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Public Service Commission

Tailored approach to talent review

Helping agencies to decide and design their talent review process.

A tailored, risk-based approach to talent review helps organisations to decide the right level of rigour to use in assessing performance and potential depending on the criticality of the role under consideration.

Highest risk critical roles such as Executive leaders may justify more robust and rigorous assessment approaches to give confidence to role appointments and effectively target development.

Lower risk roles such as non-critical individual contributor roles and people managers that are also at larger scale may be suitable for less rigorous approach to deliver the required outcomes.

Figure 5 shows the options available along a continuum to balance rigour of the assessment and moderation approach.

Figure 5. Tailored approach

Figure 4 trf fig 4
Diagram showing tailored approach to talent review in the public sector

* Manager moderation two levels above should only be used for levels below Band 3 or equivalent
^ Inputs that are available from recent recruitment processes for PSSE roles (e.g. capability assessments or psychometric testing from the past two years) can be considered in assessing performance and potential.

Increasing organisational maturity of talent practices

Leaders can also use the tailored approach to determine the most appropriate practices to implement based on their organisations’ level of experience and capability in conducting talent reviews.

Organisations should choose practices on the scale that best suits their existing level of capability and maturity, and move to more rigorous approaches as talent review practices mature.