CAREER & SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT · take a more lateral view of career progression. The attraction,...

Increased desire for diversified careers, greater flexibility and mobility

If you want people to stay long term, then they need to know why they are staying

Managers move away from being ‘talent hoarders’ to ‘talent producers’

Leadership Development | Performance Management | Career & Succession Management | Compensation & Benefits | On-boarding

CAREER & SUCCESSION MANAGEMENTHR INSIGHTS REPORT

© 2016 by the Top Employers Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the Top Employers Institute.

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

PREFACE 5

KEY TRENDS 7

KEY TREND 1: SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT BECOMES A MATURE PRACTICE 9

KEY TREND 2: REDEFINITION OF WORK AND EMPLOYEES’ CAREER PREFERENCES 10 CASE STUDY: UNILEVER 13

KEY TREND 3: BROADER RECOGNITION OF THE NEED FOR INTERNAL MOBILITY 16

KEY TREND 4: INTEGRATION WITH OTHER TALENT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES 19 CASE STUDY: DIMENSION DATA 21

CONCLUSION 23

ABOUT US 24

APPENDIX 25

HR Insights Report Career & Succession Management | © Top Employers Institute 2016 | 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Career & Succession Management has become an established and mature HR process over recent years, initially within larger organisations, but more recently acquiring growing significance with smaller businesses too. The emphasis remains linked with executive and critical senior positions, and ensuring that there are plans in place for continuity, but the processes are no longer only concerned with such roles. There is growing usage for other critical non-leadership and specialist roles, too.

These are testing times for HR. Growing skill shortages have coincided with a real fear of losing valuable knowledge and intellectual capital from the business as older workers move closer to retirement, something that can be ill afforded in an increasingly complex and uncertain economic climate. There is also restlessness amongst a new generation of younger workers to gain varied skills and experiences, whilst they also take a more lateral view of career progression. The attraction, development, engagement and retention of talent are key issues for organisations, with Career & Succession Management processes now at the heart of these efforts. Career & Succession Management is becoming dynamically integrated with other Talent Management processes. With Learning & Development, there is a clear link between identified learning needs and the shaping of individual development plans (combining personal and professional development), and knowledge transfer. The insights we now gain from Performance Management discussions are one of the key elements in helping to inform career development and preference decisions and plans. And as individual employees take greater ownership of their own performance, they similarly are taking responsibility for their own career development. For Workforce Planning, the added value from greater integration with Career & Succession Management is found in the improved preparation and planning to deal with potential future talent gaps and skill needs. In keeping with other talent management disciplines, Career & Succession Management is moving away from being an annual event (see key findings of the Top Employers report on Performance Management) and embracing a more continuous, ongoing conversational approach with managers, using coaching, mentoring and goal setting as part of their day-to-day interactions with their teams. Greater transparency around wider organisational opportunities – across functions and borders – as well as the possibilities of mobility and rotational assignment work, also help to keeps younger workers, who are interested in broader career perspectives, engaged with the business. Actively promoting the career development of team members is now a requirement of managers within the vast majority of participants*. When it comes to supporting the employee, online personal development plans are the most popular way of cataloguing and monitoring employee preferences and development needs.

Individual employees are taking responsibility for their own career development.

Greater transparency keeps younger workers engaged with the business.

*Only organisations that achieve the highest standards of excellence in employee conditions, receive a Top Employers certification. In this report referred to as participants.

http://www.hr-insights.top-employers.com/performance-management



Career preferences are also changing. The younger workforce seem less likely to pursue a pure linear development for their career progression, instead seeking a range of varied and challenging work assignments, whilst keeping a focus on the purpose and mission of the organisation. Factors such as management style, job design and workplace environment are becoming increasingly important for engagement, with the availability of development opportunities particularly crucial. Flexibility, mobility and the possibility of diversified careers can be differentiators for restless talent.

In this landscape, it is no longer possible for managers to try and ‘hold on’ to top performers. A broader approach to employee development, with a greater awareness of the benefits of mobility, sees managers moving away from being talent hoarders, to playing their part as talent producers. This also avoids the negative impact on motivation that can be caused by a lack of development opportunities. For international businesses there is also now a fine balance to be struck between the local and corporate requirements, with the aim of gaining awareness of all emerging talent deep into the organisation. Information on role and competency profiles need to be freely accessible to all employees – something that is not happening in all cases. The concerns over long-term staff retention are keenly felt amongst senior leaders, so it was little surprise to see examples from certified Top Employers showing them taking an active role in promoting the importance of career planning. In one case study, it was having senior leadership involved in career planning – therefore bringing legitimacy to the process – that was crucial in the effectiveness of this approach. Recent developments in Career & Succession Management have again underlined the need for a different type of leadership and a fresh set of competencies for line managers. We have already seen how the need for transparency and the ability to give honest and constructive feedback are vital in all Talent Management processes. In this report we also see as crucial the importance of mentoring and coaching, the ability to understand and shape employee aspirations and motivations, and an understanding of wider corporate talent issues. Improving management capabilities will be vital if organisations are to retain and develop their key talents.

A shift is seen from managers being ‘talent hoarders’, to playing their part as ‘talent producers’.

