 box to help solve many business and talent-driven decisions.  I bet you would love to see performance rating on one axis and the scale of salary or raise % within a 9 box.  It allows people to fall directly into the 9 box and you can see the outliers during your bonus planning.  It is very powerful. read more »

Written by President and COO of Aquire, Tom McKeown

Athletics can be great training for youths, as they mature into adulthood by providing vital lessons in discipline and hard work.  But, there are different types of sports that require different types of coaching and involvement.  There are individual sports such as track and wrestling, where the participant need only be concerned with maximum achievement in his or her own event and that result is grouped into a total score.  On the other hand there are team sports such as football and basketball where participants play different roles in order to achieve one common result.  The same can be said for departments within companies, consider sales and marketing. read more »

Fill Open Position

A lot of companies struggle with identifying critical positions. They choose to flag these critical roles so succession plans can be created to fill the slots should they become vacant positions. Sometimes, it is a political issue within a company as to which positions are critical. An individual of great value or of sensitive ego may feel threatened if their position is not defined as critical.  read more »

This time of year, there is so much air-time used in discussions about building the competency model for position management and getting the right job description defined for compliance purposes, that often the true essence of what’s best for the team and the individuals gets lost when it’s time to open a new position. read more »