Professional Development and Coaching
Our clients ask us for help in solving workplace problems that are too complex or long-standing to be resolved by hiring, firing, reassigning, or retaining one or a few employees. They need our help both in defining the problem and in implementing strategies that will achieve lasting change.
Our clients hire us to coach and individual when:
- A team member has the potential to be more productive.
- They are about to promote or have already promoted someone to expanded responsibilities.
- They want to develop future leaders across the organization.
- There is a performance problem they cannot seem to work through.
In response to these needs, we have developed a simple, effective process of individual coaching. Beginning with an intense period of one-on-one work, we may facilitate a meeting with the person’s manager and work sessions with the subordinates. While no two assignments are the same, the basic phases and underlying principles are constant:
Coaching Programs
As a natural extension of our assessment services or as a standalone process, executive coaching is the ideal way for companies to help their employees grow and develop in many ways that ultimately impact the bottom line. OCG’s consultants are known for combining industrial/organizational psychology principles, research, and knowledge with solid, practical business experience to provide the best possible consultation and insights to our clients.
Executive Coaching
Our executive coaching program begins with an executive assessment and any additional input as necessary, such as interviews with board members and clients or an online multi-rater feedback report.
The program continues with a developmental feedback session, then three to twelve coaching sessions. The deliverables for this coaching program include an action plan (developed jointly by the consultant and the executive) for meeting both behavioral objectives and long-term strategic business objectives.
Management Coaching
Our management coaching program emphasizes leveraging a manager’s strengths and accountability to make progress toward specific behavioral objectives. This process begins with a management assessment. A developmental feedback session initiates the remaining three to eight coaching sessions. The deliverables include an action plan jointly developed by the consultant and the participating manager. Additionally, the program may include one or more meetings with the manager’s supervisor to discuss the action plan, review progress, and identify support areas.
Development Coaching
Development coaching is a very popular short-term program for professional-level employees, supervisors, or mid-level managers. The focus of this program is to help individuals better understand their style, strengths, and limitations, and to identify ways of improving performance.
This program is directed toward a limited set of high-priority development objectives in addition to our key accountability features. An assessment and feedback precede the remaining three to five sessions, during which a development plan is formulated and implemented. The program may also include one or more meetings with the manager.
Performance Coaching
Career Coaching & Transition Coaching
This ultimate resource for transition includes any of the following services:
- Skills assessment and feedback
- Coaching on change management related to loss of job
- Career consultation
- Assistance in preparing resumés and letters
- Interviewing practice and skills
- Job search preparation, including skill-building, search and networking strategies, informational interviewing, and research
Additional Coaching Programs
- Leadership Team Coaching
- Work Team Coaching
- Peer Coaching
- Succession Coaching
- Onboarding or Outplacement
- Multi Rater Feedback
Hiring: Executives, Managers, and Professionals
Selection and development assessments for executives, managers, and supervisors have been a core piece of our business for over 25 years. We believe that assessing an individual’s style and strengths is critical to both job fit and development.
Our assessments are administered by professional staff and are conducted by experienced consultants. All assessments can be done virtually, in person at our offices, or at the client’s site.
The benefits of virtual assessments include:
- Big savings on travel expenses
- The ability to have more candidates assessed
- Less time required for the selection process
- Great for out-of-town clients/candidates
Executive Assessment
- A high-level assessment for senior positions such as President, CEO, CFO, COO, CAO, and Vice President.
- It evaluates executive leadership qualities such as setting and driving a vision for a division or organization.
Management Assessment
- A mid-level assessment for management positions.
- This assessment evaluates an individual’s fit with an existing organizational strategy and how well they can assist in implementing such strategies through managing people and other resources of an organization.
Professional Assessment
- This assessment is geared toward supervisory, professional, or individual contributor positions.
- The focus is on a person’s technical and administrative qualities that will help them provide timely, expert assistance to the mid-level managers and executives responsible for corporate strategies.
