Building a Great Workforce: How Organizations Can Improve Their Approach to Talent Management Michigan Digital Government Summit October 14, 2009 1 Moderator: Phyllis Mellon, Ph.D. Chief Deputy Director, MI Department of Information Technology
Panelists: David A. Parent Principal Deloitte Consulting LLP J. Kevin Ford, Ph.D. Organizational Psychology Michigan State University 2 Three current myths about IT Talent... Myth 1: In our current economic downturn, with high unemployment rates, attracting and retaining talent is less critical than it used to be
The Reality: Attracting, developing, and keeping your best talent is more important than its ever been 3 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Three current myths about IT Talent... Myth 2: The Public Sector cannot compete with the Private Sector for top talent The Reality:
The Public Sector has more to offer than we often realize 4 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Three current myths about IT Talent... Myth 3: Addressing Talent issues takes a large budget and a dedication of significant resources The Reality: The things people care about most do not cost a lot
5 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Session Overview Overview of Today's Session Introduction of Speakers 6 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Six Steps to Building a Great Workforce David A. Parent
Principal Deloitte Consulting LLP 7 Step 1: Build a Better Plan Workforce Planning Missing component in many organizations More than how many slots to fill next year Needs to be future-oriented Internal and external assessment Prioritization of Critical Workforce Segments Some positions have greater impact than others Some skills are harder to find than others With limited resources, those require the greatest attention
8 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Consider: How will our organization look in the future? What skills will we need in 3 years? In 5 years? How will our activities be different? Where will we find
these skills? Step 2: Modernize Your Sourcing Process Redesign Recruiting Processes Throw out "One Size Fits All" strategies Need for Speed starting with technology Innovate consider non-traditional talent pools Sell what the Public Sector has to offer Commitment to service Broad opportunities Workplace flexibility 9
Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 The Keys to Attraction and Retention 10 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Step 3: Develop, Develop, Develop Expectation of latest generations in the workforce Begins and ends with the Manager Requires expectations to be set with managers Management development has high payback
Think of development broadly much more than training 11 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Step 4: Deploy Talent with Meaning Along with relationship with ones manager, meaningfulness of ones role and assignments is at the top of job satisfaction indicators Development should be added as criteria when making assignments, then
monitored during and after Many opportunities in Public Sector but need to re-think traditional, narrow career paths 12 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Step 5: Find Ways to Connect Your Diverse Workforce Connection drives commitment and retention Many formal and informal examples
Communities of Practice / Interest Groups Mentorship programs External organizations and events Use technology (e.g., social networking) 13 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Step 6: Continuously Evaluate & Refine Instill continuous improvement mentality to Talent Management Dont aim for perfection Better to start small, test, then build Establish and (truly) use feedback mechanisms Learn from others
Monitor Take pulse of the labor market Take pulse of your talents commitment 14 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 These 6 Steps Can Make a Difference Build a Better Plan Continuously Evaluate & Refine
Step 1 Step 6 Step 2 Step 5 Step 3 Find Ways to Connect Your Diverse Workforce Step 4
Deploy Talent with Meaning 15 Modernize Your Sourcing Process Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Develop, Develop, Develop Develop & Deploy with Impact:
Valuing Learning in Challenging Times J. Kevin Ford, Ph.D. Organizational Psychology Michigan State University 16 Preface Most organizations today espouse some variation on the philosophy that people are our most important asset and invest money in workforce development through
training programs. But truly committing to helping people grow requires much more than this Peter Senge 2005, Fifth Discipline 17 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Leadership Reflection Think of someone you have observed in your professional career who is especially good at developing others. What does that person DO that makes him or her so effective as a people developer?
18 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Leader Roles for Development Assessing 19
Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Challenging Supporting Leader Role: Assessing Helps to Identify key competencies for each job Determines current skill levels and skill gaps Jointly determines ways for individuals to continuously learn on the job 20 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009
Leader Role: Challenging Stretches person out of comfort zone by providing opportunities for developing skills Motivates people to seek mastery and continuous learning Allows people to see impact of actions and provides time for reflection/learning 21 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Leader Role: Supporting Provides resources that help people handle the struggle of learning Enhances confidence in ability to learn and grow Confirms and clarifies lessons learned
22 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Portfolio of Leadership Experiences Experiencing Job Transitions Unfamiliar Responsibilities Creating Change New Directions Inherited Problems Managing at High Levels of Responsibility
High Stakes Scope and Scale Managing Boundaries External Pressures Influence without Authority Center for Creative Leadership McCauley Learning from Experience 23 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Inherited Problems Fixing problems created by
someone else or before your involvement Learning Opportunity Improve ability to tackle problems, diagnose root causes, and reenergize people Learn to make tough decisions and persevere in the face of adversity 24 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009
Scope and Scale Managing work that is broad in scope (multiple functions, groups, products) or large in sheer size. Learning Opportunity Improve ability to coordinate and integrate across groups and create systems to track work Learn to feel comfortable accomplishing tasks through others
25 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 External Pressure Managing the interface with important groups outside the organization, such as customers, vendors, and regulatory agencies Learning Opportunity Improve ability to represent the organization and to
influence external groups Learn to build relationships and shared agendas with a wide variety of people. 26 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Strategies for Development in Place Reshape the job: Add new responsibilities to job Take on temporary assignments: Add tasks that are bounded by time.
Seek challenges outside the workplace 27 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009 Challenge Driven Assignments Matrix The Techniques Reshape Persons Job Provide Temporary Projects
The Context Unfamiliar Responsibilities 28 New Directions Inherited Problems High Scope and Scale Competencies External Pressures Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009
Experiences Outside Workplace Maximize Learning Pre, During, and Post Assignment Pre - Be clear about the skills, behaviors, or actions to develop in the assignment During - Support learning (e.g., feedback, coach, sounding board) Post Foster learning: post action reviews what did well/could improve development of best practices to diffuse to others 29 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009
Concluding Thoughts We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn Peter Drucker, Management Consultant 30 Michigan Digital Government Summit, October 2009
Questions & Discussion 31
