A leader’s primary role is to develop talent by driving employee engagement,
which leads to productivity and positive organizational outcomes. With research
showing us that approximately 70% of the workforce is currently disengaged,
developing leaders who can drive employee engagement in order to produce
results is critical.
This advanced course seeks to teach leaders how to be career agents in order to
drive performance and results. Topics covered include how to facilitate win-win
conversations with employees, how to create career advancement plans with
employees that are grounded in behaviors and how to provide projects and
assignments that foster employee skill development.
A course is also available for HR professionals on how to create career agent
systems and mindsets to support leaders.
Course Objectives:
Following the completion of this course, participants will be able to:
1. Understand the employee engagement problem and how it impacts
performance.
2. Understand what it means to be a career agent.
3. Apply techniques for being a career agent including:
a. Asking one simple question.
b. Facilitating win-win conversations with employees.
c. Creating advancement plans with employees through goal-setting.
d. Designing assignments and projects to foster skill development and
increase engagement through “flow”.
The HR training includes the following objectives:
1. Understand and design ways to train leaders on what it means to be a career
agent through their behaviors.
2. Provide tools and processes to facilitate career agent conversations
including how to tie your performance management process to this system.
3. Understand and apply methods for recruiting and promoting individuals
who model a career agent mindset through their behaviors.
5. DISENGAGED
WORKFORCE PROBLEMS
• TURNOVER- Costs 100-300% of the base
annual salary of the employee to replace
• LOSS OF PROFITABILITY- Companies with
engaged workers report 22% higher
profitability than those that do not
8. WHAT CAN LEADERS DO?
• ASK & ASSESS
• GAME PLAN
THROUGH:
– ASSIGNMENTS
– PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
• EXPOSURE
9. WHAT CAN HR DO?
• ASK & ASSESS
• GAME PLAN
THROUGH:
– ASSIGNMENTS
– PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
• EXPOSURE
TEACH LEADERS HOW
TO:
10.
11. What do you want out of your career?
1 Year:
3 Years:
5 Years:
10 Years:
Strengths Areas to
Develop
Work Assignment Strategies Personal Development Strategies
12. What do you want out of your career?
1 Year:
3 Years:
5 Years:
10 Years:
1. ASK
13. What do you want out of your career?
1 Year: Grow in my current role/grow
the division’s business by creating
efficiencies
3 Years:
Be a General Manager
5 Years:
10 Years: Be Retired
1. ASK
15. Strengths
-Get it done attitude,
willing to do whatever it
takes
-motivator with
employees
-sees how to create
efficiency
Areas to Develop
-Abrasive with peers and
sometimes customers
-Lack of “professional
polish”
-not well versed in
financial aspects of the
business
2.
ASSESS
16. Work Assignment Strategies Personal Development Strategies
3. GAMEPLAN
Should accomplish three things:
