EMPLOYEE PATH

Steven Cesare, Ph.D.

A provocative business owner from Virginia called me the other day to inquire about the key steps his company must develop to provide a well-rounded, integrated path to bring a new employee into the organization, develop that employee in a systematic fashion, and keep that employee engaged sufficiently well to ensure a mutually-beneficial employment relationship between the employee and the organization.

Queries like this underscore the importance of viewing human resources as a holistic system, not a patchwork of disparate parts; synergistic architecture breeds greater results than ad-hoc composition. Metaphorically, whether it be the human body, a car engine, or a landscaping company, the human resources system must be conceptually well-designed, inextricably aligned with desired outcome metrics, and purposefully populated with unique components that generate itemized and collective value.

The focus of my response to the business owner was position specific, not organizationally oriented. As such, many universally-identified elements of the broader human resources program (e.g., organizational chart, employee handbook, new employee orientation, safety tailgate training sessions, wage and salary scales) were mentioned, though eliminated out of hand. That said, here are the common human resources tools that a company should have on hand to exemplify a true employee path regardless of position (e.g., Crew Member, Foreman, Manager, Irrigator).

• Job Description. This is the cornerstone of the entire human resources system outlining key legal, operational, and administrative details necessary for the position to achieve stated goals. Not to exceed two pages, if this document is missing, deficient, or unprofessional, the entire employee path is pre-destined for failure.
• Interview Protocol: Based on the competencies presented in the job description (e.g., safety, job quality, results orientation, interpersonal skills), a series of structured job-related questions for each competency must be generated, validated, and delivered in a manner that distinguishes employee talent from mere experience.
• On-boarding Plan: This component shifts the employee plan from administrative to behavioral, by incorporating efficaciously-defined events (e.g., learning the work order process, reviewing rotation maps, crafting the labor schedule, attending safety meetings) through the employee’s first 30, 60, or 90 days on the job.
• Operating Routine: With unambiguous business goals in mind at all times, the operating routine delineates the exact roles, responsibilities, tasks, and outcomes that the employee must complete on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and/or annual timeframe.
• Training Program: Introduced during the employee’s orientation session, the training program for each specific position (e.g., Maintenance Foreman, Irrigation Technician, Enhancements Crew Member, Account Manager), as prescribed by the competencies outlined in the job description, is rolled out and interwoven throughout the employee’s on-boarding plan, charting the path toward position proficiency.
• Career Ladder: As a capitalist, this is the lodestar of the employee path, illustrating a longitudinal and interlocking view of the employee’s current position relative to sequential advancement within the organization’s hierarchy intended to convey the company’s ongoing investment in the employee, while simultaneously promoting employee growth, value, and retention.
• Performance Appraisal: This capstone form, predicated extensively on the position’s job description and made known to the employee during the orientation session, serves as the accountability mechanism evaluating the quality, quantity, and efficiency of the employee’s overall job performance criterion as well as individual ratings for each competency contained within the job description.

To reiterate, my conversation with the business owner was document based, only addressing job related content, not interstitial procedures like coaching, role modeling, and compliance with organizational culture values, success behaviors, and representation. Said exclusion was not intended to minimize their vital significance; indeed, they embody the critical adhesive that defines the multi-faceted path as a system.

It goes without saying that the degree to which an organization optimally designs, implements, and refines the quality of its employee path, increases the likelihood of overall company success.

I’m sure the quality of your organization’s employee path easily explains your company’s success as well.

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