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The PepsiCo HR Career Framework: A Data-Driven Approach to Career

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 “No different from any other function, defining and communicating the career framework for HR will result in higher retention
rates, more positive satisfaction ratings on our Organizational Health Survey, and more impactful practitioners.”
The PepsiCo HR
Career Framework
A Data-Driven Approach to Career Development
By Allan H. Church and Monique Ritacca Herena
S ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT practitioners working
A internally, we typically spend little time worrying about
our own careers, yet invest a significant amount of time
building theories and tools to support the development of oth-
ers. While this is important work and greatly benefits our inter-
nal clients, senior HR leadership at PepsiCo thought it was
time for the HR function to be both the sponsor and the stake-
holder of a major cultural transformation specific to career
development. In short, we were ready to define, articulate, and
ultimately institutionalize what it means to have a successful
career in HR, with plans to follow the same process in other
functions if our methodology proved effective. The purpose of
this article is to describe our solution to this need for change—
i.e., the PepsiCo HR Career Framework.
We begin by setting the context for the initiative, including
a description of some of the key changes in the business envi-
ronment and strategic direction of the organization which
have shaped our people development agenda. Next, we
describe the methodology and process used to create a new
set of tools to support this initiative, followed by a description of
the results obtained to date. Finally, we conclude with a dis-
cussion of the key learnings which will be useful to other prac-
titioners interested in applying a similar approach for their
organizations.
OVERVIEW
Much of Dave Ulrich’s work over the last decade (e.g.,
OD PRACTITIONER | VOL. 35 | NO. 4 | 2003
Ulrich, 1997) has focused on turning the microscope on the
broader HR profession in an effort to highlight the difference
between serving as policy administrators and engaging with
our clients as strategic partners. Although part of this involves
leveraging OD skills and techniques such as data-based tech-
niques to deliver new insights (Waclawski & Church, 2001),
process consultation, and systems thinking when planning
interventions (Burke & Litwin, 1992), it also involves an
enhanced focus on the role of HR in general. More specifically,
Ulrich’s work has attempted to answer some fundamental
questions: What are the critical skills and experiences the HR
professional needs to acquire to contribute to an organization
in a meaningful way? What are the most valued roles of the HR
professional in today’s organization?
Last year, PepsiCo began answering some of these same
questions for our own organization. With the support of the
head of the HR function, we embarked upon a major change
effort to clearly define the success profile for HR at PepsiCo.
As our business grows and changes, we knew that it would be
critically important to define the core competencies for the HR
function across the company and highlight the various career
opportunities and development tools to support the framework
along the way. No different from any other function, defining
and communicating the career framework for HR will result in
higher retention rates, more positive satisfaction ratings on our
Organizational Health Survey, and more impactful practition-
ers. The challenge was to find a way to capture and opera-
tionalize a new model of how careers work at PepsiCo and
then apply it to HR first.
27
The PepsiCo HR Career Framework: A Data-Driven Approach to Career Development

BACKGROUND Figure 1: THE PEPSICO CAREER GROWTH MODEL

While PepsiCo has historically

Leadership
been known for its innovation and Capability
cutting-edge practices in providing
employee and leadership develop-
ment (e.g., Alziari, 2001; Pearson,
Functional Opportunities
1987; Tichy & Cohen, 1997), shifting Excellence
forces in the external business envi- Proven
Long -Term
Results:
ronment and a change in strategic Business + Career
Growth
direction and senior leadership dur- People
Knowing the
ing the late 1990s (e.g., the spin-off Business
of Tricon and the Pepsi Bottling Cold
Group, and the acquisitions of Trop-
icana and Quaker) left employees
with a number of burning questions. Critical
Experiences
More specifically, we learned
through the use of various OD-
related data-driven diagnostic tools
(e.g., organizational surveys, focus groups, and interviews) business and people results, (2) leadership capability,
that employees wanted to know more about what it takes to (3) functional excellence, (4) knowing the business cold,
build a successful career given this new direction and struc- and (5) the critical experiences that person has already,
ture. In addition to these changes, while each division had as well as those that a new developmental opportunity
developed its own way of approaching individual development might provide. (See Figure 1.)
over the years, due in part to our entrepreneurial and While the above tools and models represent an important
autonomous culture, more and more we were hearing that peo- part of the PepsiCo people agenda, employees continued to
ple wanted greater access to and understanding of cross-divi- want more detail and support regarding what it takes to build a
sional and cross-functional opportunities. successful career in a given function. In order to make this
Based on this need, the organization development and important cultural shift from a division-focused approach to a
management (OMD) function embarked on a number of inter- more broadly defined and harmonized cross-corporation view,
related change initiatives partnering with the HR generalists, we needed to pick a function to set the agenda, lead the initia-
line clients, and senior leadership to build several new tools tive, and resolve any problems inherent in the design and
and align existing people processes to provide greater clarity implementation process. Given this context, it was only natural
and visibility for employees. These efforts resulted in the that HR was one of the first areas in which to launch this initia-
launch of the following: tive. In short, we were tasked with acting both as change