The ability to give honest and constructive feedback are vital in all Talent Management processes.


PREFACE For this report, practices, policies, measurement and management of Career & Succession Management have been reviewed thoroughly. The purpose of this report is to reflect on current trends in Career & Succession Management, and how organisations deal with these trends in their Career & Succession Management processes. The insights in this report are supported by the findings of the Top Employers HR Best Practices Survey. The global HR Best Practices Survey assesses an organisation’s HR environment in the areas of: strategy, policy implementation, monitoring and communication of employee conditions and development.

The Top Employers certification is only awarded to organisations that achieve the highest standards of excellence in employee conditions. For this report we have used a selection of the certified Top Employers for 2016. The findings in this report are based on a sample size of 600 certified organisations in 102 countries around the world. Only those organisations with more than 3,000 employees locally, or more than 5000 employees worldwide, are included.

This report forms part of a series on employee conditions and HR practices. The other HR Insights reports cover the following:

SPECIFIC PRACTICES SPECIFIC KPIs

STRATEGY PRIORITIES

MEASUREMENT

AR

EAS

Figure 1: AREAS OF THE TOP EMPLOYERS CERTIFICATION FOR THE TOPIC CAREER & SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT

ROLE OF EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

People develop fastest when they feel responsible for their own progress

Overall Leadership Development performance is weakest in technology and measurement

The way that we define leaders is changing


LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENTHR INSIGHTS REPORT

Regular coaching and feedback is an essential element of an effective performance culture

94% of Top Employers say they consistently re-align goals during the year in response to changing business needs

Forced rankings are becoming a thing of the past


PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENTHR INSIGHTS REPORT

http://www.hr-insights.top-employers.com/leadership-development

http://www.hr-insights.top-employers.com/compensation-and-benefits

http://www.hr-insights.top-employers.com/on-boarding



http://www.hr-insights.top-employers.com/compensation-and-benefits

http://www.hr-insights.top-employers.com/on-boarding


Table 1: INDUSTRIES COVERED IN THIS REPORT, IN EACH REGION

Americas Transport & Logistics 33%Energy 19%Automotive 9%Construction 7%Consumer Goods & Services 7%Banking 6%Electronics 4%IT 4%Manufacturing 4%Insurance 2%Other 5%

Europe Engineering 11%Automotive 10%Consumer Goods & Services 9%Banking 9%IT 7%Retail 7%Financial Services 6%Food & Beverages 6%Professional Services 6%Energy 5%Other 24%

Africa Consumer Goods & Services 14%Manufacturing 14%Food & Beverages 11%Financial Services 9%Insurance 9%Telecommunications 9%Automotive 6%Healthcare 6%IT 6%Professional Services 6%Other 10%

Asia Pacific Automotive 15%Consumer Goods & Services 15%Manufacturing 15%Chemicals 11%Pharmaceuticals 11%Food & Beverages 9%Hospitality 4%IT 4%Transport & Logistics 4%Construction 2%Other 10%

Automotive

Consumer Goods & Services

Manufacturing

Engineering

IT

Food & Beverages

Banking

Retail

Professional Services

Financial Services

Chemicals

Energy

Telecommunications

Transport & Logistics

Insurance

Construction

Pharmaceuticals

Electronics

Healthcare

Hospitality

Table 2: I NDUSTRIES COVERED IN THIS REPORT, ON A GLOBAL LEVEL

11%

11%

8%

8%

7%

6%

6%

6%

5%

5%

4%

4%

4%

4%

3%

3%

3%

2%

1%

1%


KEY TRENDS Succession Management helps to identify talent that can be developed and promoted, whilst Career Development helps identify the ambitions and goals of the employees and required up-skilling. These plans must work together; ideally they help employees, to make progress toward their career goals, which in turn will help to retain them in the longer term.

To be successful in the area of Career & Succession Management, organisations need to have clear career maps in place to enable employees to be able to see where they could go in their career, and what is needed from them in those positions.

In this report we have identified four Key Trends that are shaping the way we approach Career & Succession Management. Each trend signals a move away from using the process purely to identify future leadership and senior management pipelines, and towards one that helps to underline and enhance the organisation’s efforts to retain, develop and engage their employees. Where pipelines or succession plans are created, they are now likely to also be for non-leadership roles and those requiring specialist or expert skills and knowledge.

Table 3: 4 KEY TRENDS THAT ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF CAREER & SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT

Succession Management becomes a mature practice

Integration with other talent management processes

Broader recognition of the need for internal mobility

Redefinition of work and employees’ career preferences

1

3

2

4

Whilst Career & Succession Management has become an established and mature HR process within larger organisations, it is one that smaller businesses are also beginning to see value in as they find themselves facing similar difficulties in attracting and retaining staff.

See what the Top Employers say about Career & Succession Management:

“ We create cross functional assignments, where people get the opportunity at lower, and mid levels, to experience roles in func-tions that are outside their natural specialism. It’s challenging them”

Mark PhilipsHuman Resources Vice President Central Europe at JTI

Featuring interviews on Career & Succession Management with:

Mark Philips, Human Resources Vice President Central Europe at JTI

Giovanni Parisi, HR Director at MSD Italia

Rajita D’Souza, Vice President Human Resources EMEA at Goodyear

Simon Harris, HR Director at Valeo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaQQPkH5_1U


KEY TREND 1: SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT BECOMES A MATURE PRACTICE

Succession Management has previously become an established process within larger organisations as they have sought to maintain leadership continuity through a pipeline of emerging talent. However we are now seeing an increasing recognition of value of succession management processes, from smaller organisations.

