Moving up in the world

The world has changed — not an earth-shattering or new statement — but it has a significant impact on employees and companies.

There was a time when entering and staying in the job market meant finding one company and then (hopefully) making your way up the ranks. There wasn’t much to plan as the steps were set out. Most employees would remain in one company for most of their careers and receive the proverbial gold watch when it all ended.

What a different scenario employees and companies face today. There has been a shift from a static to a dynamic system — and it is multifaceted.

The changing landscape
Sixteen years ago, the UK-based Institute for Employee Studies was already reporting on the various challenges that are recognisable today. These include the decentralisation and restructuring of companies, resulting in the collapse of the old systems, and an external labour market that is more complex and diverse. Not only has the work front become worldwide in terms of opportunity, but constantly developing technology has created a global thrust at the desktop and a need to master the tools.

The impact of technology has changed many job positions and has also increased the pace of work. In the current climate, competition is constantly increasing between businesses and, at the same time, it’s increasing for employees and new market entrants — especially during an economic down-turn. Finding a job becomes even more complex as industry’s need for certain skills can change.

Employees take responsibility
Organisations now recognise the wealth in human capital and that competitive advantage relies to a large extent on their people. It’s a new game for employees with businesses expecting more than the ability to fill hours and do the job. Now it’s about having a positive impact as an engaged employee who works with passion.

Employees need to understand the context of the larger business and be flexible enough to embrace change within a constantly evolving business environment. This may mean upskilling or even retraining or, in many cases, being able to find a position in another company if retrenched or if their career plans require it. Individuals need to constantly develop themselves over a lifetime, recognising the matrix of possibilities now available to them with continuous learning.

In terms of career development, there is now increased choice for employees — but also increased risk. Rather than a prescribed career route, career development and management now follow a fluid path. Employees are taking responsibility for their own career movement and companies are managing the fluidity through various mechanisms. Career development has become a shared responsibility between organisation and individuals. The business needs to attract, retain and develop its human talent in line with strategic objectives. Individuals are now in charge of ‘Me Inc’, identifying their own needs in line with the organisation and driving their own career path while adding value to the companies they invest in.

The company plan
Managing this fluid arrangement is no small task for any business. With HR holding its own as a business enabler rather than a mere support function, the HR division of many companies, in particular larger entities, tackle career development in the context of organisational alignment using a multipronged approach. The development of employees’ careers can be broken down into: talent management, individual career path development, staffing and recruitment, and performance management. Companies in different industries and of various sizes tackle career development in a number of ways. What is clear is that employees are demanding options for their own career development.

A company’s perspective
“Career development and talent management is critical to our organisation and we have an in-depth model that caters to this,” says Bryn Morse, HR director at Peninsula Beverage Company (PBC), which holds the franchise to bottle Coca- Cola products in the Western and Northern Cape. Morse says that PBC places an emphasis on talent management because, while unemployment in South Africa is high, there is also a shortage of critical skills in the engineering, technical and artisan fields. “There are a number of industry players all vying for the same small pool of talent and the competition for talent becomes even more challenging when applied to equity ratios,” says Morse. As with most companies, PBC is managing the balance of scarce skills, equity ratios and HR’s strategic objectives to ensure critical capability ahead of demand.

The culture
The culture and ethos of a company drive many of its strategic objectives. It, understandably, plays a key role within HR and talent management. Morse says that PBC has, at its heart, a culture of performance and being performance-driven. However, it is more than that. “We have a high level of employee engagement and appreciation, and this is seen in our number one core value, ‘treating people as number one’,” says Morse. This includes being part of a team and fitting into the PBC culture.

Attracting talent
Attracting talent, and recruitment in particular, is a discipline in its own right. It follows a process from advertising the position and screening potential candidates to selection and closing. Companies often have their own internal recruitment divisions, but also make use of placement agencies and executive search firms. Morse says that PBC has a comprehensive recruitment process that moves beyond assessing the ability of the candidate to do the job to the potential to move through the organisation. “Attracting talent is two-fold,” says Morse. “We must ensure that PBC has the correct brand positioning, in line with how Coca-Cola is positioned, so that we draw the attention of appropriate candidates who will fit into our culture.”

The other aspect to attracting PBC talent is the remuneration and benefits offered. PBC pays up to 75% above market rate for critical positions and sees reward as important, no matter what the position. Morse says that, as an example, the minimum wage of a sweeper is R8 000 excluding benefits. (The company benchmarks itself against other bottlers in the industry.) The ethos of PBC is to promote within and on a monthly basis they look at positions that need to be filled. Desiree Johannes is an example of the ethos. She began work at PBC as a sighter, a job that entails checking the production line. Today she is employment relations manager, a senior manager position within HR.

Managing performance
Performance management and the development of employees within an organisation are not linear operations. These areas correlate and impact upon other aspects within human capital, such as training, and all areas need to align with the business’s strategic objectives. When it comes to managing performance, PBC makes use of the People Balance Sheet, a custom-designed manpower planning tool. It’s a database of employees that contains information on performance, organisational fit, individual potential, qualifications, experience and risk to lose. The various elements are inter- related and allow the organisation to continue to develop PBC’s people and to ensure that organisational needs are met, such as recruitment needs and training requirements.

PBC employees have a biannual performance review where performance is assessed against competency and the review includes career path mapping. “We look at where the individual wants to go and correlate this with the needs of the business,” says Morse. While employees’ career objectives are entered into the electronic system, Morse says that technology and measurement tools can never be 100% accurate nor touch on the soft issues. The human factor is crucial and consequently PBC also holds talent management discussions on various levels. Of note is that job profiles on all positions can be viewed by anyone in the company at any time using a web-based platform.

Upskilling, trainig and development
Morse says that in the past 15 years, manufacturing has changed dramatically. It has moved from a manual process to an automated system with the associated technology. Previously workers could get by with a standard 6 (grade 8) but now need at least a matric as well as computer literacy training. For Morse, the core is training when it comes to career development. This includes adult basic education training (ABET) and learnerships that allow for upskilling to meet the business’ demands and the career aspirations of employees. “Because of the legacy of apartheid, many PBC employees did not have a Matric,” says Morse. “We needed a quick way to upskill and, consequently, learnerships were developed.” A learnership is a means of gaining a qualification while working.

PBC offers bursaries to staff after they have worked for one year at the company. These can be for any tertiary qualification as long as it’s in line with the business. The company also has various management development programmes so that capacity can be built ahead of demand. The PBC training budget is in excess of R5-million and is equivalent to 4% of the payroll per annum. “Measured against others in our industry, PBC leads in terms of training spend,” says Morse

Measuring success
So how does one measure success when it comes to talent management and career development? Morse says that if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve on it. “Each area of human capital management has specific measurement tools,” he says “For example, in succession planning we assess the number of people available in the talent pool and, from a career development perspective, the number of people who have moved up.” PBC also makes use of a global Coca-Cola best practice measurement tool called the 6Ps. This covers assessments of profit, people, portfolio, partners, planet and productivity.

“If you take the ‘people’ variable, we would measure areas such as labour turnover, equity rating, absenteeism and productivity as a percentage of profit and a percentage of turnover,” says Morse. In a company that has never retrenched and where has a queue of people waiting in hope to find employment there, PBC has unique challenges when it comes to talent management and career development. “It’s an enormous challenge to advance people,” says Morse. “Employees are happy here and they rarely leave. Our average years of service are in excess of 10 years and the labour turnover is less than 5% per annum.” Not bad for a company that isn’t unionised.