Career Planning and Development - Presentation Transcript

Career Planning & Development You can download this presentation file at: www.exploreHR.org Visit www.exploreHR.org for more presentations on Human Capital Strategy and Personal Development 3. Career Planning and Development o Organizational Initiatives o Individual (employee) Initiatives 4. Organizational Initiatives o A job posting system o Mentoring activities o Career resource centers o Managers as career counselors 5. o C areer development workshops o Human resource planning and forecasting o P erformance appraisals o C areerpathing programs. Organizational Initiatives 6. Job posting system Job posting is an organized process that allows employees to apply for open positions within the organization. They can respond to announcements and postings of positions and then be considered along with external candidates. 7. 2. Mentoring activities o The primary purpose of a mentoring system is to introduce people to the inner network of the organization, which ma y assist them in their career advancement. 8. o Mentoring systems help clarify the ambiguous expectations of the organization, provide objective assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of new employees, and provide a sounding board for participants. 1. 2.

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2. Mentoring activities 9.

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A career resource center returns the responsibility of career development to the employee. The center offers self-directed, self-paced learning, and provides resources without creating dependence on the organization.

3. Career resource centers 10.

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Career development works only if employees accept responsibility for their own careers. One of the fundamental goals of career development is to help facilitate career decision making, which helps to develop career exploration and evaluation competencies.

3. Career resource centers 11.

The primary services provided at career resource centersare : educational information, career planning, and personal growth, and job-finding skills.

3. Career resource centers 12. 4. Managers as career counselors o This initiatives bring several unique advantages to the career counseling role. Managers:  can make realistic appraisals of organizational opportunities  can use information from past performance evaluation to make realistic suggestions concerning career plann ing  have experienced similar career decisions and can be empathetic toward the employee 13. 5. Career development workshop o Career development workshop is designed to encourage employees to take responsibilities for their careers.

o Employees can reflect on their present occupation in order to determine their level of satisfaction. 14. 5. Career development workshop o Thus, workshops and seminars are excellent vehicle for orienting employees to career/life planning, a major component of career development. 15. 5. Career development workshop o Workshops and seminars seeks to address several basic questions:  Where are you in your career and your life?  What are your goals, interests, values, choices, and skills?  Where do you want to be in your career in the future?  What are your career options? 16. 5. Career development workshop  What knowledge and skills do you need to attain your goals?  How do you plan to gain knowledge and skills?  Is your plan realistic? What are the obstacles? What obstacles are self -imposed?  What is your commitment to developing your career? 17. o Human resource planning and forecasting o Human resource planning is viewed process of analyzing an organization's human resource needs under changing conditions and developing the activities necessary to satisfy these needs. 18. o Human resource planning and forecasting o From the analysis of needs, priorities can be determined and human resources can be allocated to sati sfy existing future needs through career management. 19. 7. Performance appraisal o Performance appraisals are a tool HRD practitioners can use to guide and direct future growth opportunities for employees. o This should aid in the development of a person's career as well as enhance communications and understanding. 20. 8. Career Path o Career path is the sequencing of work experiences, usually different job assignments, in order to provide employees with the opportunity to participate in many aspects of a professional area. o For example, in order for a salesperson to move up the ladder to regional manager, it is important that he or she understand all aspects of the job. 21. 8. Career Path o Therefore, a career path in sales might include a period of time in sales, account supervision, and district management. o By experiencing each of these related but different occupations, the employee can develop a better understanding of the broad role of regional manager. 22. Three Types of Career Path Basis is formal analysis and definition of options Basis is organizational need, management style, expediency Basis is informal, traditional Used as a basis for career planning Usually consistent with job evaluation and pay practices Used as basis for promotions and transfers Calls f or change; new career options Used as a basis for career planning Reflects prevailing management values and atti tudes regarding careers Perpetuates the change: way careers have always been Rational paths that could be followed willingly Paths determined b y prevailing needs for staffing the organization Actual paths created by the past movement of employees among management jobs Paths that are logically possible based on analysis of what activities are actually performed on the job Paths defined or dictated by management to meet operating needs; progression patterns that fit prevailing organizational needs Past patterns of career progression; how the incumbents got whe re they are Behavioral Organizational Historical 23. Individual Initiatives o Career Planning o Career Awareness o Career Resource Center Utilization o Interests, Values, and Competency Analysis 24. 1. Career Planning o Career planning is the process of setting individual career objectives and creatively developing activities that will achieve them. o Career planning can also be seen as a personal process, consisting of three criteria: (1) broad life planning, (2) development planning, and (3) performance planning 25. 1. Career Planning o The HRD practitioner has an obligation to encourage as well as provid e for the utilization of career planning on the part of employees. o Career planning is the employee's counterpart to the organization's overall human resource planning activity. 26. 2. Career Awareness o Employees are ultimately responsible for the d evelopment of their own careers. o Employees control decisions such as whether to remain in the organization, whether to accept specific occupational assignments, whether to perform at acceptable levels, and even whether to engage in personal growth activit ies through training or professional continuing education. 27. o The role of the HRD practitioner is to provide the means and the information to assist in personal career decision making.

HRD practitioners must develop a climate and culture that is conducive for growth, one that encourages career development.

2. Career Awareness 28.

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Employees, in turn, should take advantage of that climate and be aware of the important components of career development. They need to construct plans that will enable them to accomplish their career goals, analyze potential career areas, and determine if they possess the skills, competencies, and knowledge necessary to be considered serious candidates for such positions.

2. Career Awareness 29. 3. Career Resource Center o Most career resource centers provide occupational guides, educational references, career planning guides, and computer programs aimed at assisting employees in determining their career interests, values, and competencies. 30. 3. Career Resource Center o These materials increase the effectiveness and efficiency of career planning and provide employees with alternative approaches to career development. 31. 4. Interests, Values, and Competencies Analysis o The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventories, The Self-Directed Search, and VISTA (ACT) are examples of interest inventories designed to provide employees with important information about their career interests, values, and competencies. 32. 4. Interests, Values, and Competencies Analysis o These tests are easily admin istered and can provide the vital baseline data essential in career planning and career enhancement. 33. Source of Reference: Jerry Gillet and SetevenEggland, Principles of Human Resource Development , Perseus Books Group.

Stress Management - Presentation Transcript

Stress Management You can download this presentation file at: www.exploreHR.org Visit www.exploreHR.org for more presentations on Human Capital Strategy and Personal Development 3. Organizational Factors Individual Factors Experience Stress Individual Differences Environmental Factors A Model of Stress 4. Enviromental Factors Economic Uncertainty Political Uncertainty Technological Uncertainty 5. Orgnizational Factors o Task Demands o Role Demands o Interpersonal Demands o Organizational Structure o Organizational Leadership 1. 2.

