ch 10 - coaching, careers and talent management

8/2/2019 Ch 10 - Coaching, Careers and Talent Management

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Coaching, Careers,and TalentManagement

eviewing demographic trends, pharmacy chain CVS knew it had a problem. Asa retail chain, CVS relied on an army of young people to staff its stores-torestock shelves, be cashiers, and serve as clerks in each store's various depart-ments. The problem was that the number of young people entering the work-

force was shrinking, while the number of older ones was rising. CVS executives knewthey needed some way to tap into this growing pool of older workers.l


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HERE ARE WE NOW ...= apter 9 focused on appraising employees' performance. After appraising performance,::-e manager typically needs to deal with several issues. The employee may require coach-""g, as well as career advice and mentoring. And, the manager and employer may want to=view the employee's performance in the context of the company's overall talent manage-+ent needs. The main purpose of this chapter is to help you be more effective at coaching= d mentoring employees, and at supporting their career planning needs. The main topicse'll address include coaching employees, the basics and methods of career planning and

+entorinq, and talent management. The appendix to this chapter provides specific career+anaqernent and job search tools and techniques. This chapter completes Part 3, whichscdressed training, appraisal, and development. Once you've trained, appraised, andached employees, you turn to the question of how to pay them, the topic we cover in the

- lIowing three chapters.

C hap te rs 9 , 10


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370 PART 3 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

1Compare and contrast coachingand mentoring and describe theimportance of each.

IMPROVING YOUR COACHING SKILLSGreat supervisors tend to be great coaches, because they bring out the best in theiremployees. Coaching and the closely related mentoringare thus key supervisory skills.Coaching means educating, instructing, and training subordinates.

Mentoring means advising, counseling, and guiding. Coaching focuses on teach-ing shorter-term job-related skills; mentoring, on helping employees navigatelonger-term career hazards. Supervisors have coached and mentored employeefrom the dawn of management (in Greek mythology, Mentor advised Odysseus's sonTelemachus). But with more managers leading highly trained employees and self-managing teams, supporting, coaching, and mentoring are fast replacing formalauthority and giving orders for getting things done.

Coaching and mentoring require both analytical and interpersonal skills. Theyrequire analysis because it's futile to teach or advise someone if you don't know whatthe problem is. They require interpersonal skills because it's equally futile to know theproblem if you can't get the person to listen or change.

Coaching's ImportanceManagers rely on coaching and mentoring for some of their most important dutie .For example, you'll need coaching and mentoring skills when appraising employees.and coaching is crucial for on-the-job training.f We saw that many firms use executivecoaches to improve their top managers' performance. You may have to mentor a nell-employee to learn the ropes. Firms like AT&T assign mentors to those employees theysend abroad, to ensure the expatriates' careers stay on track while they're gone.

Employers understand that coaching and mentoring are important. Oneconsulting firm surveyed about 2,500 senior human resource and training anddevelopment managers to see what their training programs offered.f The surveyfound that the top skills their firms' development programs taught were "coachinga performance problem" (72%), "communicating performance standards"(69%), "coaching a development opportunity" (69%), and "conducting a per-formance appraisal" (67%). We'll look more closely at coaching in this section.and address mentoring later in the chapter.

Some performance situations don't require coaching. For example, if your newemployee learns the first time through how to do the job, if your current employeesuse the new machine flawlessly, and if your employee's performance review is fault-less, you won't need to do much coaching. But things rarely go so smoothly. And


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FIGURE 10-1 A Short Coursen Improving InterpersonalCommunications

CHAPTER 10 COACHING, CAREERS, AND TALENT MANAGEMENT 371

Next review the employee's behavior. Here, particularly ask, "Could this person dothejob ifhe or she wanted to?" For example, was training adequate? Does the personhave the necessary aptitudes? Does he or she have the tools and raw materials to dothe job?

Finally, think through, from the employee's vantage point, the consequences ofdoing the job right. Do you reward the person for doing well? Might there be nega-tive consequences (like complaints from peers) for performing to standard?

PlanningPerhaps the most powerful way to get someone to change is to obtain his or herenthusiastic agreement on what change is required. This requires reaching agree-ment on the problem and on what to change. In practice, you'll then layout a changeplan in the form of S tep s to T ake, M easures o f Success, and Date to C om ple te .

