Implementing Career Planning & Development, Part 2

Part 8 of 11 of the CompetencyCore^TM Guide to Career Planning & Development 

This is the eighth in an eleven part series that looks at:

1. Making the Case for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
2. Facts, Figures & Findings
3. Career Planning & Development Defined
4. Key Definitions of Career Planning & Development
5. Framework for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
6. Best Practice Tools & Processes
7. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 1
8. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 2
9. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 3
10. Key Considerations for Software, Part 1
11. Key Considerations for Software, Part 2

Once you have determined the underlying foundation of your Career Development program, the first two best practice stages to follow include establishing an architecture and competency dictionary, and developing your high level implementation plan.

Establish an Architecture and Competency Dictionary to support Career Development.
As noted in the fourth and fifth blogs in this series, fundamental to effective Competency-based Career Planning & Development is a competency architecture that allows employees and managers to compare and contrast competency requirements across roles and levels within or across job groups.

Having Competencies available that are scaled according to proficiency levels, make the job of defining logical career paths and ladders within the organization that much easier.  Both employees and the organization can see how jobs relate one to the other both in terms of the competencies and proficiency levels needed for successful job performance.

So often, we have seen organizations adopt one-level competency dictionaries that do not allow for logical links to be drawn between jobs.  Having these types of competencies will work well when developing employees within their current jobs, but what about situations in which the organization is attempting to guide employees along career paths that make sense from a competency development perspective.  Having scaled competencies starting at a basic level of proficiency and to the highest level of proficiency typically needed within organizations allows the organization and employees to draw relationships in terms of the level of proficiency needed across jobs within the organization.  As an example, perhaps a server in a restaurant might be expected to perform at Level 1 of Customer Focus -“Responding to immediate client needs”, whereas an executive in the restaurant chain may be responsible for “Ensuring continued service excellence” (Level 5 proficiency).  In this way, jobs can be mapped to the competency proficiency level needed and progression in proficiency can be established across different jobs and levels in the organization.  This type of competency scale helps in defining logical career paths and ladders across jobs, and thus supports Career Planning and Development.

Similarly, defining Job Groups / Job Families – i.e., groups of jobs that tend to have common functions / duties and form a logical group for acquiring resources and managing careers (e.g., Finance; Sales; Information Technology; etc.) - also serves to support well-defined Career Development programs within organizations.  While career progression can occur in a variety of ways, generally speaking career development is typically planned and occurs within job families.  Thus, it is more likely that people with an interest and training in a particular functional area will seek career opportunities within the job family as compared with other job families.

Finally, developing Competency Profiles for typical roles within Job Families provide the foundation for determining potential career paths or streams.  This allows both supervisors and employees to see how progression typically occurs.  It also allows the organization to develop programs, tools and processes that support progression.

Develop a high-level plan for implementation
Most medium to large organizations cannot implement Competency-based Career Development for all employees at all levels at the same time.  This is in part due to the fact that organizations typically tackle the development of competency models / profiles in order of priority within higher need areas (e.g., Leadership levels; targeted at risk Job Groups; etc.).  You also have to determine the fundamental building blocks that need to be in place right away – for example, a competency-based assessment process for determining key strengths and gaps, Individual Develop Planning processes; etc.

Having established the priority groups and the fundamental building block tools and processes, it then becomes possible to design and implement career development processes based on priority needs and the key competency areas that need to be addressed within each group.

Part of this decision-making process may include considerations related to creating some “quick wins”. In this case, organizations will often look for high need areas in which to start as well as a key champion who recognizes this need.  This serves two purposes:

• It addresses the immediate organizational need; and,
• It demonstrates that value of a competency-based approach to career development.

Hopefully, the leader for the group or area involved will broadly communicate the success of the initiative and convince others of the impact and value to the organization, which in turn will pave the way for others to accept this new way of managing careers.

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The next blog in this series covers Part 3 of Implementing Competency-based Career Development. Sign up to our blog’s mailing list through the form on the right-hand side to receive the rest of the series in your inbox.

HRSG is a leader in Competency-based Career Planning and Development solutions. Contact us today to find out how we can help you.

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Want to learn more? Competency-based Talent Management, or CbTM, is the best practice for defining job requirements and building effective HR programs to develop skilled, engaged and productive workforces. Download this Best Practice Guide to learn how competencies can increase workforce effectiveness and improve business practices.

