Career development-programs

Has your organization seriously considered
Name your career implementing a career development program?

development If not, perhaps this is a good time to do so.
The following description of several, widely-
intervention used career development interventions and
case studies can be used to stimulate
James J. Kirk discussion on various career development
Bridget Downey practices. From these discussions human
Steve Duckett and resource professionals can get a preliminary
sense of felt career development needs in their
Connie Woody organization. They may even get an idea of
what interventions might work and what
interventions might fail.
Career development can be described as a
process for achieving specific employee and
organization goals, including providing career
information to employees, helping employees
The authors identify advancement opportunities,
James J. Kirk is Professor of Human Resource
promoting job satisfaction, and improving
Development, Bridget Downey is a Graduate Student, employee productivity (Bernes and
Steve Duckett is a University Extension Agent, and Magnusson, 1996). Career development
Connie Woody is a Graduate Student, all at Western activities can help employees identify and
Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina, USA. understand their vocational interests and
strengths, plan and implement career goals,
Keywords and develop themselves. They help employees
Careers, Career development, Employee development answer such questions as; ``Who am I?'',
``How am I seen by my superiors?'', ``What
Abstract are my career alternatives and goals?'' and
``How can I achieve my goals?''
The first section of the article provides readers with an
Career development can help companies
overview of the most widely used career development
interventions including alternative career paths,
attract the best employees, as well as
assessment centers, career coaching/counseling, motivate, develop, and retain the best workers
cross-training, flexitime, job enlargement, job enrichment, over time. The benefits of a carefully crafted
job rotation, job sharing, phased retirement, sabbaticals, organization career development system can
and temporary assignments. Each intervention is described be a better employee-organization fit, a better
and accompanied with an example. The second section of employee-job fit, better communications
the article presents three case studies: When woodworkers between employees and managers and
won't; How do we keep going from here? and Opportunity increased employee loyalty.
in scarce resources. Each case is accompanied with a series Because individual employee career
of discussion questions and answers. Managers, trainers,
development needs differ and organizations
and/or consultants can use the article and its case studies
vary in the career development resources
to facilitate discussions among employees regarding the
available to them, organization career
potential benefits and drawbacks of various career
development interventions.
development systems make use of a variety of
career development interventions
(Schlossberg, 1997). Listed below are some of
Electronic access
the most widely used interventions (see Table
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
I). Each intervention is briefly described and
available at
potential uses of the interventions are
http://www.emerald-library.com
discussed. Finally, three case studies are
offered. Readers are asked to identify the
Journal of Workplace Learning
Volume 12 . Number 5 . 2000 . pp. 205±216 intervention(s) they believe to be the most
# MCB University Press . ISSN 1366-5626 appropriate for resolving the case.
205

Name your career development intervention Journal of Workplace Learning
James J. Kirk, Bridget Downey, Steve Duckett and Connie Woody Volume 12 . Number 5 . 2000 . 205±216

Table I Career development interventions
Intervention Description For use with employee group
Alternative career paths Examining skills and experience to transfer to a new career Passed over workers, burned out workers, career changers,
mid-life employees, plateaued workers
Assessment centers Activities or exercises used to identify employee potential Any, but specifically high potential employees, new workers,
mid-life employees, possibly plateaued workers
Career coaching Helping people prepare to switch careers, or helping them Any, but specifically high potential employees, new workers,
get ahead in their current career burned out workers, plateaued workers
Career pathing Outlining an individual career plan Any, but specifically high potential employees
Cross-training Teaching workers several skills so that they may be Any, but specifically new workers, high potential employees,
assigned a variety of tasks or positions semi-skilled workers, technical workers
Dual career tracks A career path that allows for success and rewards without Technical workers, creative workers, plateaued workers
necessarily being an ``upward'', or managerial, movement
Flexitime Allowing employees to vary work schedules to better fit Pre-retirees, re-entering workers, dual career couples,
in with personal lives mid-life employees
Job enlargement Increasing the number of tasks a worker performs Any, but specifically high potential employees, technical
workers, semi-skilled workers
Job enrichment Increasing the amount of responsibility and control a Any, but specifically high potential employees, burned out
worker has over his or her position workers, technical workers, plateaued workers
Job rotation Moving employees from job to job within an organization New workers, high potential employees, transferred workers
Job sharing Two employees share one full-time job, including hours, Re-entering workers, dual career couples, mid-life
salary and benefits employees, pre-retirees
Phased retirement Gradual tapering of work schedules and responsibilities Pre-retirees
until full retirement is reached
Sabbaticals An extended period of leave Burned out workers, mid-life employees, pre-retirees
Temporary assignments Special projects or special assignments Student workers (interns), pre-retirees, high potential
employees, temporary workers, intrapreneurs, possibly
career changers

Career development interventions not lose a valued employee, and Janet does
not lose any accrued benefits. Another
Alternative career paths
instance of creating an alternative career path
One approach to alternative career pathing
would be a situation where recent graduates
involves ``incorporating the skills employees
have followed their dream in their studies, but
already have with what their hearts want to
do''. It can involve changing career and are having difficulty finding a job in their
lifestyles for more meaningful and fulfilling specific field. For example, Sandi received a
work arrangements (Rhodes, 1995). Creating doctorate in environmental science and public
alternative career paths often involves policy, and is using her talents and skills at the
incorporating other career development Smithsonian Institution's Division of Birds to
interventions, such as flexitime or job prevent aviation mishaps (Jidoun, 1999).