Getting agreement on these items requires all the interpersonal communica-tions skills you can muster. Figure 10-1 presents, in the form of guidelines (such as"make yourself clear"), a short course in interpersonal communications.

Active CoachingWith agreement on a plan, you can start the actual "educating, instructing, andtraining"-namely, coaching. Here you are, in essence, in the role of teacher. Yourtoolkit will include what you learned about on-the-job training in Chapter 8 ("reviewthe job description," "use a job instruction sheet," and so on). However, interper-sonal communications skills are the heart of effective coaching. As one writer says,"[aJ n effective coach offers ideas and advice in such a way that the subordinate canhear them, respond to them, and appreciate their value."5

Make Yourself Clear. For example, ifyou mean immediately, say "immediately,"don't leave the timing open-ended or saysomething like, "assoon asyou can."Be Consistent. Much of what the other person "hears" reflects not just your wordsbut your (nonverbal) tone, expression, and eye contact. Therefore, make sure yourtone, expression, and words send a consistent meaning.


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Follow-UpBad habits sometimes reemerge. It's therefore necessary to re-observe the person'sprogress periodically.

Figure 10-2 presen ts a self-evaluation checklist for assessing your coachingskills.

372 PART3 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

FIGURE 10-2 Coach'sSelf-Evaluation ChecklistSource: Based on Richard Luecke,Coaching and Mentoring (Boston:Harvard Business School Press,2004), pp. 8-9.

Coach's Self-Evaluation ChecklistThe questions below relate to the skills and qualities needed to be an effective coach.Use this tool to evaluate your own effectiveness as a coach.Question Yes No

1. Do r;ou show interest in career development, not just short-termper ormance?

2. Do you provide both support and autonomy?3. Do you set high yet attainable goals?4. Do you serve as a role model?5. Do you communicate business strategies and expected behaviors as abasis for establishing objectives?6. Do you work with the individual you are coaching to ~enerate alternativeapproaches or solutions which you can consider toget er?7. Before giving feedback, do you observe careful ly, and without bias, the

individual you are coaching?8 . Do you separate observations from judgments or assumptions?9. Do you test your theories about a person's behavior before acting on them?

10 . Are you careful to avoid using your own performance as a yardstick tomeasure others?11 . Do you focus your attention and avoid distractions when someone is

talking to you?12. Do you paraphrase or use some other method to clarify what is being said

in a discussion?13. Do you use relaxed body language and verbal cues to encourage a speakerduring conversofionsf


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CAREER MANAGEMENT BASICSEmployers and employees tend to view performance reviews from different pointsof view. Employers of course are often preoccupied with getting the employee'sperformance aligned with the company's standards and needs. Employeeswill want to know what the review means in terms of their careers. Those conduct-ing appraisals therefore need to know something about careers and careerplanning.

Career TerminologyvVemay define career as the "occupational positions a person has had over manyyears." Many people look back on their careers, knowing that what they might haveachieved they did achieve, and that their career goals were satisfied. Others are lessfortunate and feel that, at least in their careers, their lives and their potential wentunfulfilled.

Knowing this, many employers work hard to support their employees' careerneeds. Some institute formal career management processes, while others do little.vVecan define career management as a process for enabling employees to betterunderstand and develop their career skills and interests and to use these skillsand interests most effectively within the company and after they leave the firm.Specific career management activities might include providing realistic career-oriented appraisals, posting open jobs, and offering formal career developmentactivities. Career development is the lifelong series of activities (such as work-shops) that contribute to a person's career exploration, establishment, success,and fulfillment. Career planning is the formal process through which someonebecomes aware of his or her personal skills, interests, knowledge, motivations,and other characteristics; acquires information about opportunities andchoices; identifies career-related goals; and establishes action plans to attainspecific goals.

Careers TodayCareers today are not what they were several years ago. Not too long ago, peopleviewed careers as a sort of upward staircase fromjob tojob, more often than not withone or at most a few firms. Today, recessions, mergers, outsourcing, consolidations,and more or less endless downsizings have changed the ground rules. Many people


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These changes have big implications for employers. A few years ago, the assump-tion (the "psychological contract") between employer and employee was, often, "Beloyal to us, and we'll take care of you." Today, employees know they must take care ofthemselves. The psychological contract is more like, "I'll do my best for you, but Iexpect you to provide the development and learning that will prepare me for the dayI must move on, and for having the work-life balance that I desire."? John Madigan.human resources vice president for the Hartford Insurance Company's 3,500-mem-ber IT group, discovered how important such development activities can be. Of theemployees who left Hartford IT, "Ninety percent ... talked about [the lack of] careerand professional development and the level of support their managers gave them inthis area," he says.s


Employer Career Efforts TodayRecognizing these changes, many employers have added a career aspect to theirhuman resource activities. They use human resource activities not just tosupport the employer's needs, but also to facilitate career self-analysis and devel-oprnen t.? Table 10-1 summarizes this. For example, instead of just usinappraisals to align the employees' performance with the job's standards, there imore emphasis on using them to help the employee better plan and adjust his orher career planns.

