At Continental
Learning, development and commitment has become a sustainable advantage in industry today, and driving a high-performance organisation such as Continental Tyre South Africa rests in the hands and talents of every employee.
The challenge, as in every organisation, remains to construct development programmes that not only add value to the employee but also contribute directly to the organisation’s viability.
To remain competitive there is constant pressure within any organisation to do more with less funding, with the added challenge of developing the right people at the right time. For management, this involves a careful balancing act that examines the present talent base as well as the future requirements for competitive advantage.
This evolution of workforce development is facilitated by Continental’s talent management strategy, which manifests in the application of an accountability approach towards employee development.
This culture of accountability connects leadership to organisational performance and, more importantly, creates an environment where employees thrive through talent development. This culture is nurtured through development programmes that are linked to business strategy, and by building organisational capability that hinges on growing groups of individuals, and is not focused solely on high-performing employees.
Supporting both business strategy and workforce planning, Continental’s human relations department is a welcomed catalyst and strategic partner at the executive table. The organisational design of the human relations department is structured to respond to talent challenges and aims to support employee development.
There are three centres of excellence, one being talent management and organisational development, which institutes processes and structures aimed at enabling employee development and allowing equal access to development. The operational support is sustained by HR business partners who are able to support leadership and their direct reports that aid in selecting the appropriate development actions.
The culture of accountability for employee development is qualified through the talent management cycle, in which employees and managers have the opportunity to explore the employee’s career path, find any development gaps and identify development opportunities that will not only enrich personal development but also make a valuable contribution to the business.
The talent management process is supported through an online platform providing access to global stakeholders on the development needs of Continental’s people and promotional opportunities. The system is maintained and leveraged by a community of cross-functional and cross-divisional talent management teams and HR business partners.
Many Continental employees have successfully gained access to the development offering by informing themselves of the development opportunities available. The company’s leadership structure has undergone coaching and training on how to build a capable organisation and facilitate development discussions in the employee dialogue process.
Leaders advocate their employees’ development and career aspirations at both local and global talent management conferences. Furthermore, the development of high-performing employees is calibrated with global senior leaders, who nominate employees for various corporate development programmes.
This grants these nominated individuals access to a global network of colleagues and creates visibility for their talents for senior executives, who can accelerate promotional opportunities — not limited to South Africa.
To promote Continental’s development programmes, communication platforms such as the Intranet, HR Sharepoint, global networking platform ConNext, noticeboards and handbooks are used, and employees are able to access information offered locally and through the corporate head office. Additionally, there are development aids such as career path wheels that facilitate leadership development and specialist career paths for those employees who prefer to pursue expertise in their field.
The Continental leadership is invested in the development of employees and works closely with the talent management team to construct programmes that will serve the workforce and the business.
The success of the company’s talent management processes rests on an integrated approach — the organisation, leadership and the employees are all invested. Key to creating an environment for development is the number and variety of local and global leadership development programmes.
It is expected that managers, on all levels, model an intrinsic motivation for learning, so leaders are able to use their successes or failures as examples of opportunities for learning. Creating these learning circles empowers employees to take ownership of their personal development.
According to the vision of Continental’s Executive Board: “Tyre business is people business.” This refers to much more than the end-user consumer and relates more closely to the workforce. This vision has been the company’s driving culture, in that everything is done for the benefit of all those involved in the product — employee, customer, consumer, and supplier. Learning and development have become key drivers for engaging the emotional and intellectual commitment of the workforce.
Because employees are the greatest ambassadors of their employer brand, an employee development culture creates advocacy for that brand. As an employer, Continental acknowledges that success is contingent on the agility, growth and innovation of its people. To this end, it is essential to create an environment, processes and systems that unlock potential and allow individuals’ efforts to make a valuable contribution to increasing productivity, gaining market share and sustaining growth.
Continental Tyre South Africa’s talent management approach is founded on the engagement of employees, which goes beyond satisfaction and commitment to enhancing the brand as a Top Employer.
Genevieve Jozaffe-Naidoo is talent management and organisational development manager at Continental Tyre South Africa