Implementing Career Planning & Development, Part 1

Part 7 of 11 of the CompetencyCore^TM Guide to Career Planning & Development 

This is the seventh in an eleven part series that looks at:

1. Making the Case for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
2. Facts, Figures & Findings
3. Career Planning & Development Defined
4. Key Definitions of Career Planning & Development
5. Framework for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
6. Best Practice Tools & Processes
7. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 1
8. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 2
9. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 3
10. Benefits of Software Systems & Tools for Career Planning & Development

What’s your philosophy?
Career development as an organizational program has really evolved over the last twenty to thirty years.  A couple of decades ago, it was common for employees to expect their organizations to lay down a comprehensive program for them to follow.  The underlying assumption was the employees need only follow the program lock step, and eventually they would progress and advance.  Under this paternalistic philosophy, if employees were not successful the tendency was to blame the organization with the view that somehow it had failed the employees.

A little more than a decade ago, there was a shift in philosophy whereby organizations began to take a more entrepreneurial “wild west” view of career development, stating that it was up to employees to “take ownership” of their careers.  While there is nothing wrong with saying that people have to take responsibility for their own development, in many cases organizations took this philosophy too far.  They left employees to their own devices, without structure, programs and processes to support career progression.  Naturally employees planned and managed their careers, sometimes in ways that did not meet the short and longer term strategic needs of the organization … sometimes taking their careers right out the door of the organization.  This “disposable employee” approach did not take into account the high cost of developing employees, the cost of replacing them, as well as the impact on the top and bottom-lines when highly competent employees leave the organization.

Best practice organizations are now taking a more balanced approach.  While it is acknowledged that employees must take ownership for their development and advancement, it is also understood that organizations must provide the necessary programs, tools and processes for employees to self-manage in a way that meets both employee as well as the organizational needs.  Best practice organizations understand the value of attracting, developing and retaining highly competent employees, and make sure they have the programs, tools and processes in place to do so.  They also understand which roles and groups within the organization are important to the organization’s success, and how the organization could be at risk should key employee groups not receive the support needed to develop themselves.

Thus, it is important to take the time in advance of designing and implementing a Career Development program to consider the principles and philosophy behind this important process within your organization.

Once you have determined the underlying philosophy for Career Development within your organization, you are ready to plan your program design. There are typical implementation stages that best practice organizations follow when designing and implementing Competency-based Career Development programs and processes. 

1. Establish a competency architecture and competency dictionary
2. Develop a high level implementation plan
3. Determine the infrastructure and system requirement
4. Build and incorporate basic competency-based elements
5. Develop and implement programs for high risk / high need job groups

Over the next two blog posts, we will delve into each one of these stages starting with the architecture, dictionary and the plan, and wrapping up with determining infrastructure requirements, how to incorporate competency-based elements and developing programs for high risk or need groups.

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The next blog in this series covers Part 2 of Implementing Competency-based Career Development. Sign up to our blog’s mailing list through the form on the right-hand side to receive the rest of the series in your inbox.

HRSG is a leader in Competency-based Career Planning and Development solutions. Contact us today to find out how we can help you.

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Want to learn more? Competency-based Talent Management, or CbTM, is the best practice for defining job requirements and building effective HR programs to develop skilled, engaged and productive workforces. Download this Best Practice Guide to learn how competencies can increase workforce effectiveness and improve business practices.

Competency-based Career Planning & Development: Best Practice Tools & Processes

Part 6 of 11 of the CompetencyCore^TM Guide to Career Planning & Development 

This is the sixth in an eleven part series that looks at:

1. Making the Case for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
2. Facts, Figures & Findings
3. Career Planning & Development Defined
4. Key Definitions of Career Planning & Development
5. Framework for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
6. Best Practice Tools & Processes
7. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 1
8. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 2
9. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 3
10. Key Considerations for Software, Part 1
11. Key Considerations for Software, Part 2

Competency-based Tools and Processes
Career Development typically includes a selection of competency-based elements that address the requirements of the job group.  The following information provides a high-level view of some of the types of tools, processes and programs that can be selected to support a highly-targeted Competency-based Career Planning and Development program for Job Families within your organization.

Career information:

• Career path / stream information provided in a number of formats, such as company intranet, orientation programs, guidebooks, or the organization’s talent management system. The benefits of providing this information in the context of a competency-based talent management system is that employees can get the full picture of what is required of the positions along their career path.
• Employee guides and forms to support self-directed development or participation in a planned program.  Using automated tools to support these guides or forms can be particularly useful as it again provides employees with the bigger picture view of the competency requirements for jobs in the organization.

Assessment tools:

• Self-assessment, supervisory and / or multi-source assessment to evaluate progress in development.  These can be delivered through online assessment tools which can provide detailed information on competency gaps for development.

