Programme Proposal

CIO Development Centre

Zurich Insurance | September 2026

9 Candidates
2 Days
5 Team Members
6 Phases
The Programme

Developing future CIOs,
identifying stretch potential

A development centre designed to give every candidate deep insight into their leadership capabilities, while surfacing the stretch potential and top talent within the pool.

Development First

Every candidate leaves with a clear understanding of their strengths, development areas, and a concrete plan for growth. This is not just an evaluation.

Stretch Potential

Reporting distinguishes between demonstrated performance and latent potential, mapped against the best-case CIO profile.

Talent Mapping

The management report delivers group themes, a talent map, and succession-relevant observations to inform leadership decisions.

Assessment Integration

Hogan Insights Series, Logiks Advanced, and 360 feedback are woven into a single narrative alongside exercise observations. Not treated as separate streams.

Two days, one cohesive experience

1

Day 1: Development Centre

Welcome from the programme sponsor. Candidates set up for their first exercise while observers receive a separate welcome, training overview, and briefing for success. The rest of the day is a full programme of observed exercises with a lunch break.

2

Day 2: Exercises, Calibration + Feedback

Morning exercises followed by an observer calibration session. While calibration takes place, the lead practitioner delivers the "Leading with Agility" workshop with the candidates. After lunch, each candidate receives a short performance overview from their assessor and business observer. The day closes with drinks and a send-off.

Our Approach

What makes this programme different

Building on the established CIO DC legacy with meaningful enhancements across every touchpoint.

Observer Sheets: Precision by Design

A key deliverable of this programme. Every exercise comes with comprehensive behavioural indicators mapped to the competency framework. Clear, observable anchors at each rating level. Specific prompts for what "good" and "excellent" looks like. Detailed note-taking space alongside structured ratings. This level of precision drives the quality of everything downstream: feedback, reports, and the stretch potential assessment.

Psychometric-to-Competency Mapping

Psychometric Studio will propose a mapping of Hogan, Logiks, and the 360 to the competency model. This ensures assessment data integrates coherently with exercise observations in both feedback and reporting.

CIO Profile Alignment

Reporting is anchored to the best-case CIO profile, showing not just where candidates are today but where they could get to and what it would take.

Candidate Briefing

Online session with the full cohort approximately one week before the DC. Candidates arrive informed, prepared, and confident about the process. No surprises.

Workshop: Leading with Agility

An established element of the CIO DC, the workshop runs concurrently with the assessor calibration session on Day 2. Previous cohorts have explored themes such as resilience; for this iteration, the proposed focus is agility: navigating ambiguity, adapting leadership style to shifting demands, and maintaining effectiveness through uncertainty. Candidates leave with practical frameworks they can apply immediately. The workshop topic can be adjusted based on the business priorities that emerge from the competency review.

Observer Training

Dedicated briefing for all assessors and business observers. Training on using the observer sheets, scoring behavioural indicators, and maintaining consistency across the team.

Six phases, one seamless programme

01

Design

Competency mapping, exercise redesign, observer sheet development, report templates

02

Assessments

Hogan, Logiks, and 360 deployed in-house by Zurich

03

Briefings

Candidate cohort briefing and observer/assessor training

04

Delivery

Two days on-site: exercises, workshop, feedback, wash-up

05

Reporting

Individual reports with stretch potential, 90-min feedback sessions (remote), and management report with talent map

06

Handover

Manager support materials and optional stakeholder presentation

The Team

Your assessor team

An experienced team of chartered and registered psychologists, all Hogan certified, bringing deep expertise in senior leadership assessment and development.

K

Karina Olivier

Lead Practitioner

Dual registered Psychologist and Psychometrist (HPCSA Independent Practice). Programme design, oversight, management reporting, and candidate experience. Delivered the previous CIO DC under Talogy, ensuring continuity and institutional knowledge.

D

Debbie Hance

Associate Assessor

Chartered Psychologist (C.Psychol, FABP, AFBPsS) with 30 years' international consulting experience. Former Head of Global Assessment Practice at Willis Towers Watson. Extensive financial services and insurance sector experience. Hogan certified.

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Experience

After working as an in-house psychologist for the Employment Services and Willis Towers Watson (where she was Head of the Global Assessment Practice, leading talent management and succession planning projects in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia Pacific), Debbie has been an independent consultant for 20 years. Her background covers assessment, development, organisational development, 360-degree feedback, culture change, team building, succession planning, engagement surveys, competency frameworks and psychometric profiling. She works comfortably at all levels, from Executive Board and Directors to graduates and frontline staff.

Sector Experience

Central and local government, financial and professional services, police, retail, education, logistics and transport. Significant recent work in law, banking, asset management and insurance.