enrichment. Workers seeking an alternative
career path may find themselves downshifting Assessment center activities
or moving sideways (Hudson, 1997). Assessment centers are most often used to
Alternative career paths should not be identify workers' career potential, or for use in
confused with dual career paths, which is job placement activities, and may be used
described later. with either current or prospective employees.
For example, Janet finds herself plateaued Assessment centers are most often used in
in her current career and experiencing ``burn- conjunction with filling professional or
out''. By creating an alternative career path, managerial positions, although they may be
Janet transfers current skills into a new career, used with other positions as well.
one that in the past was considered only a Generally speaking, assessment centers do
dream. Janet, along with her employer, may not constitute an office or physical space in an
also decide that job enrichment or flextime organization. In most instances, a participant
may be an option, so that the company does in an assessment center is simply asked to
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complete several exercises aimed at you have helped him become a more satisfied
measuring higher-level management, employee, as well as retaining him as a valued
problem-solving, and decision-making skills. worker for your organization.
Several types of exercises may be used,
including in-basket tests, leaderless discussion Career pathing
groups, and role-play situations. Career pathing, also called career tracking, is
For example, Carla is being considered for a process of outlining an individual career
a promotion in the accounting department of plan, usually within an organization. Career
her company. The promotion would include pathing is most often used as a part of
supervising six members of the accounting management training and development,
staff. To partially assess Carla's ability as a although individuals may develop their own
manager, she and three other candidates for career track, either alone, or in conjunction
the position take part in an assessment center. with a career coach.
The assessment includes an in-basket exercise Employees follow pre-determined steps
on analyzing cash flow, and several role-plays along the career path to develop expertise in
designed to evaluate their effectiveness on managing different types of organizational
giving feedback, praising, and disciplining situations (Solomon, 1995) and to reach their
employees. career goal. Periodic checks evaluate progress,
as well as determining what further training or
Career coaching/counseling experience is needed to move to the next step.
Career coaching frequently involves helping Career pathing often uses several other career
individuals prepare for a career change or development interventions as part of the
helping employees advance in their existing process. These include cross-training, job
jobs (Nelson, 1999). By focusing on training rotation, job enrichment or enlargement, and
and developing the skills of their workers, temporary assignments.
firms can often build employee loyalty (Belk, For example, Jim accepted a position as a
1999). While the career-coaching role in manager trainee at a well-established printing
organizations most often falls to the company immediately after graduation. The
immediate supervisor, career coaching and printing company was planning to open a new
counseling has also become a career in itself. division, and was also at a point where several
From the employee's view, career coaching senior level managers would be retiring within
consists of evaluating interests, values, work the next five years. As part of the career
styles, and skills. From the organization's pathing program, Jim was to be rotated
view, it consists of matching employee talents between various departments in the company's
with organizational needs, recruiting and six national locations, spending two months
retaining talent in the company, identifying at each location. During this period, Jim
training and development needs, and assisting would be involved in the hands-on work of
employees in specifying and locating new the company, as well as being involved in
employment opportunities within the managerial tasks and decision making. At the
organization (Hogan, 1998). end of the first year, if progress was made as
For example, suppose you are a department planned, Jim would become one of the area
manager, and Joe comes to you inquiring managers of the new division. As other people
about other opportunities in the company. in the corporation moved into vacated
You know Joe to be a very conscientious and positions, the plan was for Jim to move up
intelligent worker, and want to make certain also.
he does not look for opportunities elsewhere.
Over the next few weeks, you discuss with Joe Cross-training
his interests, education and skills, and how Cross-trained workers are taught skills
they relate to various positions in your outside their current job assignment so they
department and others within the company. can be called upon to perform a variety of
You identify a job area in a different tasks as the need arises. Many workers and
department which Joe feels better fits his supervisors find themselves cross-training
interests and lifestyle, and together you make each other, just to make the day-to-day work
a plan for some training Joe can pursue while life manageable. As a career development
waiting for a position to come open. While intervention, however, companies put into
you are reluctant to lose Joe, you know that place a formal program of cross-training.
