Modern-day assessment center that uses professional assessors and highly realistic, modern job simulations that employ web-based and multimedia capabilities, such as e-mail, voice mail, video, etc. Acceleration Centers also feature a wide variety of other assessment methodologies to accurately diagnose a person’s appropriateness for a position as well as his or her development needs. Acceleration Centers compel prospective pool members to deal with issues and situations typical of general manager and executive positions.

A systematic method for identifying and developing high-potential people to fill targeted levels of management (e.g., senior management, general management). Development of pool members is accelerated through stretch job and task force assignments that offer the best learning and highest-visibility opportunities. An Acceleration Pool is typically smaller and more focused than traditional high-potential lists, which often include too many members to focus on.

The high-potential individual within an Acceleration Pool whose development is placed on a fast track for a targeted level (usually general management or above).

Usually a team project in which participants tackle actual business problems or challenges outside their area of expertise. Team members deal with strategic issues important to the organization and develop decision-making tools and methods. Participants also can learn the importance of networking and understand the different styles and methods represented by others on the team.

Interviews that gather specific examples of past behavior to predict future behavior at higher levels of management. The methodology is based on the tenet that interviewers who are trained to collect and evaluate job-relevant behavior in a standardized fashion are more accurate in their evaluations. The data gathered in behavior-based interviews can be used to evaluate executive descriptors (i.e., competencies, derailers, job challenges, and organizational knowledge).

Documentation maintained by each Acceleration Pool member to track his or her development needs and accomplishments. Often stored online, the Career Development Portfolio is accessible only to each respective Acceleration Pool member and members of the Executive Resource Board.

Licensed professionals who conduct assessments to aid in the development or selection of specific individuals. Assessments are typically done through personality inventories and clinical interviews.

An assessment tool that provides basic measures of intelligence.

(also known as dimensions): Clusters of behavior, knowledge, technical skills, and motivations that research has found to be related to job success or failure and under which data on behavior, knowledge, technical skills, or motivation can be reliably classified. Competencies is one of the four executive descriptors.

A form that encourages pool members to think about how they will achieve the targeted development (job challenges, organizational knowledge, competencies, and derailers) as well as how they can apply the newly learned development targets in the workplace and measure the effectiveness of the application. This form helps to ensure that development focuses on behavior change and is bottom-line oriented. It also helps the individual generalize the learning to fit other situations. A separate form should be completed for each area to be developed.

Generally held when the pool member first enters the pool and at least once a year thereafter (but always at the start of a new assignment). The meeting is held to review roles and expectations, review performance objectives for assignments, determine how development goals that were set by the Executive Resource Board and agreed to by the pool member will be met, decide on additional development objectives, plan action, and set dates for follow-up meetings.

A list created by each pool member (with the aid of an HR professional or a professional who interprets Acceleration Center and 360° feedback) that prioritizes development needs in each of the four executive descriptor areas—job challenges, organizational knowledge, competencies, and executive derailers. The list is reviewed by the Executive Resource Board to ensure that the chosen priorities fit with the organization’s strategic direction. The list is altered over time to incorporate new insights into a person’s development needs.

Occurs between the pool member, manager, and mentor at the end of an assignment or development project. This meeting covers such topics as achievement of (or failure to achieve) the targeted development goals, what factors facilitated learning, insights into the development process, future applications of the learning, and possible improvements in the development process. The development sign-off meeting is usually held in conjunction with a discussion of the next development need.

Meeting between the pool member and a professional from the Acceleration Center and/or designated HR representative, or between the pool member and his or her mentor, to discuss development needs and determine development priorities (completing a Development Priority List).

Legislation that determined protection principles for employees relative to personal data that are held and shared within all large organizations within the purview of the European Union (EU). This act became effective January 2001. It states that personal data should be:

A professional who is brought in to work one-on-one with a pool member. Coaches help Acceleration Pool members to expand self-awareness and understand their development needs. They also help pool members overcome obstacles to progress and help them to measure and monitor growth against desired goals. Coaches act as catalysts or facilitators of individual development and performance. They are seen as strategic business partners whose business experience, diagnostic insight, and proactive guidance offer tangible value to leaders. Perceived “value-added” and “good chemistry” qualities are keys to successful coaching relationships.

One of the four executive descriptors. Derailers are certain qualities and learned behaviors that can cause executives to fail. They can include personality traits and dispositions that get in the way of effective performance.

Characteristics that define an effective executive. They generally fall into one of four categories: job challenges (experience), organizational knowledge, behaviorally defined competencies, and executive derailers.

A senior management committee, generally comprising the CEO and/or COO and unit or SBU heads, that is responsible for an organization’s Acceleration Pool system. The Executive Resource Board reviews the nominations to an Acceleration Pool against defined criteria and makes the final decisions about who is to be admitted. The board also makes job and task force assignments, sends people to special training programs, and assigns executive coaches to develop pool members based on assessed needs. When more than one pool exists within a company, the organization usually has a different board for each pool (and a different name, although there is some overlap in membership).

Involves 15 to 20 high potentials who self-mentor as a team, with a senior manager acting as a facilitator and coach. Participants meet to bring up issues and share suggested answers, while the senior manager facilitates the meeting process and helps the group to discover the answers on their own.

Individuals who are perceived as being likely future executives in an organization. Each major part of the organization nominates high potentials to fill an Acceleration Pool, basing their choice on job performance and agreed-upon criteria of potential. In the pool the high potentials develop new skills and knowledge and take on new responsibilities, giving them the experience they will need to lead in the future as well as encouragement to stay with the organization.