Individual Factors Family Problems Economic Problems Some people thrive on stressful situations, while others are overwhelmed by them. What is it that differentiates people in terms of their ability to handle stress? At least four variables perception, job experience, social support, and belief in locus of control have been found to be relevant moderators. 8. Relevant Moderators o Perception o Job experience o Social Support o Belief in Locus of Control 9. Perception The stress potential in environmental, organizational, and individual factors doesn't lie in their objective condition. Rather, it lies in an employee's interpretation of those factors. 10. Job Experience Experience is said to be a great teacher. It can also be a great stress -reducer. 11. Social Support There is increasing evidence that social support that is, collegial relationships with co -workers or supervisors can buffer the impact of stress. 12. Belief in Locus of Control Those with an internal locus of control believe they control their own destiny. Those with an external locus believe their lives are controlled by outside forces. Evidence indicates that internals perceive their jobs to be less stressful than do externals. 13. Experience Stress o Physiological Symptoms o Headaches o High blood presure o Heart Disease o Psychological Symptoms o Anxiety o Depression o Decrease in job satisfaction o Behavioral symptoms o Productivity o Absenteeism o Turnover 14. Stress Management Strategies Individual Approaches Organizational Approaches 15. Individual Approaches Time Management Physical Exercise Relaxation Training Social Support 16. Time Management An understanding and utilization of basic time management principles c an help individuals better cope with job demands. 17. Physical Exercise Noncompetitive physical exercise such as aerobics, race walking, jogging, swimming, and riding a bicycle have long been recommended by physicians as a way to deal with excessive stress le vels. 18. Relaxation Training Individuals can teach themselves to relax through techniques such as meditation, hypnosis, and biofeedback. The objective is to reach a state of deep relaxation, where one feels physically relaxed, somewhat detached from the immediate environment, and detached from body sensations. 19. Social Support Having friends, family, or work colleagues to talk to provides an outlet when stress levels become excessive. Expanding your social support network, therefore, can be a means for tension reduction. 20. Organizational Approaches Selection and Placement Goal Setting Job Redesign Participative Decision Making Organizational Communication Wellness Program 21. Selection & Placement Individuals with little experience or an external locus of control t end to be more stress-prone . Selection and placement decisions should take these facts into consideration. 22. Goal Setting The use of goals can reduce stress as well as provide motivation. Specific goals that are perceived as attainabl e clarify performance expectations. Additionally, goal feedback reduces uncertainties as to actual job performance. The result is less employee frustration, role ambiguity, and stress. 23. Job Redesign Redesigning jobs to give employees more responsibility, more meaningful work, m ore autonomy, and increased feedback can reduce stress, because these factors give the employee greater control over work activities and lessen dependence on others. 24. Participative Decision Making By giving these employees a voice in decisions that directl y affect their job performances, management can increase employee control and reduce this role stress. 25. Organizational Commitment Given the importance that perceptions play in moderating the stress -response relationship, management can also use effective c ommunications as a means to shape employee perceptions . 26. Wellness Program These programs focus on the employee's total physical and mental condition. For example, they typically provide workshops to help people quit smoking, control alcohol use, lose weight, eat better, and develop a regular exercise program. 27. Source of Reference: Stephen Robbins, Organizational Behavior , Prentice Hall International

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Performance Appraisal Methods

There are many types of performance appraisal methods. Some of them are : 1) job results/outcome 2) essay method 3) Ranking 4) Forced Distribution 5) Graphic Rating Scale 6) Behavioral Checklist

7) Behavioral Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) 8) Management by Objectives (MBO) Job Results Though not an appraisal method per se, job results are in themselves a source of data that can be used to appraise performance. Typically, an employee's results are compared against some objective standard of performance. This standard can be absolute or relative to the performance of others. Results indexes are often used for appraisal purposes if an employee's job has measurable results. Examples of job results indexes are dollar volume of sales, amount of scrap, and quantity and quality of work produced. When such quantitative results are not available, evaluators tend to use appraisal forms based on employee behaviors and/or personal characteristics. In some cases, appraisals may focus on results rather than behaviors. This is especially true where job content is highly variable, as in many managerial positions, thus making it difficult to specify appropriate behaviors for evaluative purposes. Results indexes such as turnover, absenteeism, grievances, profitability, and production rates can be used to evaluate the performance of organization units. Essay Method The essay method involves an evaluator's written report appraising an employee's performance, usually in terms of job behaviors and/or results. The subject of an essay appraisal is often justification of pay, promotion, or termination decisions, but essays can be used for developmental purposes as well. Since essay appraisals are to a large extent unstructured and open-ended, lack of standardization is a major problem. The open-ended, unstructured nature of the essay appraisal makes it highly susceptible to evaluator bias, which may in some cases be discriminatory. By not having to report on all job-related behaviors or results, an evaluator may simply comment on those that reflect favorably or unfavorably on an employee. This does not usually represent a true picture of the employee or the job, and content validity of the method suffers. Ranking Ranking methods compare one employee to another, resulting in an ordering of employees in relation to one another. Rankings often result in overall assessments of employees, rather than in specific judgments about a number of job components. Straight ranking requires an evaluator to order a group of employees from best to worst overall or from most effective to least effective in terms of a certain criterion. Alternative ranking makes the same demand, but the ranking process must be done in a specified manner (for example, by first selecting the best employee in a group, then the worst, then the second-best, then the second-worst, etc.). Comparative evaluation systems such as ranking are rarely popular. No matter how close a group of employees is in the level of their performance, and no matter how well they perform on the job, some

will rank high and some will end up at the bottom. Evaluators are often reluctant to make such discriminations. Also, rankings are unable to compare employees across different groups. For example, it is difficult to say whether the second-ranked employee in unit A is as good as or better than the second-ranked employee in unit B. Despite the problems of ranking methods, if an organization has a very limited number of promotions or dollars to allocate, rankings can be very useful in differentiating among employees. Forced Distribution Forced distribution is a form of comparative evaluation in which an evaluator rates subordinates according to a specified distribution. Unlike ranking methods, forced distribution is frequently applied to several rather than only one component of job performance. Use of the forced distribution method is demonstrated by a manager who is told that he or she must rate subordinates according to the following distribution: 10 percent low; 20 percent below average; 40 percent average; 20 percent above average; and 10 percent high. In a group of 20 employees, two would have to be placed in the low category, four in the below-average category, eight in the average, four above average, and two would be placed in the highest category. The proportions of forced distribution can vary. For example, a supervisor could be required to place employees into top, middle, and bottom thirds of a distribution. Forced distribution is primarily used to eliminate rating errors such as leniency and central tendency, but the method itself can cause rating errors because it forces discriminations between employees even where job performance is quite similar. For example, even if all employees in a unit are doing a good job, the forced distribution approach dictates that a certain number be placed at the bottom of a graded continuum. For this reason, raters and ratees do not readily accept this method, especially in small groups or when group members are all of high ability. Graphic Rating Graphic rating scales are one of the most common methods of performance appraisal. Graphic rating scales require an evaluator to indicate on a scale the degree to which an employee demonstrates a particular trait, behavior, or performance result. Rating forms are composed of a number of scales, each relating to a certain job or performance-related dimension, such as job knowledge, responsibility, or quality of work. Each scale is a continuum of scale points, or anchors, which range from high to low, from good to poor, from most to least effective, and so forth. Scales typically have from five to seven points, though they can have more or less. Graphic rating scales may or may not define their scale points. Acceptable rating scales should have the following characteristics: 1. Performance dimensions should be clearly defined. 2. Scales should be behaviorally based so that a rater is able to support all ratings with objective, observable evidence. 3. Abstract trait names such as "loyalty," "honesty," and "integrity" should be avoided unless they can be defined in terms of observable behaviors.

