Introduction to CareerNavigator™

As more and more professionals in the public sector approach retirement, many organizations face a shortage of qualified candidates and are ill-prepared for the increasingly urgent task of succession planning. In response to this challenge, The Waters Consulting Group offers a powerful tool, CareerNavigator™, a scientifically-based competency model and personality assessment survey*.  It reaches well beyond the scope of past performance reviews and committee interviews to provide insightful, statistically reliable information for local governments in the identification, development, and promotion of executive and senior management positions.

CareerNavigator™ is driven by a model of content-validated core competencies for local government leaders based on the successful competencies for three groups of local governments, namely large (pop. 100,000+), medium (pop. 15,000 – 100,000) and small (pop. 15,000 or fewer).  The core competency model was developed with the help of successful managers for successful managers through a rigorous process.  These "subject matter experts" were first asked to identify key success factors for the role, namely organizational considerations impacting their work, results produced by high performers compared to less competent performers, and essential behaviors required of senior managers who successfully and consistently achieve strategic business goals.  Following this step, participants were presented with a library of 38 competencies, based on work-related behaviors and skills identified by a nationally recognized psychological assessment firm.   Through a series of structured exercises, participants were then asked to identify those factors most critical to the role of a successful local government manager. 

CareerNavigator™ measures candidates against core leadership competencies needed to be successful in local government (see sample reports), and, as such, supports the full employment lifecycle, equipping organizations with the critical tools they need to support a thriving workforce.  It takes the guesswork out of the hiring and succession planning process, revealing the key information that resumes and references fail to provide. It also identifies career growth and development opportunities and provides a plan of action for performance management.

For more information about The Waters Consulting Group, Inc. and CareerNavigator™ please call 800.899.1669 and ask to speak to one of our senior consultants specializing in CareerNavigator™.

* CareerNavigator^TM is paired with the ASSESS test battery, which consists of 350 items drawn from an abbreviated version of the Guilford Zimmerman Temperament Survey(GZTS); scales from the Dynamic Factors Opinion Survey(DFOS); and additional scales created by Bigby-Havis & Associates, the developers of ASSESS.