Coaching, Careers, and Talent Management

Coaching, Careers, and Talent Management

中国经济管理大学

ANNOTATED OUTLINE

I. Improving Your Coaching Skills

A. Coaching’s Importance

Coaching means educating, instructing, and training subordinates.  Great supervisors tend to be great coaches, because they bring out the best in their employees.  

B. Preparing to Coach

Preparation means understanding the problem, the employee, and the employee’s skills.  Your goal is to formulate a hypothesis about what the problem is.

C. Planning

Perhaps the most powerful way to get someone to change is to obtain his or her enthusiastic agreement on what change is required.  This requires reaching agreement on what change is required.

D. Active Coaching

With agreement on a plan, you can start the actual “educating, instructing, and training” – namely coaching.  Here you are, in essence, the role of the teacher.

E. Follow-Up

Bad habits sometimes reemerge.  It is therefore necessary to re-observe the person’s progress periodically to assure that they are still on the desired track.

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NOTES Educational Materials to Use

II. Career Management Basics

A. Career Terminology – We may define career as the “occupational positions a person has had over many years.”  Many people look back on their careers, knowing that what they might have achieved they did achieve, and that their career goals were satisfied.   

B.  Careers Today – Recessions, mergers, outsourcing, consolidations, and more or less endless downsizing have changed the ground rules.  More often employees find themselves having to reinvent themselves.

C.  Employer Career Efforts Today – Many employers have added a career aspect    to their human resource activities.  They use human resource activities, not just to support the employer’s needs, but also to facilitate career self-analysis and development.  

D.  The Employee’s Role – An individual must accept responsibility for his/her own career; assess his/her own interests, skill, and values; and take the steps required to ensure a happy and fulfilling career.  Finding a mentor who can be a sounding board is often helpful. Mentoring programs can be informal or formal.

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NOTES Educational Materials to Use

III. Career Management Methods

A. The Employer’s Role – Employers can support career development efforts in many ways. Table 10-3 suggests employees’ career development efforts range from simple to comprehensive.  The means for helping to further an employee’s career depends on the length of time the employee has been with the firm. Life cycle career management stages include:

1. Career Planning Workshops – is a planned learning event in which participants complete career planning exercises and inventories and participate in career planning exercises. 

2. Lifelong Learning – both employers and employees contribute, and the employees can tap into these to get career-related education and development they desire. 

3. Role Reversal – employees temporarily work in different jobs in order to develop a better appreciation of their occupational strengths and weaknesses.  

4. Career Success Teams – small groups of employees meet periodically to support one another in achieving their career goals. 

5. Career Coaches – help employees create a one to five year plan showing where their career with the organization may lead. 

6.  Online Programs – online systems can help the employer analyze an employee’s training needs.

7.   Improving Productivity Through HRIS:  Career Planning – it doesn’t make sense to isolate activities like career planning, succession planning, performance appraisal, and training from each other.  Various software systems enable employers to integrate these important programs.

8. Career-Oriented Appraisals – provide potential useful opportunities for the supervisor and employee to meet and to link the employee’s performance, career preferences, and developmental needs into a career plan. 

9.  Mentoring – Mentoring can have positive effects on employees’ careers, including faster promotions and salary progression and reduced anxiety; but it can be a two-edged sword.

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NOTES Educational Materials to Use

IV.  Employer Life-Cycles Career Management

A.  Making Promotion Decisions – Promotions usually provide opportunities to reward the exceptional performance of tested and loyal employees.  However, unfairness, arbitrariness, or secrecy can diminish the effectiveness of the promotion process for all concerned.

     1. Decision 1: Is Seniority or Competence the Rule?  Today’s focus on competitiveness favors competence. However, union agreements and civil service regulations often emphasize seniority.

     2. Decision 2: How Should We Measure Competence?  Define the job, set standards, use one or more appraisal tools to record the employee’s performance, and use a valid procedure for predicting a candidate’s potential for future performance.

     3. Decision 3: Is the Process Formal or Informal?  Each firm will determine whether the promotional process is formal or informal.

     4. Decision 4: Vertical, Horizontal, or Other?  Promotions can be vertical (within the same functional area) or horizontal (in different functional areas).

B.  Managing Transfers – Transfers are moves from one job to another, usually with no change in salary or grade. The frequent relocating of transfer employees has been assumed to have a damaging effect on transferees’ family life. Transfers are also costly financially.

Know Your Employment Law:  Establish Clear Guidelines for Managing Promotions – To avoid discrimination lawsuits, employers need to have clear guidelines for promotions.

C.  Managing Retirements

Some employers are instituting formal pre-retirement counseling aimed at easing the passage of their employees into retirement. A large majority of employees have said they expect to continue to work beyond the normal retirement age. Part-time employment is an alternative to outright retirement. Employers can benefit from retirement planning by becoming able to anticipate labor shortages. 

