A one year assessment and development journey for the twelve leaders on the Finance succession bench: a psychometric baseline at the start, a Development Centre at the end, and a development year in between powered by FET sponsorship. It ends with an evidence based answer to one question: do we have enough potential for next year?
Zurich's Finance function has strong talent, but the internal bench is not yet visible, developed, or demonstrably ready, so external hires keep winning senior appointments. This programme changes that by answering three questions with evidence.
A clean, evidence based baseline of each leader's strengths, gaps and motivations, measured against a common yardstick rather than individual reputation.
Individual development themes each leader can act on immediately, managers equipped to support them, and a collective view of where the bench is strong or exposed.
A readiness view separating current capability from potential for growth, so succession rests on evidence about trajectory, not only performance to date.
Why the third question matters most. Current capability tells you where a leader is today. Transition readiness tells you how quickly they will grow into a bigger role. For a succession bench, the second signal determines who can be in flight soon, and it is the signal a conventional one day assessment cannot capture on its own.
The original brief described one day: psychometrics, exercises and feedback for twelve leaders, all at once. We recommend a stronger design for the same investment: split the work across the year, and let the year itself do the developing.
Select each phase to see what happens inside it.
Profile calibration at the start ▸ sponsorship and mentorship through the year ▸ trained observers on the DC day ▸ readiness readout and year two planning at the close. The executive team personally sees its bench perform.
No success profile exists yet for the Finance bench. We treat that as an opportunity: the profile is built with the FET at the start, so the executive team owns the yardstick its bench is measured against. The Leadership Expectations then flow into a transition model: a read of each leader's readiness to step into a bigger role, and how soon.
The framework anchors on Zurich's existing Leadership Expectations, exactly as our current CIO Development Centre work does, so results read consistently across functions and connect directly to Zurich's wider talent architecture.
A light overlay reflecting what the FET asked for: commercially focused, future focused strategic advisers to the business.
A focused 90 minute working session with the FET sponsor at the start of Phase 1: which Leadership Expectations weigh most for senior finance roles, what the business partner overlay looks like in observable behaviour, and what good looks like at target level. The output is a one page Finance Bench Success Profile that governs every instrument, exercise and report.
Competency and readiness evidence are kept deliberately separate. Competency ratings describe where a leader stands against the profile now; Transition Readiness, built on the established ability, motivation and application model, reads how prepared each leader is to step up, and how quickly they will grow. This is what lets the readiness map distinguish a leader who is polished today from one who will be substantially bigger in three years.
A standing principle in our work: where the design gives limited coverage of a theme, we say so openly in the outputs rather than presenting thin evidence as observed fact. The FET will always know what the programme measured well and what it touched lightly.
A set of realistic senior finance situations, observed against the agreed profile, that shows how each leader actually operates when the work is live. The exercises below are indicative: the final set is agreed with the FET at profile calibration, and we are open to different formats where the FET has something specific in mind. Content is purpose built on our established fictional company platform, so materials are realistic, internally consistent, and free of any live Zurich content.
A commercial problem tackled in groups of four with no assigned roles: enterprise perspective, influence without authority, and how leadership emerges when nobody is given the chair.
Individual preparation of a commercial recommendation, presented to a senior panel with challenge and follow up. Immediate structured feedback follows each presentation, keeping the day honest to its development purpose.
A one to one role play advising a senior business stakeholder through a difficult decision: business partnering in its purest form, sampled live.
| Deliverable | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Bench readiness map | All twelve leaders positioned by readiness for senior finance roles, integrating capability against the profile with transition readiness evidence. Every placement is evidence based and traceable. |
| Personal two pagers | Phase 1 lean in and let go themes per leader, shared with each manager. |
| Individual executive summaries | A few focused pages per leader at year end, built to a fixed template: where you started, what the DC showed, the distance travelled, and the so what: transition readiness and the year two agenda. Written in second person, in development language. |
| Post DC feedback, HR and manager led | HR and line managers deliver each leader's executive summary, closing year one and opening year two. The summary is written to carry that conversation. |
| FET readout | Bench strengths and exposures, the readiness map, and year two recommendations. |
On trajectory for a senior appointment within two years, with named conditions to close. The conversation is about targeted stretch and timing.
Clear potential with a longer, structured development runway and specific conditions to work through.
Genuine value on the bench with a longer horizon, and honesty about what would need to change to shorten it.
A before and after the FET can see. Because the programme is anchored at both ends, the final readout shows movement, not just position: what the bench looked like in January, what it looks like now, and what that trajectory implies for succession. For a first programme of this kind, visible movement is the strongest possible case for year two.
Inclusive fixed fee covering all assessment instruments, individual feedback, the Development Centre and all deliverables, with Karina Olivier as the single lead psychologist across the full programme. Additional professional assessor capacity is scoped and priced separately. Excludes VAT, venue and catering for the DC day, and travel and accommodation outside the Netherlands, recharged at cost. Invoiced via the established Zurich supplier arrangement, phased across programme milestones.
An ability measure materially strengthens judgements about potential, since capacity to learn is one of its strongest predictors. Recommended, and kept optional in line with the current brief.
A structured virtual CBI per leader ahead of the DC. Within the current budget, the career and aspiration conversation in Phase 1 covers the core ground; a full CBI round is available where the FET wants a formal interview strand.
Individual feedback sessions with each leader after the DC, delivered by the lead psychologist where the FET prefers external delivery over HR and manager led conversations.
A second professional assessor on the DC day, in place of or alongside business observers, where the FET prefers a fully external observation model.
Dates assume a decision in autumn 2026 and follow the FET's outline: a 360 at the beginning of year one and a Development Centre after the development year. All dates are indicative and confirmed at kick off.
Proposal agreed, purchase order in place, participant communications drafted with the sponsor.
90 minute FET session; Finance Bench Success Profile agreed; 360 anchored to it.
Hogan and 360 completed by all twelve; individual feedback; two pagers issued; cohort readout to the sponsor.
Sponsorship and mentorship running; mid year pulse; DC materials built; FET observers and internal HR assessors trained.
One day event for all twelve leaders, date agreed with the FET; business observers and internal HR assessors on the day; wash up follows.
Individual executive summaries issued for HR and manager led feedback; bench readiness map; FET readout with year two recommendations.
We are currently delivering the CIO Development Centre on the same foundations proposed here: Zurich's Leadership Expectations made assessable, business observers working alongside professional assessment judgement, evidence that is traceable, and honesty about what the design does and does not measure. This programme extends a working partnership into Finance, with the framework, tooling and institutional knowledge already in place, which is a large part of how a full year programme for twelve leaders fits inside this fee.
A short session with the FET sponsor to confirm the shape proposed here.
Participants named and executive sponsor pairings agreed.
Purchase order in place and the profile calibration session in the diary.
Founder and Lead Practitioner, Psychometric Studio B.V.
Registered psychologist and psychometrist (HPCSA)