We'll see in a moment that such career development-oriented programneedn't be complicated. Even just receiving performance feedback, having indi-vidual development plans, and having access to nontechnical skills training ienough for most employees. Yet, only about a fourth of the respondents in onesurvey even had individual development plans.l" Figure 10-3 illustrates a simplecareer planning form. 11

John Madigan'S experience at Hartford Insurance illustrates why employers alsobenefit from offering career development. The employees, armed with betterinsights about their occupational strengths, should be better equipped to serve thecompany.V Supporting your employees' career development may also boost employe"commitment and support your recruitment and retention efforts. As one expert said."The most attractive proposition an employer can make today is that in 5 years theemployee will have more knowledge and be more employable than now. Thatshould be the acid test for any career development program.,,13

Ideally, the employer, employee, and manager all play roles in planning.

2 Compare employers' traditionaland career planning-oriented HRfocuses.


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=IGURE 10-3 Employee:areer Development PlanSource: Reprinted fromIWW.HR.BLR.com with permission ofme publisher Business and L eg alResources, Inc., 141 Mill Rock RoadEast. Old Saybrook, CT 2004.3LR (Business and Legalesources, Inc.).


Employee Career Development PlanEmployee: Position: _Manager: Department: _Date of Appraisal: _

1. What is the next logical step up for this employee, and when doyou think he or she will be ready for it?

Probable Next Job: When Ready:Now 6 Months 1 Year 2 Years1. 0 0 0 02. 0 0 0 03. 0 0 0 0

2. What is the highest probable promotion within five years2

3. What does this employee need to prepare for promotion? Knowledge: _

Action plan: _

Still Training: _

Action Plan: _

Management Training: _

Action plan:- _


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Communicate mission, policies, and procedures. Provide training and development opportunities, including workshops. Provide career information and career programs. Offer a variety of career paths. Provide career-oriented performance feedback. Provide mentoring opportunities to support growth and self-direction. Provide employees with individual development plans. Provide academic learning assistance programs.


TABLE 10-2 Roles in Career DevelopmentIndividual Accept responsibility for your own career. Assessyour interests, skills, and values. Seek out career information and resources. Establish goals and career plans. Utilize development opportunities. Talk with your manager about your career. Follow through on realistic career plans.

Manager Provide timely and accurate performance feedback. Provide developmental assignments and support. Participate in career development discussions with subordinates. Support employee development plans.

Employer

Source: Adapted from Fred 1. One and Peggy C. Hutcheson, Helping Employees Manage Careen (UpperSaddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992), p. 56; www.ge.com.cn/careers/career_management.html; andwmv_03.ibm.com/employment/us.cd_career_dev.shtml, accessed May 18,2007.

CAREER MANAGEMENT METHODSAt work, as we've said both the employer and the employee's supervisor play impor-tant roles in the employee's career development. We'll look at what exactly employ-ers and managers can do next.
http://www.ge.com.cn/careers/career_management.html;http://www.ge.com.cn/careers/career_management.html;


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TABLE 10-3 Possible Employer Career Planning and Development PracticesJob postingsFormal education/ tuition reimbursemen tPerformance appraisal for career planningCounseling bymanagerLateral moves/job rotationsCounseling byHRPreretirement programsSuccession planningFormal mentoringCommon career pathsDual ladder career pathsCareer booklets/pamphletsWritten individual career plansCareer workshopsAssessment centerUpward appraisalAppraisal committeesTraining programs for managersOrientation/induction programsSpecial needs (highfliers)Special needs (dual-career couples)Diversity managementExpatriation/repatriationSource: Yehuda Baruch, "Career Development in Organizations and Beyond: Balancing Traditional andContemporary Viewpoints," Human Resource Management Review, 16 (2006), p. 131.

can use on company time. The latter contain materials such as career assessmentand planning tools.15

Career Planning Workshops A career planning workshop is "a planned learn-ing event in which participants are expected to be actively involved, completing


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FIGURE 10-4 SampleAgenda-Twa-Day CareerPlanning WorkshopSource: Fred L. Otte and PeggyHutcheson, Helping EmployeesManage Careers (Upper SaddleRiver, NJ: Prentice Hall), 1992,pp.22-23.