Whilst the emphasis for succession planning remains linked with executive level and critical management positions (94% and 95% of participants* respectively having succession plans in place for those two positions), it is no longer only about ensuring the continuity of senior roles. There is now a broader focus, for example increasingly on critical positions for expert roles, with 85% of participants having such a succession plan in place. The same proportion (83%) also use succession management processes to identify CEO successors. It is worth noting that the best-in-class Top Employers have plans to cater for all these categories and positions.

In line with greater adoption and broader focus comes a shift in ownership of Succession Management, away from HR and towards the business. The processes are maturing – no longer solely concerned with strengthening the leadership pipeline, they are now crucial to help improve retention and engagement within the business, not least for the emerging millennial workforce, who have interesting career perspective for themselves within the whole organisation. This should manifest itself through greater transparency around the wider opportunities available, and willingness by managers to encourage and support their employees when thinking of potential next steps.

To ensure that this broader approach is effective, Career & Succession Management planning is evolving from a one-off event executed by HR, to an ongoing process of development and mentoring delivered by managers as part of their everyday work. This includes goal-setting, regular check-ins and the evaluation of progress over time, underlining a clear link between Succession Management, Performance Management, and Learning & Development.

KEY POINTNo longer solely concerned with strengthening the leadership pipeline, the processes are now crucial to help improve retention and engagement within the business.

*Only organisations that achieve the highest standards of excellence in employee conditions, receive a Top Employers certification. In this report referred to as participants.

Table 4: TOP EMPLOYERS HAVE SUCCESSION PLANS IN PLACE FOR:

Critical positions at management level

Executive levelpositions

CEO Successor 83%

94%

95%

Critical positions for experts roles 85%


KEY TREND 2: REDEFINITION OF WORK AND EMPLOYEES’ CAREER PREFERENCES

New attitudes towards ‘full-time employment’ have been emerging over recent years, primarily driven by a rise in the use of contract and contingent labour, more flexible working schedules, job sharing, retirees continuing in the workplace in a part-time capacity, and other working arrangements that would have been much less common a decade or more ago. Attitudes towards ‘traditional careers’ have similarly changed as a younger workforce has forgone linear development in favour of experiencing a range of varied and challenging work assignments and opportunities. Employee motivations have also changed; today’s workers have a new focus on purpose and mission, with a strong appreciation of work-life balance. Employee engagement is now made up of a more varied and complex mix of factors including job design, management style, work environment, development opportunities, and leadership focus. There is an increased desire for diversified careers, greater flexibility and also mobility. In this changing landscape, leadership needs to focus on creating a compelling work environment, with a sense of purpose and mission, if they are to attract, engage, and retain the talent they need.

An important part of this environment involves the creation of career development programmes that can facilitate increasing interest in talent mobility, rotational assignments, lateral job changes, and open career opportunities throughout the business. Internal communication is a key driver for this, with formalised development conversations taking place between employees and their managers in 95% of participants around personal development plans, and 94% for ‘next step’ career development opportunities.

The employees’ Personal Develop-ment Plan is discussed in a formal meeting between employee and manager

Career steps /development is discussed in a formal meeting between employee and manager

Employees are informed when they have been identified as high-performers

Table 5: TOP THREE PRACTICES THAT TOP EMPLOYERS APPLY

94%

67%

KEY POINTInternational mobility is used by 89% and secondment is now up to 75%.

95%


Career paths themselves now need to embrace all possibilities – vertical, horizontal, and lateral. Amongst our participants 90% have defined vertical career paths and 85% defined horizontal career paths. Lateral (or cross-functional) paths are defined within 75%.

When it comes to supporting employees to help achieve their career plans, participants fre-quently embrace a range of practices, the most widely used being training programmes (99%).

Interestingly, international mobility is used by 91% and secondment is now up to 80%, possibly indicating a higher level of internal mobility in preference to job rotation, which is 79%. Coaching is very popular, offered by 94% of participants, whilst mentoring is less so, used by only 83%.

Top Employers have defined vertical career paths

Top Employers have defined hori-zontal career paths

Top Employers have defined lateral (cross-functional) career paths

90% 85% 75%

Table 6: PROGRAMMES IN PLACE TO SUPPORT EMPLOYEES ON THEIR CAREER PATH

Training programme

Coaching

Special assignment

International mobility

Job enrichment

Mentoring

Secondment

Job rotation

99%

94%

93%

91%

86%

83%

80%

79%


BEST PRACTICE Individual holistic plans One participant, a global FMCG organisation, helps employees to identify the key areas with individual holistic plans that covers four areas - a personal profile, career development plan, SMART development plan and a current year work plan. This helps them to understand their current skills and capabilities, and future aspirations, and how they can develop through a mix of work experience, coaching and mento-ring, and extra assignments.results, leading to a greater focus on collaboration over individual achievements.