4. Points, or anchors, on each scaled dimension should be brief, unambiguous, and relevant to the dimension being rated. For example, in rating a person's flow of words, it is preferable to use anchors such as "fluent," "easy," "unimpeded," "hesitant," and "labored," rather than "excellent," "very good," "average," "below average," and "poor." Carefully constructed graphic rating scales have a number of advantages: 1. Standardization of content permitting comparison of employees. 2. Ease of development use and relatively low development and usage cost. 3. Reasonably high rater and ratee acceptance. A disadvantage of such rating scales is that they are susceptible to rating errors which result in inaccurate appraisals. Possible rating errors include halo effect, central tendency, severity, and leniency. The halo effect occurs when a rating on one dimension of an appraisal instrument substantially influences the ratings on other dimensions for the same employee. As a result of the halo effect, an employee is rated about the same across all performance dimensions. Central tendency is a lack of variation or difference among ratings of different subordinates, wherein most employees tend to be rated as average. Leniency refers to an evaluator's tendency to rate most employees very highly across performance dimensions, whereas severity refers to the tendency to rate most employees quite harshly. Mixed Standard Scales Mixed standard scales are a relatively recent innovation in rating scales. They contain statements representing good, average, and poor performance based on behavioral examples obtained from knowledgeable persons, usually supervisors. An evaluator's task is to indicate whether an employee either fits the statement, is better than the statement, or worse than the statement. In a mixed standard scale, each performance dimension has three statements relating to it: one illustrating good performance, one average, and one poor. Thus, this mixed standard scale has nine statements, three for each of the three dimensions used. Statements in mixed standard scales are randomly mixed, tending to reduce rater errors by making it less obvious which statements reflect effective or ineffective performance. Example of a mixed standard scale Instructions: If the employee fits the statement, put a ?=? in the space opposite the statement. If the employee is better than the statement, put a ?v?. If the employee is worse than the statement, put ?x?. 1. Is on good terms with everyone. Can get along with people even in disagreement. 2. Employee's work is spotty, sometimes being all right and sometimes not. Could be more accurate and careful. 3. Has a tendency to get into unnecessary conflicts with people.

4. Is quick and efficient, able to keep work on schedule. Really gets going on a new task. 5. The accuracy of employee's work is satisfactory. It is not often that you find clear evidence of carelessness. 6. Gets along with most people. Only very occasionally has conflicts with others on the job, and these are likely to be minor. 7. Is efficient enough, usually getting through assignments and work in reasonable time. 8. Work is striking in its accuracy. Never any evidence of carelessness in it. 9. There is some lack of efficiency on employee's part. Employee may take too much time to complete assignments, and sometimes does not really finish them. Behavioral Checklist A behavioral checklist is a rating form containing statements describing both effective and ineffective job behaviors. These behaviors relate to a number of behavioral dimensions determined to be relevant to the job. Items from a behavioral checklist for a salesperson's job Instructions: Please check those statements descriptive of an employee's behavior. 1. Calls on customers immediately after hearing of any complaints 2. Discusses complaints with customer 3. Gathers facts relevant to customers' complaints 4. Transmits information about complaints back to customers and resolves problems to their satisfaction 5. Plans each day's activities ahead of time 6. Lays out broad sales plans for one month ahead 7. Gathers sales information from customers, other salesmen, trade journals, and other relevant sources Behavioral checklists are well suited to employee development because they focus on behaviors and results, and use absolute rather comparative standards. An advantage of behavioral checklists is that evaluators are asked to describe rather than evaluate a subordinate's behavior. For this reason, behavioral checklists may meet with less evaluator resistance than some other methods. An obvious disadvantage of behavioral checklists is that much time and money must be invested to construct the instrument. BARS - Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) are rating scales whose scale points are defined by statements of effective and ineffective behaviors. They are said to be behaviorally anchored in that the scales represent a continuum of descriptive statements of behaviors ranging from least to most effective. An evaluator must indicate which behavior on each scale best describes an employee's

performance. BARS differ from other rating scales in that scale points are specifically defined behaviors. Also, BARS are constructed by the evaluators who will use them. There are four steps in the BARS construction process: 1. Listing of all the important dimensions of performance for a job or jobs 2. Collection of critical incidents of effective and ineffective behavior 3. Classification of effective and ineffective behaviors to appropriate performance dimensions 4. Assignment of numerical values to each behavior within each dimension (i.e., scaling of behavioral anchors) Sample of BARS INTERPERSONAL SKILL DESCRIPTION: Develops and maintains a friendly rapport with others; demonstrates a sensitivity to their feelings; respects the dignity of others and responds with empathy to their own sense of self-worth. Ratings 1 and 2: Demonstrates the ability to get along well with subordinates, managers, and peers; strives to achieve work group objectives. Can express own ideas, thoughts, and feelings and considers the needs, ideas, and feelings of others. Ratings 3 and 4: Demonstrates the ability to apply factors of effective listening, on a one-to-one basis, such as displaying interest, not interrupting when another is speaking, and withholding judgments. Consistently provides honest (both positive and negative) feedback and provides constructive criticism when appropriate. Ratings 5 and 6: Demonstrates the ability to consistently consider and respond to the needs and ideas of others which encourages and stimulates further communication. Effectively listens in group or one-to-one situations involving distractions, stress, complex information, or when the person speaking is emotional/distraught. Creates/maintains a positive working environment that encourages expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. Management by Objectives Management by objectives (MBO) involves setting specific measurable goals with each employee and then periodically discussing his/her progress toward these goals. The term MBO almost always refers to a comprehensive organization-wide goal setting and appraisal program that consist of six main steps: 1. Set the organization?s goals. Establish organization-wide plan for next year and set goals. 2. Set departmental goals. Here department heads and their superiors jointly set goals for their departments 3. Discuss and allocate department goals. Department heads discuss the department's goals with all

subordinates in the department (often at a department-wide meeting) and ask them to develop their own individual goals; in other words, how can each employee contribute to the department's attaining its goals? 4. Define expected results (set individual goals). Here, department heads and their subordinates set short-term performance targets. 5. Performance review and measure the results. Department heads compare actual performance for each employee with expected results. 6. Provide feedback. Department heads hold periodic performance review meetings with subordinates to discuss and evaluate progress in achieving expected results.

Evaluation Criteria in Performance Appraisal

In choosing an appraisal system, HR professionals should consider their own organization's needs for performance appraisal. Key considerations are (1) whom the company should evaluate, and (2) what criteria should be used to evaluate. Whom Company Should Evaluate First, the organization must determine which employees in what types of jobs should be evaluated. Whom the organization needs to evaluate has implications for the type of system chosen. For example, a system that effectively appraises managerial performance would be quite different from a

system evaluating the performance of clerical workers. Different jobs place different demands on appraisal systems. Jobs that are difficult to describe or that vary substantially in terms of activities and tasks create difficulties in terms of appraising performance. What criteria should be used to evaluate Next, an organization must decide what criteria it will use for evaluation. Does it want a system based on evaluating individual traits, behaviors, or job results? This decision depends in part on who is being evaluated and how the organization intends to use the performance appraisal. TRAIT Early graphic rating scales evaluated workers on individual traits or personal characteristics which were presumably related to job performance. Initiative, aggressiveness, reliability, and personality are examples of traits on which employees have been rated. One problem with trait rating is that the traits themselves are difficult to define and may be subject to varying interpretation by evaluators. BEHAVIOR Rating employees according to job behaviors is based on the assumption that there are effective and ineffective behaviors and that these have been identified for each job or type of job. Behaviors are judged effective or ineffective in terms of the results the behaviors produce (either desirable or undesirable). For example, a customer service representative could be judged on the amount of patience shown to irate customers. Evaluating employees along behavioral dimensions is especially important for employee development purposes. JOB RESULT Results indexes are often used for appraisal purposes if an employee's job has measurable results. Examples of job results indexes are dollar volume of sales, amount of scrap, and quantity and quality of work produced. When such quantitative results are not available, evaluators tend to use appraisal forms based on employee behaviors and/or personal characteristics. In some cases, appraisals may of necessity focus on results rather than behaviors. This is especially true where job content is highly variable, as in many managerial positions, thus making it difficult to specify appropriate behaviors for evaluative purposes. Results indexes such as turnover, absenteeism, grievances, profitability, and production rates can be used to evaluate the performance of organization units

