Debbie Smith, Global Director of Talent Development, and Eva Müller, Director HR Business Partner, were interested in establishing a talent management process to help identify FactSet employees with high leadership potential. They would use this information to establish a succession planning pipeline, facilitate the career and personal development of FactSetters, and improve the identification of talent at all levels in the organization. To achieve these objectives, FactSet required a tool that would provide additional data to augment existing processes, while reducing any potential selection biases for future career opportunities and learning and development initiatives. When Debbie and Eva learned of Thomas International’s personality assessment, the HPTI (High Potential Trait Indicator), which identifies an individual’s leadership potential through the psychometric analysis of personality traits, a powerful partnership began

For the past three years, FactSet has collaborated with Thomas International and its team of 40 in-house certified HPTI practitioners who have facilitated over 2,000 assessments. FactSet’s executive leadership team strongly supported incorporating the HPTI assessments into the organization. Over 95% of senior executives completed an assessment, participated in a debrief of their results, and served as advocates among their direct reports. Eva notes, “We were keen to get the highest participation rates possible and leading by example is the best approach.” 

FactSet’s HR team rolled out the HPTI in four phases: senior executives, VPs, senior managers, and most recently, managers globally. Eva says, “Our talent management has been far more robust because we have access to additional, insightful information. Thomas provided an essential, unbiased tool that helps us identify [hidden] talent.” Eva explains that extending the HPTI rollout through the organizational structure “enables us to begin the development process at earlier stages, because we don’t have to wait for someone to be a VP to start such conversations.” The recruitment, hiring and onboarding process presents every organization with challenges and costs, without a guaranteed ROI. By choosing to invest in Thomas International’s HPTI tool, FactSet has taken its succession planning process to the next level to grow its leadership pipeline, saving time and money.   

FactSet’s workforce is brimming with talent, so to ensure all employees can progress in their career, HPTI results are now essential to the organization’s retention strategy. Eva explains, “We are having conversations that we didn’t have before…we want to help employees drive their career within the company. If they have the right skills and a solid foundation, it’s a great tool to help them reflect at an earlier stage and connect with [other/senior] managers who can help them develop personally and professionally.” 

To make the most of each assessment, one-on-one debriefs are vital. Debbie explains, “We're reinforcing that we want employees to focus on their development, think about what they want their career to look like, and know they have dedicated support to reach out to with questions.” Building awareness around one’s professional strengths has undoubtedly empowered FactSet’s employees. Debbie recalls an example of an HPTI assessment debrief with an employee who had been in their role for a while and was trying to find a renewed sense of motivation. After a coaching session, Debbie says, “They shared with me that they now had the confidence to apply for a new position within the company. There are a lot of stories like that.” 

Increasing employee empowerment has, in turn, encouraged managers at all levels of the organization to evaluate their teams differently. Debbie explains, “We've been using HPTI data in our internal leadership program. We've helped several groups collate their individual results anonymously, giving managers a clear, unbiased picture of their group’s personality traits to improve group dynamics. Aggregating results has also facilitated the analysis of organization-wide dynamics. Creating a company benchmark, to which departments can now compare, allows managers to better understand how their team dynamic helps or challenges collaboration across the company. Debbie says, “We put a group score together for one of our product management teams and the data showed they have much higher levels of conscientiousness. That led us to ask what that means when they're interacting with the rest of the company?” These types of conversations help FactSet progress their management strategy to achieve success in the career and personal development of its employees.

FactSet’s partnership with Thomas International is thriving, built on a mutual mission to provide an intuitive platform, easy-to-understand reports, and high-quality global support to meet FactSet’s talent and career development needs. “For me it feels like we’re working with friends. We brainstorm together and identify solutions. I think it’s the relationship for me, that’s key,” says Debbie. Eva agrees, describing how both organizations worked to develop this tool together. 

Growth continues to be top-of-mind at FactSet, which plans to continue its phased roll out of the HPTI to another 900 FactSetters in 2023. “We’re reaching deeper into the organization to focus on longer-term talent development and succession planning,” says Debbie. “It’s like the last three years have led to this moment.” With the support of an involved FactSet Senior Management team and a strong partnership with Thomas International, the future looks bright for talent at FactSet.