an enhanced PepsiCo Leadership Model which outlines agents for our own function and as strategic partners for the
the behavioral expectations for leadership excellence, future development of others.
and forms the basis of the executive and management In response to this need and the importance of driving con-
360-degree feedback process sistency in language and approach to development, a cross-

a new career development web-resource called divisional taskforce was launched in early 2003 to design and
MyDevelopNet that provides functional competency implement a fully integrated career solution for the entire Pep-
assessment and development resources in a single siCo HR function. Supported by an aligned senior leadership
one-stop-shop (see Church, et. al., 2002) team across all the divisions, our solution, termed the HR

a new cross-divisional job posting process called Career Framework, had three key strategic objectives:
MyCareerConnection which provides greater visibility to 1. provide employees access to career information that will
opportunities (i.e., open jobs) in other functions and allow greater ownership of their development and enhanced
divisions development planning discussions with their managers

the creation of a conceptual framework labeled the 2. provide consistent language around competencies, leader-
PepsiCo Career Growth Model that describes how we ship skills, and the critical experiences required for career
think about building talent and considering opportunities progression in the HR function at PepsiCo
and serves as an integrating force for our people 3. provide greater clarity regarding different opportunities and
processes. When developing our leaders and dis- choices rather than prescribed paths.
cussing new opportunities, we typically consider five If successfully designed, implemented and institutional-
factors that are linked to success at PepsiCo: (1) proven ized, the outcome would result in a stronger and more capable

28 OD PRACTITIONER | VOL. 35 | NO. 4 | 2003

HR function — one that Figure 2: CAREER FRAMEWORK PROJECT APPROACH
speaks a consistent lan-
guage across very dif- Create
Implement
Validate Technology
ferent types of operating Develop Cross - Create Career Job Relevance
Position
Solution and
Profiles for
environments, and has Divisional Landscapes & of Model Via
Multi-incumbent
Prepare for
Competency Identify Jobs to Survey and Launch to
a greater emphasis on Model be Profiled Calibrate Across
and Key
Employees
Benchmark
individual development Divisions with Support
Jobs
Tools
and career growth. In
addition, the success of
this change intervention
would reinforce our
overall people agenda, and pave the way for similar efforts in entire HR function. While several divisions had unique HR
other major functions such as sales, marketing, finance, oper- models of their own, in order for the framework to apply cross-
ations, and R&D. The following section describes the method- divisionally, it was critical that we develop a model that res-
ology employed, our initial results, and the learnings we onated with all employees in HR.
obtained. Starting with the “80-20” team collaboration rule and build-
ing from both existing internal and external models (e.g.,
Church, 2001; Gottlieb, 1998; Ulrich; 1997; Yeung, et. al,
METHODOLOGY 1996;), and lists of HR and OD related competencies from var-
ious professional organizations, we created a customized func-
The development of the HR Career Framework followed tional competency model that represents what it means to be a
an iterative process with input from key stakeholders across successful HR practitioner in PepsiCo. The model is comprised
the function. As with any organizational change effort, involve- of 12 competencies, which in turn are measured by 50 detailed
ment and participation up front in the process is critical to “items” reflecting specific areas of applied knowledge and
ensuring buy-in and acceptance from the client (Church & expertise (similar to the approach used in most 360 feedback
Waclawski, 2001), even if it was for HR. Although a new com- related tools). Figure 3 contains a graphic of the 12 HR Com-
petency model and support tools could easily have been devel- petencies arranged according to Ulrich’s (1997) four basic
oped from the center and distributed to the field, this is a not an roles of HR.
approach that typically works well in a large multi-national
organization with a highly entrepreneurial culture. In such an Identify the Jobs
environment, collaboration, partnership, and personal influ- Whenever a manager, HR professional, or executive
ence are critical in shaping the ultimate outcome. To this end, coach sits down with an employee to have a career conversa-
the cross-divisional HR Careers Task-
force comprised of HR executives Figure 3: PEPSICO HR COMPETENCY MODEL
from both specialist and generalist
subfunctions was tasked with cham-
Skill Blocks
pioning this effort using a five-
phased approach to deliver the con- Change Leadership & Organizational Organizational Organization
tent and rollout. (See Figure 2.) Strategic Business Capability Design Development
Partnering