Fast-tracking Career : Pros and Cons

Fast-tracking high potential management and technical talent is a strategy many organizations are using to ensure that the good people they are able to attract are properly developed, effectively utilized and retained. The scenario goes like this: Sammy Starr is top dog of his MBA class at Famous University. Before "B" school, Sammy was a Phi Beta Kappa and swim team captain. From 650 Fortune 500 job offers, Sammy finally accepts an offer from Big City Bank. Obviously, the last thing Big City's human resources people want to do is to lose Sammy. And the first

thing they want to do is find a way to use him. As he stands now, he is only a potential contributor to the company's future. He's got lots of street smarts to learn before he'll be able to function at a maximal level for the bank. Solution? Fast-track. Rotate Sammy quickly through the minimum possible number of internal training and work experiences and then put him to work. From there, move him as high and as fast as possible into the managerial hierarchy. Absurd? Fanciful? Not in the least. There are literally hundreds of Sammy and Sally Starr fasttrackers in today's organizations. No bank like Big City can afford to have Sammy "work his way up" Horatio Alger-style from teller to executive vice president. Most organizations need a faster return on their human resources investment. The good news The good news in fast-tracking is that it works. Potential high performers are attracted to organizations with fast-track systems. Also, the systems do move people quickly through necessary experiences into key management positions. And fast-trackers tend to be extremely loyal to the organizations which so recognize them as high-potential individuals. But the bad news.... TRAINING polled a number of human resources planning experts on both sides of the to fast-track or not to fast-track issue and garnered several problems and potential solutions. 1. Those "annotated" to the fast-track may succeed simply because everyone knows they are being watched and given special treatment. As Researchers Robert Rosenthal, Lenore Jacobson, J. Sterling Livingston, and, of course, Eliza Doolittle, have aptly demonstrated, the Pygmalion Effect is real. People often succeed because they are expected to succeed. As a precaution, most fast-tracked organizations take pains to ensure that : All evaluations of the fast-track people are independent and verifiable. No fast-tracker is advanced as a result of a single glowing report. One contact told us of a "Hi Po" engineer who was evaluated by 47 separate individuals before the glowing reports of his super skills were accepted as factual. Pains can and should be taken to document actual hard independent in-formation about the F.T.'s performance. P&L sheets, budgets, production figures, any artifact that isn't fakeable should be used as an acid test. 2. Non-fast-trackers may become demoralized by their non-Inclusion. This is almost but not quite a pseudo problem. Yes, fast-trackers do come on strong from time to time. They know who they are and they know others know. And, yes, they are envied and sometimes resented. But the cure is obvious. First, fast-trackers can be taught proper humility, if need be fraternities and sororities have known how to do that for centuries. Secondly, the glamour of the fasttrack can be countered by the kinds of things the fast-trackers are assigned to do. A third deglamourizer is a time-limit, up-or-out policy that is enforced. Fourth, long hours, weekends, and frequent demanding performance reviews will also cut the image down to size. 3. Stagnating and Jealous managers can derail the fast trackers.

Naturally, giving a fast-tracker to your in-house Attila the Hun makes little sense. When possible, seek out the managers who have a reputation for cultivating good people, and assign the fast trackers to them. Another solution is to require multiple performance reviews of the same fast-tracker by independent raters. This quickly shows up both false positive and false negative ratings. 4. Fast-track systems tend to be populated by people who are remarkably like the people now in prominent positions in the organization. On the whole, this means white, male, etc. Doesn't this mean that the EEOC and other federal and state affirmative action agencies might be gunning for an organization's fast-track system? Yes, the EEOC and others have occasionally challenged fast-tracking as a form of elitist discrimination. Note the word challenged. Most organizations that fast-track have demonstrated a critical defense: There are women and members of minorities on the fast-track as truly qualified candidates for key positions. 5. A final complaint is that no one dares really review fast-trackers. That is, once a person is appointed to the fast-track, he or she has it made; performance no longer counts. There is a tendency of line managers to tried softly on the toes of fast-trackers. After all, one never knows who one might end up working for. But a few precautions negate this tendency: Multiple, reviews of performance help cancel out the reviews of the intimidated. Evaluating fast-trackers on actual bottom-line results tends to eliminate bias. Finally, fast-trackers are often put in stretch situationsthose with a real risk of failure. One cannot fake the result of being in such a situation. The bottom line is that there are problems with fast-tracking. The Crown Prince effect and hiring in "thine own image" are only two of the more obvious. But with adequate precautions and dedication to fairness, fast-tracking can supply an organization with high quality "young blood" when a transfusion is most needed, and welcome.

The Rules for Corporate Career Resilience

Rule #1: The company is not in charge of your careeryou are. Your people can no longer wait for you to come to them with a new assignment or opportunity; they must seek out such opportunities themselves. Your relationship with them is no longer one of parent-to-child, but adult-to-adult. They share the responsibility for initiating career discussions. Even being designated as a "high potential" or a valued employee may not guarantee they will keep their place in the succession plan, as these plans have become less relevant as the pace of change has picked up. You will meet your employees

more than halfway by giving them the tools and counsel they need to take charge of their careers. Rule #2: Instead of ladders and paths, there are now webs and mazes. Your employees must learn, if they haven't already, to think of a career less as a ladder and more as a web. Webs have a center but no top and a lot of paths that connect. Unlike ladders, webs often dissolve when their purpose is fulfilled. Smart workers will move along the webs, picking up new skills that meet the organization's needs, looking for problems to solve, and working on team projects. And if a web breaks or dissolves, it can always be rewoven in a similar or different pattern. Rule #3: Every job is now subject to a "make or buy" decision. Because of the flexibility and cost savings involved in using contract employees, vendors, and temporary employees to do the work previously done by downsized employees, your workers must understand that they may now be competing with these outside resources. This means they have to continually prove their value. Their only security lies in their ability to continually retool themselves to remain valuable to their employer. This is why continuous learning is so important to all workers today. All employees should also consider that their next opportunity may lie in becoming an outside resource themselves. Rule #4: Hidden needs in the organization's internal job market are more promising sources of advancement than the formal job postings. There has always been, and will always be, a "hidden job market" in every company. Only now the inside job market contains more hidden jobs than ever. New needs appear so fast that there is little time to wait for the slow wheels of the formal hiring process to start rolling. These days, about a third of all jobs filled are newly created ones. And, of course, with the loss of rungs on career ladders, there are fewer formal job slots in the first place. All employeesyou includedmust be on the lookout for unmet needs, then make proposals to the person who "owns the problem" to help meet the need. Getting your employees to accept this proposition is a part of helping them learn to take more initiative in every aspect of their jobs. Many times, by looking to meet the organization's needs, they will carve out their next career move. Rule #5. The most "vendor-minded" employees will find or create the most opportunity. The employees who think of themselves as "intrapreneurs" will see the organization as a market for their skills. They will understand the truest, most empowering definition of a job"a talent that meets a need." With your help, they will come to see themselves as vendors, and they will perceive more opportunity as a result. Vendor-minded employees realize that the purpose of the organization is to provide goods and services that customer value and that, if the organizations employees do not do that, eventually they may all be out of a job