BEST PRACTICE ”Know yourself” One best practice example we identified, from a pharmaceutical business, places a strong emphasis on employee development and career advancement. Employees own their development and career, and are given tools to help them “know yourself” – self-identifying strengths, interests, and values. They are then supported in determining the skills, behaviours and core competencies that will help self-development, and further identifying critical development actions to be discussed with their managers.

BEST PRACTICE Maximum benefit Another participant, a global healthcare business, developed a thorough and well-constructed Career & Succession Management framework. Information is freely accessible to all employees, who can also access training (along with their managers) in how to gain maximum benefit from the career development processes. Information about career paths and procedures are easily accessible, and job profiles and competencies are regularly assessed to ensure relevance.


CASE STUDY: UNILEVER

“If you want people to stay long term, they need to know why they are staying”

A key trend that we have noticed for Career & Succession Management is a deeper integration with other Talent Management processes and a redefinition of employee career preferences. These now include the development of a range of skills, a desire for different experiences, and a view of progression that encompasses these areas plus a more lateral view of mobility. For businesses looking to develop and retain the best talent, the key will be how they can blend these into a seamless employee experience. One great example that we have seen came from Unilever, who have created a blended, holistic approach to Career & Succession Management, placing employees – and their aspirations – at the very heart of the process.We spoke to Antoinette Irvine, HR Vice President (South and Southern Africa) at Unilever, to understand more about the thinking behind their approach and how they gain maximum benefit from it.

In Africa, Unilever operate in a talent market where the best people are highly marketable and are aware of alternative employment options. Career & Succession Management is one of their HR function’s signature processes, and one that they give a lot of attention to. Over recent years this has acquired a greater strategic focus as their best employees have become more demanding - both with the pace at which they want to understand where they are

going and the extent to which they are being accelerated. “The clarity and transparency around plans increasingly become important when you are dealing with talent that is very marketable” Irvine told us.

At the beginning of the year employees have an annual performance discussion with their line manager around expectations, which always included career and development. The company wanted to separate the performance and career part of the conversation, to ensure that career has equal importance and isn’t overshadowed by performance dialogue. So around five years ago it introduced a further discussion, known as a SKIP level discussion.

These take place at the end of the first quarter between the employee, the line manager and a senior manager, during which the conversation is specifically about development. Irvine explained the importance of having two managers - “This formalises the plan and what you are also getting is senior endorsement. It is important because sometimes line managers might promise things that they can’t commit to, so when you have a manager from a higher level, it formalises the level of legitimacy. Managers can’t make a promise or commitment in isolation of a more senior manager or stakeholder”. Whilst these discussions are for every employee, having senior endorsement of the development plan is particularly attractive for high potentials.

“ Managers can’t make a promise or commitment in isolation of a more senior manager or stakeholder”

Antoinette Irvine, HR Vice President (South and Southern Africa) at Unilever


The ‘formalisation’ takes the form of a written document that is captured on the individual’s record on Unilever’s global HR system. The information is easily accessible, with the individual’s career wishes, plus the company’s wishes, captured in the system. This proves particularly useful for planning, and for recommending people for other roles or regional moves. The format for the discussion is set by the employee’s Individual Development Plan (IDP), which the employee writes before the meeting and which then becomes the format for how the dialogue is captured. IDP covers the short term, long term, work goals and development opportunities for each employee, offering an overview of what his/her progress looks like personally and professionally. Employees get to know how likely they are to achieve aspirations and what they have to do to get there. Irvine said, “In that plan is their career. The focus is on the short term and the long term, and these are then linked to their career and development. You can’t talk about career in isolation from development – if people have aspirations the two are interlinked.”

These discussions are a key part of the talent plan. “If you want people to stay long term and not to go anywhere else, then they need to know why they are staying, and that is very much a performance discussion but more importantly a career discussion,” Irvine told us. Senior HR practitioners have sight of key people, their career plans and development gaps. This helps with the creation of strategic succession plans for roles within functions, as well as across the business, indicating

the internal local and international pipeline. In turn this helps with decisions over whether certain skills need to be recruited externally. Having the succession plan is one thing, but HR needs to know how close employees are to making the next move, what stage of either development or their acceleration plan they are at, so managers give each employee a level of ‘readiness’. This is also very important for the employee. According to Irvine, “this is much more structured and thought through. Each individual will know how ready they are, and what roles they need to do before they can get the next opportunity.” Consistency is important. With almost 500 managers in Africa, it is essential that each of them owns the process of development discussion. “If managers don’t do it, then the consequence is higher turnover. People will leave if they don’t know where they stand and you will end up with a smaller group. The pool of talent talk to each other so one employee can’t be getting a meeting that others aren’t.”

