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Using Executive Coaching to Leverage Assessment Center Feedback Tips for Success

This presentation adds a unique twist to the research that has been favorably received by Congress participants over the last couple of years regarding factors that influence constructive responses to AC feedback (c.f., Kudisch and colleagues 1998; 2001; 2002; Wilkinson & Byham, 2003; Eidson, 2003; Atchley Smith, & Hoffman, 2003). This study also extends earlier efforts by Poteet and Kudisch (2003) who used interview data from senior-level assessors (from both applied and academic domains) to identify additional factors that influence AC feedback acceptance and use, and user-proven strategies for increasing receptivity. The current study integrates research from the AC and executive coaching domains to explore those “coach competencies” that help participants gain greater awareness and improve their performance.

The study is based on interview data from participants of two universities who received or were receiving executive coaching as part of their participation in Executive MBA leadership development programs. One of these university programs included a mini-assessment center component. Using a job analytic-type approach, we sought to provide a preliminary detailed taxonomy of coaching KSAOs, techniques and activities related to coaching effectiveness. A combined review of the quantitative and qualitative results revealed four broad factors that comprise effective coaching. Although the findings are consistent with KSAO lists developed by the International Coach Federation (ICF), the ability to confront, challenge, and push seems a bit more emphasized in our study. This is in slight contrast with findings from Poteet and Kudisch (2003), where AC assessors/coaches warned that challenging and confronting their clients could lead to defensiveness. Based on the findings, we believe that executive coaching can be a value-added supplement to DAC initiatives.

Overall, this session will provide practitioners with a preliminary taxonomy that could be used as a screening tool or task inventory checklist to develop work samples for identifying and evaluating potential coaches (or those assessors who also serve as coaches in AC designs coupled with an executive coaching). Similarly, our findings can be used to develop training programs that provide coaches/assessors serving as coaches with a broad range of tools. Finally, this taxonomy can be used to provide participants with a “realistic preview” of what to expect from the coaching process.

PDF of Kudisch Presentation

Kudisch Handout

Dr. Jeff Kudisch is a Distinguished Tyser Teaching Fellow and Senior Executive Education Fellow at the University of Maryland ’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. He also is a co-founder and Principal Partner of Personnel Assessment Systems, Inc., a human resource consulting firm specializing in management and executive assessment.

Jeff received his Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology from the University of Tennessee , Knoxville , his M.S. in I/O Psychology from the University of Central Florida , and his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida . Prior to joining the Smith School faculty in the fall of 2002, he was an Assistant Professor and Director of the University of Southern Mississippi 's I/O Psychology Doctoral Program and Center for Applied Organizational Studies. Jeff teaches MBA and EMBA seminars on human capital management, leadership, and negotiations in the Robert H. Smith’s School of Business . He is also an active guest lecturer at Smith partner universities around the world, including the Graduate School of Business Administration (GSBA) in Zurich and the Polish-American Management Center at the University of Lódz .

Jeff has successfully taught in Executive Development programs, EMBA, MBA, Ph.D., and undergraduate programs. Jeff has been nominated for teaching awards at the University of Tennessee , the University of Southern Mississippi , and the University of Maryland . Since joining the Smith faculty, Jeff has consistently been honored for being one of the Outstanding (Top 15%) Teachers, and was selected in 2006 for the Allen J. Krowe/Legg Mason Teaching Excellence Award, as well as the Best MBA Team Teaching Award in 2006, 2007 and 2008 for his performance during the GSBA’s Zurich HRM-MBA Blocks.

Jeff has provided consulting services in the areas of leadership assessment, succession planning, assessment centers, testing and selection, executive coaching, training and development, organizational change, employee attitudes, customer satisfaction, and performance management (e.g., performance appraisal, multi-source feedback) to both public- and private-sector organizations in the United States since 1988.  Before venturing into academia, Jeff spent several years working in various human resource-related functions at the Tennessee Valley Authority.  Some of his recent consulting and executive development clients have included McCormick and Company, Inc., Black & Decker, Home Depot, Lockheed Martin, Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding & Litton Ship Systems, Nextel, NIH, Office of Personnel Management, Anne Arundel Health Systems, Imre Communications, Alliant Health Systems, E.K. Fox & Associates, and the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), among others.

Jeff developed Assessment Centers for the University of Maryland ’s EMBA program and the University of Tennessee ’s MBA program. As the Director of both assessment programs he has provided feedback to hundreds of executives and students and has selected and trained numerous assessors, role players, and coaches. Jeff also serves as an executive coach for the Smith School ’s EMBA program.

He has written articles in the areas of assessment centers, personnel selection, managerial credibility, charismatic leadership, and multi-source feedback, and he has presented his research at national and international conferences. He is a member of the Academy of Management , Society for I/O Psychology, and the American Psychological Association.

 

Mark L. Poteet, Ph.D., received his Bachelor's degree in Psychology and his Doctorate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of Tennessee .  For the past ten years Mark has managed his independent consulting practice, specializing in job analysis, employee selection, assessment and coaching for managers and executives, performance management, training design and delivery, and interview training.  Prior to forming his practice, Mark managed the recruitment and selection function for the City of Clearwater, Florida.  He also contracted with the Human Resources department at the Tennessee Valley Authority for several years, working on programs such as 360-degree feedback, climate assessment, assessment centers, and cultural diversity.  

Mark also maintains a program of research, having written and co-written several articles on leadership, mentoring, career development, and performance appraisal that have appeared in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Career Development Quarterly, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Leadership Quarterly, and Journal of Business and Psychology.  He recently co-authored a chapter on “Best Practices in Formal Mentoring Programs” in the book Blackwell Handbook of Mentoring: A Multiple Perspective Approach, and is a co-author of the upcoming book Designing Workplace Mentoring Programs:  An Evidence-based Approach.  He has also presented his research at the annual conferences for the Southern Management Association, Academy of Management , Society for Industry and Organizational Psychology, Southeastern Psychological Association, and International Congress on Assessment Center Methods.

Mark is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the American Psychological Association.  He has worked with such companies as the Tennessee Valley Authority, Tennessee State Government, Tennessee Assessment Center, Personnel Assessment Systems, Ohio Casualty Group, Remy International, NiSource Corporation, PCI Human Resources, Knoxville Utilities Board, W.N. Lockwood & Associates, Right Management, Veris Industries, UPS, the Center for Business and Economic Development at Auburn University, Indiana Housing and Community Development Agency, IUPUI, the Leadership Development Institute at Indiana University, and Kelley Executive Partners.