Develop the Competency Model

Although leadership capability Performance Career Development
may be at the heart of being a suc- Management & Strategic Partner Change Agent & Succession
Measurement Planning
cessful executive or OD consultant,
functional excellence forms the Key Roles

foundation from which to build a

career in any area of practice. Until Staffing & Employee Administration
Selection Champion Expert Benefits
you master the basics of a given
profession, it is almost impossible to
apply systemic thinking to solve real Employee Advocacy & Employee & Labor HR Administration and
Compensation
world problems. Our first priority Communication
Relations Information Systems

with this career development initia-

tive was to create a new compe-
tency model that would apply to the

OD PRACTITIONER | VOL. 35 | NO. 4 | 2003 29

The PepsiCo HR Career Framework: A Data-Driven Approach to Career Development

Table 1: HR SUB-FUNCTIONS Validate and Calibrate

1. Benefits In order to validate the content of the new cross-divisional
2. Compensation HR model, and collect related information in a relatively non-
3. Diversity intrusive manner from employees, we used a data-driven
4. Generalis approach by developing and launching an in-depth job model-
5. Human Resource Information Systems ing survey. The survey was conducted online and distributed to
6. Labor Relations a total of 307 individuals in the PepsiCo HR function across all
7. Organization and Management Development divisions (62 percent domestic and 38 percent international).
8. Organizational Capability The sample was comprised of individuals in key jobs for which
9. Risk and Safety we intended to create job profiles. Survey participants ranged
10. Staffing from entry level analyst to senior vice president, and included
both specialists and generalists.
The survey contained 125 questions. The first 50 ques-
tion there are usually three basic questions that need to be tions were based on the cross-divisional HR Competency
addressed: model. These items related to the proficiency level required to
1. Where are the jobs (level, location, subfunctional area)? perform one’s job and used a response scale designed specif-
2. What are the different jobs (accountabilities, experiences, ically to allow generalists and specialists to use the same
competencies involved/needed)? approach (see Table 2). The next 58 items comprised the Pep-
3. How do I get to the next job from where I am (what are my siCo Leadership Model, and used a standard 1 to 5 extent
options and how do I increase these)? scale. Here we asked individuals to assess the level of leader-
In order to answer these questions and have a informed ship emphasis needed for their jobs (e.g., strategic focus,
career discussion, it is necessary to have a solid understand- drives for results, builds talent, etc.). The third section in the
ing of the jobs that exist in a given function. Our next phase in survey provided a number of experiences that one might obtain
the process was to identify the jobs we intended to model (or from a given role (e.g. partnering with other divisions, manag-
profile) in detail. Although one could include every job that ing a merger or acquisition) in order to capture this aspect to
exists at a given point in time, in a large dynamic organization enrich the career conversation. The final section asked respon-
this proved to be impractical. Rather, our team identified the dents to describe their role in a short paragraph and list the key
key benchmark and multi-incumbent jobs within each of the 10 accountabilities.
subfunctions in HR (see Table 1). We only identified jobs that Overall the HR job modeling survey received a response
represented consistent, sustainable, long-term roles to which rate of 90.2 percent (277 responses). This is excellent com-
employees could aspire as part of their career planning. The pared to the average for organizational surveys (Church &
final list of key jobs comprised the target for our profiling work. Waclawski, 2001; Kraut, 1996), particularly given its extended
length. This also speaks to the level of senior sponsorship and

Table 2: JOB MODELING SCALE FOR FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES

1 2 3 4 5
Not Applicable: Foundational: Capable: Advanced: Mastery:
Little or no Some basic level of Solid understanding Extensive knowledge An expert level of
understanding or understanding and and knowledge of and a thorough knowledge and
knowledge in this knowledge is needed this area is needed understanding of this deep understanding
area is needed to to perform this job; to perform this job area is needed to of this area is
perform this job. the person in this job perform this job; needed to perform
is expected to apply the person in this this job; the person
this knowledge with job is expected to in this job should
some reliance on apply this in-depth be a recognized
others. understanding to expert who is
resolve complex sought out to
issues and to provide thought
transfer know-how leadership, set
to others. direction, and
develop new
processes and tools
in this area.

