If You Build It They Will Stay: Investing in Training and Development to Retain Top Talent

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1 If You Build It They Will Stay: Investing in Training and Development to Retain Top Talent Summary Project management offices (PMOs) are often hampered in their ability to make a strong enterprise-wide impact because of talent-management challenges. This is particularly true for PMOs that do not staff, but rather manage projects and project managers for the enterprise without direct authority over staffing. How do you attract and retain top talent for the PMO and its initiatives when you have little to no authority? Using the Strategic Execution Framework (SEF) and the Talent Model TM, this guide helps PMO leaders understand how they can leverage that knowledge to create a PMO with a purpose, culture, and structure that attracts and retains the best talent. Key Takeaways: Understand a framework for clarifying organizational alignment and that serves to energize and engage top talent Learn how to utilize a talent model to attract and retain top talent Implement actionable concepts to improve alignment of strategy execution and talent capabilities

2 An Effective Talent Management Strategy Some companies know exactly who they are and what they want to achieve, but they may not have the structure to support those goals. When it comes to executing against your company s key objectives, the PMO s ultimate goal is to equip great teams that deliver value to the enterprise. Whether you are talking about attracting, growing, or retaining talent, employee engagement is crucial. Training should be a major component of every employee retention program. In order for training to be an effective talent retention tool, however, it needs to be grounded in a larger context that sees the whole as well as the individual, and serves as part of a larger employee retention effort. But how do you get there? Begin by selecting a framework within which to organize the strategy, structure and execution of your training program. When applied correctly, a consistent framework can transform the way your organization, department or team thinks, leads and executes. It goes beyond a typical checklist to address a more holistic and, therefore, more effective approach to moving the business at large forward with an eye on the big picture. It s a way to achieve greater discipline and alignment to your overall organization s learning needs, which ultimately drives increased revenue, profitability and market share and in this case, more effective talent-management programs. When it comes to executing against your company s key objectives, the PMO s ultimate goal is to equip great teams that deliver value to the enterprise. In this guide we will look at the broad range of components you should plan to include in a retention program, as well as recommendations on how to successfully build it. The Project Management Institute (PMI) has identified several specific areas leaders should address to strengthen employee engagement and alignment 1. Increasing effectiveness in these areas can have a significant impact on a PMO 2

3 leader s ability to attract and retain top talent by positioning the organization or team as the targeted talent s top choice: Meaningful work An ability to make an impact Visibility for successes A transparent culture Authentic leadership A well-defined career path Alignment to the project, team, and organizational strategy It s no secret that Facebook purposefully works to create an engaged workforce. One way they achieve this is by having all new hires participate in a multi-week boot-camp that is one-part employee orientation, one-part software training program, and one-part freshman orientation. When new engineering recruits are hired at Facebook, they typically do not know what job they will ultimately do. Rather, they explore and discover their roles through the boot-camp experience. Activities include various tours-of-duty that involve working in several areas and teams. Importantly, the work they are doing is actually on the live product, giving new arrivals the opportunity to immediately contribute to Facebook s success. At the culmination of bootcamp, the employee gets to choose his/her job assignment and product team. 3

4 The program exemplifies Facebook s adherence to Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg s Hacker Way, an organizational culture based on being egalitarian, risk-taking, self-starting, irreverent, collaborative, and creative. 2 Whether at Facebook or elsewhere this process puts the onus on PM leaders to make the projects and teams enticing enough to draw the best talent. Even though you may not have the influence or resources of Mark Zuckerberg, there are tools and approaches you can use to increase your talent management prowess. With an eye toward improving your talent pool, let s explore two management frameworks you can use to ensure a positive impact on individual, team, project, and organizational performance. The Strategic Execution Framework Through the Talent Management Lens The Strategic Execution Framework (SEF) (figure 1), which was developed to help companies align their strategy to their execution, is a powerful tool that you can use to guide your talent efforts. It consists of six domains that have been proven to help companies, divisions, and departments effectively determine, articulate and execute strategy. Applying the SEF to talent management efforts will help identify areas of alignment and misalignment in the business, team, and strategy to attract, grow and retain talent. 1. Ideation: Know who you are, why you exist and where you are going You need to be able to clearly articulate your group or department s purpose, identity, and long-range direction in order to determine how well these attributes align with team members, project sponsors, and the Figure 1 Strategic Execution Framework (SEF) IPS Learning, LLC, and Raymond Levitt organization s strategy. 4