1. Create a Culture That Honors Experience – Changing cultures that are explicitly or implicitly biased against older workers can help make a company more attractive to retirees.

2. Offer Flexible Work – Redesigning jobs to include telecommuting and other options will attract and retain workers.

3. Offer Part-Time Work – Granting part-time work is often a good alternative to losing an employee.

V.  Talent Management

A.  What is Talent Management?

Talent management is the automated end-to-end process of planning, recruiting, developing, managing, and compensating employees throughout the organization.

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NOTES Educational Materials to Use

APPENDIX FOR CHAPTER 10 – Managing Your Career

I. Making Career Choices

A. Identify Your Career Stage – The career lifecycle consists of the following stages:

1. Growth Stage – lasts roughly from birth to age 14 and is marked by the development of self-concept.

2. Exploration Stage – The period from age 15 to 24 when a person seriously explores various occupational alternatives.

3. Establishment Stage – roughly spans ages 24 to 44 and is the heart of most people’s work lives. It has three substages:

a. Trial Substage – is a time during which a person determines if their chosen field is suitable.

b. Stabilization Substage – is characterized by setting firm occupational goals, and planning to determine the sequence of promotions, job changes, and educational activities necessary to accomplish the goals.

c. Mid-Career Crisis Substage – is reached sometime between the mid-thirties and mid-forties. Here, people make a major reassessment of their progress toward their ambitions.

4. Maintenance Stage – Between the ages of 45 and 65 this stage is directed at maintaining the person’s place in the world of work.

5. Decline Stage – characterized by the prospect of having to accept reduced levels of power and responsibility in preparation for retirement.

B. Identify Your Occupational Orientation – Personality is one career choice determinant. Research indicates there are six different personality types, each of which is attracted to different types of occupations. See Figure 10A-1.

C. Identify Your Career Directions – Figures 10A-2, 3, and 4 assist in determining career directions and choices in which an individual will be happy.

D. Identify Your Skills – In addition to ability, aptitude and special talents plays a role in career success.

E. Identify Your Career Anchors – Edgar Schein identified five career anchors: technical/functional competence, managerial competence, creativity, autonomy and independence, and security. 

F. What Do You Want To Do? –This asks the question: “If you could have any kind of job, what would it be?”

G. Identify High Potential Occupations – Once an occupation has been chosen, it is necessary to find the right occupations that will be available in the years to come. The Internet can be helpful in learning about occupations.

II. Finding the Right Job 

A. Job Search Techniques – A variety of tools exist for job search activities. These include the library, personal contacts, answering advertisements, employment agencies and executive recruiters, career counselors, executive marketing consultants, and employer Web sites.

B. Writing Your Resume – A good resume is one that best represents your skills, ability, and experience. Figure 10A-9 is an example of a good resume. It is advisable to make your resume scannable, and carefully proofreading it is essential.

C.   Handling the Interview – Tips for success in interviewing include preparation, uncovering the interviewer’s needs, relating yourself to those needs, thinking before answering, making a good appearance, and showing enthusiasm. 

Teaching Tip: Ask students what the dress code should be for men and for women if they were interviewing for an entry-level job in supervision. Discuss. If possible, ask local HR recruiters or someone from your college placement office to give feedback.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is the employee’s role in the career development process?  The manager’s role?  The employer’s role?  The employee must understand that it is their role to take charge of their own career development.  The manager should support the employee’s career development needs and schedule regular performance appraisals.  The employer’s role depends on how long the employee has been with the organization, but should include providing a process and a structure to develop their careers.

2. Describe the specific corporate career development initiatives that the employer can take.

      An employer can implement career planning workshops to help assess an employee’s interests, conduct career-oriented appraisals which help support the employee’s career development, provide career development advice via a corporate intranet, and even provide on-the-job career coaching.

3. What are four specific steps employers can take to support diverse employees’ career progress?  These could include mentoring programs, increasing opportunities for networking and interaction, providing realistic job previews, providing challenging first jobs, and implementing career-oriented appraisals.

4. Give several examples of career development activities that employers can use to foster employee commitment.  The steps listed in question 3 above and the list on pages 351-353 of innovative corporate career development initiatives are a pretty comprehensive list.

INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP ACTIVITIES

1. Write a one-page essay stating “where I would like to be career-wise 10 years from today.”  Look for realistic expectations.

2. Explain the career-related factors to keep in mind when making the employee’s first assignments.  Providing realistic job previews, challenging first jobs, and mentors can help prevent reality shock.

3. In groups of four or five students, meet with several administrators and faculty members in your college or university, and, based on this, write a two-page paper on the topic, “The faulty promotion process at our college.”  What do you think of the process?  Could you make any suggestions for improving it?  Look for students to integrate the principles in this chapter in their analysis and suggestions.