Qualifications

  • MSc Occupational Psychology (Distinction)
  • BA (Hons) Psychology (1st Class)
  • Chartered Psychologist (C.Psychol)
  • Fellow, Association for Business Psychology (FABP)
  • Registered Occupational Psychologist, HCPC
  • Hogan (HPI, HDS, MVPI)
  • Accredited in OPQ, MBTI, Wave Professional Styles and others
T

Tracy McNeill

Associate Assessor

Chartered Occupational Psychologist (CPsychol, AFBPsS) with 20 years' global experience. Specialist in assessment centre design, leadership development, and talent identification from graduate to CEO level. Insurance and banking sector experience. Hogan certified.

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Experience

Tracy has worked both independently and with global consultancies at Director level. She specialises in selection and development, assessment centre design and management, competency and talent framework development, coaching, and the delivery of leadership development interventions. She has led the design, project management and delivery of full lifecycle talent projects, including leadership and competency frameworks, assessment processes, talent identification, succession planning, executive coaching during transition and onboarding, and development planning.

Sector Experience

Oil and Gas, Construction, Engineering, Retail, Utilities, Telecommunications, Banking, Insurance, Pharmaceuticals and Airlines. Extensive international experience across Europe, Asia, North America and the Middle East.

Qualifications

  • BSc (Hons) Psychology
  • MSc Occupational and Organisational Psychology
  • Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol)
  • AFBPsS
  • Hogan Suite of Tools
J

Joe Bruce

Associate Assessor

MSc Occupational Psychology. 200+ assessment and development centres across energy, telecoms, finance and government sectors. 200+ hours of coaching and feedback up to CEO and Minister level. Hogan certified, BPS Level A&B.

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Experience

Joe is a Freelance Consultant specialising in leadership assessment, executive development, coaching, workshop facilitation and training. Passionate about helping individuals reach their maximum potential, Joe supports people navigating their careers and developing the skills required to succeed. Based in the UAE since 2009, Joe has developed deep cultural understanding of the region, working with clients in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, whilst also supporting clients across Europe and APAC.

Recent Delivery

  • CEO selection interviews and evaluations for a major Bahraini bank
  • 200+ selection interviews and feedback for a prestigious KSA executive leadership programme
  • 200+ assessment and development centres across Energy, Telecoms, Finance and Government
  • 200+ hours of private and corporate coaching/feedback up to CEO and Minister level

Qualifications

  • MSc Occupational Psychology
  • BSc Psychology
  • EMCC Coaching
  • BPS Level A and B
  • Hogan, EQi, EIP3, MBTI, Saville Wave, SHL OPQ, NEO PI-r, 15FQ+ and others
  • Assessor Skills / Centre Manager
S

Sam Bruce

Associate Assessor

MSc Occupational Psychology. Business Psychologist and Accredited Coach with 50+ CEO, CFO and SVP assessments. Experience across Europe, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Canada. Hogan certified (HPI, HDS, MVPI), BPS registered.

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Experience

Sam is a Business Psychologist and Accredited Coach who has provided feedback and coaching across Europe, Canada, the UAE and Saudi Arabia to senior professionals at VP, GM and CEO level. He has first-hand leadership experience managing teams through organisational change. Sam has formulated more than 5,000 assessment and development client reports and designed ability psychometric questionnaires. He has over 300 hours coaching senior executives.

Key Expertise

  • Talent Assessment: 5,000+ assessment and development reports, senior leader interviews and behavioural observations
  • Organisational Design: competency framework development and embedding
  • Executive Coaching: 300+ hours at senior executive level
  • 50+ CEO, CFO and SVP assessments and feedbacks

Qualifications

  • MSc Occupational Psychology
  • Hogan (HPI, HDS, MVPI)
  • EIP3, EIP360, EQ-i 2.0 and EQ360
  • Saville WAVE, PAPI
  • Accredited Coach (Association for Coaching)
  • BPS Graduate Member, RQTU registered
A

Alexandru Popa-Antohi

Associate Assessor

MA Psychology. Master Executive Coach (APECS), Certified Business Psychologist (ABP). 17+ years' international experience across 20+ countries. Former Leadership Development Manager at Vodafone Group. Hogan certified, BPS Level A&B.

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Experience

Alexandru works alongside Founders, CEOs/CxOs and Leadership teams, helping them achieve outstanding business results and create value for their stakeholders. He brings deep psychological insights and organisational experience from working as a Team and Executive Coach, and Business Psychologist for over 12 years across Europe and the US. He specialises in executive coaching, systemic team coaching, psychometric testing, 360 feedback, and bespoke leadership development programmes.

