The Booth Company, an international provider of leadership development surveys, announces the release of two new surveys Aspiring to Leadership* and the Technical Professional* that address the growing importance of individual contributors (IC’s).

With the flattening of organizations becoming more prevalent, IC’s are fast becoming the backbone of an organization. However these front-line employees are typically a neglected group when it comes to training and development. Not surprisingly, IC’s face significant challenges in that they’re often expected to complete their work with the help of others, but without the authority. They depend heavily on cooperation across departments, especially with peers, and need to have effective communication and persuasion skills to be successful in their role.

The Aspiring to Leadership and the Technical Professional surveys not only help sharpen communication & teamwork skills, but they are designed to stretch the skill development and goals into early stages of leadership competencies. The research suggests that successful companies will learn to better value and leverage their IC’s starting with earlier training. Utilizing proven tools like 360 surveys for IC’s will help spot and develop tomorrow’s leaders. This kind of succession planning is of vital interest to companies as today’s baby-boomers retire. Retaining young talent by giving them tools like 360’s that hone their “soft” skills and help avoid “career derailers” will boost morale, lower turnover costs, and improve a company’s competitiveness.

TBC’s individual contributor surveys in more detail

• The Aspiring to Leadership survey provides feedback on skills that are essential for future managerial success. High performance on these competencies identifies an employee who is prepared to make the transition from individual contributor to a formalized leadership role. Amongst peers, they are often viewed as a role model. The ATL measures the leadership potential of these exceptional individual contributors
• The Technical Professional survey provides feedback on skills essential for success as a technical/professional contributor. Technical/professional contributors are considered to be specialists with in-depth knowledge in their field. These individuals model quality performance and consistently make significant contributions. The TPS measures how well these individuals utilize their unique skill set to impact the organization.

* The Aspiring to Leadership and Technical Professional surveys are copyrighted by The Booth Company.