“ If you want people to stay long term, and not to go anywhere else, then they need to know why they are staying, and that is very much a performance discussion but more importantly a career discussion”

Antoinette Irvine, HR Vice President (South and Southern Africa) at Unilever


Irvine is in little doubt that leadership commitment is the main factor in making the career discussion a success. “Line managers and business leaders need to own it or it won’t work. It has to have leadership endorsement and has to be valued by all the leaders in the business,” she explained. “Very senior people, who have a lot of influence in the organisation, sit in the strategic talent planning meetings.” Line managers get capability training, particularly in how to run performance reviews and, crucially, career discussions. The separation of the career discussion from the performance conversation is key. “They learn what a SKIP level discussion is and how to approach it. You can’t assume that line managers have the right level of skills and capability, so everyone goes through that level of competency training,” said Irvine. Leaders are usually promoted on leadership ability and people- management skills. Employees are very happy with this approach to career development; internal surveys show 80% satisfaction. The key benefits for them are having a definite plan, being clear on their personal and professional development, knowing exactly where they stand and where they are going. There are major benefits to the company, too. As Irvine explained: “We have the best, and most experienced, talent in the market. There is congruency between what the individual wants and what the company wants, and so we can plan accordingly. Otherwise it would be like planning with a blindfold on.” Without this she feels that there would be higher attrition and the business would need to recruit externally in a difficult market where there is much competition for the best people. “We wouldn’t be able to keep our best talents, or retain and develop them to be our internal pipeline for the future.”

This interview was conducted in 2015.


KEY TREND 3: BROADER RECOGNITION OF THE NEED FOR INTERNAL MOBILITY

Many businesses report having difficulty with the attraction and recruitment of new employees, especially those who have the necessary, defined skill sets required for specific roles. To overcome this, it is important that they develop, up-skill, and retain their existing employees. This also makes commercial sense when comparing internal development with the cost and difficulty of filling specialist roles externally, or time taken to on-board replacements.

Failure to offer the type of opportunities for career development and progression that employees want can often lead to lower levels of engagement. This in turn negatively impacts on motivation and performance, and can also lead to employees leaving the business. To avoid this happening there needs to be a broader, ongoing approach to employee development and internal mobility, with greater understanding of employee aspirations – but we do not always see this happening. Some managers are focused heavily on day-to-day operational issues that can lead to them trying to hold on to good performers in their divisions or teams, at the expense of letting them develop elsewhere in the business. These ‘natural barriers’ to internal mobility can prevent organisations from fully leveraging the sophisticated processes and systems that are in place to support employee development and assist internal mobility. The barriers can also reduce the effectiveness of these processes and systems.

What is needed is a different mind-set. The focus of managers needs to shift from ‘talent hoarding’ towards ‘talent production’ – possibly by looking at the number of people who are promoted out of a manager’s group over a period of time. Transparency of all career opportunities across the organisation, and the use of KPIs and related performance metrics can help in this area. An example of this is holding managers accountable for their contribution to the promotion of high-performing employees out of the current team or business unit.

Mobility must be looked at on an international scale too. More than for other areas of Talent Management, the ownership and control of Succession Management processes must be balanced between local and corporate needs. The planning, development, and engagement priorities of local management must be catered for alongside the more global benefits gained from having greater awareness of (emerging) talent deep in the organisation. Integrating the supply and demand for roles and people across organisational borders and boundaries also makes it easier to find the optimal combinations, which in turn can help facilitate those employees looking for a much broader career perspective.

KEY POINTThe ownership and control of Succes-sion Management processes needs to be balanced between local and corporate needs.


Employees also need to have a clear understanding of the requirements and capabilities needed for other roles within the organisation, with standard competencies and common language. 86% of participants have a defined competency framework, describing competencies for different job families, whilst 78% offer unrestricted access to all relevant defined competency profiles. Information about job profiles is freely accessible within 77% of participants, and information about career paths and career development within 70%.

Managers are expected to actively promote the career development of their team members for 97% of participants, with 73% having systems in place to consistently train managers and employees on the organisation’s Career & Succession Management processes. The proportion of participants having a framework of development strategies in place to help employees reach their potential and meet goals was 85%.

Table 7: COMPETENCY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES APPLIED IN ORGANISATION

Top Employers have defined a competency framework which describes competencies for different job families and levels

Top Employers have unrestricted access to all defined competency profiles

Top Employers have systems in place to educate employees regarding the competency framework

Top Employers have systems in place to train managers regarding the competency framework

86% 78%

75% 73%


Some Top Employers clearly place responsibility on their managers to discover and develop the potential in their people. This is done by investing time in getting to know them and what they want to do, having regular career discussions and supporting these with coaching and feedback, and identifying development opportunities within the business, including assignments that will ‘stretch’ the employee.

We also see Top Employers providing a framework of development strategies to help employees realise their potential and meet goals. This delivers information on the specific competencies of each role and helps the employee to meet goals based on different, relevant competencies such as customer-focused, results-driven, innovative, open communicator, and people management.

Table 8: TOP EMPLOYERS’ MOST APPLIED PRACTICES

Our managers are expected to actively promote the career development of their team members

We use standard models, methods to identify high potentials

A framework of development strategies is in place within our organisation to help realise their potential/meet goals

Job profiles and associated competencies are assessed periodically to ensure they stay relevant

Information about job profiles is freely accessible to our employees

Information about career paths and career development procedures is freely accessible to our employees

97%

91%

85%

84%

77%

70%


KEY TREND 4: INTEGRATION WITH OTHER TALENT MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

As Career & Succession Management grows in maturity, it is no surprise to see the processes closely align to, and integrate with, other Talent Management processes. In fact this is now becoming a key feature, as much of the information that we gather either crosses over with, or can be used to enhance, other processes such as Strategic Workforce Planning, Performance Management and Learning & Development.