Learning Plans:

• Individual Personal Development Plans to record and track progress in line with planned career development.  These can be “living documents” that are provided through online Talent Management software.  Giving your employees a structured framework to work within, and the tools to easily identify learning solutions will go a long way in contributing to the success of the overall program.
• A form, process or online tool (e.g., passport, or employee inventory) that validates and documents employee competencies.  In this way both the employee and the organization benefit by being able to document and assess the validated skills and competencies possessed by the employee for career, succession and position vacancy management purposes.

Learning resources:

• Learning resource catalogues organized by competency.  These catalogues can be incorporated in competency-based Talent Management software.  The software enables employees and supervisors to pick learning options that are targeted to address specific competency areas and the employee’s preferred learning style;
• Collaborative learning, knowledge sharing, communities of practice – e.g. through social networking tools, wikis, etc.
• Work assignments or action learning exercises aimed at developing competencies.  Once again these can be organized by competency in a database that then can be used by employees wishing to advance their Career Development. 
• Formal development programs that incorporate a variety of training, assessment and learning options designed to support career advancement (job rotation, learning programs, mentoring, tuition reimbursement)

Other support:

• Career resource centers that employees can access to get information and support in advancing their careers.  These can be supported by employee self-help tools and online Career Development software.
• Mentoring (e.g., through more experienced and senior employees) and coaching (e.g., from trained coaches) offered to employees.
• Training for both superiors and employees on how the program works and how to gain the maximum benefit

In summary: Online Competency-based Career Development

Best practice organizations most often have a talent management software system that stores and reports information on employee competencies.  These systems enable some, or all parts of the Career Development process, for example:

• Employee / superior / multi-source competency assessment
• Learning plan development and management
• Catalogued learning resources categorized by competency and proficiency level
• On-line registration for courses / programs
• Job / role matching that compares employee competencies against targeted role / job requirements, and provides job best match list for employees based on their inventory of skills and competencies
• Various reporting capabilities that support developmental programs and succession (e.g., lists of employees ready for targeted positions / role) as well as broader HR Planning.

Learn more about our Competency-based Talent Management system, CompetencyCore^TM 5.

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The next blog in this series draws the competency-based link between Career Development and other HR processes and provides a typical best practice plan for implementation. Sign up to our blog’s mailing list through the form on the right-hand side to receive the rest of the series in your inbox.

HRSG is a leader in Competency-based Career Planning and Development solutions. Contact us today to find out how we can help you.

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Want to learn more? Competency-based Talent Management, or CbTM, is the best practice for defining job requirements and building effective HR programs to develop skilled, engaged and productive workforces. Download this Best Practice Guide to learn how competencies can increase workforce effectiveness and improve business practices.

Framework for Competency-based Career Development

Part 5 of 11 of the CompetencyCore^TM Guide to Career Planning & Development 

This is the fifth in an eleven part series that looks at:

1. Making the Case for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
2. Facts, Figures & Findings
3. Career Planning & Development Defined
4. Key Definitions of Career Planning & Development
5. Framework for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
6. Best Practice Tools & Processes
7. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 1
8. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 2
9. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 3
10. Key Considerations for Software, Part 1
11. Key Considerations for Software, Part 2

Establishing an effective career development program starts at the planning stage by having a well-defined competency architecture or blueprint as well as career paths / streams and roles within job families.

Competency Architecture
Fundamental to effective Competency-based Career Planning & Development are a competency library and competency architecture that allows employees and managers to compare and contrast competency requirements across roles and levels within or across job groups.

Having competencies available that are scaled according to proficiency levels, like the example shown in the previous blog, make the job of defining logical career paths and ladders within the organization that much easier.  Both employees and the organization can see how jobs relate one to the other both in terms of the competencies and proficiency levels needed for successful job performance.

Job Groups / Job Families
Another construct that is helpful is that of the Job Family or Job Group.  These are groups of jobs that tend to have common functions / duties and form a logical group for acquiring resources and managing careers (e.g., Finance; Sales; Information Technology; etc.).  While career progression can occur in a variety of ways, generally speaking career development is typically planned and occurs within job families.  Thus, it is more likely that people with an interest and training in a particular functional area will seek career opportunities within the job family as compared with other job families.

Defined Career Streams and Roles
Competency Profiles defined for typical roles within Job Families provide the foundation for determining potential career paths or streams.  This allows both supervisors and employees to see how progression typically occurs.  It also allows the organization to develop career development and succession management programs, tools and processes that support progression.  The following diagram shows illustrates how potential career streams within Human Resources could be laid out.

In this example, there could be several different ways for advancing through the different areas and levels of HR to the Management and VP levels.  This diagram along with sample competencies defined for three jobs / roles within the Job Family in the table below provide a foundation for employees to examine potential options for advancing their careers.

