Case Study: Transforming Citywide Leadership Development with 360 Feedback

Assessments International, globally recognized for its iconic 360-degree assessment, partnered with a city government organization. Its City Council is made up of a mayor and eight council members, elected by the people. The City is also represented by 40+ departments, including Arts and Culture, Aviation, Budget and Research, Environmental Programs, Parks and Recreation, Public Defender’s Office, and Water Services. The City employs approximately 15,000 people and operates on an annual budget and revenue scale of roughly $5.9 billion.

The Challenge: Cultivating Effective Leaders Across 40+ City Departments

The City determined that it needed a more proactive, systematic, and customized process to better prepare employees to assume leadership roles. They knew that such leadership development programs represented a major attraction to today’s employee base, therefore both recruitment and retention should be positively impacted by having such programs.

The City also understood the complexities involved in City management, including the major coordination and collaboration efforts that needed to happen both inside the City departments and with external stakeholders. They knew that leadership development programs would help enhance understanding of the complexities and would also allow new leaders from across the City employees to get to know each other. 

4-Step Assessment Process

The Solution

The City developed a Management Academy that would happen every Spring and every Fall, with approximately 20 new attendees each session. The Academy process was spread out over several months. The content was customized, and top City leaders participated in teaching the new leaders about the City and their respective areas of expertise.

The City also partnered with Assessments International to include The PROFILOR® 360 in its Management Academy to help the participants gain insights and develop and implement substantive action plans. One full-day session was incorporated into each Academy to this end. The same Assessments International facilitator has worked with the City for several years now and facilitates the full-day session. 

For every Academy, participants therefore get help in understanding their 360 feedback and translating insight into action. In addition, for every Academy, a group report is completed that the facilitator shares with the group. The group report reveals things like key strengths and development areas for the group as a whole. The group reports also assist the City’s Learning and Development team to more clearly identify and prioritize ongoing training needs. 

The program has been a tremendous success with phenomenal feedback from the participants every year for multiple years now. 

Building a Strong Leadership Pipeline
The City wanted a proactive, systematic, and customized approach to prepare employees for future leadership roles. They launched a recurring Management Academy, held twice annually, with customized leadership development content and participation from senior City leaders to prepare high-potential employees for management responsibilities.
Navigating the Complexity of City Government
Future leaders needed a better understanding of the complexities of municipal government, including cross-functional coordination among departments and collaboration with external stakeholders. Top City leaders shared insights about their departments and areas of expertise, helping participants understand how the City operates and the need for collaboration.
Leadership Continuity Amid City Management Change
A leadership transition raised concerns about the future of the City's Management Academy, with the potential for the program to be modified or discontinued. Assessments International engaged the new City Manager, shared program outcomes and demonstrated the Academy's value. The result was continued support and active involvement from the new City Manager.
Turning Leadership Feedback into Action
Leaders needed meaningful self-awareness and practical development plans to strengthen their leadership effectiveness. The City implemented The PROFILOR® 360 to provide participants with individualized feedback, actionable development plans, and group reports that identified common strengths and development needs for ongoing training initiatives.
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The Results: Better Prepared Leaders, Stronger Retention, and Ongoing Growth

By implementing the processes described above:

  • The City's leaders are much better prepared for their leadership roles, and more successful in these roles.

  • The City also understands how it needs to change its leadership development priorities over time, based on the data it receives on group themes and trends.

  • The City attracts more recruits and retains more people, in part due to their attention on development. 

Assessments International has maintained a relationship with the City for several years and continues to facilitate a full-day session in the Management Academy each Spring and Fall. 

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