D a y 28:30-10:00 Goal S et ti ngWarm-Up ExerciseReview of where we've been and where we'regoingSeMinggoals-where do I want to be2

Creating an ideal futureFuture skills and accomplishmentsDesired lifestyleLifeand career goals

1 0 : 15 - 1 : 3 0 E nv ir on men ta l A ssessm en t: P art 2Career resources in the companyIntroduce support servicesand hand outinformationMarketing yourself-what it takes to achieveyour goals hereDescribe resource people who will be with thegroup for lunch and brainstorm questions/issuesto be discussed

Lunchwith resource peopleReview lunch discussions

Before the program- Two weeks prior to the workshop participants receive a leMerconfirming their participation in the pro-gram and package of work to be completed before coming to the workshop. The exercises in this package include skills inven-tory, values identification, life accomplishments inventory, and a reading describing career direction options.

D a y 18:30-10:00 Introduction and O verview o f( ar ee r P la nn in gWelcome and Introduction to Program

Welcome by general managerOverview of agenda and outcomesParticipant introductions (statementsofexpectations for the program)

Overview of Career DevelopmentCompany's philosophyWhy career planning isneededWhat career planning isand is notCareer planning model10:00-Noon S elf-A ssessm en t: P art 1

Individual Self-Assessment:ValuesValues card sort exerciseReconciling with values pre-workIntroduce career planning summarywork sheet

Individual Self-Assessment:SkillsMotivated skillsexerciseExamining life accomplishments(synthesizewith pre-work)Identifying accomplishment themesPreferred work skills (from pre-workinventory)Fill in career planning summary worksheet

1:00-3:00 S elf- Asse ssm en t: P art 2Individual Self-Assessment:Career Anchors

Career anchoring pottern exerciseSmall group discussionsFill in career planning summary worksheet

Individual Self-Assessment: PreferencesWhat success means to meSkills, knowledge, personal qualitiesFill in career planning summary worksheet

Individual Sell- Assessment:Career Path PaMernSynthesize with direction options frompre-work

Fill in career planning summary worksheet

3:30-4:30 Env ir onmen ta l A s se ssmen t

1:30-4:30 Developing Career Act io n P la nsMaking career decisionsIdentifying long-range alternativesIdentifying short-range alternativesImproving career decisionsDecision stylesand ways to enhance themCreating your career planReconciling your goals with optionsNext career stepsDevelopment action planContingency planningMaking it happen - Making commitments tonext steps

Summary and adjourn


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CHAPTER 10 COACHING, CAREERS, AND TALENT MANAGEMENT 379employee base the latter's development plans on what he or she will need tomove up.20

Offer Online Programs For example, WorkforceVision from Criterion, Inc., sup-plies online systems that help the employer analyze an employee's training needs.Clicking on the employee's name launches his or her work history, competencies,career path, and other information. For each competency (such as leadership andcustomer focus), a bar chart graphically shows a "gap analysis" highlighting the per-son's strengths and weaknesses. The firm can then organize developmental activitiesaround the person's needs.21

Commitment-Oriented Career Development EffortsThe globalization of the world economy was a boon in many ways. For productsand services ranging from cars to computers to air travel, it powered lower prices,better quality, and higher productivity and (in many countries) higher living stan-dards. However the same cost-efficiencies, belt-tightening, and productivityimprovements that globalization produced also triggered numerous workforcedislocations. The desire for efficiencies drove firms to "do more with less." Andwith every bankruptcy, buyout, and merger, more employees found themselvesout of work.This understandably undermines employee commitment. As noted earlier inthis chapter, the "psychological contract" changed. Now, many employees ask, "Whyshould I be loyal to you if you're just going to dump me when you decide to cut costsagain?" To paraphrase the author of the book Pack Your Own Parachute, employeestoday thus tend to think of themselves as free agents, there to do a good job but alsoto prepare for the next likely move, to another firm. In this environment, manyemployees expect their employers to provide an opportunity for them to broadentheir career options. That is why (as we said earlier in this chapter), "The mostattractive proposition an employer can make today is that in 5 years the employeewill have more knowledge and be more employable than now.... "22

