Case study · Multi-sector conglomerate, UAE

Building a talent pipeline of Business Heads and Middle Managers

A customized virtual Assessment Centre gave the client an objective view of ~60 managers and a baseline to measure development.

Case file01

Client: Client name withheld
Industry: Multi-sector conglomerate, UAE
Instruments: Virtual Behavioural Event Interviews (BEI)
Virtual Group Discussions
AI-enabled Role Plays
AI-enabled In-basket

01Problem statement

What the client needed

Identify and develop a strong talent pipeline of Business Heads and Middle Managers.
Assess about 60 participants and select 30 for the Talent Development Program.
A competency framework already existed. A more robust process was needed to assess people against its competencies and proficiency levels.
Needed an objective, consistent way to identify strengths, development gaps and readiness.
Needed a baseline so participants could be reassessed after the program.

02Process of diagnosis

Held stakeholder discussions on business context, strategic direction and expectations of managers, plus one-on-one conversations with team members.
Reviewed the competency model, behavioural indicators, role profiles and role-competency matrices.
Looked at wider organizational dimensions: business direction, governance, culture, accountability, performance orientation, people, processes and systems.
Used these insights to build scenarios that reflect real business situations, not generic exercises.
Built a Tool-Competency Matrix so each competency is assessed through multiple methods.
Converted proficiency levels into observable, measurable behavioural indicators.

Illustrative. Each competency is covered by multiple tools.

01Each row is a competency the client wanted to measure.
02Each column is an assessment exercise: BEI, group discussion, role play, in-basket.
03A dot means that exercise gives evidence for that competency.
04Every row has at least two or three dots. That is the point: no competency is judged on a single exercise, so one weak performance can't decide a manager's score.

03Solution

Designed a customized virtual Assessment Centre aligned with the client's competency framework.
Developed business-contextualized exercises instead of off-the-shelf tools.
Assessed each competency through multiple tools for a more robust evaluation.
Used structured rating and observation sheets to standardize scoring across assessors.

04Impact

Objective talent selection
Clear basis for who progresses into the Talent Development Program.
Individual and cohort visibility
Competency strengths and development gaps visible at both levels.
Evidence-based decisions
Multiple methods, not just manager perception or a single source.
Targeted development
Interventions based on specific competency gaps.
Consistent assessment
Standardized behavioural indicators, observation sheets and score integration.
Organizational talent trends
Common strengths and priority development areas across leadership.

Baseline for measuring growth

Reassess after the program and compare competency movement.

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