A company's HR department has the mission of not only hiring human talent for the benefit of the business, but also monitoring and analyzing the performance of its employees, and in this case, the use of the nine box matrix matrix is one of the most widely used.
Planning to identify and promote the most promising talent requires efficient tools to provide a complete breakdown of each employee's performance. That's why the nine-box matrix is an excellent alternative for this purpose.
To add to talent management, in this article you'll see:
- What is the Nine Box Matrix?
- Benefits of using the nine box matrix
- How is the nine box matrix made up?
- How to apply the nine box method?
- What is a calibration matrix?
- Janus with the multidimensional matrix-9
Shall we get started?
What is the Nine Box Matrix?
The Nine Box Matrix was created by McKinsey in the 1970s during a project at GE. At the time, the matrix related two variables in nine quadrants: "Competitive Strength" on the X axis and "Market Attractiveness" on the Y axis.
The matrix allowed an analysis to support the company's strategic decisions regarding the portfolios of its business units and aimed to understand which of these units received more or less investment and which would be discontinued.
Over the years, the nine box matrix has been adapted for the HR world and molded for use in employee performance evaluation, through a matrix that relates Performance (horizontal axis) and Potential (vertical axis), made up of 3 levels on each axis, thus forming nine quadrants or blocks.
Understanding what the Nine Box Matrix is to know that its purpose is simple, because it is a very effective tool for visualizing the performance of your employees in organizations.
The methodology behind the matrix is very visual and practical, allowing managers to gather important information about each employee in a strategic way. It is currently one of the main tools for performance evaluation and thus manage talent by analyzing their collective and individual potential.
Nine Box is excellent for a variety of company segments and purposes, from the initial onboarding of new talent, through the training and qualification stages and including employee promotion and dismissal processes.
In this context, using the methodology is a great opportunity to carry out more effective internal activities and acquire detailed information, based on criteria about the performance of each employee.
Benefits of using the Nine Box Matrix
Now that you know a little more about Nine Box, it's time to understand why using the performance and potential matrix is so important for management management in companies. We've listed some of the advantages the method can bring. See below!
Improves internal communication
This is because management that is aware of the potential and specific characteristics of each employee ends up promoting internal communication more open and direct with its professionals, which allows for a noiseless and clear dialog on both sides.
Investing in direct and transparent internal communication means understanding that this is an excellent strategy for motivating and engaging employees.
Helps retain talent
In short, the investment made in getting to know and delving into the specific actions of each employee helps to value talent, ensure motivation and engagement and create new career opportunities.
This helps to generate satisfaction and well-being for employees who have their potential recognized and are able to see their strengths and improve what is needed.
Facilitates decision-making
As a result, decisions are made on a much better basis, based on real information and data in real time. A good example of this is the possibility of having a well-structured overview of evaluations of a particular employee, based on their behavior and development.
And based on the information and analysis, decide whether to promote or reallocate talent within the company. Therefore, by applying the methodology, it is possible to visualize the most promising employees and thus direct actions to make more assertive and effective decisions.
Of course, there are many other advantages to adopting the nine-box methodology. Some interesting insights that can be gleaned from the employee's location in the matrix blocks are:
- Job promotions;
- Internal transfers;
- Lateral career moves;
- Salary increases and bonuses;
- Training;
- Shutdowns.
How is the nine box matrix made up?
The 9-Box Matrix is represented by a Cartesian plane made up of two axes: the vertical axis (Potential) and the horizontal axis (Performance). It is made up of 9 blocks which vary their characteristics.
Each of the blocks in the matrix covers certain characteristics identified in employees. These characteristics are directly related to their performance and potential, and can be divided as follows:
Quadrant 1 - high potential and low performance;
Quadrant 2 - high potential and average performance;
Quadrant 3 - high potential and high performance;
Quadrant 4 - medium potential and low performance;
Quadrant 5 - Average potential and average performance;
Quadrant 6 - medium potential and high performance;
Quadrant 7 - Low potential and underperformance;
Quadrant 8 - low potential and average performance;
Quadrant 9 - low potential and high performance.