Initially we see a clear link with Performance Management. Relevant performance data can help identify high potential employees, as well as shed light on the development progress of other employees. It can also help identify who is ready and capable of taking on a new challenge. In addition, the performance cycle is often used to gather extra information around employees’ career preferences or managers’ assessment of the employees’ potential.

New approaches in Performance Management involve continuous, ongoing dialogue between employees and their managers, helping encourage individuals to take a greater sense of ownership of their own performance. Similarly with Career & Succession Management, we see the employees assuming greater ownership of their career development, as ongoing performance-coaching is used as a platform to explore wider career perspectives (such as potential internal opportunities, and new areas for development and progress), thereby strengthening the link between the two processes.

In addition we see a link between Career & Succession Management and Learning & Development, as areas for personal and professional development, and knowledge transfer, are identified.

These learning and development needs then help to shape individual development plans, which in turn may have a longer-term influence on Leadership Development initiatives (see the Top Employers report on Leadership Development). They help support both formal or informal learning programmes on an individual level, and help to identify potential investment in specific development programmes for a larger, more strategic employee group.

With Strategic Workforce Planning identifying future needed capabilities and capacity, a close link with the Career & Succession Management process can ensure that these are fed back into it, helping to prepare for future gaps. Furthermore, most of today’s organisations use competency models to help assess performance and guide development. If this is seen in the broader perspective not only of the current role, but also related to potential future roles (either following from employee preferences or organisations’ needs), these competency models can be of even greater value.

We increasingly see that organisations use integrated technology (Talent Suites) to support all of these processes. This makes sense as it can create a uniform user experience, ensuring accuracy and full visibility of all relevant data.

KEY POINTRelevant performance data can help identify high potential employees.

KEY POINTMost Top Employers use competency models and increasingly integrated techno-logy (Talent Suites) to help assess performance and guide development.



The most common Career & Succession Management practice supported by technology is an online personal development plan (87% of participants have this), followed by competency models (85%), employee profiles (83%), and talent identification & talent pool management (78%).

The least technology-supported practices are, perhaps surprisingly, defined career paths (60%) and succession plans (68%). Overall, this seems to indicate more of a focus on short-term career management rather than longer-term talent management strategy.

Personal Development Plan (PDP)

Competency model

Employee profiles

Job descriptions

Talent Review and Talent Calibration

Talent Identification and Talent Pool Management

Succession Plan

Defined career paths

87%

85%

83%

81%

78%

78%

68%

60%

Table 9: TECHNOLOGY IN PLACE TO SUPPORT CAREER & SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES


CASE STUDY: DIMENSION DATA

A career portal puts employees in control of their development plans The importance of Career & Succession Management in contributing to the attraction, retention and development of future talent has underpinned many of the trends that we have found in the report. A number of participants are using a more integrated approach to career development as a way to keep employees engaged and loyal. One of the keys in operating a successful career management framework is to have supporting technology, usually a career portal, which helps put employees in control of their development plans. One good example that we have seen came from technology infrastructure specialist Dimension Data, a fast-growth organisation with around 28,000 employees. They operate in a competitive global market where talent, particularly those with hard-to-find skills, is scarce. We talked to Marilyn Chaplin, Group HR Executive, about how Dimension Data use Career & Succession Management to help secure talent.

The company views career development, and the provision of the opportunities to achieve it, as a real differentiator in a competitive recruitment market. It is part of Dimension Data’s employer brand and an integral piece of their Employee Value Proposition – one of the reasons that people want to work there. “This is a place where if you choose to come and work, you will have a real opportunity to build a career with us,” Chaplin told us. They look to attract people who want to develop in a fast-paced industry, and who show a willingness to seek learning opportunities and build capabilities. “These are people who can better serve, and give value to, their clients.”

Career building blocks need to be in place if the company want to fulfill that promise, and integral to this is the career portal. This isn’t a static portal but one that gives each employee access to all global job opportunities, job frameworks, and the full details underneath those of necessary skills and competencies. Having read what each role entails, employees can then see where they are in the framework, with career paths mapped, showing the steps they have to take to qualify, and links to the internal learning available to take them there.

The career management process starts with a career conversation between employee and manager. This usually happens annually (but can also occur more regularly) and is important in aligning the career portal content with employee plans and aspirations. “We train our managers on how to have credible career conversations. Each manager needs to be genuinely concerned, and interested, in building up people’s careers. An employee will see through it if they aren’t genuine,” Chaplin explained.

“ We train our managers on how to have credible career conversations. Each manager needs to be genuinely concerned, and interested, in building up people’s careers”

Marilyn Chaplin, Group HR Executive at Dimension Data


Managers are measured on how they approach these conversations too. As part of an annual survey, employees indicate if their managers have taken time for career and personal development conversations, whilst internal promotions are also tracked. “Managers are not only measured on business performance and individual performance, but also on line management capabilities, part of which is around careers.” Leaders are similarly held accountable for mentoring and coaching.

