What challenge(s) do our clients face?
No matter what the industry, to sustain an organization’s strategy, the development of its people is a core requirement.
The progression of an organization is strongly correlated with the development of its professionals; however, often companies face difficulties in how to guarantee this connection or take concrete action which supports this aim.
We believe two actions are needed to address this challenge – (i) management systems to guarantee that the professional will be evaluated and rewarded according to the strategy, and (ii) communication to ensure the professional has clear visibility of their career opportunities within the company:
(i) Performance management is a continuous process essential to motivate and develop your workforce and to improve organization results through the alignment of individual performance with organizational strategy and culture.
One of the best ways to get people to execute the expected business strategy and objectives and the culture values defined is to evaluate them in a way that is aligned with that.
The performance management model is a meritocratic way of evaluating people that causes a greater sense of fairness in promotion, salary increases or incentives, development plans or promotion selections; whilst positively impacting professional retention.
(ii) Career Path is a structured framework that defines the career path possibilities within an organization based on its structure, with clarity of the necessary skills on the different positions/levels and its triggers.
To stay motivated and engaged, besides a structured performance management process, professionals want to know clearly what their career options are, and what they need to develop in order to achieve them. Companies and their leadership need to be prepared to provide the necessary support for this development in order to maintain and bring forth the best potential of their employees.
With the evolution of the labor market, advancements in digital and organizational structures, career path options are evolving fast and can vary from vertical paths, to lateral movements and more specialized routes. These routes affect the skills and competencies required of individuals, making recruiting and retention of professionals increasing challenging.
How do we help?
We support our clients structuring their Performance Management process and Career Path framework aligned with the organization’s culture, strategy, and maturity and incorporating market best practices.
Performance Management:
- Definition of behavioral competencies aligned with organizational culture and strategy
- Definition of performance objectives, KPIs (per areas and individuals) and weighting aligned with organizational strategy and objectives
- Definition of evaluation model and performance management cycle (process, periodicity, responsible, and supporting systems).
- Training and preparation of leadership and the organization for the new performance management process
- Alignment of performance management cycle and its outputs with related processes e.g. remuneration process, career path, development plans.
- Execution support for the first performance management cycle
Career Paths:
- Definition of career paths aligned with the business and cultural need
- Definition of career opportunities that account for the employee profile that a company wants to attract
- Alignment of the career path framework and its outputs with related structure, practices and processes (e.g. organizational model, performance management model, training and development plan)
- Communication plan for career paths to all internal and external stakeholders
What are the benefits?
- Increased employee and organizational performance as a result of alignment of professionals and organizational goals
- Increased satisfaction in performance evaluations due to equity and transparency in the discussion, evaluation, and definition of development plans for professionals
- Increased attraction and retention of talents, providing coherent career movements, considering professionals’ desires and needs
- Reinforcement of the necessary culture through the day to day activities
- For managers, tools to be more effective coaches being able to guide better their employees and increase the performance of the team
How does it work?
In order to develop and implement a Performance Management system bespoke to our client’s needs, we typically progress through 6 main pillars of activity as described below.
We believe that performance evaluation should always consider both what the employees accomplish in terms of goals and concrete results, as well as how they achieve it – looking to the alignment between their behaviors and company’s culture.
In order to deliver a performance management system that achieves this, we aim to build a deep understanding of the business and its strategy, as well as the culture of the company. This is achieved through close alignment with a wide range of multifunctional stakeholders (not just HR), especially the company leadership, in order to make sure everything from definitions to communications are correctly positioned.
In a standalone or joint project, we are then able to connect this performance management system with the different Career Paths available to employees facilitating talent movement and retention.
Typically, in Career Path structuring, we progress through 4 main steps:
Again, a comprehensive understanding of the business strategy is key to effectively design the paths, so different competencies and people are in the positions required to support business goals. For example, if there is an objective to generate more integration and exchange between areas or geographies career paths can promote lateral movements, expatriation or even missions or projects that bring this exchange. Or suppose that a company has a strategy to start a new initiative but does not have a representative space to have a dedicated full-time leader yet. It is possible to develop a path that allows a professional working in two roles in parallel.
It is based on these insights, and an understanding of the culture and what is attractive to current and potential employees, that Integration identifies what would be the ideal career path structure, designs the framework, aligns it with other processes and supports communication.
SUCCESS STORIES
CHALLENGE
A major Brazilian family business in the healthcare sector, was growing rapidly and was preparing itself for national expansion, including an IPO. However, there was a misalignment about the culture and values of the company and to sustain the planned expansion the company needed to strengthen its culture and develop a qualified people management system.
APPROACH
After doing a cultural diagnosis and redesign with the leadership, Integration supported on the definition of the performance evaluation model, guaranteeing the connection between the position functions and expected behaviors (“Way of Being” of the company).
Working with the executive and managerial level and Professional Development Committee we created a new assessment tool, with clear performance criteria, which was rolled out across the organization.
RESULT
Through the alignment and discussion of culture with the executive level, we were able to build a stronger identity for the staff at all levels. This, alongside the performance evaluation tool, increased awareness of the expected behaviors for professionals, increasing satisfaction in performance evaluations and better definition of development plans.
With clearer roles and responsibilities, the organization was also able to benefit from improved collaboration between teams and individuals and it continues to grow at a rapid pace, being recognized as a high-performance option on the stock market.
CHALLENGE
A market leader in the rental car segment was undergoing an international expansion, pushed forward by consistent double-digit growth. Simultaneously, it had undergone a rapid transition in its leadership team, with 8 out of 10 board executives being new entrants, including the HR Director.
Upon entering the Director became aware of the highly operational nature of the HR area, with low satisfaction from the employees and lack of credibility; and asked for our support in strengthening the area, its tools, systems and processes, using innovation and new technologies.
APPROACH
As part of a wider HR transformation program Integration designed a performance management system and supported the conduction of its first cycle. Working alongside the identified Career Committees we ensured the fair evaluation of professionals using the new criteria and ensured the process and feedback was delivered with the right quality, periodicity and dynamics.
RESULT
More than 250 executives were discussed in 10 Career Committees and 4 Fast Track programs were designed to develop 90 professionals which showed high potential. The process was designed respecting the company culture and the behaviors which the leadership wanted to foster and so it became a strong tool reinforce the manifestation of the culture in the day-to-day of the organization.
CHALLENGE
Our client, an organization in the financial sector, was in a process of reorganization and was structuring new business verticals. They asked for our support in creating guidelines for mobility between them – to give visibility to the organization about possible career moves and to clarify the technical and non-technical skills required by position.
APPROACH
According to the client’s culture and business needs, we translated the organizational skills that should be common to all positions and, based on the main challenges of the functions, we formalized the vision of the necessary technical skills per position.
In addition, we structured mobility policies, developing the connection between the skills guidelines to the human resources subsystems, including recruitment, retention, remuneration and professional development.
RESULT
As a result, the organization had greater clarity in its communication with employees, clearly defining the competences required by position, providing visibility of career routes and strengthening the practice of common values and competencies in all positions.