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Cross-training helps organizations to recommendations in a wide range of business
balance workloads so everyone is busy, and areas, participate in high level decisions, and
allows the company to respond quickly to act as mentors to other employees (Tucker
employee absences. It also allows employees and Moravec, 1996). The interest in dual or
and departments within an organization to multiple career tracks is likely to grow as more
gain a better understanding of the ``big organizations do away with formal
picture'', and to improve communications management titles and establish team
and relations. Employees who are cross- structures (Capland, 1997).
trained are more valuable to the company, For example, take a look at Kevin, who has
and more marketable in the work world been working as an architect with the same
overall (Terrel, 1997). large firm for the past eight years. There are
To illustrate this intervention, consider the few ``upward'' possibilities, unless you are in
accounting department where Carla was one of the administrative areas, such as
recently promoted to manager. The accounting, or unless you become a partner.
department handles a large volume of work, When Kevin began work, he was primarily an
and each of the six employees in the assistant applying finishing technical
department is assigned to a different function. specifications to projects (e.g. checking
These functions are: daily data entry of blueprints). Gradually, he was able to let
payable invoices; daily customer billing; more of his creative talent show, and was
posting customer payments; posting vendor assigned as member of design teams and
payments and printing checks; and two became responsible for increasingly larger
people who perform reviews and internal phases of various projects. Over the last two
audits of the various journals and ledgers in years, Kevin has been project director on two
the department. Carla implements a different accounts, which involves initial
cross-training plan within the department. design concept, more contact with the client
Because slow or non-performance in the first and builder, and more control over the
four functions could create serious backlogs various phases of projects. Along with this
and cash flow problems if not kept up, Carla additional responsibility comes more
begins cross-training across these functions, recognition and respect in the firm, as well as
and later includes the reviewing and auditing more money.
functions.
Flexitime
Dual career tracks Flextime is one of the most popular and most
Dual career tracks should not be confused widely known career development
with alternative career paths. Creating dual interventions. Flexitime gives employees the
career paths involves preparing employees to opportunity to balance their work and
succeed and be rewarded without necessarily personal lives by restructuring the typical
being on a management or vertical workday to accommodate individual
organization career path. In other words, employee schedules (Arellano, 1999).
``up'' is not considered the only way Arellano also reports (1999) that employers
employees can grow and advance within the who offer flexitime often report decreased use
company (Schlossberg, 1997). The of paid leave, decreased tardiness and
establishment of dual or multiple career increased productivity. Other benefits for the
tracks has proven to be an effective way to employer include a low-cost method of
retain and motivate valued employees providing personal time off and extending
(Joinson, 1997). service hours without overtime pay (Brown,
Management can be an attractive career 1998). This career development intervention
alternative for many employees, but it is not is popular with employees who have extended
for everyone. This may be particularly true for families or young children, who may be facing
many technical or creative workers. The ``burn-out'', and those seeking further
number of people managed often education or pursuing second careers.
distinguishes managerial levels, but under the Flexitime allows employees to set their own
dual career track plan, individuals apply their schedules, within limitations set by
expertise (like managers) to tasks of greater management. For example, workers may
complexity and impact within their specialty adjust their starting and ending times, but are
field. For example, they may make required to be at the office during
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management specified core or peak hours. company, or more marketable in the job
Working four ten-hour days is an example of a search.
compressed workweek form of flexitime.
Flexitime may also be combined with other Job enrichment
interventions, such as job sharing, job Job enrichment involves increasing a worker's
rotation, and phased retirement. responsibility and control over his or her
For example, Suzanne recently returned to work, and is also called ``vertical job loading''
school to complete her Master's degree. She (Parker, 1998). Job enrichment allows you to
had full support and encouragement from her expand your responsibilities or change your
employer, who agreed on the flexitime role to develop new competencies without
schedule Suzanne proposed. Because the leaving your current position or the
location of the school required an hour organization altogether (Managing Office
commute, Suzanne needed to leave work at Technology, 1996).
