HR Systems & Architecture

HR architectures where selection, early identification, appraisal, reward systems, development and the succession of people into leadership roles are connected have the greatest potential of capturing a competitive edge. Kimberly Ryan believes that the language of individual and organizational competencies provides the integrating framework that is crucial to success in any industry

Ample evidence exists to demonstrate the added economic value of a truly integrated set of HR processes over stand-alone methods and the adoption of best practices has become a success factor in every organizational situation. The heart of an integrated HR system is a common language of performance that connects hiring, performance management, development promotion and succession planning.

Kimberly Ryan offers strategic consulting in the areas of:

Competency Models

KRyan Consulting develops competency models for individual job titles as well as roles with a more general range (e.g., individual contributor, supervisor, and executive). In every case, KRyan Consulting emphasizes competencies that drive outstanding performance and are aligned with the organization's strategy and values. Position-specific and role-specific competencies help organizations define job requirements more precisely. They also help organizations focus on the fewest factors that make the most difference in performance and create the feedback and development needed to move "average" performers to leaders at their positions

Position Profiling

KRyan helps her clients develop position profiles that focus on the essentials of jobs or roles, creating a direct "line of sight" to business priorities. Position profiles differ significantly from traditional job descriptions in several important ways. While job descriptions usually represent the entire contents of the job, at KRyan’s position profiles focus on the most critical and difficult job requirements and on the knowledge, skills and other performance factors needed to meet them.
Focused position profiles are important when an organization undergoes significant re-engineering or restructuring. The profiling process helps identify unresolved issues regarding changing accountabilities and skill sets. It also ensures that the strategy or situation prompting the organizational change is translated into specific actions and requirements for individual employees.

Performance Management

Performance management and appraisal processes have the potential to play a pivotal role in getting results and improving performance. Unfortunately, most such processes in use today offer little more than a rear-view-mirror look at performance - the dreaded appraisal discussion that takes valuable time away from managers and employees and often does little more than document the past.
Kimberly Ryan develops future-focused performance management processes - beginning with business strategy and performance metrics and cascading down to the most critical accountabilities and goals of every employee. Additionally, our performance management processes are relentlessly development-focused to increase the likelihood of achieving stretch targets, and reinforce the joint accountability of managers and employees to ensure success.

Employee Survey

Kimberly Ryan specializes in employee surveys focused on both strategy and people issues. Our approach to survey design is business driven. Rather than asking about employee satisfaction, we design surveys to measure the causes of employee satisfaction that affect business results. Consequently, findings are directly actionable at the unit, department, group or team level and pinpoint areas for performance improvement.