4. In groups of four or five students, at your place of work or at your college, interview the HR manager with the aim of writing a two-page paper addressing the topic, “Steps we are taking in this organization to enhance diversity through career management.”  Again, look for students to display an understanding of the topics and fundamentals of this chapter.

5. Develop a résumé for yourself, using the guidelines presented in this chapter’s appendix.  Form, format, and content are all important.

6. Working individually or in groups, choose three occupations (such as management consultant, HR manager, or salesperson) and use some of the sources described in the appendix to this chapter to make an assessment of the future demand for this occupation in the next 10 years or so.  Does this seem like a good occupation to pursue?  Why or why not?    Students should be able to support their conclusions with data and information from these sources.

7. The HRCI “Test Specifications” appendix at the end of this book lists the knowledge someone studying for the HRCI certification exam needs to have in each area of human resource management (such as in Strategic Management, Workforce Planning, and Human Resource Development).  In groups of four to five students, do four things:  (1) review that appendix now; (2) identify the material in this chapter that relates to the required knowledge the appendix lists; (3) write four multiple-choice exam questions on this material that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in the HRCI exam; and (4) if time permits, have someone from your team post your team’s questions in front of the class, so the students in other teams can take each others’ exam questions.  Material that would be relevant to the exam includes the sections on career development programs, career records/job posting systems, managing fair treatment, grounds for dismissal, avoiding wrongful discharge suits, termination interviews, layoffs and the plant closing law, and retirement.  

8. A survey of recent college graduates in the United Kingdom found that although many hadn’t found their first jobs, most were already planning “career breaks” and to keep up their hobbies and interests outside work.  As one report of the findings put it, “the next generation of workers is determined not to wind up on the hamster wheel of long hours with no play.”  Part of the problem seems to be that many already see their friends “putting in more than 48 hours a week” at work.  Career experts reviewing the results concluded that many of these recent college grads “are not looking for high-pay, high-profile jobs anymore.”  Instead they seem to be looking to “compartmentalize” their lives; to keep the number of hours they spend at work down, so that they can maintain their hobbies and outside interests.  So, do you think these findings are as popular in the United States as they appear to be in the United Kingdom?  If so, if you were mentoring one of these people at work, what three specific bits of career advice would you give to him or her?  The advice needs to be relevant to the issues surrounding the blending of this world view with the political realities of the workforce.

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES & CASES

Experiential Exercise: Where am I Going and Why?

This exercise asks students to analyze their careers.  They have to determine their career interests, examine the prospects of that career, and write a one-page career plan.

Application Case: The Mentor Relationship Turns Upside Down

1.  What is Carol’s role in Walter’s career development now?  Should Larchmont have any such role?  Why or why not?  The students should review the roles that a manager and the employer should play in a seasoned employee’s career development.  The students should then decide and justify what role, if any, Carol and/or Larchmont should play in Walter’s career development at this stage of his career.

2.  What advice would you offer Carol for approaching Walter?  Carol will likely feel a debt of gratitude to Walter for his help.  She will likely want to maintain a positive working relationship with Walter.  She might be able to help Walter process some of his feelings and frustrations by asking him about difficulties they might encounter in their working relationship. She may wish to ask a general question like, “How do you think you will respond if I feel I need to undo some of your original decisions?”  Carol has shown skills in the past at helping subordinates get over the initial awkwardness of the situation by meeting one on one.

3.   If Carol has to dismiss Walter, how specifically would you suggest she proceed?  The students should review the Managing Dismissals section of the chapter to come up with their answers.  The answers should include specifying the grounds for dismissal, making sure the dismissal is fair, and having a termination interview.

4.  Assume Carol has heard a rumor that Walter has considered resigning. What should she do about it? Though Walter was not successful in this venture, his position suggests he has had many other successes in the firm.  Most companies would not want to lose someone with Walter’s experience and expertise.  She may wish to consult with her supervisors and inform them what she has heard and discuss strategies for retaining Walter.  If her personal relationship with him is strong, she may wish to confront him with the rumor directly, probe his reasons for leaving, and try to identify what it would take to keep Walter and his expertise with the company.

Continuing Case: Carter Cleaning Company – The Career Planning Program

1. What would be the advantages to Carter Cleaning Company of setting up such a career planning program?  Some examples of the advantages of setting up a career planning program for employees include: increasing their job satisfaction, helping them navigate through the company, and helping them think about and plan their careers.

2. Who should participate in the program, and why?  All employees? Selected employees?  Students should justify why they think certain employees should or should not participate in the program.

3. Outline and describe the program you would propose for the cleaners, pressers, counter people and managers at the Carter Cleaning Company.  Based on the career planning activities discussed in the chapter, students should design a tailored career planning and development program for the employees.

