Discussion Question and Suggested Response
In ways does ESPN help develop their employees for future success?
ESPN has employees complete an individual development plan (IDP) which helps
employees focus on current and future career goals. They also have a Leadership GPS
too that supports goal setting, choosing activities to help with career development, and
tracking progress toward goals. In addition they offer classes through ESPN The
University and have a job rotation plan for high potential employees.
1. Employee development is the combination of formal education, job experience,
relationships, and assessment of personality and abilities to help employees prepare for
the future of their careers.
2. Human resource management establishes a process for employee development that
prepares employees to help the organization meet its goals.
Best Practices
How KPMG Develops for the Future
KPMG is and accounting and business advisory firm with a high-performance work culture.
They hirer bright, ambitious people who want to grow in their careers. KPMG’s training
organization – the KPMG Business School- has a three part strategy: understand the
marketplace of the future, build the firm of the future, and develop the workforce of the future.
They offer training in job skills and industry trends and train managers prior to taking
management roles. They also offer employees challenging work assignments so they can
practice important skills.
Discussion Questions with Possible Responses
1. Describe how the activities described here fit the definition of employee development.
2. Suppose KPMG tried to save money by replacing employee development with simply
ensuring it has people with the skills needed to fill current positions. What impact do you
predict this change would have on KPMG”s business performance? Why?
Setting Up Stretch Assignments for Employees
A stretch assignment is something that will be difficult but have a positive experience for the
employee. There are several principles to a stretch experience: establish a purpose for each
assignment, include one or more of the conditions that make assignments challenging, create a
safe context for learning, determine how you will track the employee’s progress and measure
success, before placing the employee in an assignment – assess the employee’s current skills,
clearly define the requirements of the stretch assignment, and assign qualified persons to give
support and feedback to the employee.
Discussion Questions with Possible Responses
Which of these principles help ensure that a stretch assignment is not so simple that it is just
another routine responsibility?
Answers will vary. Students should discuss that including one or more of the conditions that
make assignments challenging will alleviate making something too simple.
Which of these principles help ensure that a stretch assignment is not so hard that it generates
panic and failure?
Answers will vary. Students should discuss the important of assessing the employee’s current
skill level and measuring progress and success.
1. Most of what we know about development through job experiences comes from a series
of studies conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership.
2. The impact of using demanding job experiences for employee development varies,
depending on whether the employees view the experience as positive or negative
sources of stress. With positive stressors, the employees view the experiences as
challenging and are stimulated to learn. With negative stressors, the employees view
the experiences as stressful.
3. Organizations may use job experiences to develop skills needed for teamwork including
conflict resolution, data analysis, and customer service.
4. Various job assignments can provide for employee development. The organization may
enlarge the employee’s current job or move the employee to different jobs. Lateral
moves include job rotation, transfer, or temporary assignments to another organization.
The organization may also use downward moves or promotions as a source of job
experience. Figure 8.2 summarizes these alternatives.
5. Job Enlargement: Job enlargement involves adding challenges or new responsibilities
to employees’ current jobs. Job enlargement not only makes a job more interesting, but
it also creates an opportunity for employees to develop new skills.
6. Job Rotation: Job rotation is moving employees through a series of job assignments in
one or more functional areas. Job rotation helps employees gain an appreciation for the
company’s goals, increases their understanding of different functions, develops a
network of contacts, improves problem-solving and decision-making skills, and helps
employees increase their salary and earn promotion faster.
7. Job rotation poses some problems for employees and the organization. It may give
employees a short-term perspective on problems and their solutions, may make
employees feel less satisfied and motivated, and may hurt productivity.
8. Job rotation is most likely to succeed when it meets certain conditions:
a. The organization establishes and communicates clear policies about which
positions are eligible for job rotation. Job rotation for non-management
employees as well as managers can be beneficial.
b. Employees and their managers understand specifically what skills rotation is to
develop.
c. Goals for the program support business goals.
d. The job schedule is realistic, taking into account how long employees will need to
become familiar with their new position, as well as how much time is needed for
employees to complete their assignments.
e. Top management is committed to the program’s success.
f. Someone is responsible for measuring whether the program is meeting its goals.
9. Transfers, Promotions, and Downward Moves: In a transfer, the organization
assigns an employee to a position in a different area of the company. Transfers do
not necessarily increase job responsibilities or compensation. They are usually
lateral moves. Transfers may involve relocation to another part of the country or
even to another country.
10. A downward move occurs when an employee is given less responsibility and
authority. The temporary cross-functional move is the most common way to use
downward moves for employee development.
11. A promotion involves moving an employee into a position with greater challenges,
more responsibility, and more authority than in the previous job. Usually promotions
include pay increases.
12. Temporary Assignments with Other Organizations: Externship is a full-time,
temporary position at another organization. Temporary assignments can include a
sabbatical, which is a leave of absence from an organization to renew or develop
skills. Employees on sabbatical often receive full pay and benefits.
D. Interpersonal Relationships
1. Two types of relationships used for employee development are mentoring and
coaching.