3.00 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday to Job enrichment is also used as an effective
attend a 4.00 p.m. class. To complete the motivational technique:
According to this perspective, if a job provides a
40-hour week, she arranged to start work one
sense of responsibility, a sense of significance
hour early on Tuesday and Thursday and to and information concerning performance, the
work one hour later on Monday and employees will be internally motivated to high
Wednesday. levels of performance. The key to creating this
situation is to enrich jobs so they provide five
core characteristics: task variety, task
Job enlargement
significance, task identity, autonomy and
Job enlargement is defined as increasing the feedback (Whittington, 1998).
number of tasks a worker performs, with all of
the tasks at the same level of responsibility, Again consider Janet, our plateaued employee
and is also sometimes referred to as who is exploring alternative career paths. To
``horizontal job loading'' (Parker, 1998). Be try to retain Janet and her expertise, her
careful not to confuse job enlargement with manager begins by allowing her to monitor
job enrichment, which follows. certain duties the department is assigned, and
One such instance involves Lucy, a data asks her to participate in a focus group
developed to advise management on
entry person in the accounts payable
improved communications between
department, who learns quickly and
departments. Later, Janet is asked to become
completes the majority of her tasks early. She
an advisor, or short-term mentor, to new
often seemed bored, and even mentioned to
employees in the department. Janet seems to
her supervisor that she wished she had a little
be more satisfied now, and is proud of her
more variety in the job. After reviewing her
``senior'' status.
work, to be sure it was accurate as well as fast,
her supervisor assigned Lucy to help with the
Job rotation
customer billing, a function that had much
Job rotation is the systematic movement of
more volume and seemed to always be employees from job to job within an
behind. The intervention helped Lucy gain organization, as a way to achieve many
more skills and make better use of her time. different human resources objectives ± for
The department benefited also when the simply staffing jobs, for orienting new
customer billing was sent out in a timely employees, for preventing job boredom, and,
manner, reducing overtime and improving finally, for training employees and enhancing
cash flow. their career development (Cheraskin and
Job enlargement and job enrichment can Campion, 1996). Job rotation is often used by
both be used with plateaued workers or employers who place employees on a certain
workers who are experiencing burnout, and career path or track, usually for a
with especially high achievers. These two management position, where they are
interventions may be used in conjunction with expected to perform a variety of duties, and
each other, or with other career development have a variety of skills and competencies.
interventions such as job rotation and Job rotation is often confused with cross-
temporary assignments. Both interventions training. While both interventions perform
provide the employee with increased skills, essentially the same service of providing
making him or her more valuable to the employees with a varied set of skills, job
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rotation goes beyond this. Besides being used assistants, and both have been considering
as a means of management training, job working only part time to allow them more
rotation can also be used as a form of job time to spend with their growing families.
enrichment, by adding increased However, both are concerned that being part
responsibilities, increasing challenge, and time would only lessen the respect they have
reducing boredom or burnout. earned for their positions, as well as having
For example, when Jim, the new printing work pile up during the times they are off.
division manager, was completing the job Their supervisor is especially concerned with
rotation part of his training, he realized how this last aspect as well. As a solution, with the
much more interesting this made coming to approval of their manager, the two develop a
work each day. Even though he may be job-sharing arrangement. Kim will work
assigned a duty that he did not like at the Mondays, Tuesdays, and five hours on
moment, he knew that next week he would be Wednesdays. Tina will work five hours on
rotating to a different task. Jim also realized Wednesday and all day on Thursdays and
that this rotation could be used as a valuable Fridays. They spend the overlapping hour on
training and staff coverage tool. One of his Wednesday communicating status of projects
first big projects was setting up a regular job and duties. They will each receive half the pay
rotation system within each department at the and half the benefits of the position, and both
new division. For example, in the pre-press retain their title as senior administrative
area, staff members rotated weekly between assistant. The company views them as one
the functions of design and layout, creating staff member.
negatives, creating masters, and plate making.
Boredom and absenteeism decreased, and Phased retirement
jobs were covered when there was an absence. Organizations typically devote far more
energy to recruiting and retraining than to
Job sharing phasing out workers (Schlossberg, 1997).
With job sharing, a full-time job is split Phased retirement is one intervention that
between two employees. The two employees workers and employers can use at the latter
share the duties and responsibilities, as well as end of the career cycle. During phased
the salary and benefits of the job. These two retirement, workers gradually taper their work
employees must also work closely together, schedules until they reach full retirement.
and with management, to co-ordinate hours, Other career development interventions such
duties, and communication among as flextime and job sharing are typically
themselves and other departments in the incorporated into phased retirement
organization. Most often, job sharing is used arrangements. Retirees may work part time
by parents or adults caring for their parents, and serve as mentors or trainers to their
and affords employees a better balance successors. Benefits to employees include a
between their work and personal lives. greater sense of control over the transition
Employees pursuing further education or a from work to retirement, lowering the risk of
second career may also use job sharing. economic insecurity, and more social support
Job sharing offers advantages over part-time (Worklife Report, 1997). The employer
work in that employees are able to maintain benefits by retaining valued talent and
their professional status as well as some of minimizing labor shortages (Duff, 1999).
their job benefits. One example of the For example, consider Bob, who at age 64
advantage over flexitime situations is that with is beginning to look forward to retirement.
flexitime, parents may still require extended However, he also is concerned with ``letting
day care hours (Brown, 1998). Benefits to the go'', and afraid he might be bored when he
employer include having ``two heads instead retires. And, after 17 years as part of the
of one'', retaining valued and experienced senior management team, Bob will leave a
employees, and down time due to vacation or huge void in the company operations. Bob's
sickness is reduced, because the job share company has a phased retirement plan, and
partners cover for each other. works with him to set up his new schedule.