When evaluating employee performance, managers need to pay attention to two factors:
- Firstly, what their current performance is, i.e. what the employee's performance is based on their current deliveries and results.
- Secondly, what potential this employee has to take on more complex activities and responsibilities. In other words, when analyzing the vertical axis, it is necessary to have a future vision of the employee's growth expectations based on their competencies.
For example, employees who work hard and do well in their jobs but have little potential for growth are good to have in the team because they deliver good results.
However, at the same time, these professionals end up having little potential to take on more complex tasks and, as a result, have lower expectations of growth within the company.
In general, the nine-box matrix offers a structure that helps manage all the employees in an organization in a relatively simple and extremely visual way, so that managers can make more assertive decisions in a more objective way.
Many companies still carry out this performance evaluation manually, which opens up more time-consuming and complex processes. But in order to revolutionize the market and make the results even more precise, optimized and simple to construct, there is the option of using tools that carry out this entire cycle in an automated way, thus meeting the demands of companies.
How to apply the Nine Box method?
Now that you've understood the benefits of the 9 box methodology and learned more about the tool that can impact the performance of your entire team, boosting their development, it's time to find out how to put it into practice, setting up the matrix with quality and transparency.
As with any other methodology used within an organization, it's always a challenge to get started. That's why we've put together some tips on what you need to do to establish best practices within the 9 box program. See below!
- The matrix is divided into 9 quadrants filled horizontally and vertically with information about the profile of the person being evaluated. Therefore, the table needs to be complete and with up-to-date and reliable data, including the information gathered by managers and leaders.
- Train and qualify the team who will look after the matrix and be responsible for keeping it up to date and complete. Therefore, the focus should be on involving professionals so that everyone understands the importance of the tool for employee development.
- To really get the results you expect from using the tool, you need to have an action plan and follow it. In this way, the tool will serve to help employees develop their skills, not to label behavior and make hasty decisions.
- Nine Box needs to have its objective clear in order to be even more assertive in its evaluations. In other words, you need to define what the objective is, to evaluate employees? to reduce turnover? to promote or relocate talent? to engage and motivate the team? Based on motivation, the construction of the nine box will be much more effective in achieving results.
- Define the HR indicators that will be the basis for evaluating the team, the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) will guide the process and help shape a much more assertive and efficient strategy. Examples of indicators: productivity rate, absenteeism, employee satisfaction index, among others.
This is a very comprehensive subject and requires further details at each stage of your process. But in order to formulate a quality evaluation cycle, these are undoubtedly the actions that should NOT be missing from your matrix nine box.
What is the Nine Box Calibration Matrix?
In order to avoid the risk of errors and unfair or even incomplete evaluations, measures must be taken to calibration of the nine box. What does this mean? It means that the company must set up a calibration committee that will be responsible for balancing the evaluation processes.
In other words, the calibration of the nine box is precisely to ensure that employees receive their appraisals fairly and transparently. This is what allows the results collected through data analysis to be in line with reality and based on the company's expectations and requirements.
A calibration committee that fulfills its role is able to deliver the results of performance evaluations in a much more truthful and ethical manner, since it is guided by the basic points of a process that does not deviate from reality.
In this way, the calibration of the nine box is a very important part of this whole process, which can help to boost deliveries, optimize time, reduce costs and make the evaluations carried out by managers more accurate and fair.
Janus with the multidimensional 9-box matrix
The difference with the Jano platform, in terms of the nine box matrix, can be found in the types and quantities of intersections and quadrants available for performance evaluation, for example.
There is also a great deal of creative flexibility within the platform so that the matrix can be made in a specific and personalized way. The types of intersections available are diverse, allowing for other formats with different descriptions, sizes, nomenclatures and more.
The software Jano software is complete and perfect for your management to gain strategic insights and identify talent through efficient and quality processes.
Finally, adopting the nine-box methodology can transform the company's day-to-day results, making it easier to evaluate your employees and to use complete and up-to-date information to make decisions.
Do you want to revolutionize your company's management using the nine box matrix? Click here and find out how we can help you!
