FAQs for Clients

Question: How is aestimamus different from other providers of management diagnostics services?

Answer: aestimamus employs only experienced consultants with proven methodological expertise (e.g. graduate psychologists) and management experience. They need to be able to speak the client’s language and meet experienced and sophisticated participants as equals. This makes our consultants meaningful partners for our clients and helps the acceptance of the procedure and its results. We are not satisfied with merely reporting dry data: we are committed to assisting the top executives of our clients (the members of supervisory councils and executive boards and HR directors) as their dedicated sparring partners.

Question: How do you cooperate with the commissioning client?

Answer: We offer a flexible range of project setups: individual appraisals can often be conducted at relatively short notice. Even in such cases, the accuracy and quality of the results demand effective coordination and preparation (e.g. in terms of the requirements profiles to be applied in the procedures).

More extensive management appraisal projects, in which larger groups of executives are to be assessed, require more detailed preparation and coordination/management investments. Transparency and involvement are key to the acceptance of the process. This makes it essential that the shape and coordination of the information and communication process for the participants is given particular attention. The appraisal procedures themselves can be conducted “only” by external, neutral consultants or in so-called “mixed teams”, in which the management representatives of the client are involved temporarily as observers in the process. The latter option typically makes for a highly efficient process.

Question: When appointment decisions are concerned, is it helpful or counterproductive to discuss specific questions or assumptions concerning individual candidates with the consultants beforehand?

Answer: Both options have unique advantages and drawbacks: when a concrete set of questions is made available, the management appraisal can investigate these in a very focused and effectively verifying or falsifying process. This option is always recommended when particularly crucial and success-critical “particularities” need to be investigated in depth. In other constellations(especially when the purpose is to gain neutral information about the status quo or to find opportunities for personnel development), it helps to trust in the neutrality and impartiality of the consultants to provide a second opinion.

Question: How long does the process take until an appraisal is complete?

Answer: In a traditional management appraisal, the key findings (strengths and needs for development) are usually reported by phone or in person at the end of the day. A brief report is then prepared for a later review with the client.