Individualize learning
Scherer’s employees don’t all see the same ladder she envisioned 23 years ago. When you consider the demands of various positions and the individual skills and preferences within those, the development path gets less predictable.
“People don’t necessarily want to just climb straight up a ladder,” she says. “Figure out ways to provide them flexible ways to advance in the organization.”
Let employees participate in planning their development. Deloitte employees work with counselors — who are usually part of their team — to set individual goals.
“Having it part of the goal-setting and evaluation process is very important,” Scherer says. “That says to the younger people that not only are we grading you on the chargeable client hours or on other hard metrics, but we’re also evaluating you on your ability to take learning seriously.”
Keep personal goals within corporate expectations by building a framework. Deloitte’s planning form breaks goals into four categories — technical aptitude, industry knowledge, professional skills and leadership development — and outlines capabilities employees should possess in each.
“Everybody’s getting (those four areas) all the time, but the emphasis and focus around them will be very different depending on what level you’re at,” Scherer says. “For a brand-new staff person, they’re going to be much more heavily weighted toward the technical side.
“The form will change, obviously, as they move up. As a manager, we’re expecting them to get proficient in soft skills like leading a team and communicating effectively. As they get further into the manager level, maybe it’s business development.”
You may not know each position’s detailed skill sets, especially in a larger company. Pull in subject matter experts who do to articulate expectations and design coursework around those skill sets.
Then let employees set the pace and direction of their growth. Instead of fostering a strict “up or out” culture, Deloitte encourages individualized development through Mass Career Customization.
“MCC stands for the proposition that everybody has their own ability to develop their career path, how quickly or how slowly they want it to go,” Scherer says. “Individuals decide whether they want to be dialed up on a fast career path or dialed down, which may be a more flexible arrangement or a reduced workload arrangement or what we call common profiles … a mainstream progression.”
Instead of moving from senior staff to manager, an employee might want to pursue an opportunity developing another business strategy at the company. Just because they’re not climbing the ladder doesn’t mean they’re not developing.
“You might be moving sideways instead of straight up, and that’s OK,” she says.