Self Assessment of Career Interest

Item from a self-assessment exercise to determine personal wants. 1. Select the three personal wants which are most important to you in your next job assignment and circle them below. 2. Select the three personal wants which are least important to you in your next career step and draw

a line through them. 3. Add personal wants you don't find on the list. Personal wants : Free time Power Fun work Money Independence Security Professional Stature Challenge Freedom from Worry Friends Prestige Cultural Opportunities Geographic location Recreation Visibility Climate Educational Facilities Leadership Expertness Time with Family 4. Does your present job setting offer possibilities for satisfying what you want most in your next step? If yes, describe how. If no, what setting is indicated? 5. Do you want your next job assignment to satisfy your wants? If yes, how? If no, why not? 6. Decide what you want most in your next job assignment and describe it. 7. Describe the major activities you can do and will do to gain what you want, but don't use job titles or positions to describe what you will do. Describe the type of activities you'll perform to achieve what you want. List at least five activities you can perform now. Examples: I'll analyze data for financial records. I'll collect more from creditors. I'll marry the boss's daughter. 8. Do you need to develop some new skills or abilities to improve your potential for your next step ? It so, what skills or abilities would you develop? 9. Summarize what you personally want and what you can do and will do to satisfy your wants.

Building A Competitive Talent Organization

To build a competitive talent organization, the talent leader needs to be closely aligned with other senior managers in organization. Here are five ways that senior managers can contribute to your organization's talent goals: Plan vigorously. Senior managers should partner with the talent leader and hiring managers in their

division to create a written plan for how they will meet your current and long-term talent needs. Planning for the talent agenda should be as thorough and as vigorous as any other plan ning in the company (for instance, strategic, annual operating, material, and financial planning). Be accessible. Senior managers should schedule regular meetings with their talent organization counterpart and be available and responsive when the talent leader contacts them. All senior managers should be accessible to meet prospective talent anywhere and anytime. Sell. With a plan in place, senior managers are responsible for "selling" the plan within their division. How will the talent plan help the division succeed? How should people participate? How will they be measured and rewarded for their participation? Senior managers need to emphasize the importance of Key Talent and back up their words with concrete plans and metrics. They also need to always wear their "selling shoes" when talking and meeting with prospective talent. If a hiring manager or other employee cannot sell his own company to a candidate, then leave that person off of the interview or meeting schedule. Benchmarking. Know how effective your talent efforts are today and continue to measure these efforts using the metrics outlined next to gauge your efforts over time. Are they working? Also, continuously benchmark internal and external talent. The grass is hardly as green on the other side as you want to believe. Still, knowing who is out there, what they are doing, and how your internal talent stacks up is an essential element of strategic talent planning. Make movement happen. Don't let open positions stagnate while hiring managers churn through reams of resumes from unqualified candidates. The framework provided in this book shows you how to be proactive in assessing and meeting your talent needs. Put the time and resources behind this framework to make it happen in your organization. And be willing to open up positions and make churn happen within the organization to accommodate new candidates and grow existing talent. Keeping the place moving will add the extra adrenaline needed for all talent to see a future in front of them in the current organization.

Career Anchor and Career Stage

Schein's career anchors represent aspects of work that are especially valued or needed by people for their personal fulfillment. They include: 1. Managerial competence : the individual desires opportunities to manage.

2. Technical/functional competence : the individual desires to use various technical abilities and special competencies. 3. Security : the individual is basically motivated by a need for job security or stability in the work situation. 4. Creativity : the individual is motivated by a need to create or build something. 5. Autonomy and independence: of primary interest to this person is the opportunity to work independently and without organizational constraints. Career planning and development activities allow employees to grow in any of these desired directions. Career Stages What people want from their careers also varies according to the stage of one's career. What may have been important in an early stage may not be important in a later one. Four distinct career stages have been identified: trial, establishment/advancement, mid-career, and late career. Each stage represents different career needs and interests of the individual Trial stage.The trial stage begins with an individual's exploration of career-related matters and ends usually at about age 25 with a commitment on the part of the individual to a particular occupation. Until the decision is made to settle down, the individual may try a number of jobs and a number of organizations. Unfortunately for many organizations, this trial and exploration stage results in high level of turnover among new employees. Employees in this stage need opportunities for selfexploration and a variety of job activities or assignments. Establishment. The establishment/advancement stage tends to occur between ages 25 and 44. In this stage, the individual has made his or her career choice and is concerned with achievement, performance, and advancement. This stage is marked by high employee productivity and career growth, as the individual is motivated to succeed in the organization and in his or her chosen occupation. Opportunities for job challenge and use of special competencies are desired in this stage. The employee strives for creativity and innovation through new job assignments. Employees also need a certain degree of autonomy in this stage so that they can experience feelings of individual achievement and personal success. Mid Career Crisis Sub Stage. The period occurring between the mid-thirties and mid-forties during which people often make a major reassessment of their progress relative to their original career ambitions and goals. Maintenance stage. The mid-career stage, which occurs roughly between the ages 45 and 64, has also been referred to as the maintenance stage. This stage is typified by a continuation of established patterns of work behavior. The person is no longer trying to establish a place for himself or herself in the organization, but seeks to maintain his or her position. This stage is viewed as a mid-career plateau in which little new ground is broken. The individual in this stage may need some technical

updating in his or her field. The employee should be encouraged to develop new job skills in order to avoid early stagnation and decline. Late-career stage. In this stage the career lessens in importance and the employee plans for retirement and seeks to develop a sense of identity outside the work environment.

Key Steps in Career Development Initiatives

1. Define the need. To "hit the bull's-eye," you need to talk with employees to find out what's missing. Is it lack of perceived opportunity, not enough training, too little communication, diversity issues? Exit interview analysis, employee surveys, and focus groups can help you become clearer about employees' views on these issues.

