Business optimization. Strategic outlook for next decade of work. Identifying opportunities, obstacles and strategies to optimize organisational capabilities and streamline business processes. Facilitating agreement about goals, roles and responsibilities amongst senior managers and their teams. Workshopping to identify key performance indicators for each business unit. Identifying business process “hot-spots” where integration can be troublesome, and framing Service Level Agreements to ease these integration areas.

Managing projects on behalf of organizations. John Blacklaws is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and can assist organizations with the management of their projects (i.e. facilitating a Project Definition Workshop; developing a Project Charter; budgeting; documenting the detailed plans & milestones; allocating resources; monitoring and reporting on progress towards project goals; controlling progress; etc.)

Competency Frameworks. Developing (or providing external assistance to teams that develop) competency-frameworks for various positions. Identifying and documenting requisite competencies at various organizational levels. Developing Competency Profiles. Linking competencies to training & development needs. Training needs analysis.

Performance Management. Promoting an outcomes-focus for performance management, linked to the company’s Balanced Scorecard System. Linking cascading performance requirements from Business Plans through departmental goals to individual objectives and specific performance criteria.

Assessments. This includes Assessment/Development Centres, Career Path Appreciations (identifying managerial potential), Competency Assessments, Leadership Profile Analyses, 360-degree assessments. These assessments can be conducted on a person-to-person level, or online at a distance.

Career Path Planning. Discussing assessment results with each candidate. Obtaining a commitment towards closing all identified competency gaps. The outcome of this would be a “Development Contract”, effectively sharing responsibility for development plans between the organisation and the candidate. Providing input to the organization for Succession Planning.

Mentoring and Coaching. Regular meetings with specific candidates to discuss their development needs and progress. Personal coaching of fast-tracked employees. Providing the organization with reports on progress.

Recruitment. Providing ongoing assistance with recruitment and succession, by conducting assessments amongst short-listed candidates.

Succession Planning. Developing custom-built succession planning systems and linking these to existing organization systems. Developing and promoting policies in respect of employee development and talent management. Installing software to manage the HR and talent database.