The career portal has now been moved to the Cloud and the learning technology has similarly evolved, offering learning opportunities that are more employee-friendly. Classroom learning (which can be costly and time consuming) has been replaced

with a suite of technologies embracing video, virtual, collaborative and social learning, reverse mentoring and learning groups. The portal also helps employees who don’t know how best to approach career development, giving them skills that allow them to think about their careers. It provides tools for strength assessments and information on previous reviews to help with implementing feedback advice. “People can drive opportunities themselves, not wait for manager conversations,” said Chaplin. Employees can also stay abreast of new competencies and role types. As the company move towards more consulting-led conversations with clients and job roles change, competencies are constantly updated and employees know about the evolving requirements and frameworks around roles such as solutions architect, client manager or business development manager. What does Chaplin see as the main benefits of Dimension Data’s career management framework and supporting portal? “They help us with our talent challenges, by addressing them through career development and career opportunities. It definitely helps us to attract and retain, and there’s a huge client benefit as we are able to develop individuals who can better service our clients. It’s about talent, clients, attraction, performance,” she said. Although Data Dimension are growing fast they are still agile, and of a size enabling them to offer varied career paths and development opportunities. This helps them maintain their culture. Chaplin explained, “It can be difficult to find people who have the skills and who are also a culture fit, so by prioritising development from within, we can add skills to people who already fit our culture.”

“ People can drive opportunities themselves, not wait for manager conversations”

This interview was conducted in 2015.


CONCLUSION

Growing skill shortages, the fear of losing knowledge from the business as older workers retire, and an increasingly complex and uncertain business climate have combined to leave most HR and business leaders seeing the attraction, engagement and retention of talent as a key issue and a top priority. Employee expectations are also changing. A younger workforce, more focused on gaining a wide range of skills and experiences, are looking at career progression in different, more lateral ways. Similarly older workers, postponing retirement to continue working, are also looking for richer work projects. Internal mobility can now be a valuable alternative to more traditional, linear promotion, allowing employees access to a broader range of experiences and opportunities to develop wider skills.

In keeping with the trends that we have seen in other talent management disciplines, Career & Succession Management finds itself evolving away from being an annual event mainly driven by HR. The broader focus of Career & Succession Management, and the improved integration with Learning and Development, Performance Management, and Workforce Planning, contribute to the greater relevance of Career & Succession Management for both employees and managers. Today’s technology enables these processes to be more dynamic, allowing staff to move away from rigid predefined career paths and thus being more aligned with both the business reality and employees’ preferences and needs. We see the improved relevance of Career & Succession Management also happening from a business perspective. This is evident when looking at the integration with Workforce Planning, where identified future organisational capabilities following from the business strategy can be more easily taken into account when defining future training needs, and identifying opportunities for internal talent development.

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ABOUT US The Top Employers Institute globally certifies excellence in the conditions that employers create for their people. Optimal employee conditions ensure that people develop themselves personally and professionally. This in turn enables companies to grow and to develop, always. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company has recognised Top Employers around the world since 1991. The company is now active in more than 100 countries and in six regions: North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Almost 1,100 Top Employers were successfully certified in 2016.

CONTACT USTo learn more about the Top Employers Institute, certification procedures and the benefits of positioning your organisation amongst the world’s leading employers, please contact:

Top Employers Institute HeadquartersHerengracht 2081016 BS AmsterdamThe NetherlandsT: + 31 20 262 99 [email protected]

David Plink, CEO: “Over the years, we have assessed and

certified companies around the world using our proprietary

methodology. We strongly value our objectivity, independence

and selectivity. As a result, current and prospective employees

can trust upon the certified organisations to have excellent

conditions in place for their people to develop, always”


Top Employers have succession plans in place for

CEO Successor 82% 90% 89% 88% 96% 61% 86% 79% 97% 90% 80% 73% 90% 91% 69% 87% 70% 71%

Executive level positions 96% 97% 97% 100% 99% 100% 95% 98% 100% 98% 93% 86% 100% 95% 80% 97% 81% 91%

Critical positions at management level 99% 90% 100% 100% 98% 100% 95% 98% 100% 98% 93% 84% 98% 98% 76% 97% 81% 100%

Critical positions for expert roles 96% 72% 92% 92% 85% 91% 95% 95% 85% 95% 87% 70% 92% 93% 61% 67% 70% 93%

Top three practices that top employers apply

The Personal Development Plan of our employees is discussed in a formal meeting between employee and manager

100% 90% 100% 88% 96% 83% 71% 88% 100% 98% 97% 98% 95% 100% 98% 95% 94% 91%

Next Career Step/Career Development is discussed in a formal meeting between employee and manager

98% 79% 97% 92% 96% 83% 88% 93% 91% 98% 90% 94% 95% 98% 96% 97% 94% 93%

Our employees who are identified as high-perfor-mers/high-potentials are informed of their status 81% 90% 54% 25% 60% 65% 29% 64% 91% 70% 83% 73% 59% 79% 71% 74% 68% 81%

Definition of career paths amongst participants

Horizontal careers paths 88% 83% 95% 83% 93% 74% 45% 86% 85% 87% 90% 92% 84% 91% 82% 79% 83% 69%