We've seen there are many things that the employer can do to improve theemployee's development and career prospects, from job postings and tuition reim-bursement to career planning workshops. The main thing is that the employer'scareer development efforts, taken as a whole, should send the signal that theemployer cares about the employee's career success, and thus deserves the


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~ - -~-DR ~M a n a g e m e n tC h e c k l i s t s

A. Employee's Major Strengths1. _2 . __3 . _

B. Areas for Improvement/Development1. __2 . __3 . _

C . Development Plans: Areas for Development1. __2 . __3. __4. _Development Strategy:

D. Employee's Comments on This Review: __

E. Reviewer's Comments: _

Growth potential in present position and future growth potential for increasedresponsibilities: _

Employer's Signature: _ Date: __


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CHAPTER 10 COACHING, CAREERS, AND TALENT MANAGEMENT 381One survey asked minority women what they saw as the barriers to a successfulcareer. The minority women reported that the main barriers to advancementincluded not having an influential mentor (47%), lack of informal networking withinfluential colleagues (40%), lack of company role models for members of the sameracial or ethnic group (29%), and a lack of high-visibility assignments (28%).24

Unfortunately, many career development programs are not consistent with theneeds of minority and nonminority women. For example, many such programsunderestimate the role played by family responsibilities in many women's (and men's)lives. Similarly, some programs assume that career paths are continuous; however,the need to stop working for a time to attend to family needs often punctuates thecareer paths of many people of color and women (and perhaps men).25 And, in anycase, several types of career development programs-fast-track programs, individualcareer counseling, and career planning workshops-are less available to women thanto men.26 Many refer to this totality of subtle and not-so-subtle barriers to women's'career progress as the g la ss ce il ing .

Given all this, the most important thing the employer and manager can do is totake the career needs of women and minority employees seriously. Some specificsteps include the following.

Eliminate Institutional Barriers Many practices (such as required late-nightmeetings) may seem gender neutral but in fact disproportionately affect womenand minorities.

Improve Networking and Mentoring To improve female employees' networkingopportunities, Marriott International instituted a series of leadership conferences forwomen. Speakers offered practical tips for career advancement, and shared theirexperiences. More important, the conferences provided informal opportunities-overlunch, for instance-for the Marriott women to meet and forge business relationships.

Abolish the GlassCeiling Eliminating glass ceiling barriers requires more thanan order from the CEO, because the problem is usually systemic. As one expertputs it, "the roots of gender discrimination are built into a platform of work prac-tices, cultural norms, and images that appear unbiased ... People don't evennotice them, let alone question them." These range from the late-night meetingsmentioned earlier to golf course memberships.


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Schedule regular performance appraisals and, at these reviews, focus on the extentto which the employee's current skills and performance are consistent with the per-son's career goals. Provide the employee with an informal career development planlike that in Figure 10-5. Keep subordinates informed about how they can utilize thefirm's current career-related benefits, and encourage them to do so.28And, perhapsmost importantly, know how to provide mentoring assistance. Let's look at this next.


Building Your Mentoring SkillsMentoring traditionally means having experienced senior people advising, counsel-ing, and guiding employees' longer-term career development. An employee whoagonizes over which career to pursue or how to navigate office politics might needmentoring.

Mentoring may be formal or informal. Informally, mid- and senior-level man-agers may voluntarily help less-experienced employees-for instance, by givingthem career advice and helping them to navigate office politics. Many employeralso have formal mentoring programs. For instance, the employer may pair protegeswith potential mentors, and provide training to help mentor and protege betterunderstand their respective responsibilities. Either formal or informal, studies showthat having a mentor give career-related guidance and act as a sounding board cansignificantly enhance one's career satisfaction and success.29