5 Having a strong Ideation at the project and program level as well as the organization level provides a clear definition of the work that will be done, allowing employees to find meaning and understand the impact of their individual and group efforts. 2. Nature: Align your strategy with the larger company s culture and structure The Nature domain includes the sub-domains of structure and culture. Defining your culture and ensuring it is not in conflict with your structure is critical both for business success and talent retention. PMOs are often structured like an orchestra or football team everyone is the expert for their role with specific responsibilities and the structure offers little flexibility. Could it be additionally effective to adopt more of an agile, jazz band or basketball team mindset where everyone brings multiple skills and capabilities to the team and the structure flexes based on the project s requirements? Discovering and articulating the culture and structure improves alignment between the organization, the work, and team members. It ensures the culture and structure are transparent, enabling team members to produce at their highest levels. 3. Vision: Translate long-term intention into short- and medium-term goals, metrics and strategies A strong Vision helps leadership define and measure its organizational Discovering and articulating the culture and structure improves alignment between the organization, the work, and team members. It ensures the culture and structure are transparent, enabling team members to produce at their highest levels. contributions. It also helps create a platform to communicate those contributions to top talent. This is done by ensuring that the metrics captured and evaluated align with the overall Ideation. Clearly articulating this allows team members to see what matters most, enabling them to align their work focus to these outcomes and deepening their understanding of how their role contributes to the organization s success. This creates the opportunity for employees to acquire visibility within the company, strengthening their commitment to their projects and your organization s success. 5

6 4. Engagement: Know the right project-based work required to execute the organization s strategy Aligning project (or program or portfolio) selection to the organization s strategy is important for the overall business s success. It is also essential for talent engagement and retention. For the PM leader, this domain speaks to knowing what skills and abilities you need on your team. For the individual, it helps them align their perspective to the organizational goals, while also providing them direction about the types of skills and abilities they should be looking to grow as they move along their career path. Truly authentic leaders leverage the alignment process by balancing the needs of the project, with offering team members opportunities to grow their skills and capabilities. When done well, team members are able to grow through challenging and meaningful work work they perceive as having a real impact on the organization s success. 5. Synthesis: Execute projects and programs in alignment with the portfolio Organizationally, Synthesis is about how project-based work gets accomplished through methodologies, governance, and other processes. For PM leaders pursuing talent, Synthesis speaks to the need to ensure that the necessary tools and resources are in place to attract and retain talent. This could include: spending time understanding individuals career goals and helping provide guidance on their career path; or ensuring that recognition programs are consistent, comprehensive and fair, while allowing the flexibility to uniquely address each individual s needs. 6. Transition: Moving the results of projects into the main stream of the operation Transition is the ultimate measure of your talent management efforts. This is where you can see if the strategies you have executed are building great teams or falling short. It is where the changes become part of the routine. By reviewing the metrics defined for success at the individual, team and organizational level or perhaps just your own metrics of success PM leaders should have a clear perspective of how well they are addressing the areas that can have the greatest impact on talent management goals and objectives. The simplest test for a PM leader over time are existing employees looking for opportunities to join and/or support your team, project or initiative? 6

7 While the SEF serves as an excellent guide to identifying a talent management strategy and guiding its execution, it doesn t speak to the specifics of what to do. For that, we ll use the TALENT Model. Finding and Keeping the Right Talent The TALENT Model TM Integral Talent System s (ITS) research-based TALENT Model maps the needs of the organization and team members, helping leaders to focus on the areas they can influence and that deliver the greatest impact. This is particularly important in work environments where PM leaders do not have direct influence over traditional employee incentives, such as pay and promotions. At the heart of ITS research-based model is a focus on what is truly important to the individual. The TALENT Model identifies the following areas as providing the maximum ROI for talent retention efforts: 1 Targeted Recruiting and Hiring Hiring the right talent and getting the right fit is essential, but not always easy. Ensure your organization s Ideation and Nature aligns with the individual s Ideation and Nature to avoid culture clashes and frustrations. This also builds mutual buy-in and commitment between the individual and your organization. It s important to note that the principles here also apply if you are attracting rather than hiring someone onto your team. 2 Achievement Individuals perform better when they work on something for which they are passionate, and get the support and tools they need to do their work effectively. As a leader, it s your responsibility to assess team member capabilities, assign roles accordingly, and provide the information and coaching needed to help the team member deliver the results for which they are accountable. Individuals who are succeeding frequently have little desire to leave their current situation. 7