Key Expertise

  • Executive coaching for business leaders
  • Systemic team coaching for senior leadership teams
  • Psychometric testing and 360 feedback
  • Bespoke leadership development programmes
  • High potentials and top talent programmes

Qualifications

  • Accredited Master Executive Coach (APECS)
  • Certified Business Psychologist (ABP)
  • Certified Member, Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists (GAABS)
  • BPS Level A and B
  • EFPA European Test User Certificate (Level 2)
  • Hogan Assessments (HPI, HDS, MVPI)
  • BarOn EQ-i 2.0 and EQ 360
  • NEO Personality Inventory, Saville Wave, Primary Colours Model of Leadership
Assessor setup: We are presenting 5 associate assessor profiles for Zurich to review. 4 associates are required for the programme (or 5 under Option A), each paired with candidates for the full two days (observation, scoring, Day 2 feedback). The lead practitioner focuses on programme coordination, observer training, workshop delivery, and calibration. Options A and C ensure every candidate is assessed by an external assessor for full objectivity.

Working back from 21 September

May to June

CIO profile finalised

Best-case CIO profile completed and assessment-to-profile mapping done

Zurich
June to July

Competency model shared

New competency framework finalised and shared for exercise design

Karen
July

All assessments deployed

Hogan Insights Series, Logiks Advanced, and 360 feedback all launched in July with a 4-week window to accommodate summer breaks

Zurich
July to Aug

Design and build

Exercise redesign, observer sheet development, psychometric-to-competency mapping, report templates, workshop design

Psychometric Studio
~14 Sept

Briefings

Candidate cohort briefing and observer/assessor training

Psychometric Studio
21 to 22 Sept

Development Centre

Day 1: exercises and workshop. Day 2: exercises, feedback, and wash-up

All
October

Reports and feedback

Individual development reports delivered with 90-minute feedback sessions (remote). Management report presented.

Psychometric Studio
Investment

Programme costings

Three options to suit your preferred assessor configuration. Options A and C ensure all candidates are assessed by an external assessor for maximum objectivity.

Option A: 5th external associate takes 9th candidate
ItemFee
Programme design: competency mapping, exercise redesign, observer sheets, psychometric mapping, report templates€9,600
Candidate briefing (online, full cohort)€300
Observer briefing and assessor training€600
Lead practitioner: 2 days on-site (programme coordination, observer training, workshop delivery, calibration)€4,800
4 associate assessors: 2 days on-site (2 candidates each: observation, scoring, Day 2 candidate feedback)€12,800
5th associate assessor: 2 days on-site (1 candidate: observation, scoring, Day 2 candidate feedback)€3,200
Individual development reports: 9 candidates (by associates)€7,200
Report feedback sessions: 9 candidates, 90 mins each, remote (by associates, October)€2,700
Management report (group themes, talent map, stretch potential, CIO profile mapping)€1,500
Total (excl. travel)€42,700
Option B: Zurich internal takes 9th candidate
ItemFee
Programme design: competency mapping, exercise redesign, observer sheets, psychometric mapping, report templates€9,600
Candidate briefing (online, full cohort)€300
Observer briefing and assessor training€600
Lead practitioner: 2 days on-site (programme coordination, observer training, workshop delivery, calibration)€4,800
4 associate assessors: 2 days on-site (observation, scoring, and Day 2 candidate feedback)€12,800
Individual development reports: 8 candidates (by associates)€6,400
Report feedback sessions: 8 candidates, 90 mins each, remote (by associates, October)€2,400
Management report (group themes, talent map, stretch potential, CIO profile mapping)€1,500
Total (excl. travel)€38,400
Option C: 2 external associates + 3 Zurich internal assessors
ItemFee
Programme design: competency mapping, exercise redesign, observer sheets, psychometric mapping, report templates€9,600
Candidate briefing (online, full cohort)€300
Observer briefing and assessor training (external associates + 3 Zurich internal assessors)€600
Lead practitioner: 2 days on-site (programme coordination, observer training, workshop delivery, calibration)€4,800
2 associate assessors: 2 days on-site (observation, scoring, and Day 2 candidate feedback for 4 candidates)€6,400
Individual development reports: 4 candidates (by associates)€3,200
Report feedback sessions: 4 candidates, 90 mins each, remote (by associates, October)€1,200
Management report (group themes, talent map, stretch potential, CIO profile mapping)€1,500
Total (excl. travel)€27,600
Option C note: Zurich provides 3 internal assessors who take on 5 candidates (observation, Day 2 feedback, individual reports, and October report feedback for those candidates). Internal assessors receive full observer training, observer sheets, and report templates as part of this programme.
Notes: All fees quoted in EUR, excluding VAT. Travel and expenses billed at cost. Assessment costs (Hogan, Logiks, 360) are managed and costed separately by Zurich. Accommodation and one evening meal provided by the client on-site.

Next Steps