TMAP — Talent Mapping Workshops
See your talent. Map your future.
Executive-facilitated talent mapping that turns subjective opinion into calibrated, strategic workforce intelligence — in a half-day session, not a slow annual cycle.
Book a Diagnostic CallThe Hidden Cost of Talent Blindspots
You need to know who's ready to step up, who's struggling, and where the succession gaps are. But talent conversations stay trapped in individual managers' heads, ratings vary wildly, and million-pound decisions get made on gut feel.
No Shared View of Talent
Each leader has their own assessment of their team, but there's no organisation-wide picture — no way to see patterns, gaps, or make strategic decisions.
Inconsistent Ratings
One manager's "high performer" is another's "solid contributor." Without calibration, talent data is meaningless and succession planning becomes guesswork.
Succession Risk You Can't See
Who's the backup for a critical role? Where are you one departure away from a real problem? Without a visual map, you're flying blind on the biggest organisational risk there is.
High Performers Going Unnoticed
Your best talent might sit in a team led by a quiet manager who doesn't advocate loudly. Without a structured review, future leaders go unseen.
No Development Priorities
With limited L&D budget, where do you actually invest? Coaching, stretch assignments, or formal training — without calibration, it's a guess.
Strategic Planning Paralysis
You can't plan for growth, restructuring, or transformation without knowing your talent strengths and weaknesses. Plans stall without workforce intelligence.
TMAP: Beyond the 9-Box Grid
A facilitated session, not a spreadsheet exercise.
TMAP is a facilitated executive session where the leadership team collectively assesses and calibrates their talent — creating a shared language, unified standards, and a visual map of performance, potential, and role level across the organisation.
Using the totalia TMAP dashboard, this goes beyond a traditional 9-box grid — instead of plotting people into static boxes, you get a dynamic grid showing performance and potential in the context of role level, giving instant visibility into bench strength, succession gaps, and development priorities.
What You'll Achieve
From subjective opinion to strategic intelligence.
Role Level Context
Performance and potential mapped against actual role complexity — not just generic high/medium/low boxes.
Visual Organisation Map
An instant view of talent distribution across teams, departments, and the whole organisation.
Facilitated Calibration
A structured challenge-and-support process that keeps standards consistent and eliminates rating inflation.
Real-Time Discussion
Leaders present their own assessments, peers give input, and the room shares accountability for the outcome.
Succession Gap Identification
Immediate visibility into where bench strength is weak for critical roles.
Development Prioritisation
Clear visibility into who needs coaching, stretch assignments, formal development, or performance management.
The TMAP Process
From preparation to actionable report in half a day.
Pre-Workshop Preparation
1–2 weeks beforeLeaders receive preparation materials — the process, rating definitions, expectations — and complete preliminary assessments of their teams beforehand. The workshop time goes to calibration and discussion, not data entry.
Facilitated Mapping Workshop
Half-day sessionI facilitate the executive team through a structured talent review. Each leader presents their team's talent profile; peers challenge or support the ratings. Talent gets mapped in real time on the visual grid.
Live Visualisation & Analysis
During the workshoptotalia displays the talent map live as decisions are made — the organisation-wide picture emerges in real time: where the strength is, where the gaps are, who's ready to move.
Complete Report & Recommendations
End of workshopA full talent mapping report: the visual grid, succession gap analysis, development priorities, and strategic recommendations — grounded in calibrated executive consensus, not one person's opinion.
Is TMAP Right for You?
This process is designed for...
- ✓ Executive teams who need a unified view of organisational talent and succession readiness
- ✓ Organisations where talent ratings vary wildly between managers and need calibration
- ✓ Leadership teams planning for growth, restructuring, or transformation who need workforce intelligence
- ✓ Companies with succession risk in critical roles but no clear view of bench strength
- ✓ HR leaders who need executive alignment on talent priorities and development investment
- ✓ Leadership teams ready to have honest, calibrated conversations about performance and potential
Facilitated by an Expert Talent Strategist
30 years designing and facilitating talent review processes for executive teams across sectors and countries — global succession frameworks, talent intelligence systems, and leadership bench strength with quantified commercial impact.
Hundreds of talent review sessions facilitated with C-suite executives, boards, and senior leadership teams — navigating complex dynamics, keeping calibration candid, and turning talent conversations into strategic intelligence.
- ▸30 years leading talent, succession, and leadership development in complex organisations
- ▸Designed and implemented global talent architecture and succession frameworks
- ▸Executive coaching with 500+ senior leaders, including board-level succession planning
- ▸Creator of the totalia TMAP dashboard for visual talent mapping
Frequently Asked
Common questions.
How is TMAP different from a traditional 9-box grid? +
A traditional 9-box plots performance and potential on a simple 3×3 matrix, losing context about role level and organisational complexity. TMAP maps performance and potential against actual role level — so you see not just "high potential" but "high potential in a senior role" versus "high potential in an early-career role." That context is what actually matters for succession planning.
How long does a typical TMAP workshop take? +
A half-day (3–4 hours) for a leadership team of 8–12 leaders assessing 50–100 employees. Larger organisations may need multiple sessions across divisions. Leaders come prepared with preliminary assessments so workshop time goes to calibration and discussion, not first-draft thinking.
What preparation is required beforehand? +
Preparation materials go out 1–2 weeks ahead — rating definitions, process explanation, templates. Each leader completes a preliminary assessment of their own team, typically 1–2 hours of work, so the room arrives ready to calibrate rather than start from scratch.
Do employees know they're being assessed in this process? +
That's your organisation's call. Some run this as a confidential executive process informing succession and development decisions; others communicate openly and share aggregated outcomes. I'll advise based on your culture — the workshop itself is a closed executive session, to keep the calibration candid.
What do we actually walk away with? +
A visual talent map covering performance, potential, and role level for everyone assessed; a succession gap analysis for critical roles; a development priority view; and strategic recommendations for talent investment and workforce planning — delivered as both a live dashboard view and a report.
Do we need to buy or install new software? +
No. totalia is used live during the workshop for visualisation and calibration — I provide access for the session itself, and deliver outputs in standard formats. Ongoing dashboard access for quarterly reviews is something we can discuss if it's useful, not something bundled in by default.
Turn talent conversations into strategic intelligence.
45 minutes. No deck, no pitch. A sharp conversation about your leadership team and where a TMAP workshop would actually help.
Book a Diagnostic Call