8 3 Learning and Professional Growth ITS research shows that affording the individual the opportunity to build their résumé with experiences strengthens the desire to stay with an employer. Keep in mind that the way an organization treats and respects their employees improves the employee s ability to see what s in it for me through activities that help them grow their skills and experiences, and receive industry-recognized endorsements and achievements. 4 Ensuring Recognition Not everyone is motivated the same way and it is important that you customize the recognition or reward to fit the individual. ITS found that compensation is the price of admission for organizations that want to attract strong talent, but it s not what helps retain the talent. Instead of a one size fits all approach to recognition, take a one size fits one approach, where recognition is individualized. 5 Nurturing Career Development Robust career paths are a powerful tool, but in many flat organizations, difficult to establish. Invest in coaching and mentoring programs to build and strengthen networks and enhance the sense of belonging. Tours-of-duty, discussed by Reid Hoffman, co-founder and chairman of LinkedIn in his book The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age, are relatively short in duration and have a specific mission and timeframe similar to a project. 3 Hoffman postulates that highly talented employees join organizations that help move them along their desired career path and once the tour-of-duty is complete, they will move on to pursue the next step along their career path. Use the tour-of-duty approach to provide a match between an individual s goals, and team or organizational goals. And creating a series of attractive tours will keep top performers interested and engaged with the team and/or organization over the long-term. A winning strategy for all. 8

9 6 Team Collaboration Being a member of a team is better than being part of a group. Nurture an open, inclusive environment and culture to enable individuals to collaborate, innovate, and build relationships. Strong peer relationships have a significant positive correlation to increased levels of engagement and commitment. Effective collaboration enables desired team outcomes as varied as the effective graphic resolution of conflicts as well as the meaningful celebration of wins and successes all of which increases cohesion. The retention of top talent remains paramount to the success of any organization. If you are to succeed in your own career and for your organization, then you must give the same attention, rigor and discipline to your talent management efforts that you give to employing methodologies and processes. As a PM leader you can have tremendous impact on attracting, growing and retaining talent even if you aren t Mark Zuckerberg or Reid Hoffman. Aligning your organization s strategy to your talent management needs and the needs of your top talent will deliver what you, your organization and your team members need to keep renewing their commitment for a successful and long-term relationship. 9

10 References 1 Project Management Institute. (2014) Pulse of the Profession: The High Cost of Low Performance. Newtown Square, PA. 2 O Dell, J. (2013, March 2). Boot camp! How Facebook indoctrinates every new engineer it hires. Venture Beat. Retrieved from 3 Hoffman, Reid, Casnocha, Ben & Yeh, Chris (2014). The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age. Harvard Business Review Press GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS 4301 North Fairfax Drive Suite 700 Arlington, VA 22203, USA EMEA 7 Bishopsgate London, EC2N 3AR, UK +44 (0) The Strategic Execution Framework (SEF) was developed by the Stanford Advanced Project Management program, a partnership between IPS Learning and the Stanford Center for Professional Development. The SEF is described in detail in the book Executing Your Strategy: How to Break It Down and Get It Done (2008, Harvard Business School Press). ESI International is formally integrating with IPS Learning, who partners with the Stanford Center for Professional Development (SCPD) to offer organizations the Stanford Advanced Project Management (SAPM) program, to form TwentyEighty Strategy Execution. APAC 111 Somerset Road #10-06 TripleOne Somerset Singapore TwentyEighty Strategy Execution, Inc. All Rights Reserved. At TwentyEighty Strategy Execution we deliver performance education that closes the strategy execution gap by strengthening peoples strategic and project execution capabilities to drive higher performance. By combining the best of cutting-edge university research and proven business techniques, we deliver a performance-focused perspective designed to increase alignment and engagement across teams, business units or the entire enterprise. Learn more today at strategyex.com. skills, contact an expert at or info@strategyex.com. 10