30 OD PRACTITIONER | VOL. 35 | NO. 4 | 2003

commitment to the effort, as there were no significant differ-
ences between executive and non-executive completion rates.
Regarding the new HR competency model, the 50-item
instrument yielded a high degree of internal consistency; coef-
ficient alphas for the 12 functional competencies ranged from
.73 to .96 suggesting that the model was well constructed. In
addition, the new scale (designed to differentiate between gen-
eralists who implement but may not truly design HR processes
and policies, and the specialists who are more narrowly
focused designers) provided excellent distribution levels.
Finally, the survey results yielded statistically significant differ-
entiation in mean scores between subfunctions across the 12
competencies, which provided content validity support for the
model.
Build the Profile Database
Following the survey, the data collected from employees
was used to begin populating the various components of the
job profile database. The database contained information for
the key benchmark and multi-incumbent jobs in HR to facilitate
rich career discussions. Data elements in the profiles included:
overall position description, key accountabilities, requisite func-
tional and leadership competencies, experiences gained, typi-
cal next jobs within and across levels and functions, required
education and experience, and interactions with other roles.
The data was shared with managers, functional VPs,
and senior leaders to ensure that the jobs were properly cali-
brated against others both within and across divisions and sub-
functions. This data feedback stage, though time consuming,
served three purposes: (1) It ensured a quality product
with high content validity, (2) it created additional buy-in on
the part of leaders to actually use the tools, and (3) it allowed
leaders to reevaluate the nature and accountabilities of the
jobs in question.
Implement and Launch
The final phase of the process concerned implementation
and launch, followed by an evaluation effort to determine areas
and tools in need of realignment. Each division created their
own integrated rollout strategy based on current initiatives and
available resources. The key messages and tools supporting
the framework and the linkages to core people processes,
however, were the same across all parts of the organization to
ensure a common language and approach to career develop-
ment. Only by ensuring that common linkages exist and that
senior leaders reinforce and utilize these tools, can we create
a successful and sustained change in the culture (Burke &
Litwin, 1992).
Aside from communications, presentations and key lead-
ership messages, some of the additional supporting tools in the
rollout process included:

an interactive online tool that allowed employees to view
the complete set of jobs overall (called the Landscape)
and in their own division with typical next steps identified
OD PRACTITIONER | VOL. 35 | NO. 4 | 2003
for each position

the ability to initiate self-assessments against functional
or leadership competencies and compare those with
either the current job or any of the others in the HR
Landscape

the ability to request a manager’s assessment on an
employee against the same competencies for compari-
son and discussion

a HR Resource Guide containing development tips, tac-
tics, and resources to help employees build their func-
tional competency in all 12 of the competencies of the
model

a behavioral interviewing guide based on the HR model
to assist in job interviews and placements

new training resources and modules to support deeper
knowledge acquisition in key areas of need.
A UTHORS
ALLAN H. CHURCH, Ph.D., is a
Director of Organization and Man-
agement Development at PepsiCo
Inc., where he is responsible for
driving the cross-divisional 360-
degree feedback and Organiza-
tional Health survey processes.
Previously he spent nine years as an external OD con-
sultant with Warner Burke Associates and several years
prior to that with IBM. He received his Ph.D. in Organi-
zational Psychology from Columbia University, and is
the author of over 100 articles, 12 book chapters, and
four books. Allan can be reached at:
Allan.Church@pepsi.com.
MONIQUE RITACCA HERENA is a
Director of Executive Staffing &
Development in the Organization
and Management Development
function at PepsiCo Inc., where she
is responsible for leading an execu-
tive general management develop-
ment program, the company wide web-based employee
development system, and various other projects deal-
ing with development and retention of top talent. Prior
to joining PepsiCo, she spent several years with
AlliedSignal Inc., and began her career with Quaker
Oats. She received her M.A. in Communication Studies
from Northern Illinois University. Monique can be
reached at: Monique.Herena@pepsi.com.
31
The PepsiCo HR Career Framework: A Data-Driven Approach to Career Development

SUMMARY & KEY LEARNINGS enthusiasm for the effort.