1. Address areas of strength and weakness in
assessment phase
2. Lead to more engagement from the employee
3. Meet business needs
18. Work Assignment Strategies
1. Leader of process
mapping/efficiency team project
1. Create game plan w/ coworker to
transition out of focus on business
development focus to concentrate
more on developing staff and
internal processes
ASSIGNMENT
S
19. Personal Development Strategies
1. Participate in leadership
development group through the
Chamber of Commerce
1. Study business
finance/accounting
independently
1. Work with an executive coach
for six months
PERSONAL
DEVELOPMENT
To address
conflict
management
skills
20. What do you want out of your career?
1 Year:
3 Years:
5 Years:
10 Years:
Strengths Areas to
Develop
Work Assignment Strategies Personal Development Strategies
26. 256.227.9075
P.O. Box 1014 Decatur, AL 35602
Mary Ila Ward,
SPHR/ SHRM-SCP, GCDF, CDF
Instructor
miw@horizonpointconsulting.com
Find today’s handout on your conference app or visit
www.horizonpointconsulting.com/cdf-training/tools
Notas del editor
Tell story found in the article- start first with focus on burnout and disengagement
-felt like he was in a rat race where he would never get off the wheel
-worked hard, but didn’t see the reward in it, no one noticed
-was having trouble sleeping at night because he had so many things on his mind regarding work
-said he was thinking about changing jobs
-so burnout
Why you hate work article- apparently Mike is not alone
Gallup poll in 2013- 70% of the American workforce feels disengaged
Many report signs of burnout
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/opinion/sunday/why-you-hate-work.html?_r=1
And on the flip side of that employers are either loosing employees b/c they are burned out and looking for another job, ppl don’t see the value on them and it is costing a ton of money It’s an employee and employer problem- but is a problem of choice
WHY
Cost‐per‐hire for replacement* Turnover costs are often estimated to be 100% ‐ 300% of the base salary of replaced employee (150% commonly cited).* Use the Cost‐per‐Hire ANSI/SHRM Standard ** Transition time from exit decision to replacement reaching minimal performance standards*** Source of most variance and potentially largest impact on cost – it’s important to differentiate talent when calculating
Taken from: Measuring and Mitigating the Cost of Employee Turnover, Kim E. Ruyle, President Inventive Talent Consulting, LLC, SHRM Webcast July 17, 2012
Describe him calling back with his first encounter with his new boss
A friend called me the other day to tell me about the first one-on-one encounter he had with his new boss. Prior to this conversation, my friend was nervous about the transition in leadership and what it would mean for his role with the organization as a mid-level manager of a growing healthcare organization.
“He asked me what I wanted my career to look like,” he said. “Although I know what I want for myself in my career, no boss has ever asked me this before especially not the first time I’ve met him. I’d expect our first conversation to be him telling me what he wants, not to ask me what I want.”
My friend ultimately wants to be sitting where his new boss is, in the CEO chair, and once his boss saw his educational background and his work accomplishments thus far, he actually already assumed that was his goal. But he asked the question nevertheless, and then proceeded to discuss with my friend how he, as his boss, could help get him to the CEO seat one day, whether it was with his organization or through other opportunities outside the organization.
The CEO was acting as a leader by being a career agent.
Why do leaders need to be career agents?
With employee engagement statistics showing us that upwards of 70% of the workforce these days is checked out, it is imperative for leaders and organizations to think about how to maximize talent in a way that leads to mutual gains.
My friend, whose boss initiated their first conversation playing the role of career agent, is now more engaged than ever in his work. He wants to work hard for this leader because he knows his work will be noticed and will pay off now that his boss has told him he wants to help him get to where he wants to be.
My friend wins by knowing he has an advocate to help him on this career path and the CEO wins by having an engaged employee that is productive, thus helping the organization reach it’s goals.
If all leaders were in the business of making more leaders by acting as career agents, we may be able to flip employee engagement statistics in a positive direction.
HOW- Create Win- Win Situations through a Career Agent Model
As article in NY Times said about why you hate work, employees are vastly more satisfied and productive when four needs are meet:
Physical- opportunities to recharge and renew
Emotional- feeling valued and appreciated
Mental- focus on the most important things and define when and where they get their work done
Spiritual- doing more of what they do best and enjoy most to feel connected to a higher purpose
Acting as a career agent helps employees do all these things
“Employees who say they have supportive supervisors are 1.3 times as likely to stay with the organization and are 67% more engaged”
You can also teach your clients to use this tool for themselves as an initiator to talk with their boss to lead to more fufilling work
Here is your simple tool
Walk through example, then get them to do it for themselves at each phase and discuss with a partner
Variety of ways to do this, through just personal self reflection and reflection with manager- creating self-awareness is critical
Could also use a 360 tool
-utilize the gaps grid
Should accomplish three things:
Address areas of strength and weakness in assessment phase- balance of these two, we need to maximize our strengths b/c it leads to increased energy and engagement- it leads to number 2, but also need to minimize weaknesses or road blocks to help person meet their career goals and also help with number 3, meet business needs
Lead to more engagement from the employee
Meet business needs
Addressing these 3 things creates win-win
Ask, how are these aligned with the previous step of ask and assess?