Mentoring Caveats For the supervisor, mentoring is both valuable and danger-ous. It can be valuable insofar as it allows you to impact, in a positive way, the careerand lives of your less experienced subordinates and colleagues. The danger lies onthe other side of that same coin. Coaching focuses on daily tasks that you can easilyre-learn, so coaching's downside is usually limited. Mentoring focuses on relativelyhard-to-reverse longer-term issues, and often touches on the person's psychology(motives, needs, aptitudes, and how one gets along with others, for instance).Because the supervisor is usually not a psychologist or trained career advisor, he orshe must be extra cautious in the mentoring advice he or she gives.The Effective Mentor Research on what supervisors can do to be better mentorreveals few surprises. Effective mentors set high standards, are willing to invest the timeand effort the mentoring relationship requires, and actively steerproteges into impor-tant projects, teams, and jobs.3 o Effective mentoring requires trust, and the level of


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CHAPTER 10 COACHING, CAREERS, AND TALENT MANAGEMENT 383protege is still largely responsible for making the relationship work. Suggestions forproteges include: Choose an appropriate potential mentor. The mentor should be objectiveenough to offer good career advice. Many people seek out someone who is oneor two levels above their current boss.

Don't be surprised if you're turned down. Not everyone is willing to undertakethis time-consuming commitment.

Make it easier for a potential mentor to agree to your request. Do so by makingit clear ahead of time what you expect in terms of time and advice.

Respect the mentor's time. Be selective about the work-related issues that youbring to the table. The mentoring relationship generally should not involvepersonal problems or issues.I"

Improving Productivity Through HRIS: Career Planningand DevelopmentRealistically, it doesn't make much sense to isolate activities like career planning,succession planning, performance appraisal, and training from each other. Forexample, the employee's career planning and development needs should reflect thestrengths and weaknesses that the performance appraisal brings to light. Similarly,eliminating the weaknesses should involve helping the employee tap into the firm'straining and development offerings. At the same time, top management and HRneed an integrated, birds-eye view of their employees' career interests, progress,and appraisal results to expedite the succession planning process.

The bottom line is that more employers are integrating their career planningand development systems with their firms' performance appraisal, succession plan-ning, and training and development information systems. For example, Alyeska, thecompany that manages the trans-Alaska pipeline, has a user-friendly portal that letsemployees "see their full training history, development plans and upcoming dead-lines, register for courses, or do career planning-usually without having to ask forhelp."35 At the same time, "managers can get a quick picture of the training needsfor a particular group, or see all the employees who have a specific qualificauon.P"

Various software systems enable employers to integrate appraisal, career devel-opment, training, and succession planning. One is Kenexa CareerTracker. Career-


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384 PART 3 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENTwhen a new employee's expectations and enthusiasm confront the reality of a bor-ing or otherwise unattractive work situation. Next, career-oriented appraisals areimportant, as are activities such as job rotation, job postings, promotion-from-within policies, development, and career management. We've discussed many ofthese.Promotions and transfers are particularly important aspects of most people'scareers. Promotions traditionally refer to advancements to positions of increasedresponsibility; transfers are reassignments to similar positions in other parts of thefirm. We'll look at each.

Making Promotion DecisionsMost people hope for promotions, which usually mean more pay, responsibility, and(often) job satisfaction. For employers, promotions can provide opportunities toreward exceptional performance, and to fill open positions with tested and loyalemployees. Yet the promotion process isn't always a positive experience. Unfairnes .arbitrariness, or secrecy can diminish the effectiveness of the process. Several decision.therefore, loom large in any firm's promotion process.Decision 1: Is Seniority or Competence the Rule? Probably the most impor-tant decision is whether to base promotion on seniority or competence, or somecombination of the two.Today's focus on competitiveness favors competence. However, a company's abil-ity to use competence as the criterion depends on several things. Union agreementssometimes contain clauses that emphasize seniority, such as, "In the advancement 0employees, employees with the highest seniority will be given preference, where skillsand performance are approximately equal." And civil service regulations that stre _seniority rather than competence often govern promotions in many public-sectororganizations.Decision 2: How Should We Measure Competence? If the firm opts forcompetence, how should it define and measure competence? The question high-lights an important managerial adage called the "Peter Principle," after itsfounder. In brief, the Peter Principle says that companies often promote compe-tent employees up to their "level of incompetence," where they then sit, some-times underperforming for years. The point is that defining and measuring pas:performance is relatively straightforward: Define the job, set standards, and u e


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CHAPTER 10 COACHING, CAREERS, AND TALENT MANAGEMENT 385Other employers set formal, published promotion policies and proce-

dures. Employees receive a formal promotion policy describing the criteria bywhich the firm awards promotions. A job posting policy states the firm will postopen positions and their requirements, and circulate these to all employees.As explained in Chapter 5, many employers also maintain employee qualificationdatabanks and use replacement charts and computerized employee informa-tion systems.Decision 4: Vertical, Horizontal, or Other? Promotions aren't necessarilystraightforward. For example, how do you motivate employees with the prospect ofpromotion when your firm is downsizing? And how do you provide promotionalopportunities for those, like engineers, who may have little or no interest in manage-rial roles?

