Talent Management - July 2008 - (Page 38)

recruitment & retention assessment & evaluation compensation & beneﬁts performance management learning & development succession planning on leadership, business and technical skills in core functions including product management, marketing and sales, and customer support. “We expose participants to different businesses across the organization, while using senior leaders, middle managers and peers who have already been through the program to coach, mentor and provide feedback,” Before rolling out the program, it’s critical to engage senior leaders across the various functions in which rotations will occur. The goal is to facilitate conversations that highlight the beneﬁts of the program, answer questions and concerns, and secure buy-in and participation, if possible. From there, talent leaders should present senior leadership with a proposal that highlights the overall design. Topics to address in the proposal include program structure (centralization vs. decentralization), alignment with the organization’s overall talent management framework, selection criteria and other business rules, resource allocation, budget and funding, change management and more. “At Intuit, it was important for our steering committee of senior managers to have ownership in the program,” Smithline said. “We wanted the line organization to own the budget and selection process, and we also wanted them to own driving and rolling the program out. Our program managers did the facilitation and design, but the steering committee held the budget and key decisions.” Without considering program speciﬁcs, too many organizations experience unexpected side effects as a result of management rotation programs. They begin to have trouble developing and retaining institutional knowledge. she explained. “The program provides a solid foundation to learn our business and various functions and provides a better opportunity for participants to accelerate their careers. “At the end of their rotation, participants not only have a good sense of where to point their careers in the company, but also demonstrate sensitivity as to what goes on within other groups,” Smithline said. “By going through these different rotations, they internalize how the decisions they make can and will impact our business.” Engage Executive Sponsors Companies such as BCBSNC, Intuit and others have learned several best practices in developing management rotation programs. That would include the importance of executive sponsorship. This is true for most talent management and training initiatives, and management rotation programs are no exception. Duffy said senior executive involvement and engagement have been instrumental in the success of BCBSNC’s rotation programs, as have communication and visibility. “Having a communication plan that builds and generates excitement about our programs has really helped ensure their success,” Duffy said. Align Competencies and Career Development to Programs Talent leaders also should make it a primary goal of management rotation programs to grow individual ability against the competencies and skills required to be successful as a leader in the organization. In addition to making participants more well-rounded, rotation programs should ensure potential leadership candidates are assessed, coached and groomed in ways that align to the organization’s leadership, business and technical competencies as appropriate. Examples could include competencies such as business-unit knowledge, coaching and mentoring of direct reports, conﬂict management, cross-functional col- 38 July 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - July 2008

Talent Management - July 2008 Editor’s Letter Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Guest Editorial Passive Candidate Recruiting: Evolving with a Changing Workforce How Do They Feel? Sec Regulations and Executive Compensation Performance Management: A Retail Perspective Train the Non-Trainer Management-Go-Round: Developing Future Leaders Netflix Creates Its Own Script for Talent Management Intuit Spotlights Strategic Importance of Global Employee Recognition Make HR a Profit Center: Automate Technology to Gather Tax Credit Data Offshoring and the Impact on Talent Management Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - July 2008

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