Quest Diagnostics

Need:

After acquiring a competitor, Quest Diagnostics sought to integrate the two different organizational cultures. Critical to the success of the enlarged and expanded organization was the identification, selection, and deployment of a new leadership team that could address specific business challenges, including overcapacity in the industry, a changing customer base, and government regulation and oversight.

Solution:

DDI worked with Quest Diagnostics to develop an assessment architecture for staffing the organization's entire leadership ranks and build a competency model around the key competencies of change leadership, ensuring customer satisfaction, and global market insight. 170 high-potential leadership candidates went through a rigorous assessment process that included a personality inventory, a career history form, and a career achievement portfolio, as well as an assessment center conducted by DDI. The assessment center featured a challenging "day in the life" simulation as well as an interview conducted by a DDI representative using the Targeted Selection® behavioral interviewing system.

Results:

Based on the assessment reports and other data, the CEO staffed his direct reports, who then staffed their own direct-report positions. This cascade of strategic staffing continued down to the director level. In the end, DDI helped Quest Diagnostics accurately assess 170 high-potential executives for critical leadership positions, identify and select leaders who contributed to outstanding financial results—including a more than 300 percent increase in market value in one years' time—and establish a process that can be used for ongoing succession planning.