This article provides step by step instructions on how to use the 9 BOX GRID Excel Template.



Overview of Steps

1.    Enter settings – Define 2 axes and their levels. Define 9 box names, descriptions

2.    Enter employee data

3.    View/Interact with the 9-box grid dashboard 



Detailed Steps

The template has 3 visible sheets. 1. Settings, 2. Employee Data and 3. 9 Box Grid


Step 1: Enter settings

In the  settings sheet, you will see the following information in a 9 box grid format.



All the text on this can be customized.

1. Define 2 axes - Default are Performance and Potential

2. Define 3 levels for each axes - Default are Low, Moderate and High

3. Define names for each of the 9 boxes

4. Define Descriptions for each of the 9 boxes. 


Descriptions given as default are taken from SHRM

 

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/whatsa9boxgridandhowcananhrdepartmentuseit.aspx



Step 2: Enter Employee Data

In the 'Employee Data' sheet, enter list of all employees and their basic attributes.


Employee ID is a required field. It can be numeric or alpha numeric. 

Grade, Location, Department, Business Unit and Manager fields are also available to filter by, in the Dashboard which we will see later.


Further to the right, you have the fields for Performance (X Axis) and Potential (Y Axis). They will have drop down list validation based on values you chose in the Settings.  



You can also enter any text for employee feedback or recommendations in the 'Feedback' column.


Step 3: View 9 Box Grid


The 9 Box grid sheet has 2 pages and is fully automated.


The first page has the 9 box grid visual with the counts and % of employees in each of the 9 Boxes.



The following visual shows the % of employees in each box and this is easier to see where the concentration of employees is in your organization. 


The second page allows us to visually see employees in each box of the 9 box grid.


Up to 10 employees can be displayed in each box. 


If you need more column width to display larger names, you can expand the column width. 


The 9-box grid visuals are also dynamic based on filters you apply.



Department, Business Unit, Location, Grade and Manager are five filters available by default. 


You can also print or export to PDF the 9 Box grid visuals.


Limits:

The template is set up to support up to 1000 employees.