2. Mentors: A mentor is an experienced, productive senior employee who helps
develop a less experienced employee called the protégé.
3. Mentoring programs tend to be most successful when they are voluntary and
participants understand the details of the program.
4. Mentors and protégés can both benefit from a mentoring relationship. Protégés
receive career support and the benefits of a positive relationship. Managers get the
chance to develop their interpersonal skills and increase their feelings that they are
contributing something important to the organization.
5. Coaching: A coach is a peer or manager who works with an employee to motivate
the employee, help him or her develop skills, and provide reinforcement and
feedback. Coaches may play one or more of three roles:
a. Working one-on-one with an employee, as when giving feedback
b. For an example of how social media could support this coaching role, see
“HRM Social.”
c. Helping employees learn for themselves
d. Providing resources such as mentors, courses, or job experiences
6. Getting results from a coaching relationship can take at least six months of weekly
or monthly meetings. To be effective, a coach generally conducts an assessment,
asks questions that challenge the employee to think deeply about his or her goals
and motives, helps the employee to create an action plan, and follows up regularly
to help the employee stay on track.
HRM Social
Online Support for Career Development
Social media is a great tool to help individuals communicate with others with a common interest
including career-related sites. There are many sites available such as LinkedIn or SHRM to
connect with others in the same career field of interest. A key to being successful with these
sites it to learn the rules and etiquette for social media. For instance it is important to actively
participate, be positive, polite, and helpful and value-adding in the posts. The more someone
participates, the more their name will show up as someone who is knowledgeable in the field
which can lead to other jobs and stretch assignments.
Discussion Questions and Possible Responses
1. Describe a few possible advantages of using social media to offer ideas and advice
rather than just asking for help and information.
2. Suppose you work in the HR department of a consumer products company and are
interested in making a lateral move to another department as a way to develop your
career. Your company has a social-media site where employees can search for coworkers
with particular interests, experience, and skill. How might you use that site to plan your
lateral move?
HR Oops
Managers Must Look Outside for Development Support
INSEAD, an international business school did a survey to find out where managers were
getting their leadership training. The tip answers were external leadership
programs/schools, family/friends, and peers/external network. The two lowest ranked
choices were formal training inside the company or the Human Resources department.
Herminia Ibarra, a professor of leadership at INSEAD says that should change and the
HR department should be identifying the leadership traits wanted and then deliver
opportunities for employees to develop those skills. In addition, managers can take
things into their own hands and join groups where they can build skills and build their
internal and external network.
Discussion Questions with Possible Responses
1. How might it hurt an organization when HR managers wait to provide leadership
education until after the employees have been promoted?
2. Suppose you are an HR managers at a company with high turnover among middle
managers (that is, many of them quit to work elsewhere.) Write a brief argument telling
the company’s executive why a modest but well-planned investment tin leadership
development might help the company keep its best managers.
V. Development-Related Challenges
1. Glass ceiling refers to an invisible barrier that keeps women and minorities from
reaching the top jobs.
2. Organizations can use development systems to help break the glass ceiling.
Did You Know?
A Ceiling above a Ceiling
A British consulting firm has noticed a glass ceiling above the top role of board of directors. It
was noted that many women on the board did not make it to the level of the executive
committee and if they did, they were is staff roles, not operations or sales. This suggests that
companies are not actively developing women through stretch assignments in line positions.
Discussion Question with Possible Response
1. What do the data presented here suggest to you about how an employee development
program could help an organization seeking greater diversity in leadership?
A. Succession Planning
1. Succession planning is the process of identifying and tracking high-potential
employees who will be able to fill top management positions when they become
vacant.
1. Succession planning offers several benefits such as: (1) it forces senior
management to regularly and thoughtfully review the company’s leadership talent,
(2) it ensure that top-level management talent is available, (3) it provides a set of
development experiences that managers must complete to be considered for top
management positions, and (4) it helps attract and retain ambitious managerial
employees by providing development opportunities.
3. Succession planning focuses on high-potential employees, that is, employees the
organization believes can succeed in higher-level business positions.
4. Based on research, an effective program for developing high-potential employees has
three stages. These include:
a. Selection of high-potential employees
b. Developmental experience
c. Active involvement with the CEO
5. Figure 8.6 breaks this process into seven steps: Identify positions to plan for; Identify
employees to include; Define job requirements; Measure employee potential; Review
and plan to meet development needs; Link succession planning with other HR
B. Dysfunctional Managers
1. A manager who is otherwise competent may engage in some behaviors that make the
manager ineffective or even “toxic” – someone who stifles good ideas and drives
away employees.
2. Dysfunctional behaviors include: insensitivity to others, inability to be a team player,
arrogance, poor conflict management skills, inability to meet business objectives, and
inability to adapt to change. .
3. When a manager is an otherwise valuable employee and is willing to improve, the
organization may try to help the manager change the dysfunctional behavior. The
usual ways to provide for this type of development includes: assessment, training,
and counseling. The organization may enroll the manager in a program specifically