Rajat Joshi
101

Dear all,

This is a great article by Dr. John Sullivan







One of the primary questions in the minds of candidates is "Where

will I be two years from now?" Unfortunately, most recruiters and

managers respond to that question with meaningless generalities like,

"You'll have lots of opportunities." In fact, what candidates actually want

is a realistic preview of where they are likely to go over the next two

years if they join the firm. If you want to dramatically increase your

offer acceptance rate, give applicants a "Where You'll Be" profile!

What's A "Where You'll Be" Profile?

A "Where You'll Be" profile is a sales tool designed to

convincingly demonstrate to an applicant the kind of opportunities a top

performer might expect at a firm.

The profile is a brief preview of the kind of learning, growth,

and economic opportunities that a new hire might reasonably expect to

have during their first 1-5 years of employment at the firm. It's

designed to excite candidates with some actual examples rather than just

meaningless platitudes. Some of the key elements in a "Where You'll Be"

profile include:

a.. Skills you are likely to gain/improve

b.. The type of projects you're likely to work on

c.. The level of people you're likely to be exposed to

d.. The type of flexible work options you might have

e.. The economic rewards you are likely to get

It's A Profile, Not A Promise

A "Where You'll Be" profile is designed to show the kind of

opportunities top performer might experience in this particular job class.

It is not supposed to be a recruiter's "BS" sheet. Instead it is derived

from a compilation of the actual experiences of top performers in this

job class.

The profile can be developed based on information obtained

through a series of interviews, surveys, and focus groups with top performers

and their managers (in this targeted job classification). By

identifying the actual opportunities that a new hire might experience, you put

realism in your profile and you avoid wild "guesstimates." Since this is

a profile of what opportunities top performers have actually had, it

makes the lawyers less nervous (of course a disclaimer statement stating

that the past is not always a predictor of the future is always

attached as part of the actual profile).

Elements Of A "Where You'll Be" Profile

The content of a "Where You'll Be" profile should vary with the

wants and the expectations of the job applicants. You should start by

surveying your top candidates about their job expectations. You then need

to provide specific information for each of the areas in which they

have a high level of interest in your profile. For example, some of the

"Where You'll Be" areas for a software engineer position might include:

1.. Skills And Learning Opportunities

a.. Technical skills you might acquire

b.. Software languages you might learn

c.. Management and people skills you might acquire/strengthen

d.. Classes, industry events and seminars you might attend

2.. Projects And Growth Opportunities

a.. The number and variety of development projects you would

likely participate in

b.. The number and type of projects that you might lead

c.. The likely number of horizontal transfers

d.. The number of promotions you might get

3.. People Exposure

a.. The number of teams you are likely to participate in

b.. The number and level of executives you are likely to

interact with

c.. Key customers, suppliers, strategic partners as well as

industry and government officials you will be exposed to

4.. Work Options

a.. The likelihood of being able to take part in flexible

work options (flextime, work at home, job sharing)

b.. The likely number of horizontal transfers opportunities

into new (non-software) functions or departments

5.. Economic Opportunities

a.. Percentage of possible salary increases

b.. The range of likely bonus awards

c.. The number of possible stock options they could be

granted

d.. Also consider including estimates (based on past

performance) of the total economic value of their bonuses, stock options and

salary

6.. Challenges And Risks

a.. The number, type and level of risks they will be allowed

to take

b.. Opportunities to have their own personal ideas funded

c.. Opportunities for public and company wide exposure and

visibility

d.. The impact on the firm (it's products and customers)

their work is likely to have

7.. Tools And Equipment

a.. Software they will have access to

b.. Hardware and technology they will have access to

Potential Variations Of The Profile

1.. Provide ranges.

Rather than just listing the highest levels of achievement and

rewards in the profile an alternative is to list the possible ranges a

new employee might expect. My preference is to focus on the highest

levels likely to be obtained by a top performer. Although both average and

top performers like to know "where they will be," by listing the higher

levels obtained only by top performers you can then use the profile as

a motivator to encourage current average performers to become top

performers!

A profile can also be done for a single "average job" at a

firm, rather than doing separate profiles for each major job

classification. The obvious disadvantage is that a single profile (that averages all

jobs into one) requires such a large degree of combining opportunities

that the profile is not likely to excite top performers.

