QDF project in Gloucestershire

September 2002 – March 2003

The following case studies based on work done by Jan Jones and Mary Opie through a recent quality development project for the GO [IAG] partnership in Gloucestershire, illustrate how IAG interventions can usefully be integrated into the workplace.

Case study 1

A small graphic design company, set up seven years’ ago has 12 employees. The directors currently face the following challenges:

• ensuring that all employees keep their skills up to date in a highly competitive market
• maintaining motivation levels – some of the work is monotonous
• accrediting employees for skills they already have

It was agreed that three employees would benefit from 1:1 career guidance sessions. These were currently going through one or other of the following: eeling stuck in a rut but not wanting to leave the company; growing their job so that it becomes more interesting and meaningful; acquiring additional skills and qualifications or planning for career progression at a later stage

Individual interviews such as these are easy to set up, give people a chance to discuss matters in total confidence with an external adviser and thus allowing tailored outcomes to be developed. Topics covered a stock take of current skills, an exploration of development opportunities and an examination of how their personal goals could be aligned to future company strategy.

Each employee had a two hour 1:1 session followed with by an hour’s follow-up two weeks later. Action points were agreed at the end of each. Feedback of non-confidential information was given to each of their managers to keep them in the picture and to ensure that the agreed objectives were still on track.

They were helped to research learning opportunities in job-specific and personal development areas as well as in addressing particular needs. One has already enrolled on a learndirect course; the others may need to be actively encouraged by management to make that step. The company will help fund course if they have obvious business benefits.

It is hoped that a clearer picture of their capabilities, and an understanding of the kind of work that suits their personal style and ideas for longer term career planning will increase their motivation level.

General points to note

• Companies will support career guidance intervention such as these only if they perceive a real business benefit – they will not do it on altruistic grounds
• Guidance in the workplace is not simply job-specific - people’s circumstances, confidence level, state of health, motivation, special needs all play a key role
• IAG interventions such as this can help to spread the message about the importance of taking responsibility for personal and professional development and how this is a win-win situation for both sides - employer and employee
• Professional and personal development is not just about courses; IAG workers have to help people identify other ways of gaining skills and knowledge e. g. through work shadowing or use of CDROMS
• A key barrier to uptake of learning opportunities, is not having access to up to date information about providers
• Guidance interviews in the workplace need careful handling.  Issues may arise from discussions that have wider company implications. These have to be sensitively fed back to management without compromising client confidentiality
• Impartiality is a key principle in Adult Guidance. At work, business needs have to be the top priority, and these are not always in line with the individual employee’s needs
• Many managers are unaware of the usefulness of having career discussions at work.

Case study 2

The company, a medium sized enterprise, delivering security solutions to both corporate and private clients. The business was set up about 12 years ago by two entrepreneurs and has grown ‘organically’ to over 70 employees. The directors currently face the following challenges:

• making strategic decisions on the future direction of the business
• improving operational practices such as forward planning
• developing workforce capability to respond to changing markets

A key problem identified by one of the directors was the reluctance within the Director Team to set time aside to discuss these issues. A way forward was agreed. As a first step, the directors would reflect on their individual strengths and weaknesses with a view to identifying any shortfalls. In view of time pressures, a psychometric test such as the MBTI would get them focus on this and had the added benefit that it could be undertaken at a time and place that was convenient to each member of the team. The results would give them an understanding of how to:

• communicate more effectively with peers and employees
• solve organisational personal problems
• improve teamwork
• value different contributions to the organisation

Feedback sessions were carried out with each individual to help them identify where their strengths and energies lay. The team as a whole suffers from an acute imbalance with four out of the five presenting the same profile. In this instance, the usual checks and balances, which inform strategic decision-making come from one team member only.

Decisions now have to be made whether they are happy to continue as they are without the right blend of attributes to deal with the challenges facing the company or whether they need to recruit an additional member to the team to restore the balance. Another option could be that that they take personal responsibility to assume team roles that do not come naturally to them.

General points to note

• Useful to give companies an insight into a range of IAG tools
• IAG have to be sold to employers on a business not simply as personal development
• Getting companies such as this onside is an important element is selling the benefits of IAG in the workplace to others. Case studies are a particularly useful
• Time is a very precious commodity for all businesses. IAG interventions that will deliver smart solutions, making the most effective use of time will obviously be more attractive
• Delivering the full range of IAG interventions requires well-qualified and experienced staff. This has implications for all IAG provider in terms of recruitment, training and budgets management - upskilling in-house staff versus buying external consultants
• With regard to psychometrics, most IAG and career organisations train their staff initially in Morrisby. The test is time consuming to administer and does not always deliver what an employer needs in outcome terms. It is therefore important to look at a range commercially used tools when deciding which ones fit this particular context.

Case study 3

The organisation, a government agency employing over 4000 people, many of who are have specialist scientific or technical skills. There is a strong learning culture, which supports the take up of courses and other developmental activities. There are a number of Employee Development initiatives in place. There are particular career management challenges at the moment:

• Many high flyers are hitting a mid –career impasse as the number of vertical career opportunities decline
• The company attracts a high calibre workforce, attracted by its location and ethos. A large proportion of employees are in jobs where their talents are underused. This can lead to motivational problems

It was agreed to design a process to help individuals undertake a mid career review to enable them to make better choices about their future. This might mean identifying opportunities within the company or outside. A large cohort of people fell into this category, therefore there were time and cost implications to be taken into consideration regarding delivery.

An experiential mid-career review workshop was deigned for senior HR and Learning & Development managers. This would enable them to examine first hand the content and process of assisting employees to take stock of strengths values, circumstances and other factors, review their current situation within the organisation and explore options for moving forward. The workshop module could also be used by them on a ‘train the trainers’ cascading basis. By offering this to groups of 12 at a time and delivering it in-house, huge cost efficiencies could be made. The content could also be used as a basis for one to one career discussions delivered by line managers.

As workshop was delivered, it became clear that the group would value time out during the day to reflect as a group of managers on the strategic issues around career management. The flexible delivery of the workshop enabled an hour to be built in at the end of the day for a facilitated session on how to take thisagenda forward. This resulted in a draft career development strategy for the whole organisation.

Learning points

• Where there are cost implication, train the trainers sessions such as these can work very well, as can developing the in house capacity to deliver IAG e.g. career coaching skills for line managers
• Business needs have to come before individual employee needs. IAG Interventions must have the flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of the individual or groups involved
• The IAG need to have the credibility and confidence to deliver at all levels. It is no longer enough to rely on 1:1 guidance skills, today’s guidance worker has to often be a good facilitator and trainer too.