Developmental Feedback
- In this session, we will review all of the information and data gathered in the assessment with the individual.
- This process provides the person with a comprehensive picture of their styles, strengths, limitations, and skills so that they can leverage them to the fullest degree possible in the workplace.
- We will look at possible ways to promote success given the context of the business. We will begin to help the individual formulate plans for improvement in ways that practical and feasible. This session is both an honest and positive experience.
Selection Profiles: Store Manager and Hourly Positions
A Selection Profile™ is a set of tools to assist you in selecting the best employees for your hourly workforce. OCG is known for quality, and it shows from start to finish in our Selection Profiles.
Many existing Profiles are available, or we can customize testing and reporting options for your organization, driven by the needs and the context of the target position.
We begin with a job analysis because our Selection Profiles are created with your company’s culture and needs in mind.
Online Selection Profiles™
- With our online testing options, you can minimize the time involved in your selection process and ensure the best candidates do not get away!
- We can expedite the reporting process and deliver score results quickly.
Selection Profiles™ with Brief Interpretation
- This set of tools is more comprehensive and provides a more detailed report than its online counterpart.
- The narrative report features thoroughly integrated work habits and technical skill data. Comprehensive, narrative results from a professional consultant are available within 1-3 business days.
Currently Available Selection Profiles™
- Retail Store Managers
- Franchise Store Managers
- Sales Associates
- Customer Service Reps
- Maintenance Workers
- Production Workers
- Assembly Workers
- Operators
Organizational Development
Experience in organizational structures and restructuring is a key consideration when looking for management consultants to help evaluate your processes and systems to ensure smooth and efficient operations.
Whatever the development needs of your organization are, Olson Consulting Group’ s long tenure ensures that we have had experience and are knowledgeable in all areas of organizations and in a wide array of industries.
Services include...
- Leadership Development Programs
- Talent Management
- Succession Planning
- Strategic Planning and Visioning
- Organizational Change
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Development Planning
- Performance Appraisal
- Management Evaluation
Team Development & Training
Olson Consulting Group has developed a wide array of workshops available to our clients for team or organizational development. We often combine group workshops with individual coaching for the highest impact on an organization’s effectiveness.
Workshops and team development sessions are always customized to fit the needs, goals, and objectives of our clients. We deliver affordable programs that are never “off-the-shelf” or “cookie cutter.”
Sample Workshops
- Coaching Skills Workshop©
- Joint Problem Solving and Conflict Management
- Listening and Communication Skills
- Team Appreciation and Development
- Developing and Leveraging Your Leadership Style
- MBTI® Workshop
- Understanding the Systems in Your Workplace
- Leading in Systems
- Navigating Successfully through Change
- Leading in Change
Test Development and Validation
Test Development and ValidationOlson Consulting Group has developed and validated many tests for use in selection. Creating a test is one thing, but making sure the test is valid is a job that requires skill and expertise. With a statistical dissertation, Dr. Richard D. Olson is an expert in test research and development.
We begin by conducting a job analysis. Next, we create a test for research. We ask job incumbents to complete the test and we ask those incumbents’ supervisors to rate their performance on the job. At the same time, we carefully train all raters in how to rate performance, as this can be a subjective task full of errors. Finally, we compare the incumbents’ test scores with their performance ratings and finalize the test.
When we are able to show a significant relationship between ratings and test scores, our client gains a validated test for use in selection.
What is a valid test?
First, a test must be reliable to be valid. A reliable test consistently produces the same results.
Next, a test must show statistically significant correlations between test results and actual performance. That is, low scores on the test are made by people who receive low performance ratings, and people who receive high performance ratings score highly on the test.
Finally, a test is only considered valid based on the context in which it is being used. That is, a reliable mechanical reasoning test is valid for a job that requires mechanical skills. It is not valid for a job where mechanical skills are not a requirement to be successful.
Contact us at (952) 830-1190 or ocg@olsonconsultinggroup.com if you need more information about how testing is used in your organization.