As can be seen, a Recruitment & Selection Specialist role requires a higher level of proficiency in this specialty area than is required for the Generalist / HR Business Partner role.  On the other hand, higher proficiency levels are needed for Business Perspective, Change Management and Employee Relations within the Generalist / HR Business Partner role.  In this way, job roles can be compared and competency-based development plans, tools and programs can be put in place to address potential career moves within the organization.

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The next blog in this series provides more in-depth information on best practice tools and processes often used within  Competency-based Career Planning & Development. Sign up to our blog’s mailing list through the form on the right-hand side to receive the rest of the series in your inbox.

HRSG is a leader in Competency-based Career Planning and Development solutions. Contact us today to find out how we can help you.

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Want to learn more? Competency-based Talent Management, or CbTM, is the best practice for defining job requirements and building effective HR programs to develop skilled, engaged and productive workforces. Download this Best Practice Guide to learn how competencies can increase workforce effectiveness and improve business practices.

Competency-based Career Planning & Development: Key Definitions

Part 4 of 11 of the CompetencyCore^TM Guide to Career Planning & Development 

This is the fourth in an eleven part series that looks at:

1. Making the Case for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
2. Facts, Figures & Findings
3. Career Planning & Development Defined
4. Key Definitions of Career Planning & Development
5. Framework for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
6. Best Practice Tools & Processes
7. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 1
8. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 2
9. Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 3
10. Key Considerations for Software, Part 1
11. Key Considerations for Software, Part 2

Using a competency-based approach and framework has been proven to result in more efficient and effective development processes, reduced costs, and more productive, successful and engaged employees. This blog provides some basic definitions fundamental to understanding how competencies enhance the career development experience both for employees and the organization.

Some Key Definitions

Competency is a term that describes a pattern or cluster of actions taken to achieve a result. Competencies demonstrate the following key features:

• They describe the abilities, skills, knowledge, motivations or other traits required in the job
• They are required for effective or successful performance of the job or task
• They are defined in terms of observable behaviors, and therefore can be assessed or measured.

Scaled Competencies
Competencies can be defined in a number of ways; however, the basic information must include the competency name, a general definition as well as measurable behavioural or performance indicators that define how the competency should be displayed by employees.  Beyond this, competencies can also be scaled to show how the competency is demonstrated across increasing levels of job complexity, scope and / or responsibility.  An example of a competency defined in this way is shown in the following diagram.

As can be seen, the competency name is “Client Focus” and its general definition is “Providing service excellence to internal and / or external clients”.  In this case, the competency has been defined in terms of increasing levels of proficiency.  Level 1 is a basic level “Responding to immediate client needs” with Level 5,“Ensures continued service excellence”, being the highest level of proficiency typically needed within organizations.  Requirements for specific jobs can then be defined anywhere from Level 1 to Level 5 on the scale.  Thus, perhaps a server in a restaurant might be expected to perform at Level 1 -“Responding to immediate client needs”, whereas an executive in the restaurant chain may be responsible for “Ensuring continued service excellence” (Level 5 proficiency).  In this way, jobs can be mapped to the competency proficiency level needed and progression in proficiency can be established across different jobs and levels in the organization.  This type of competency scale helps in defining logical career paths and ladders across jobs, and thus supports Career Planning and Development.

Job Competency Profiles or models provide a comprehensive set of behavioural standards for effective performance within jobs.  These standards can include not only the hard skill requirements like education and technical / professional competencies, but also the harder to measure attributes that are so important for success on the job, like the ability to operate effectively in a team environment, initiative, concern for client / customers, results achievement, etc.

Employee Competency Inventory
Using a competency-based approach allows the employee and the organization to determine the inventory of competencies the employee possesses.

Comparing the employee inventory of competencies against the competencies required in a job allows for a determination of the level of fit between the employee’s competencies and those required for a selected job, or set of jobs.  This process can be applied within the employee’s current job or for other jobs in the organization to which the employee would like to progress in their careers.  Gaps between what is required as compared with what is needed in the job then allows for the identification of a development plan best suited to the employee’s career goals.  Career development and succession planning tools, such as CompetencyCore^TM 5, provide the infrastructure to quickly turn these inventories of competencies into highly effective management reporting tools and employee career development platforms.

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The next blog in this series builds on these key definitions to define a Framework for Competency-based Career Planning & Development. Sign up to our blog’s mailing list through the form on the right-hand side to receive the rest of the series in your inbox.

HRSG is a leader in Competency-based Career Planning and Development solutions. Contact us today to find out how we can help you.

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Want to learn more? Competency-based Talent Management, or CbTM, is the best practice for defining job requirements and building effective HR programs to develop skilled, engaged and productive workforces. Download this Best Practice Guide to learn how competencies can increase workforce effectiveness and improve business practices.