For example, Tina and Kim have both Bob will be involved in selecting his successor,
recently returned from maternity leave. This and will work as coach and mentor full-time
is Tina's second child, and Kim's third. Both for a while. After three months, he will scale
Tina and Kim are upper level administrative back to three days per week, then eventually
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to two days, and so on until he does not come assignment usually involves a single goal or
into the office at all. For another six months, target, or special set of circumstances. The
Bob agrees to be available as a consultant and work project usually revolves around one
advisor on an as needed basis. The entire certain aspect of the business, and has a finite
phased retirement plan takes place over a two- term, or a definable beginning and end. The
year period. current trend, at least in private industry, is to
move toward project teams as the preferred
Sabbaticals management operating structure (Kanouse,
A sabbatical is an extended leave from work. 1999).
It can be paid or unpaid, and may or may not Returning again to Janet, the plateaued
include a guarantee of position upon return, employee, her manager has another solution
depending upon the sponsoring for increasing Janet's job satisfaction. Janet
organization. Sabbaticals allow people time knows this department inside and out, and
for revitalization, and give the remaining has expertise and knowledge in other areas of
employees an opportunity for new challenges the company as well. Because of her
and growth (Semas, 1997). Sabbaticals are enthusiastic participation on the company's
often viewed as a benefit, rather than a career communication focus group, her manager
development intervention. Employees and recommends her for a position on the
employers both need to realize the temporary task force created to implement the
opportunities for both personal and career focus group suggestions. Janet feels not only
growth and development. They are often valued, but also that she is making a
used as a retaining tool for valued employees, significant contribution to her career and the
and as a way to relieve job burnout, and can future of the company.
even be used as a ``trial period'' for pre-
retirees. Summary
Sabbaticals also promote teamwork because As organizations continue on into the new
employees must back each other up during century, more companies are realizing the
times of extended absences. As for customers, advantages of retaining highly trained and
comfort levels rise. They know that more than experienced employees. Many have already
one person can help them. Professionals also realized that the cost of recruiting and training
realize humility in the recognition that the a new employee can far outweigh the costs of
work world will and can function without some career development interventions. That
them, which in itself can lift many an alone could be reason to implement a
imagined burden (Howell, 1999). comprehensive career development program.
For example, Sam's company allows an Overall employee satisfaction, dedication, and
employee a 12-week paid sabbatical after each loyalty to the company are added benefits. As
ten years of employment. The first and last a final note, employees should remember that
two weeks may be spent as the employee they can lobby for some of these
wishes. During the middle eight weeks of the interventions, and if their organization is
sabbatical, the employee is required to unwilling, some interventions, such as
volunteer at least 20 hours per week with an exploring alternative career paths, career
approved charity organization. pathing and possibly a sabbatical, can be
pursued by the employee on his or her own
Temporary assignments initiative.
Temporary assignments are also known as
project work. Working at temporary
assignments or on special projects can help
Case studies
employees avoid burnout and can keep
plateaued or high achieving employees Case 1. When woodworkers won't
motivated, giving them the chance to learn The Needmore Woodworking Shop is located
more and enhance their skills and experience. in the scenic mountains of Needmore, WV. It
Many times, temporary assignments (i.e. employs local woodcrafters to produce finely-
project work) can be used by pre-retirees as a crafted art objects. The designs are unique
part of their phased retirement plans. and their products are selling well at craft
Project assignments are different from job shows across the country. The new Internet
rotation in that the temporary/project site has also boosted business, which is now
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the best it has ever been in Needmore's ten- workers in the area. It is well-known that to
year history. keep your job at Needmore Woodworking,
Needmore is in Hardy County, West the weekend party has to stop in time to get a
Virginia, an impoverished area of the country good night's sleep Sunday night. From the
with a median family income of $20,745 and limited workforce in the area, Wright has
a population of just over 10,000. While most managed to assemble the best possible staff.
people tend to live in Hardy County because Yet, he cannot seem to impress upon them
they are born there, a few people have the need to be at work when big deadlines
immigrated to Hardy County from the approach. Most staff members average only
Washington DC area, drawn by the four days a week on the job.
