TM - August 2007 - (Page 48) dashboard careers, companies essentially communicate to employees that they are not interested in developing them. And to make matters worse, the organization cannot fill critical talent gaps because no one knows exactly where the gaps are most acute, what characteristics and skills are required to fill these roles and how to move people into vacant positions. The second takeaway is that the business impact of career planning increases according to the level of centralization and business alignment. The companies that see the greatest results take an enterprisewide and long-term view of career planning. Although management facilitation is important to career planning, managers typically do not have an enterprise view, or the resources required for career development. And although HR can reinforce adoption of career planning, it is not the most effective driver. Career Planning at Fidelity representations of various career paths and gave users access to job descriptions, competencies and self-assessments for every job within the call center. Mimicking popular Web sites such as Netflix and Amazon, the portal also gave employees the ability to expand their searches by including features such as “People who like this job also like these jobs” and “People who don’t like this job also don’t like these jobs.” Employees were not given access to the system until they had been at their jobs about 12 to 18 months and had obtained a specified performance rating. This control was put in place to prevent employees from shopping around for new jobs before they reached proficiency in their current roles. One of the biggest challenges the team faced was gaining line managers’ full acceptance. Rather than hoard top employees, managers had to encourage high-performing employees to seek out new positions. They also had to publish internal job openings. This shift required a re-education of managers and changes in their own evaluations. Managers had to be assessed on the success and mobility of their employees, not solely on the performance of their business units. The portal was a huge success. Within a year of its launch, Fidelity saw a reduction in turnover of more than 30 percent at this particular call center. Attributes of Successful Career Planning One of the most innovative career development programs we analyzed was developed by Fidelity. A large percentage of Fidelity employees work in call centers in a wide range of positions, including marketing, sales, advisory services, support and technical operations. Fidelity recognized it had an ongoing talent gap in its call center operations. Analysis showed high performers who are not well-managed and working in call centers typically left the company after 24 to 30 months. The workforce planning team discovered these high-performing employees become bored or disenchanted with their work after about 18 months, started seriously looking for new jobs at about two years and soon left the company. From Fidelity’s standpoint, this talent churn had significant negative consequences. After 12 months on the job, these employees were highly trained and productive, and they created significant customer value — they couldn’t be easily or quickly replaced. The challenge was to provide a career-planning program that would retain high-performing, highpotential employees and provide them with the career opportunities they naturally desired. A forward-thinking HR director at Fidelity came up with a powerful solution: Through a SWAT-team approach, the director’s team canvassed business managers and developed a clear and consistent set of job descriptions, career paths, competencies and selfassessments for each position in a Fidelity call center. This required significant effort and tight alignment with call center management. Responsibilities were not fully documented, job roles and titles continually changed and career paths were often sketchy at best. When finally collected and documented, this information was then incorporated into a new career development portal. The portal showed graphical The success of Fidelity’s program incorporates several important attributes of effective career planning. These include: • Aligning career planning with business-critical talent requirements. • Taking a long-term view and a top-down approach. • Gaining input and buy in from lines of business. • Providing the resources and guidance employees need to identify and pursue career opportunities. • Building career paths on competency and performance management processes. In today’s tight labor market, efficient and effective career planning is one of the sharpest tools you can use to strengthen and improve your company’s talent resources. Successful initiatives require significant planning and effort, a centralized approach and an enterprisewide perspective. Companies that continue to play pinball with employees and their careers will lose the talent war and their competitive edge. Josh Bersin is the principal and founder of Bersin & Associates, and he has more than 25 years of experience in corporate solutions, training and e-learning. He can be reached at editor@TalentMgt.com. 48 August 2007 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com http://www.TalentMgt.com
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