2. Identify target groups. Focus on the employees you most want to keep. This helps you to get buy-in from all levels of management, which is important in building enthusiasm and gaining acceptance for the initiative. 3. Tie the initiative to human resources systems and policies. Company policies and practices regarding application procedures for posted jobs, managers' ability to block internal movement, hiring from within, use of computer job/talent banks, training, tuition reimbursement, use of pay systems that reward flexibility rather than hierarchy, and performance management all impact the career development initiative and should be : synch with it. 4. Tailor the initiative to fit the culture. Start with the pieces that the current culture will accept. If you are trying to change your culture to create more employee initiative, giving workers the tools to take charge is an important way to do it. One company, Komatsu, took an initiative to develop a web of relationships across the company. It included an innovative new career path concept a 'return ticket' policy to encourage the transfer of young employees to subsidiaries and affiliate companies that had previously been viewed as banishment; and the Strategic Employee Exchange Program, which allows employees to work on projects in other parts of the company on a short-term basis. 5. Take a long-term approach with short-term payoffs. To build momentum, develop the program in stages. Begin by conducting a needs evaluation with a manager task force, then design and pilot a program, measure the results, spread the good word, and gradually include more managers and employees. If the gradual approach is solidly designed and well executed, the long-term results in keeping the right people will take care of themselves. 6. Redesign performance management system to make the process easier, if necessary. Some companies require managers to have career discussions with their employees at least twice a year, or to jointly create career development action plans once a year. Others incorporate manager ratings as career coaches on the performance review. 7. Codesign with line management. The career development system, like the performance management system, should be owned by line management, not by human resources, if it is to be successful. Getting line management to help design this system from the outset will go a long way toward making this happen. 8. Separate career management from performance appraisal. Keeping the two apart helps assure employees that the purpose of the program is to help them manage their careers and not to help their superiors manage them. Career discussions between manager and employee should be scheduled between performance appraisal discussions. 9. Ensure top management support. This is the key to success with almost all initiatives. Sometimes successful programs can be created gradually from the bottom up (or from the middle up), but the way to more immediate success starts at the top. 10. Measure results. Collecting manager and employee comments from career management workshops and disseminating them to other managers and employees works quite well. So does documenting the success stories employees who decided to stay within the company or whose

performance improved because they attended the workshops and initiated career discussions with their managers 14. Publicize results. Making presentations to managers that include the results and success stories is the key.

Elements of Career Planning Programs

Though programs differ, four distinct elements of career planning programs emerge. They include (1) individual assessments of abilities, interests, career needs, and goals; (2) organizational assessments of employee abilities and potential; (3) communication of information concerning career options and

opportunities with the organization; and (4) career counseling to set realistic goals and plan for their attainment. Each of these elements is discussed in greater detail below. Individual Assessments Individual assessment of abilities, interests, career needs, and goals is basically a process of selfexploration and analysis. Individuals are frequently guided by self-assessment exercises. The self-assessment process is basically viewed as an individual responsibility; however, organizations can aid in this process by providing the employee with materials and opportunities for self-exploration and analysis. A variety of self-assessment materials are available commercially, but a number of organizations, including IBM, Xerox, General Motors, and General Electric, have developed tailor-made workbooks for employee career planning purposes. Individual career planning exercises can be done independently by employees or in workshops sponsored by the organization. Workshops have the advantage of combining a number of career planning elements including self assessment, communication of organizational career and development opportunities, and one -on-one counseling to ensure that career goals are realistic. Organizational Assessments A key issue in career counseling sessions is whether an employee's goals are realistic in terms of organizational possibilities and organizational assessments of employee abilities and potential. Accurate assessments of employee abilities and potential are important to both the organization and the individual. Organizations have several sources of information for making assessments of employee abilities and potential. First is selection information, including ability tests, assessment center test, interest inventories, and biographical information such as education and work experience. Second is current job history information, including performance appraisal information, records of promotions and promotion recommendations, salary increases, and participation in various training and development programs. Organizations have traditionally relied on performance appraisal data as the primary basis for assessing employee potential. Career Information within an Organization Before realistic goals can be set, an employee need information about career options and opportunities. This includes information about possible career directions; possible paths of career advancement; and specific job vacancies. In organizations with informal career planning programs, employees learn about career options and opportunities from their supervisors within the context of developmental performance appraisal interviews. Organizations with more established career planning programs make greater use of workbooks, workshops, and even recruiting materials to communicate career options and opportunities. Career paths have been defined as logical progressions between jobs or from one job to a target position. They can be either traditional or behavioral. Traditional career paths are based on past patterns of actual movement by employees. They tend to

be limited to advancement within a single function or organizational unit, such as purchasing, sales, or customer relations. Years of service to the organization largely determine the rate at which advancement can occur. For example, a salesman might expect to advance to the position of account supervisor after five years, to sales supervisor after 10, to district manager after 15, and to regional manager after 25 years of service. More flexible patterns of employee career movement are described by behavioral career paths, which are based on analysis of similarities in job activities and requirements. Where similarities exist, jobs can be grouped into job families, or clusters. Thus, all jobs involving similar work activities and levels of required skills and abilities form one job cluster, regardless of job title. Focusing on job similarities across functions and organizational units brings to light new career options for employees and greater flexibility for the organization in utilizing its available human resources. One organization, for example, was able to shift a number of its sales personnel to purchasing positions when sales declined in one major product line and opportunities became available in the purchasing department. This shift was undertaken when a job analysis showed behavioral similarities between the two previously distinct functions. Career Counseling It is in counseling sessions, typically with supervisors and managers in developmental performance appraisal interviews, that most employees explore career goals and opportunities in the organization. Supervisors and managers need accurate assessments of employee abilities a potential, as well as nd information about career options and opportunities in the organization. HR professionals may be involved in some informal career counseling activities, but basically their role is to support career counseling activities of supervisors and managers. This means providing supervisors and managers with needed information as well as with the necessary training to function effectively as counselors. In career counseling sessions, employees seek answers to the following kinds of questions : 1. What are my skills and what are the possibilities for developing them or learning new ones? 2. What do I really want for myself insofar as work is concerned? 3. What's possible for me, given my current abilities and skills? 4. What's really required for certain jobs? 5. What training will be required if I choose to pursue a certain career objective?" When counselors are equipped to help employees find the answers to such questions, realistic career goals can be set. Next, development strategies must be devised.

Career Management Best Practices

Here are some of best practices on managing employee career plan and development.

Providing Employee Assessment and Career Planning Workshops. Companies such as Apple Computer and Sun Microsystems hold on-site workshops where employees learn to take charge of their careers, beginning with assessing their abilities, interests, and values. They then engage in a planning process where they explore the organization's needs to determine possible future options and how to prepare for them. Then they are ready for productive career discussions with their managers. Conducting Career Coaching Workshops for Managers. While employees are learning to take charge of their careers, managers are learning how to support their efforts by becoming familiar with the career assessment and planning process, practicing career coaching techniques, preparing for various types of employee-initiated career discussions, and giving honest feedback. Establishing Employee Career Centers. Companies such as Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, and Motorola, to name a few, have set up internal career centers where employees can come for selfassessment. Services may include computerized programs that incorporate 360-degree feedback, competency assessment, confidential counseling, career management and resilience training, lunch and-learn seminars, and information, sometimes through an intranet system, about internal opportunities. Giving Open Business Briefings. To meet employees halfway in planning their careers inside the organization, companies such as Sun Microsystems, 3Com, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, and Microsoft openly discuss strategic decisions and plans that may impact jobs or skills that will be required in the future. At 3Com, most departments hold weekly discussion sessions on the status of the business and what it may mean to employees. IBM has a national website for employees that provides information about the strategic direction of the company. Managers are also expected to provide strategic information to their people. Sun's management has promised workers that it will make employees aware of a strategic decision that will affect staffing, such as plans to outsource a function. "As soon as we've decided something, you'll know," Sun says. Then it follows through on its promise. Sharing such information would be frowned upon by many companies. But the companies that practice such openness believe they are simply treating their employees as respect-worthy adults rather than perpetuating the outdated parent-child relationship. Andy Grove, chairman of Intel, is a strong believer in giving employees the information they need to stay resilient, or, as he calls it, "owning your own employability. "Every quarter," he says to his employees, "I give you a two-hour dump of what's happening to us. You have to figure out what that means to you Creating an Internal Network of Information Providers. Raychem, for example, has set up a network of more than 400 people throughout the organization who are willing to take the time to talk with employees who want to learn about the nature of their work and job qualifications. Called "I.I.I.N.siders" (for Insiders Information Interview Network), the computerized database houses the names and backgrounds of volunteers.