Vertical career paths 92% 90% 97% 83% 96% 78% 57% 93% 94% 88% 93% 98% 88% 98% 98% 85% 85% 74%

Cross-functional career paths (Lateral career paths) 83% 79% 89% 79% 88% 48% 48% 71% 82% 75% 80% 80% 78% 86% 73% 67% 74% 52%

Programmes in place to support employees on their career path

Job rotation 83% 90% 92% 75% 82% 78% 69% 73% 88% 72% 80% 71% 92% 84% 78% 82% 74% 74%

Training programme 99% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 98% 97% 100% 100% 99% 99% 98% 98% 100% 98% 100%

Mentoring 90% 93% 92% 75% 73% 83% 88% 86% 82% 78% 87% 91% 88% 84% 92% 85% 77% 76%

Coaching 95% 100% 100% 83% 96% 83% 98% 93% 94% 92% 100% 93% 92% 100% 94% 100% 89% 97%

Special assignment 99% 86% 92% 100% 96% 87% 79% 91% 91% 93% 93% 90% 95% 100% 82% 92% 89% 91%

Secondment 88% 90% 92% 79% 92% 78% 88% 84% 88% 92% 83% 70% 86% 81% 76% 69% 66% 78%

Job enrichment 93% 86% 95% 100% 87% 70% 98% 93% 85% 78% 87% 82% 89% 88% 80% 79% 81% 78%

International mobility (expatriation or short-term assignment) 96% 90% 100% 96% 98% 87% 95% 98% 88% 93% 83% 90% 99% 100% 92% 90% 91% 88%

Competency management practices applied in organisation

Our organisation has defined a competency framework which describes competencies for different job families and levels

81% 90% 89% 67% 92% 70% 60% 75% 94% 97% 83% 97% 82% 84% 90% 85% 94% 90%

Our employees have unrestricted access to all defined competency profiles 75% 86% 86% 71% 86% 65% 57% 70% 91% 85% 77% 90% 78% 71% 80% 67% 74% 79%

We have systems in place to educate employees regarding the competency framework 75% 59% 86% 79% 86% 39% 48% 61% 53% 85% 47% 84% 86% 74% 69% 79% 68% 66%

We have systems in place to train managers regarding the competency framework 82% 69% 89% 88% 90% 65% 48% 66% 50% 87% 50% 84% 90% 76% 63% 77% 79% 60%

Top Employers' most applied practices

Information about job profiles is freely accessible to our employees 74% 72% 62% 79% 73% 61% 88% 79% 85% 77% 70% 96% 58% 81% 86% 74% 79% 78%

Information about career paths and career development procedures is freely accessible to our employees

76% 69% 78% 63% 72% 52% 43% 66% 62% 73% 50% 90% 71% 76% 80% 72% 66% 52%

Our managers are expected to actively promote the career development of their team members 99% 100% 100% 100% 98% 100% 98% 98% 100% 98% 93% 98% 96% 100% 94% 97% 96% 97%

Job profiles and associated competencies are assessed periodically to ensure they stay relevant 88% 79% 89% 79% 88% 78% 55% 82% 82% 88% 77% 85% 80% 83% 96% 92% 87% 69%

We use standard models, methods to identify high potentials 95% 97% 95% 79% 92% 91% 98% 93% 91% 93% 100% 94% 90% 97% 96% 85% 89% 83%

A framework of development strategies is in place within our organisation to help employees realise their potential/meet goals

90% 76% 92% 83% 87% 78% 88% 88% 88% 87% 90% 86% 88% 93% 69% 85% 79% 71%

Technology in place to support career & succession management practices

Employee profiles 82% 72% 92% 75% 89% 78% 83% 91% 85% 78% 70% 81% 89% 93% 76% 82% 79% 76%

Job descriptions 86% 76% 78% 83% 78% 74% 88% 88% 76% 72% 77% 95% 75% 81% 88% 72% 89% 57%

Competency model 86% 79% 89% 96% 86% 87% 90% 79% 82% 78% 83% 90% 87% 84% 82% 77% 81% 84%

Defined career paths 68% 55% 68% 58% 62% 35% 52% 57% 62% 62% 47% 88% 58% 59% 76% 41% 51% 26%

Talent Identification and Talent Pool Management 82% 86% 76% 100% 89% 74% 88% 84% 82% 78% 73% 67% 76% 91% 65% 69% 57% 76%

Talent Review and Talent Calibration 76% 76% 89% 71% 93% 70% 83% 80% 76% 80% 73% 71% 84% 88% 57% 67% 53% 78%

Personal Development Plan (PDP) 89% 86% 95% 83% 92% 74% 93% 89% 91% 83% 87% 96% 89% 97% 88% 82% 89% 90%

Succession Plan 76% 62% 89% 88% 81% 65% 74% 70% 65% 75% 63% 52% 87% 83% 33% 62% 36% 66%

Key Trend 1 - Succession Management becomes a mature practice

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APPENDIXCAREER & SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT

Key Trend 2 - Redefinition of work and employees’ career preferences

Key Trend 3 - Broader recognition of the need for internal mobility

Key Trend 4 - Integration with other talent management processes

CAREER & SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT · take a more lateral view of career progression. The attraction,...

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