2.. Show them that "people like me" work here.

In addition to wanting to know "where they will be," applicants

often want to know that "people like them" already work for the firm.

You can help show them that by providing demographic profiles showing

that people from similar

a.. Schools

b.. Neighborhoods

c.. Ethnic backgrounds

d.. Former employers

e.. Age categories

currently work (and excel) at the firm. In addition, specific

"success story" individuals that started two years ago can be profiled

to "personalize" the statistics.

Retention

Incidentally, the research for your "Where You'll Be" profile

might show that the actual growth and learning opportunities in your jobs

are lacking. If this is true, you can use the "gap" data as a starting

point for revising your people practices and for making your jobs more

challenging and exciting both for new hires and for your current

employees.

Next employees can be asked to provide information on what

frustrates them and what motivates them on the day they start their job. From

that list, their manager can develop customized "learning, challenge

and growth" plans to ensure that they actually get "where they want to

be" within their first and second year.

"Where You'll Be" profiles can also be used for motivating and

retaining existing employees that are continually getting external "Where

You'll Be" offers (promises) from (external) recruiters!

Conclusion

If you treat applicants like potential customers you soon realize

that it is essential that you provide answers to their questions about

your "product." By providing them with a realistic job preview of what

they can expect if they become top performers, you can both excite them

and also improve the odds of them saying yes to your offer. The profile

can be put on the firms jobs page or be a paper document that is handed

to applicants.

It takes courage to act "outside the box." Unfortunately, most HR

people lack that courage. If you are going to recruit top talent, you

need to take risks and to act differently than your competitors. Cisco

has done an "economic rewards" "Where You'll Be" chart for awhile (don't

they lead in just about everything!). Now it's time to expand the

profile (and add non-economic elements) in order to make it a complete sales

tool.

From India, Pune
Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta
174

Namaskar Rajatji,
Feeling of Uncertainty in modern life is the biggest stressor. However, Indian wisdom says that good or bad future is certain. To illustrate, in 1478 B.C. after the Mahbharata war Gandhari cursed Lord Krishna of complete destruction of Yadu dynasy 36 years later since then. Lord Krisna smiled and when asked about the reason of smiling he replied-it is destined to happen. It happened and Dwaraka sunk to see in 1443 B.C.
So one can very well plan but the exact future can not be visualised. I may be wrong.
regards,
Jogeshwar

From India, Delhi
Rajat Joshi
101

Namaskar Mahantaji,
thanks for your insight esp on historical facts...however my gut feel says that the above approach brings a fatalistic outlook to life..which may harm a person or demoralise a manager...it's easy to judge on the past but should we cloud our minds with same way on coming future?...nay i disagree..
Warm regards,
Rajat

From India, Pune
Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta
174

Dear Rajatji,

Thanks for posting your view very clearly. In fact, the difference is of eastern and western thinking. You are inclined to subscribe to the western view. But I do not think that the eastern conviction can be uprooted in any case.

Once Chhatrapati Shivaji was very much disgusted by looking after his kingdom. So he went to his guru and said- I want to give up administration.

The guru instantly said-O.K.

Shivaji asked- Whom to transfer the administration?

The guru replied- To me.

Shivaji instantly said-OK as he was sure.

Now the guru said- Now the entire kingdom is mine and I appoint you as my representative. Please look after it.

Shivaji was relieved of his stress.

Regards,

Jogeshwar

From India, Delhi
Rajat Joshi
101

A good one ..
Yes you are right that i subscribe to western thought esp of being responsible for your actions or Karma..
Can you please enlighten us as where do thoughts of Western & Eastern converge or have a common grounds.
Regards,
Rajat

From India, Pune
Dr. Jogeshwar mahanta
174

Dear Rajatji,
namaskar.
Acculturation is a process with following stages:
1. Awareness
2. Diffusion
3.Emulation
4.Integration
5. Assimilation.
This happens spontaneously. VADAMS(vocal and dashing members of the society) of the dominant culture may resist the the elements of subdued culture but the common members in any society accept and reject the elements of any culture on the basis of utility. So spontaneous experimentation is going on and let us wait for the final stage of assimilation.
regards

From India, Delhi
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