The Human Resource representative who is assigned to the Acceleration Pool and who acts as catalyst, quality control expert, and “expert source of information” on all aspects of the system. The HR representative is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Acceleration Pool system.

One of the four executive descriptors, job challenges are the kinds of on-the-job situations that someone entering top management should have experienced or at least have had some exposure to (e.g., negotiating agreements, implementing a plan to cut costs, being involved in a merger or acquisition).

Assigned to a pool member for 2 to 10 years. Helps to plan development activities and monitor the Acceleration Pool member’s progress against those activities. While long-term mentors perform all the same tasks as short-term mentors, they also are more likely to provide career advice, help pool members to network, create growth opportunities outside of normal job responsibilities, report the pool member’s achievements to top management, and offer advice regarding the organization’s politics. Long-term mentors also can help pool members cope with the personal challenges they encounter by providing long-term support and positive reinforcement.

The individual to whom the Acceleration Pool member reports. The manager’s role is to establish an environment for development and to provide guidance, coaching, feedback, and encouragement. The manager can help the pool member find developmental opportunities within the context of the current job and help hold people accountable for development within it.

A manager at a level equal to or higher than the pool member’s manager and often from a different organizational unit, who guides the development of Acceleration Pool members. The mentor’s role is to provide guidance, support, and organizational and business insights. The mentor’s input in the developmental process differs from the manager’s in that it focuses on opportunities beyond, rather than within, the pool member’s current role.

A systematic means of gathering interview-based competency and derailer information from a number of people who work with the person being assessed. The approach used in these interviews is similar to that used in multirater surveys, except that the information is gathered via interviews rather than questionnaires.

A questionnaire assessment tool that elicits a comparison of self-perceptions with the perceptions of others who are familiar with the target person’s behavior relative to targeted competencies and derailers.

A meeting between the potential pool member and a member of the Executive Resource Board or designated HR representative. Its purpose is to offer Acceleration Pool membership. The pros and cons of membership are discussed, and the pool member decides whether to join the pool.

Personalized training involving an instructor and an executive. For any given course or program, the instructor covers essentially the same material that is covered in the classroom, but in a greatly abbreviated version that meets the executive’s specific business and personal needs. One-on-one training works particularly well when behavior skills are being developed, such as interviewing, completing performance management forms, negotiating, and coaching.

One of the four executive descriptors, organizational knowledge refers to the degree of understanding that senior managers must have about how the organization operates. Includes areas such as functions, processes, systems, and products and services.

Personality traits and dispositions (i.e., tendencies) that either facilitate executive success (i.e., enablers) or impede executive performance (i.e., derailers). These also include such factors as cognitive ability and motivation.

An assessment tool that provides insights into underlying personality characteristics (e.g., sociability, adjustments, etc.) relative to derailers.

This meeting is generally held with a member of the Executive Resource Board, a designated HR representative or the pool member’s mentor, and the pool member. It explains the purpose and importance of an assignment or special training event, obtains the pool member’s commitment, and defines specific development goals for the pool member.

Training built around an Acceleration Pool member’s specific needs, as delineated by his or her Development Priority List. For middle managers and below, the training can be delivered to groups of pool members with common needs, or they can participate in internal or external open-enrollment or electronically delivered programs (e.g., web-based training). More senior managers can be developed through attendance at short programs run by universities or consulting companies and through one-on-one training—often combined with coaching.

A meeting between the pool member, manager, and mentor to monitor the pool member’s progress toward job performance objectives and development objectives and to determine any needed support.

Assigned to a pool member for one to three years. A short-term mentor helps to plan development activities and monitor an Acceleration Pool member’s progress against those activities. Often, the short-term mentor is a role model for a competency that a pool member needs to develop. The short-term mentor also monitors the relationship between the pool member and his or her immediate manager.

An assessment tool used in Acceleration Centers to realistically replicate key components of a job or role. Simulations enable a participant to “try on” a role and exhibit behavior required in the target job or job level. Individuals must perform a series of tasks, such as handling a disgruntled employee, making strategic decisions, preparing and delivering a presentation to top management, etc.

Training designed specifically for Acceleration Pool members, such as Acceleration Pool orientation, action learning team projects, and action learning individual projects. These events are generally held away from work, push participants hard, provide short training nuggets, and help people develop their interpersonal competencies and decision-making skills. A variety of training methods are used.

The process by which organizations assure that they have sufficient, capable, and experienced people to fill senior management and executive positions.

Meeting held by the Executive Resource Board to find the best people from within or outside the Acceleration Pool to fill current open positions and positions that will be open within the next year. This meeting also determines the specific development goals and assignments for Acceleration Pool members as appropriate for their growth and development needs (e.g., special training, executive coaches, etc.).

A behavior-based interviewing system developed by Development Dimensions International. The key elements—competency and other executive descriptor targets, a systematic and consistent interviewing system that pins down behavior, and the integration of data—are combined in a program that assures accurate, carefully considered, and high-quality hiring decisions.

Training that helps rising leaders develop the skills and knowledge they need as they move up the organization (e.g., into middle or senior management). Transition training programs provide information on roles, competencies, and systems associated with the new organizational level. This type of training focuses on key leadership transitions, such as the move from operational to strategic leadership, or from a non-supervisory to a supervisory role.