Chase Manhattan Bank maintains a list of employees who are willing to be shadowed by those interested in moving into their line of work. An employee who wants to be a derivatives trader, for example, can spend the day with an actual trader, learning about the challenges of the job, and come away with a realistic understanding of the work. Maintaining Internal Job and Talent Banks. Microsoft has created an on-line service where employees can learn about open positions and the skills required for them. Microsoft also places large amounts of career information on what it calls its "electronic campus," including a "resource and referral" section with lists of books, professional associations, conferences, courses, articles, and other information recommended by coworkers. In its Career Partnership Center, Advanced Micro Devices maintains a data bank of employee skills that can be accessed by managers looking for internal talent. The company also integrates the career development plans of all employees into its long-range workforce planning process. Many other companies are moving to implement virtual career centers that feature on-line computer platforms that show various career paths and allow employees to benchmark their skill levels against those required for desired jobs so that they can make plans to close the gaps. Establishing Individual Learning Accounts. As more and more employees seek opportunities for customized and self-directed development, some progressive companies have created individual learning accounts, providing designated amounts of time and money that employees may "spend" on classes, internships, or other learning opportunities of their choice. While giving employees more freedom to select personalized learning experience, this concept also helps companies save money previously spent on large-scale, "one-size-fits-all" training programs. Starting a Mentoring Program. Formal mentoring programs have grown in popularity in recent years. The list of companies who have launched mentoring programs includes Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, Charles Schwab, Ford Motor Company, Ernst & Young, Quaker Oats Company, IBM, Georgia-Pacific, Ceridian, J. C. Penney, PriceWaterhouse-Coopers, 3M, and General Mills. In one study, mentoring programs were found to be effective in increasing employee retention by 77 percent within companies that implemented them.11 There are three main goals for most mentoring programsto increase opportunities for women and minorities, to develop leaders, and, increasingly, to enhance performance and increase the retention of employees at all levels. Companies with successful mentoring programs report that having the CEO and senior managers actively involved in mentoring and supporting the programs is important. When the practice of mentoring cascades through the organization from the top, it becomes a prestigious thing for managers to take part. Some companies expect all managers to become mentors, to the point that they include mentoring as an item to be reviewed on performance appraisal. Current mentoring programs have become highly structured. Hewlett-Packard maintains an on-line mentor database that mentees can use to search for mentors with specific areas of expertise. They can even interview potential mentors and submit their choices in order of preference. HewlettPackard's program uses written mentoring agreements that establish the ground rules for the

partnership, and the company conducts half-day training sessions for mentors and mentees. Other companies have appointed internal human resources staff as "retention managers" or "career management representatives" to act as consultants to all employees, especially the difficult-to-replace talent, such as software engineers.

Development Program
Has your organization seriously considered implementing a career development program? If not,

perhaps this is a good time to do so. The following description of several, widely used career development interventions and case studies can be used to stimulate discussion on various career development practices. Alternative Career Paths One approach to alternative career pathing involves incorporating the skills employees already have with what their hearts want to do. It can involve changing career and lifestyles for more meaningful and fulfilling work arrangements. Creating alternative career paths often involves incorporating other career development interventions, such as flexi-time or job enrichment. Alternative career paths should not be confused with dual career paths, which is described later. Career Pathing Career pathing, also called career tracking, is a process of outlining an individual career plan, usually within an organization. Career pathing is most often used as a part of management training and development, although individuals may develop their own career track, either alone, or in conjunction with a career coach. Employees follow pre-determined steps along the career path to develop expertise in managing different types of organizational situations and to reach their career goal. Periodic checks evaluate progress, as well as determining what further training or experience is needed to move to the next step. Career pathing often uses several other career development interventions as part of the process. These include cross-training, job rotation, job enrichment or enlargement, and temporary assignments. Dual Career Tracks Dual career tracks should not be confused with alternative career paths. Creating dual career paths involves preparing employees to succeed and be rewarded without necessarily being on a management or vertical organization career path. In other words, ``up'' is not considered the only way employees can grow and advance within the company. The establishment of dual or multiple career tracks has proven to be an effective way to retain and motivate valued employees. Management can be an attractive career alternative for many employees, but it is not for everyone. This may be particularly true for many technical or creative workers. The number of people managed often distinguishes managerial levels, but under the dual career track plan, individuals apply their expertise (like managers) to tasks of greater complexity and impact within their specialty field. For example, they may make recommendations in a wide range of business areas, participate in high level decisions, and act as mentors to other employees. The interest in dual or multiple career tracks is likely to grow as more organizations do away with formal management titles and establish team structures. Career Coaching/Counseling

Career coaching frequently involves helping individuals prepare for a career change or helping employees advance in their existing jobs. From the employee's view, career coaching consists of evaluating interests, values, work styles, and skills. From the organization's view, it consists of matching employee talents with organizational needs, recruiting and retaining talent in the company, identifying training and development needs, and assisting employees in specifying and locating new employment opportunities within the organization. Cross-Training Cross-trained workers are taught skills outside their current job assignment so they can be called upon to perform a variety of tasks as the need arises. Many workers and supervisors find themselves cross-training each other, just to make the day-to-day work life manageable. As a career development intervention, however, companies put into place a formal program of cross-training. Cross-training helps organizations to balance workloads so everyone is busy, and allows the company to respond quickly to employee absences. It also allows employees and departments within an organization to gain a better understanding of the ``big picture'', and to improve communications and relations. Employees who are cross-trained are more valuable to the company, and more marketable in the work world overall. Flexitime Flextime is one of the most popular and most widely known career development interventions. Flexitime gives employees the opportunity to balance their work and personal lives by restructuring the typical workday to accommodate individual employee schedules. Employers who offer flexitime often report decreased use of paid leave, decreased tardiness and increased productivity. Other benefits for the employer include a low-cost method of providing personal time off and extending service hours without overtime pay. This career development intervention is popular with employees who have extended families or young children, who may be facing ``burn-out'', and those seeking further education or pursuing second careers. Flexitime allows employees to set their own schedules, within limitations set by management. For example, workers may adjust their starting and ending times, but are required to be at the office during management specified core or peak hours. Working four ten-hour days is an example of a compressed workweek form of flexitime. Flexitime may also be combined with other interventions, such as job sharing, job rotation, and phased retirement. Job Rotation Job rotation is the systematic movement of employees from job to job within an organization, as a way to achieve many different human resources objectives : for simply staffing jobs, for orienting new employees, for preventing job boredom, and, finally, for training employees and enhancing their career development. Job rotation is often used by employers who place employees on a certain career path or track, usually for a management position, where they are expected to perform a variety of duties, and have