Several options are available. Some firms, such as the exploration division ofBritish Petroleum (BP), create two parallel career paths, one for managers andanother for "individual contributors" such as high-performing engineers. At BP,individual contributors can move up to nonsupervisory but senior positions, such as"senior engineer." These jobs have most of the financial rewards attached to man-agement-track positions at that level.

Another option is to move the person horizontally. For instance, move a pro-duction employee to human resources, to develop his or her skills and to testand challenge his or her aptitudes. And, in a sense, "promotions" are possibleeven when leaving the person in the same job. For example, you can usuallyenrich the job and provide training to enhance the opportunity for assumingmore responsibility.

Sources of Bias in Promotion DecisionsWomen and people of color still experience relatively less career progress inorganizations, and bias and more subtle barriers are often the cause. Yet (as wenoted earlier in this chapter) this is not necessarily the result of decision mak-ers' racist sentiments. Instead, secondary factors-such as having few people ofcolor employed in the hiring department-may be the cause. In any case, thebottom line seems to be that whether it's bias or some other reason, question-able barriers like these still exist. Employers and supervisors need to identify andabolish them.


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Promotions and the Law386 PART 3 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Employers are transferring employees lessoften, partly because of family resistance.

In general, the employer's promotion processes must comply with allthe same antidiscrimination laws as do procedures for recruiting andselecting employees or any other HR actions. But beyond that generalcaveat, there are several specific things to keep in mind regarding pro-motion decisions.

One concerns retaliation. Most federal and state employment l awscontain anti-retaliation provisions. For example, one U.S. Circuit Court

~ of Appeals allowed a claim of retaliation to proceed when a femaleemployee provided evidence that her employer turned her down forpromotion because a supervisor she had previously accused of sexualharassment made comments that persuaded her current supervisor notto promote her.4 o The evidence confirmed that, in a meeting at whichsupervisors reviewed the person's performance, the former supervisor(and object of the sexual harassment accusation) made comments

"0~ regarding the employee's "ability to work effectively with others."o A second concerns using inconsistent, unsystematic processes tdecide who to promote. For example, one employer turned downthe 61-year-old applicant for a promotion because of his intervie,

~ performance; the person who interviewed him said he did not "get a~ real feeling of confidence" from the candidate.f ' In this case, "the

court made it clear that while subjective reasons can justify adver eemployment decisions, an employer must articulate any clear andreasonably specific factual bases upon which it based its decision." In

other words, you should be able to provide objective evidence supporting yoursubjective assessment for promotion.

Managing TransfersA transfer is a move from one job to another, usually with no change in salary orgrade. Employers may transfer a worker to vacate a position where he or she is nlonger needed, to fill one where he or she is needed, or more generally to find a bet-tel' fit for the employee within the firm. Many firms today boost productivity by con-solidating positions. Transfers are a way to give displaced employees a chance foranother assignment or, perhaps, some personal growth. Employees seek transfersfor many reasons, including personal enrichment, more interesting jobs, greater


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CHAPTER 10 COACHING, CAREERS, AND TALENT MANAGEMENT 387working in some capacity after normal retirement age (64% said they want to do sopart-time). Only about a third said they plan to continue work for financial reasons;about 43% said they just wanted to remain active.i''

The bottom line is that "retirement planning" is no longer just for helpingcurrent employees slip into retirernent.f" It can also enable the employer to retain,in some capacity, the skills and brain power of those who would normally retire andleave the firm. A reasonable first step is to conduct numerical analyses of pendingretirements. This should include a demographic analysis (including a census of thecompany's employees), a determination of the average retirement age for the com-pany's employees, and a review of how retirement is going to affect the employer'shealth care and pension benefits. The employer can then determine the extent ofthe "retirement problem," and take fact-based steps to address it.45

Methods Employers seeking to recruit and/ or retain retirees need to take severalsteps. The general idea is to institute human resource policies that encourage andsupport older workers. Not surprisingly, studies show that employees who are morecommitted and loyal to the employer are more likely to stay beyond their normalretirement age.46 Beyond that, specific suggestions include: Create a culture that honors experience. For example, the CVS pharmacychain knows that traditional recruiting media such as help-wanted signsmight not attract older workers; CVS thus works through The NationalCouncil on Aging, city agencies, and community organizations to find newemployees. They also made it clear to retirees that they welcome olderworkers: "I'rn too young to retire. [CVS] is willing to hire older people.They don't look at your age but your experience," said one dedicated olderworker.47

Modify selection procedures. For example, one British bank stopped usingpsychometric tests, replacing them with role-playing exercises to gauge howcandidates deal with customers.