Transition out of focus on business development role to focus more on developing staff and internal processes- note that if you are doing this with all your people, organization wide, you can cater to people’s strength, his tranistion out of business development role coincided with someone who was doing more operations type stuff transitioning into more business development where he can enjoy it more and better serve the company through his strengths
Ask, how are these aligned with the previous step of ask and assess? - click to animate the last one coming in about why with an executive coach
Make people aware of opportunities that arise, even if they are outside your organization. This may mean letting them go to another organization. If you’re having career agent conversations with people, they are going to be more productive and you probably don’t want to loose this type of employee. This may seem counter intuitive to an employee retention strategy, however, making employees aware of outside opportunities that are a fit for their career plans, and helping facilitate those opportunities even if they are outside your organization, is a good move in the long run. They become walking and talking recruitment ads for you and your organization, which is hard to come by for free. It leads to a bigger picture recruitment and retention strategy. And who knows, their career path may lead them back to your organization more valuable than when they left.
My friend called me back a few months later.
“My boss just let me know about a CEO role that is available at a small organization. He said he had already recommended me for the role to the board chairman who was in charge of the hiring process and gave me information on what to do and who to contact if I was interested in the opportunity.”
“That’s great!” I said. “How did you respond?” I asked.
“I think he thought I was surprised,” he said. “Although we’ve had the conversation about where I want my career to go and ways for me to get there, I never thought he would be the one directly pointing me to advancement opportunities outside the organization. He smiled and told me that he would not be sitting where he is today if his former boss hadn’t pointed him to opportunities.”
Tell story found in the articleMake people aware of opportunities that arise, even if they are outside your organization. This may mean letting them go to another organization. If you’re having career agent conversations with people, they are going to be more productive and you probably don’t want to loose this type of employee. This may seem counter intuitive to an employee retention strategy, however, making employees aware of outside opportunities that are a fit for their career plans, and helping facilitate those opportunities even if they are outside your organization, is a good move in the long run. They become walking and talking recruitment ads for you and your organization, which is hard to come by for free. It leads to a bigger picture recruitment and retention strategy. And who knows, their career path may lead them back to your organization more valuable than when they left.
My friend called me back a few months later.
“My boss just let me know about a CEO role that is available at a small organization. He said he had already recommended me for the role to the board chairman who was in charge of the hiring process and gave me information on what to do and who to contact if I was interested in the opportunity.”
“That’s great!” I said. “How did you respond?” I asked.
“I think he thought I was surprised,” he said. “Although we’ve had the conversation about where I want my career to go and ways for me to get there, I never thought he would be the one directly pointing me to advancement opportunities outside the organization. He smiled and told me that he would not be sitting where he is today if his former boss hadn’t pointed him to opportunities.”
You just told me the cost of turnover is Cost of Turnover?
-100-300% of the base annual salary of the employee
Why would anyone try to help someone promote themselves outside the organization
Two reasons:
They become walking talking recruitment ads for you and your organization
They may come back to you better equipped to do an even better job for you and be even more valuable (example from Kris Dunn)
This may mean letting them go to another organization. If you’re having career agent conversations with people, they are going to be more productive and you probably don’t want to loose this type of employee. This may seem counter intuitive to an employee retention strategy, however, making employees aware of outside opportunities that are a fit for their career plans, and helping facilitate those opportunities even if they are outside your organization, is a good move in the long run. They become walking and talking recruitment ads for you and your organization, which is hard to come by for free. It leads to a bigger picture recruitment and retention strategy. And who knows, their career path may lead them back to your organization more valuable than when they left.
But most importantly, it is the right thing to do
Give them the tool AGAPE and see how it changes the workplace
Ask/Assess
GamePlan through Assignments ad work and Personal Development Plans
Then create Exposure
Words for love in the greek language: https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS528US528&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=greek%20words%20for%20love
Agape is the highest form of love- it is a servant leadership model “selfless, sacrificial and unconditional”.
It is the true model of leadership- leaders making more leaders