spectacular beauty and simple lifestyle of the
area. Less than 20 per cent of people over the Discussion questions
age of 25 have any education beyond high (1) Which CD intervention could Wright use to
school, with 45 per cent not having a high motivate his existing staff so that they will be more
school diploma. The skilled labor pool is dedicated to showing up for work, and how?
limited. Most of the woodworking shop's staff Flexitime would be an excellent solution to
was trained on the job to perform the Wright's problems. This could take the form
necessary job functions.
of varied start and end work times or
A position at Needmore Woodworking is
compressed workweeks. This would allow
considered an extremely good job in the area.
employees time to take care of personal
Salaries, benefits, and working conditions
business, while Wright still has staff available
compare favorably with those at other local
to meet the deadlines.
businesses. As an added plus, the commute is
manageable, a short distance on US Highway (2) Is Wright expecting too much from his staff?
55, which is passable in all but the worst Why, or why not?
weather conditions. An unusual aspect of the No, he is not expecting too much from his
business is that the shop's owner, Wright staff. All employees should be made aware of
Masters, holds a more enlightened the importance of reliability when hired. They
management view than most area employers. should also be made to realize that missed
He believes in knowing his employees and deadlines eventually lead to missed
their needs and goals, providing continuous paychecks.
training on new equipment and designs, and
recognizing the strengths and (3) Should Wright look for other staff, perhaps
accomplishments of his staff. importing them from the Washington DC area?
Despite his nurturing qualities, Wright Why, or why not?
often finds himself frustrated by the staff's No. If he imports staff, he runs the risk of
lack of dedication to the business. It seems driving up his labor cost, and alienating the
that, among the Needmore Woodworking community he has worked so hard to become
staff, it's ``always something''. Either Billy, the a part of. At the very least, bringing in staff
cut man, has to take his wife (who doesn't from outside the area should be a last resort.
drive) to the clinic to see about her back (4) What other CD interventions could be used to
problems or Bobby, the sander, has to spend reorganize or redesign the jobs to improve the
three days rebuilding the transmission on his reliability of the staff?
pickup and cannot get to work. Even Betty, Cross-training and job sharing would also be
the bookkeeper, is frequently out because her good solutions. Cross-training would allow
grandma needs help on her ``bad'' days. While the work to be done in case of an absence, and
it is true that one of the reasons people love job sharing would allow all positions to be
the area is its relaxed culture, there are
covered, while employing more of the
deadlines to be met. When a shipment of
available work force, a positive image builder.
jewelry boxes needs to be in Maryland by the
next weekend for the annual Sugarloaf Craft (5) Is this problem unique to remote,
Festival, no money is made if it arrives after impoverished areas, or is it more widespread?
the show. Unfortunately, it is more widespread and not
On the job, Wright's staff is a hard-working, unique to remote and rural areas. Employers
conscientious group. He has selected them can reduce the negative impact of these
because they are among the most reliable problems by being more flexible in their
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scheduling, and allowing the use of modern the manufacturing or distributor side, in both
CD interventions. sales and customer service.
The role of general operations management
Case 2. How do we keep going from here? fell to Constance. This role included support
Industrial Forms & Labels, Inc. (IFL) is a staff supervision, software system
small, independently-owned distributor of administration and training, managing
custom produced business forms, labels, and customer promotions and events, occasionally
related products such as barcoding supplies assisting the owner's wife with various
and ribbons. The owner and president, Dave bookkeeping duties, as well as implementing
Olivetti, began the business in 1971 with his the human resource functions in the growing
wife, after spending eight years as a sales company.
person with a regional, direct selling printer of Until three years ago, the company did not
similar items. IFL is now WNC's oldest and have much success with the full-time sales
largest independent distributor of business representatives hired. Most were impatient
forms, labels and related products. with the amount of time required to develop
Independent distributors in this industry long-standing accounts in the industry, and
serve as middlemen and liaisons between end- expected quick sales and commissions. The
users of products and the manufacturers of latest salesperson was hired in 1996. Matthew
those items. Unlike the large, nationally Guttridge was a ``right-sized'', high-level
owned direct-selling companies, the purchasing manager from one of IFL's largest
independent distributor has a choice of which customers. Matthew brought 25 years of
company manufactures the products they sell. business expertise and contacts to IFL, and
Service to the customer soon became the was not just interested in making a fast dollar.