Offer flexible or part-time work. Companies "need to design jobs such thatstaying on is more attractive than leaving." One of the simplest ways to do thisis through flexible work, specifically, making both where one works (as withtelecommuting) and when the work is performed flexible.48

Phased retirement. Many employers are implementing phased retirement


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MANAGING HR IN CHALLENGING TIMES388 PART 3 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

6 Define talent management andgive anexample of an actualtalent management system.

More retirees today rely on their own savings and investments, rather than theiremployer's pension. Because employees invest much of these funds in market-sensitive equities, employees-even those several years away from retirement-should be monitoring and managing their retirement accounts. This is particularlyso in economically challenging times, when the traditional "buy and hold" stratcqyseems at least temporarily to have worked to many peoples' disadvantageEmployers can play an important role in two ways. They can make available to theiremployees investment education and advice from third-party advisors. And thecan make it easier for employees to monitor and manage their invested funds. Forexample, American Express introduced an online asset allocation tool for use by itsemployer-clients' retirement plan participants. The Web-based tool "RetiremencGuidance Planner" lets an employer's retirement plan participants calculate anckeep track of progress toward retirement income goals and more easily allocateassets among different investments online49 Many firms, including Vanguard ancFidelity, offer similar online programs.

TALENT MANAGEMENTIn an ideal world, an employer would be able to integrate the entire process ofhiring, training, appraising, and developing and rewarding employees to maximizeeach employee's contribution while minimizing the total costs of that proces _New integrated computerized systems enable employers to move closer to accom-plishing that.

What IsTalent Management?Talent management is the automated end-to-end process of planning, recruitinz.developing, managing, and compensating employees throughout the organization.t'Because talent management involves recruiting, hiring, and developing highpotential employees, it requires coordinating several human resource activities, in par-ticular workforce acquisition, assessment, development, and retention.P! In simples-terms, talent management simply "refers to the process of attracting, selecting, train-ing, developing, and promoting employees through an organization.t'V But again, themain thing driving the talent management movement is the availability of new talen


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CHAPTER 10 COACHING, CAREERS, AND TALENT MANAGEMENT 389Talent management is, in a sense, career management from the employer's point

of view. The employee wants to align his or her skills, training, performance feed-back, and development in such a way as to have a successful career. The employer, forits part, wants to integrate the same functions to ensure that it is using its corporatetalent in the best possible way. One survey of CEOs of large companies said theytypically spent between 20% and 40% of their time on talent management.F' Anothersurvey of human resource executives found that for about 62% of respondents,"talent management" issues were the most pressing ones they faced. 54

Talent Management SystemsWhile employers have long "managed their talent" without computerized systems,talent management today is usually information technology-based. Several softwareproviders offer specialized talent management suites. The suites include and inte-grate underlying talent management components such as e-recruiting, e-training,performance reviews, and rewards. Some examples follow. Talent Management Solutions' (www.talentmanagementlOl.com) talent manage-ment suite includes e-recruiting software, employee performance management, alearning management system, and compensation management. Among otherthings, Talent Management Solutions' suite of programs "relieves the stress ofwriting employee performance reviews by automating the task" and ensures "thatall levels of the organization are aligned-all working for the same goals.,,55

SilkRoad Technology's talent management solution includes applicant track-ing, onboarding, performance management, compensation, and employeeIn ternet. 56

Info HCM Talent Management "includes several upgrades including trackingand monitoring performance metrics, interactive online training via WebEx,support for e-commerce integration to enable training ... and full localizationfor additional countries including Spanish, French, and Chinese.P"

Workstream's new talent management suite includes "industry leading com-pensation, performance, development, competencies, knowledge managementand rewards applications.P''

ch 10 - coaching, careers and talent management

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