3. Leadership support is key, but it is also essential to have
Overall, the PepsiCo HR Career Framework has proved to people with the right experience and expertise build both the
be a success and has helped generate greater excitement and content itself and the case for change. We were able to cre-
interest in career discussions across the function. The data- ate a cross-divisional task force that reflected the appropri-
driven survey approach employed was extremely useful in pro- ate balance of HR generalist and specialist capability repre-
viding the team with information from which to build the profiles senting both our US and international businesses. We also
and test assumptions with their clients. While other factors will had diversity in tenure and experience to provide both fresh
always have an impact on employee perceptions at any given perspectives and to ensure that we created a customized

We clearly heard from employees that we need to constantly provide them

with as much up-to-date communication and guidance as possible regarding
their careers and where they stand in the organization. We also realized that
we need to update and reenergize the key messages around careers as
structures, roles, and processes change over time.

moment (e.g., restructuring, external marketplace trends, eco-
nomic and political events, changing nature of work), in the
end, having a clear roadmap for what it means to be success-
ful in a given function or organization is a critical component for
having meaningful career discussions, building talent through
development planning, and ultimately improving organizational
satisfaction and commitment.
Of course, as with any project, there are lessons to be
learned. Because this project represented our initial attempt to
build a cross-divisional framework that brings our Career
Growth Model to life, it is important that we take the time to
learn from the process. Listed below are some of the key les-
sons learned which are useful both for us going forward as well
as for other practitioners who might be interested in pursuing a
similar approach in their organizations.
1. We know that the business environment (in our case the
consumer products industry) is constantly changing and
requires us to modify structures and processes frequently.
While this environment of constant change often leads to
new career opportunities, it can also lead to confusion about
the future. We clearly heard from employees that we need to
constantly provide them with as much up-to-date communi-
cation and guidance as possible regarding their careers and
where they stand in the organization. We also realized that
we need to update and reenergize the key messages
around careers as structures, roles, and processes change
over time.
2. As with most change efforts, strong support from the top is
critical to success. We were able to leverage the support of
our most senior human resources executives to build the
case for change and act on it with authority. The work
became an immediate priority given their commitment and
HR model that would fit for PepsiCo, not just any corpora-
tion. Without this mix of individuals developing the content,
the effort would have failed due to lack of buy-in and an
absence of those messages that make any model unique to
a given organization’s history and culture.
4. Although this effort was driven from a centralized OMD func-
tion, collaboration with the divisions was critical to our suc-
cess. Strong ownership was built through involvement and
input. While we have focused here on HR, the same can be
said for any functional framework that might be imple-
mented.
5. It was important to us that the model would endure. We
found we needed to do three things to make that happen:
First, we built a framework that was sophisticated (based on
solid research, validated content), but simple to use (keep-
ing the number of competencies, items, job profiles and
landscapes down to a manageable number). Second, we
created a development resource guide that put the frame-
work into context, explained the intended applications, and
provided employees with development tips and suggested
resources for further learning. This guidance greatly
enhanced the process and the employee’s experience.
Third, we needed to communicate the importance of the
model by consistently repeating key messages regarding
HR careers and ensuring that employees had easy access
to these new tools through user-friendly online applications.
6. This process represented a major change for PepsiCo for
several of reasons. First, the framework and supporting tools
provided a level of guidance and communication around
career development that is new to this culture. This was a
demystifying effort that involved a fair amount of confirma-
tion and education. Second, the number of tools delivered

32 OD PRACTITIONER | VOL. 35 | NO. 4 | 2003

 and driven from the center represented a change as well.
While divisions viewed this as a positive shift in direction,
operationalizing the models and tools was a challenge. We
cannot emphasize enough the need to communicate the
importance of the effort and ensure that people set clear
objectives for how and when the model should be used.
Looking back at the project, we feel as OD professionals
that we have learned considerably from seeing the HR career
framework come to life. As a result of having the framework in
place, we expect to see improved scores on our internal orga-
nizational surveys and higher retention rates overall. By clearly
describing the career landscape, employees are much more
likely to see a path for themselves with PepsiCo vs. another
company. We also expect that the framework will provide a
common language for HR professionals that will allow them to
easily describe the success profile at PepsiCo. Finally, we are
now in the process of building similar frameworks in other func-
tions (Finance Sales, Marketing, Operations, etc.) to ensure
that the PepsiCo Career Growth Model is fully operationalized
for the entire organization, and that we are all speaking a com-
mon language. ■
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