a variety of skills and competencies. Job rotation is often confused with crosstraining. While both interventions perform essentially the same service of providing employees with a varied set of skills, job rotation goes beyond this. Besides being used as a means of management training, job rotation can also be used as a form of job enrichment, by adding increased responsibilities, increasing challenge, and reducing boredom or burnout. Job Enlargement Job enlargement is defined as increasing the number of tasks a worker performs, with all of the tasks at the same level of responsibility, and is also sometimes referred to as ``horizontal job loading'' . Be careful not to confuse job enlargement with job enrichment, which will be discussed later. Job enlargement and job enrichment can both be used with plateaued workers or workers who are experiencing burnout, and with especially high achievers. These two interventions may be used in conjunction with each other, or with other career development interventions such as job rotation and temporary assignments. Both interventions provide the employee with increased skills, making him or her more valuable to the company, or more marketable in the job search. Job Enrichment Job enrichment involves increasing a worker's responsibility and control over his or her work, and is also called ``vertical job loading''. Job enrichment allows you to expand your responsibilities or change your role to develop new competencies without leaving your current position or the organization altogether. Job enrichment is also used as an effective motivational technique. According to this perspective, if a job provides a sense of responsibility, a sense of significance and information concerning performance, the employees will be internally motivated to high levels of performance. The key to creating this situation is to enrich jobs so they provide five core characteristics: task variety, task significance, task identity, autonomy and feedback. Job Sharing With job sharing, a full-time job is split between two employees. The two employees share the duties and responsibilities, as well as the salary and benefits of the job. These two employees must also work closely together, and with management, to co-ordinate hours, duties, and communication among themselves and other departments in the organization. Most often, job sharing is used by parents or adults caring for their parents, and affords employees a better balance between their work and personal lives. Employees pursuing further education or a second career may also use job sharing. Job sharing offers advantages over part-time work in that employees are able to maintain their professional status as well as some of their job benefits. One example of the advantage over flexitime situations is that with flexitime, parents may still require extended day care hours. Benefits to the employer include

having ``two heads instead of one'', retaining valued and experienced employees, and down time due to vacation or sickness is reduced, because the job share partners cover for each other. Phased Retirement Organizations typically devote far more energy to recruiting and retraining than to phasing out workers. Phased retirement is one intervention that workers and employers can use at the latter end of the career cycle. During phased retirement, workers gradually taper their work schedules until they reach full retirement. Other career development interventions such as flextime and job sharing are typically incorporated into phased retirement arrangements. Retirees may work part time and serve as mentors or trainers to their successors. Benefits to employees include a greater sense of control over the transition from work to retirement, lowering the risk of economic insecurity, and more social support. The employer benefits by retaining valued talent and minimizing labor shortages.

Fast-tracking Career : Pros and Cons

Fast-tracking high potential management and technical talent is a strategy many organizations are using to ensure that the good people they are able to attract are properly developed, effectively utilized and retained. The scenario goes like this: Sammy Starr is top dog of his MBA class at Famous University. Before "B" school, Sammy was a Phi Beta Kappa and swim team captain. From 650 Fortune 500 job offers, Sammy finally accepts an offer from Big City Bank. Obviously, the last thing Big City's human resources people want to do is to lose Sammy. And the first thing they want to do is find a way to use him. As he stands now, he is only a potential contributor to the company's future. He's got lots of street smarts to learn before he'll be able to function at a maximal level for the bank. Solution? Fast-track. Rotate Sammy quickly through the minimum possible number of internal training and work experiences and then put him to work. From there, move him as high and as fast as possible into the managerial hierarchy. Absurd? Fanciful? Not in the least. There are literally hundreds of Sammy and Sally Starr fasttrackers in today's organizations. No bank like Big City can afford to have Sammy "work his way up" Horatio Alger-style from teller to executive vice president. Most organizations need a faster return on their human resources investment. The good news The good news in fast-tracking is that it works. Potential high performers are attracted to organizations with fast-track systems. Also, the systems do move people quickly through necessary experiences into key management positions. And fast-trackers tend to be extremely loyal to the organizations which so recognize them as high-potential individuals. But the bad news.... TRAINING polled a number of human resources planning experts on both sides of the to fast-track or not to fast-track issue and garnered several problems and potential solutions. 1. Those "annotated" to the fast-track may succeed simply because everyone knows they are being watched and given special treatment. As Researchers Robert Rosenthal, Lenore Jacobson, J. Sterling Livingston, and, of course, Eliza Doolittle, have aptly demonstrated, the Pygmalion Effect is real. People often succeed because they are expected to succeed. As a precaution, most fast-tracked organizations take pains to ensure that : All evaluations of the fast-track people are independent and verifiable. No fast-tracker is advanced as a result of a single glowing report. One contact told us of a "Hi Po" engineer who was evaluated by 47 separate individuals before the glowing reports of his super skills were accepted as factual. Pains can and should be taken to document actual hard independent in-formation about the F.T.'s performance. P&L sheets, budgets, production figures, any artifact that isn't fakeable should be used as an acid test. 2. Non-fast-trackers may become demoralized by their non-Inclusion. This is almost but not quite a pseudo problem. Yes, fast-trackers do come on strong from time to time. They know who they are and they know others know. And, yes, they are envied and sometimes

resented. But the cure is obvious. First, fast-trackers can be taught proper humility, if need be fraternities and sororities have known how to do that for centuries. Secondly, the glamour of the fasttrack can be countered by the kinds of things the fast-trackers are assigned to do. A third deglamourizer is a time-limit, up-or-out policy that is enforced. Fourth, long hours, weekends, and frequent demanding performance reviews will also cut the image down to size. 3. Stagnating and Jealous managers can derail the fast trackers. Naturally, giving a fast-tracker to your in-house Attila the Hun makes little sense. When possible, seek out the managers who have a reputation for cultivating good people, and assign the fast-trackers to them. Another solution is to require multiple performance reviews of the same fast-tracker by independent raters. This quickly shows up both false positive and false negative ratings. 4. Fast-track systems tend to be populated by people who are remarkably like the people now in prominent positions in the organization. On the whole, this means white, male, etc. Doesn't this mean that the EEOC and other federal and state affirmative action agencies might be gunning for an organization's fast-track system? Yes, the EEOC and others have occasionally challenged fast-tracking as a form of elitist discrimination. Note the word challenged. Most organizations that fast-track have demonstrated a critical defense: There are women and members of minorities on the fast-track as truly qualified candidates for key positions. 5. A final complaint is that no one dares really review fast-trackers. That is, once a person is appointed to the fast-track, he or she has it made; performance no longer counts. There is a tendency of line managers to tried softly on the toes of fast-trackers. After all, one never knows who one might end up working for. But a few precautions negate this tendency: Multiple, reviews of performance help cancel out the reviews of the intimidated. Evaluating fast-trackers on actual bottom-line results tends to eliminate bias. Finally, fast-trackers are often put in stretch situationsthose with a real risk of failure. One cannot fake the result of being in such a situation. The bottom line is that there are problems with fast-tracking. The Crown Prince effect and hiring in "thine own image" are only two of the more obvious. But with adequate precautions and dedication to fairness, fast-tracking can supply an organization with high quality "young blood" when a transfusion is most needed, and welcome.