TM - March 2008 - (Page 53)

themselves, “How do we go about creating a robust and highly integrated HR system that is aligned with the business?” The answer to this question came in the form of competency identification, first on the operations side and later on the corporate side. The company held a number of focus groups with key executives and conducted manager and high-performer interviews that together manifested a set of core functional and leadership competencies. The beauty of taking a competency-based approach is it allows an organization to select, evaluate and develop employees on a clear and consistent set of criteria. For those in leadership positions, this approach further enables them to set priorities and goals, select the right candidates, monitor performance and development, and give concrete performance feedback and coaching. The competencies also allow every Sunbelt employee to align individual goals with the larger goals of the company and provide a road map for career development. A Clear Line of Sight mine what competencies and skills are needed to make the jump. Or if an employee is interested in specializing in a current job function and moving up through the organization, Sunbelt is able to assess his or her performance against the required competencies and provide focused training and developmental experiences to add to the self-development plan. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, the organization is able to tailor its training and developmental experiences to meet each employee’s needs. Keeping It Going Sunbelt Rentals’ recruitment philosophy is to fill positions with internal talent before looking outside the company. This approach provides a higher level of employee satisfaction and has become a major retention driver. In fact, the vast majority of management positions are filled internally. However, Sunbelt has a very simple, flat, nonbureaucratic structure for its 7,000 employees, which can prove challenging when it comes to career development. In the past, managers did their own recruiting and job advertising, mostly through newspapers and walk-ins. But results from the past two employee surveys, coupled with high turnover in some critical positions, revealed the company’s HR team needed to focus on providing greater visibility and transparency into career opportunities. The logical answer was to post all job openings on the corporate intranet as well as Internet sites, and send e-mail advertisements throughout the company for positions that are top priority to fill. Career ladders also were established to give employees a clear line of sight to growth opportunities. Additionally, Sunbelt has expanded its definition of career advancement to offer diverse sets of career paths and provide opportunities across divisions, business units and professions. The company’s career development framework is designed to enable employees — working with their managers — to align their capabilities and preferences to business needs. The competency-based approach to career development also allows Sunbelt employees a great deal of independence and flexibility in making career decisions. For example, if an employee in Sunbelt’s performance standards group is interested in strategic sourcing, he or she is able to log on to the corporate intranet site and look directly at the career ladders for that area. This enables the employee to deter- Sunbelt is in the process of revamping its performance management practice. The first step in this process is to build competencies into the performance management system and implement positionspecific performance appraisals. It is being stressed to managers that performance management is an ongoing process, not just a one-time event at the end of the year to justify merit increases. The company also is creating individual development plans for every employee. They ensure the performance appraisal becomes a livable, breathable and actionable document. At Sunbelt, performance review is a career development tool, one that serves as a vehicle through which managers can provide continual coaching and feedback to their employees. Learning and development become an enterprise-wide goal, effectively showing employees the company is truly invested in them, and they aren’t viewed merely as a variable cost. Success and Succession Sunbelt’s new and improved talent management strategy also affects its succession planning activity. The succession planning program began as a pilot project in October 2007 when the company’s talent managers identified 52 high potentials within the organization. Today, the company has at least 300 high potentials, more than 20 percent of whom have been promoted. The organization understands that a succession planning program is an integral part of any talent management strategy. One that helps to manage and grow the business. Therefore, Sunbelt has made succession planning an ongoing process that identifies critical positions within the organization, pinpoints top talent, evaluates and assesses talent against the various competencies and implements self-development plans that are tied to training and on-the-job experiences. Sunbelt also conducts a biannual talent review with its business partners. This includes a comprehensive discussion about the talent across the board: strengths and weaknesses, possible career derailers, levels of job readiness to assume leadership roles, progression toward goals identified in the selfdevelopment plan and open positions for which high potentials might be a fit. Application continued on page 56 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com 53 March 2008 http://www.TalentMgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - March 2008

TM - March 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Human Performance - The Paradoxically Gifted Leading Edge - Reverse Engineering: Shifting Focus to HR's Cause Learning Connection - Sharing Talent On the Hunt for Talent Unlock Employee Motivation Through Personality Testing HR Crucial to Executive Compensation Process Downtown Management: Surfing May Not Be Slacking Think Tanks Aid Government in Talent Management Creating Consistency: Enterprise-Wide Succession Plans Battle Retention Deficits With On-Boarding Sunbelt Rentals: A Mid-Level View of HR From the Trenches Butterball: No Chicken When It Comes to Talent Management Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources Full Potential - Choosing Change

TM - March 2008

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