Because of the rapid growth of the company,
major selling point of IFL.
but lack of full-time salespeople, the
As Dave Olivetti developed his relationship
maintenance of many ``house'' accounts fell to
and influence with contacts and resources on
the only other long-term employee available ±
the manufacturing end, his reputation for a
Constance Woodbury. Needless to say,
high level of service to customers naturally
Constance now has a job that has been ``over-
grew. It soon became known that IFL could
enlarged''.
get an order priced, produced and delivered
Dave Olivetti realizes what is about to
in less time than those larger national
happen, so an additional inside sales support
companies took to just prepare the job quote.
person is hired. This person also has
As the company grew, as well as Dave's
considerable experience in the industry from a
family, Anita Jolsen was hired as an office-
customer service position at a manufacturing
administrative assistant in 1981. Her duties
plant. A full time bookkeeper that also has
included not only administrative tasks, such
experience in HR functions is also hired.
as customer billing, but also internal customer These two employees take away much of the
service. She soon became more of an inside overload from Constance. She is now left with
salesperson, and these customer contacts the more manageable duties of maintaining
often left the administrative duties behind. A ``house'' accounts, customer promotions,
new staff member was hired, Constance including the company newsletter, and
Woodbury, who continued the dual job computer network maintenance and training.
descriptions of administrative assistant and The problem now remains in the sales
customer service, while Anita became the department. Anita and Matthew have brought
company's first full-time outside sales many new and large accounts to the company,
representative, other than the owner. making the need for the additional people
As the company continued to grow, several mentioned earlier not only necessary, but
outside salespeople and inside customer possible. However, both Anita and Matthew
service people were hired. The majority of the are over 60 years old. Both are looking
current staff has been hired since 1993, and towards retirement in the next five years. Both
now includes four inside sales support salespeople currently find it very hard to ``let
persons, an administrative assistant, and a go'' of some of the responsibility involving
warehouse/shipping and receiving person. All ``their babies''. Dave, at age 55, has already
but one of the inside sales support persons begun a semi-retirement, remaining as
have backgrounds in this industry, either from support and advisor only, and focusing on
213


financial management of the company. He (4) Why do you think Anita and Matthew are
has no children who are of age or interested in finding it hard to let go of some of their duties and
taking on any part of the business. Constance responsibilities?
has made it known to Dave that she is not This is not just a money question. These are
interested in a full-time sales position, and in accounts that each person has spent years
fact is pursuing further education in another developing, and they have even forged some
field. personal friendships along with the
professional ones. There will naturally be
Discussion questions some emotional ties. This, plus the normal
(1) What career development/career management transition from full-time work to retirement,
intervention would be most helpful to this is never an easy one, and requires much
company? support on the part of co-workers.
Phased retirement would allow the retiring (5) What is the best way to make Anita and
sales people to gradually turn over accounts, Matthew feel more comfortable with this process?
train new or existing personnel on the . If they want to retire, this is a much better
particulars of those accounts, and also way than simply cutting ties with only a
allow customers the comfort of a gradual month's notice.
change. . Even if their successors are not chosen
(2) What is the best way to implement phased from the current customer service people,
retirement in this situation? Should the these people will likely still be there to
implementation be different for Anita than for support the accounts. They are as familiar
Matthew? with the technical details and ``nuts and
It should be determined first who will be bolts'' of the accounts as the salespeople,
taking the place of the salespeople, whether and will be the customers' tie to the
they come from existing inside sales support retiring salesperson and the company.
personnel, or from outside hiring. Given the
. They will be involved in turning over
company's history with sales personnel, and ``their babies'', and can watch and
supervise and mentor the new
the experience of existing customer service
relationship.
personnel, the new people will most likely
. Anita and Matthew need to be assured
come from inside. An agreed upon time-line
that their contribution to the company
between Dave Olivetti and each salesperson
will not be forgotten.
should be set. Once implemented, the . No one says the personal relationships
phased retirement should cover no less than
have to end, just because the professional
one year. It should begin with smaller
one does.
accounts, and gradually grow into the larger
accounts. (6) What about Dave? After coming to terms
Anita and Matthew may decide on different with the sales department dilemma, where should
time-lines, and this will be the main factor, his next focus be?
along with the size and number of accounts Dave's next focus should be on another form
each person has to deal with, in determining of succession planning. He needs to come to
the difference between each phased terms with what is going to happen in ten to
retirement plan. 15 years when he is ready to completely retire.
A few of his options are: one of his children
(3) What are some of the steps that need to be may have a change of interest and decide to
taken to ensure that the phased retirement plan is join the family business; he can search
successful? elsewhere in the family for a successor; he can
In advance, all parties involved should be look at the option of selling the company; or
included in any planning sessions. This he can plan on making some of the employees
would include Anita or Matthew, Dave partners and have a management team in
Olivetti, and the successor. All compensation place and ready to go when he retires.
