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Korn Ferry Hay Group’s Emotional and Social Competency Inventory is helping to forge greater leadership effectiveness at Sovereign Housing Association.
The organizationSovereign Housing Association is a charity that looks after
social housing, shared ownership and right-to-buy-schemes
in the South of England. Founded by a voluntary transfer from
West Berkshire Council in the late 1980s, the organization now
has around 1,100 employees.
The challengeSovereign has grown in the years since its creation, through a
combination of acquisition and development. Its workforce has
increased by more than 400% in this time.
To help sustain this success, Sovereign needed to establish a
more strategic mindset among its leaders. Clare Kirk, leadership
and management development consultant at Sovereign Housing
Association, explains: “We needed to raise the sights and mindset
of our leadership team, from day-today operations to the long-term
future of the association.”
The solutionSovereign therefore commissioned a leadership
development program for 50 or so of its most senior
managers. Its aim was two-fold: to help give them a more
strategic perspective, and to encourage them to work
together to drive success.
As part of this program, Sovereign wanted to enhance its
leaders’ self-awareness. The company running the course
recommended Korn Ferry Hay Group’s Emotional and
Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) among other tools.
ESCI measures the behaviours that make the crucial
difference between a high-performing leader and
an average one – that’s to say, it gauges a person’s
emotional intelligence (EI).
It achieves this by gathering 360° feedback on
individuals, and analyzing how they perform against
12 competencies under four key areas of EI: self-
awareness, self-management, social awareness and
relationship management.
Sovereign HousingAssociation, ESCI.
“ESCI has become a crucial part of our leadership development toolkit.”
Clare Kirk, leadership and management development consultant, Sovereign Housing Association
ESCI measures the behaviours that make the crucial difference between a high-performing leader and an average one.
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One
Sovereign can now compare scores over time, to see how leaders’
emotional abilities are progressing.
Two
Leaders can see for themselves the positive impact that changing their
behaviors can have on their teams.
Three
As individuals enter the leadership population, Sovereign can measure
their EI, and work with them to improve it as part of their development.
The resultsESCI provided Sovereign with powerful insight into each leader’s abilities under
the four areas. It gave the organization a framework with which to measure EI,
and to deliver feedback in a way that’s impartial and consistent.
“The power of the feedback lies in the neutral way in which ESCI allows it to be
delivered,” Clare says.
With a clear summary of their own emotional competencies, leaders could see
what they were doing well, and where there was room for improvement.
“They had a more accurate view of their teams’ perception of them,” Clare
explains. “And they were more aware of the gaps between their own self-image
and their teams’ feedback.”
Participants then discussed the results with their line managers, to help create
development plans aimed at enhancing their leadership impact.
The benefitsUsing ESCI has helped focus minds at Sovereign on the core leadership
competencies that the organization needs. It’s driven what Clare calls “a
common view of what good leadership looks like”. It has also demonstrated
the value of continually measuring EI among the leadership population. Three
consultants in Sovereign’s L&D function have now become accredited to use
ESCI and deliver feedback. The ability to use the tool on an ongoing basis has
three key advantages for the charity:
“ESCI has become a crucial part our leadership development toolkit,” Clare says.
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