Translating Strategy into HR Policies and Practices Case: The Hotel Paris:

The New Career Management System – In this case, with every hotel employee “on the front line” HR manager Lisa Cruz must find ways to help employees have successful and satisfying careers by instituting a career management system.

1. “Many hotel jobs are inherently ‘dead end’—maids, laundry workers, and valets, for instance, either have no great aspirations to move up, or are just using these jobs temporarily, for instance to help out with household expenses.” First, do you agree with this statement? Why, or why not? Second, list three specific career activities you would recommend Lisa implement for these employees.

There are no dead-end jobs; every job offers an employee the opportunity to be seen and if performing successfully, to be considered for other jobs within the organization.  Some possible career activities include job posting programs, educational assistance, career pathing, job rotation, etc.

2. Build on the company’s current performance management system by recommending two other specific career development activities the hotel should implement.

The hotel should use the performance management system to do specific career counseling. First, however, a training program to assist supervisors in how to coach employees should be developed.

3. What specific career development activities would you recommend in light of the fact that the Paris hotels and employees are disbursed around the world? 

Answers will vary. Discuss the feasibility of expatriation programs in a hotel environment.

VIDEO CASE APPENDIX

Video 5: Training and Development

In this video, the director of training and development turns a somewhat confrontational meeting with the firm’s marketing director into something more positive. The marketing director is making the case that there are several performance problems among employees of the company, and that she believes that inadequate training and development is the reason

why. For her part, the training and development manager, Jenny Herman, says that she understands that the company, Loews Hotels, is getting complaints from customers, but that the firm’s training program has been following the employee performance standards now in place. The problem is “there are standards, but employees are still falling down.”

After discussing the matter between the two of them, they agree that the training and development program was not revised for the company’s new needs and that among other things Jenny would “like to revise the new hire certification process.” She emphasizes that “we need to hear more from the field what the training and development needs are, and

then try these out, and then roll out the final program.”

Video 6: Ernst & Young

Ernst &Young, a large U.S. accounting firm, increased its employee retention rate by 5% as a result of a human resource initiative “to put people first.” By creating a performance feedback-rich culture, building great résumés for its 160,000 people in New York City and around the world, and giving them time and freedom to pursue personal goals, Ernst & Young operationalized the idea of “people first” and thereby created a more motivated workforce. In this video, you’ll see the company uses mandatory goal setting, provides employees with learning opportunities in their areas of interest, and measures HR processes using an employee survey to evaluate the workplace environment. While the first segment of this video is necessarily relevant for our needs, the segment on Ernst &Young, in which Kevin, the senior auditor describes his experience at Ernst &Young, illustrates both what performance management means in practice, and the effect that it can have on employees.

For video discussion questions, please visit the Instructor’s Resource Center at: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/dessler

KEY TERMS

coaching Educating, instructing, and training subordinates.

mentoring Formal or informal programs in which mid- and senior-level managers help less experienced employees – for instance, by giving them career advice and helping them navigate political pitfalls.

career The occupational positions a person has had over many years.

career management The process for enabling employees to better understand and develop their career skills and interests, and to use these skills and interests more effectively.

career development The lifelong series of activities that contribute to a person’s career exploration, establishment, success, and fulfillment.

career planning The deliberate process through which someone becomes aware of personal skills, interests, knowledge, motivations, and other characteristics; and establishes action plans to attain specific goals.

reality shock Results of a period that may occur at the initial career entry when the new employee’s high job expectations confront the reality of a boring, unchallenging job.

promotions Advancements to positions of increased responsibility.

job rotation Moving an employee through a pre-planned series of positions in order to prepare the person for an enhanced role with the company.

transfers Reassignments to similar (or higher) positions in other parts of the firm.

talent management The automated end-to-end process of planning, recruiting, developing, managing, and compensating employees throughout the organization.

career cycle The various stages a person’s career goes through.

growth stage The period from birth to age 14 during which a person develops a self-concept by identifying with and interacting with other people.

exploration stage The period (roughly from ages 15 to 24) during which a person seriously explores various occupational alternatives.

establishment stage Spans roughly ages 24 to 44 and is the heart of most people’s work lives.

trial substage Period that lasts from about ages 25 to 30 during which the person determines whether or not the chosen field is suitable; if not, changes may be attempted. 

stabilization substage Firm occupational goals are set and the person does more explicit career planning.

midcareer crisis substage Period during which people often make major reassessments of their progress relative to original ambitions and goals.

maintenance stage Period between ages 45 and 65 when many people slide from the stabilization substage into an established position and focus on maintaining that place.

decline stage Period where many people face having to accept reduced levels of power and responsibility, and must learn to develop new roles as mentors or confidantes for younger people.

career anchors Pivots around which a person’s career swings; require self-awareness of talents and abilities, motives and needs, and attitudes and values.

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