plans must be agreed to up front. Any
questions regarding the addition of new Case 3. Opportunity in scarce resources
customer service people should be addressed Tom Harris is an agriculture agent with the
if the successors come from inside the North Carolina Cooperative Extension
company. Service in Adams County. He has been with
214


the organization for three years and his areas county. Owing to the small size and
of responsibility include livestock, row crops, population of Cobb County, the county
pesticides, and community resource commissioners are reluctant to fund a full-
development (CRD). He is a hard worker and time agriculture position there. Eric is the
really loves the agricultural side of his job, but only person on his staff with agriculture
he is not as enthusiastic about the community training, and he is constantly pressed for time,
resource development aspect of the job. since he must do the agriculture programming
Tom is excellent in designing and working in addition to the administrative tasks for his
with agriculture programs, but he has to be county. The amount of work to be
prodded by his supervisor to do the accomplished is too great for one position,
community resource development work. This but the commissioners do not feel that there is
work involves meetings, seminars, and enough agriculture industry in the county to
working with volunteers to help solve local fund another full-time position, and Eric
community problems, and requires a great cannot get approval to hire a part-time agent.
deal of diplomacy and networking. Tom feels This situation is causing public relations
that this part of his job involves too much problems for Eric, since the local farmers do
baby-sitting of the volunteers, and that the not feel that they are getting enough response
groups he works with seldom accomplish to their needs, while Eric is also constantly
more than talking about problems and behind in completing the administrative work
planting a few shrubs to beautify the accomplished because he is attempting to
community. Tom does not see how this work keep his farm clientele happy. Eric wonders if
has any benefit for the community, and he the state's new program of hiring cross-county
only does the absolutely essential work in this
agents could help him. He is planning to bring
part of his job. One of Tom's favorite lines is
up his problem at the next western district
``this would be a great job if only I could get
county directors' meeting.
rid of the CRD responsibility''.
Jennifer is the Adams County extension
Discussion questions
director, which makes her Tom's immediate
(1) Which CD intervention will successfully
supervisor. She came to her current position
resolve this case and why?
from the community development area of
A form of job enlargement could work in this
extension. Jennifer is very pleased with Tom's
case. Jennifer and Eric could share Tom's
work in general, but she is beginning to be
position for the agriculture work, and Jennifer
concerned with his lack of enthusiasm for
could split the CRD responsibility between
community development work. Some of the
the other agents, or Jennifer could take it on
volunteers she worked with in the past have
herself, which she has shown interest in.
mentioned to her that they have a hard time
tracking Tom down when they need help, and (2) Is there another CD intervention, or any type
his indifference to the program is beginning to intervention, that can solve the issues in this case?
cause discontent among that clientele. Mentoring or coaching might also be useful in
Jennifer has spoken with Tom on several this situation. If Tom could be given a model
occasions about the importance of to follow, he might realize the value of his
community development work, but her CRD responsibilities.
comments seem to fall on deaf ears. Jennifer
(3) Should Tom be fired in this situation?
does not want to lose Tom as an employee,
No, such a drastic step is not warranted. Tom
since the agriculture clients really like his
should be utilized in the area of agriculture for
work, but she cannot allow the current
both counties, which will solve two problem
situation to continue. She has thought of
situations, and make a more satisfied
taking back the CRD work herself, since it
employee.
helps build rapport with community leaders,
which she needs as a director, but the county (4) What role should networking play in this
commissioners are not willing to fund Tom's case?
position as a solely agricultural job. Jennifer and Eric should utilize networking in
Eric Nelson is a county extension director their director's meetings to explore a common
in Cobb County, which borders Adams solution to both their problems. Talking with
County. He is currently having difficulty in each other and their peers in the bi-monthly
accomplishing the agriculture work in his director's meetings could help them come to a
215


viable solution, or gain new insight into their Howell, J. (1999), `Ò sweet sabbatical'', Wenatchee
problems from other directors that may Business Journal, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. b8-b9.
previously have encountered the same type of Hudson, F. (1997), ``Career plateau transitions in midlife,
situation. and how to manage them'', Career Transitions in
Turbulent Times, ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling
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involvement be? Jidoun, G. (1999), ``Feather figure'', Working Woman,
Yes, upper management will need to be October, p. 16.
involved. Their role will be supporting the Joinson, C. (1997), ``Multiple career paths help retain
innovative solutions that Jennifer and Eric talent'', HR Magazine, Vol. 42 No. 10, pp. 59-64.
Kanouse, D. (1999), ``Make temporary assignments work'',
may come up with. They may also be needed
Federal Times, Vol. 35 No. 6, pp. 16-20.
to help present the case to the county
Managing Office Technology (1996), ``Sideways bound:
commissioners, who usually want to deal with
success doesn't always flow up'', Vol. 41 No. 11,
top people in an organization, and whose pp. 25-30.
approval is needed for the budgeting process. Nelson, F. (1999), ``Career coaches busy as more switch
jobs'', Denver Business Journal, Vol. 50 No. 49,
pp. 15-16.
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