How to Develop Employee Careers with the “Three Sights” Career Discussion
Career development is an important issue, but sometimes it is not a priority for companies and managers. In fact, a good career development program will be able to motivate employees to stay and perform. Conversely, if employees feel they are not being developed or have a future in a company, then they will be more likely to become unmotivated or even leave the company. Therefore, it is important for managers to have an approach
Start with a Discussion
Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni, authors of the book Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go, say that there are 3 areas of career development discussion that managers need to explore when discussing careers with their employees.
1. Hindsight.
Exploration in this area focuses more on reflection and understanding within employees. Employees will be invited to talk about their journey, what they like, what strengths / skills they have mastered, areas for development, and so on. The manager will then provide feedback to the employee that is related to the current situation and performance.
2. Foresight.
Exploration in this area focuses more on the big picture of the future business environment. In contrast to Hindsight which is an evaluative reflection, Foresight is more future-oriented. Discussion of Foresight is important because it gives employees an idea of where their careers will take them.
3. Insight.
Insight is a combination of Hindsight and Foresight, where managers and employees consider reflection and understanding of themselves to jointly determine the steps and actions that need to be taken to achieve career goals in the future.
Hindsight: Employee Self-Reflection
The main goal of Hindsight is to gain self-awareness from employees about themselves. Things that are tried to be discussed include skills that are strengths (skills and strengths), values that are considered important (values), employee interests that make them happy with their work (interests), things they don't like (dislikes), preferences for way of working (preferences), and weaknesses they need to develop (weaknesses / opportunities).
To explore Hindsight, managers can start by discussing employees' past performance and experiences to see which parts of their work excite them and which parts bore them. The purpose of this discussion is to look at themes regarding employee feelings and views on their work. Managers can also routinely (for example every quarter or semester) discuss their views on their performance and what they feel about that time period. After obtaining information on employee views, managers can discuss aspects of Hindsight, in the form of skills & strengths, values, interests, dislikes, preferences, and weaknesses / opportunities. The aim is to obtain a more comprehensive picture of employees in relation to their performance.
After obtaining various relevant information, managers can then use this information to provide feedback to employees. Feedback functions to provide a reality check for employees to see what areas are good and which ones need to be developed. In providing feedback, managers can first focus on "what" and "so what". "What" is specific behavior and results that have an impact on the direction and progress of an employee's career, while "so what" is the impact of these behaviors and results, both on the employee and on others. Providing "so what" can help provide context for the feedback and enable employees to better understand the manager's feedback in terms of developing their career direction. The way managers provide feedback is also important, because not all employees can easily receive sensitive messages. Convey strengths first, before getting into the employee's weaknesses.
Foresight: Seeing the Future
Hindsight can provide an overview of employees and their contribution to the organization, but this will not be enough to provide input on their career development. Employees need a direction or picture that explains why their strengths, weaknesses, and development efforts are important and useful. This is where Foresight comes into play, because in Foresight, managers and employees exchange opinions on a broader perspective regarding the future, organizational issues, changes and relevant implications. This can mean external changes and challenges occurring outside the organization as well as internal changes and challenges within the organization.
Unlike the Hindsight process which involves one-on-one conversations, Foresight is better done in a small team. In this case, managers can gather their team members to seek information on what is happening inside and outside the organization, such as conducting research on important trends or issues, participating in conferences, or even attending managerial and cross-functional meetings. After carrying out this activity, team members will then be asked to share their respective findings. Managers can encourage employees to reflect on things like what they learn; what its meaning and impact will be for the industry, organization and department; and finally, what it means for individual employees, their jobs, and their careers.
Insight: Putting It All Together
The key takeaway from the Insight conversation is this: managers and employees must first define and agree on what constitutes career success. Therefore, it is the manager's job to be able to clarify what career success means for employees and facilitate conversations that lead to insight, understanding and action. This can start by asking questions such as where the employee sees himself in 5 or 10 years, what he wants to do, how he does it, and who he does it with.
After knowing the big picture of the definition of career success for employees, the next step is to combine the Hindsight and Foresight that have been obtained to see the development opportunities that exist for employees. Hindsight is needed to find out employees' personal characteristics (skills & strengths, values, interests, dislikes, preferences, and weaknesses / opportunities) and how--and which characteristics are prioritized--to be developed in accordance with the organization's needs and the employee's definition of success. In discussing Insight, managers need to consider these two things
What, which focuses on what employees need in terms of experience, skills, exposure and information,
How, namely conversations that are based on conversations about "What" and help employees find out how these needs are met
In conversations about Insight, it's important not to rush into the “How” before getting to the “What.” Therefore, managers and employees need to first agree that they will focus first on discussing the "What" and not immediately jump to the "How". Some “What” conversations include the skills and knowledge needed to achieve career goals, the experience needed to help achieve success, as well as what more/less is needed. In this conversation, managers need to be observant in capturing the responses or answers given by employees. if an employee gives an answer like “I want to take the next batch of leadership training,” then it means he or she has jumped straight into the “how” discussion. The expected answer is one that focuses on experience, skills, exposure and information, such as "I need experience that can enrich my business insight", or "I need knowledge in managing diversity".
After managers and employees have identified a number of things about "what" employees need to achieve their career goals, the next step is to discuss "how" they can achieve these goals. This can be done using the 3E approach
Education,
Provide opportunities to improve education through various learning programs. Start by providing expectations about how education can help them achieve their goals, what they want to achieve, and how the results of their education will be used. Then, give employees the time and commitment to learn by minimizing interruptions during learning. Employees also need to be given the opportunity to apply what they have learned after the education process takes place.
Exposure
Give employees exposure to other people who can provide knowledge, mentoring and coaching. Provide contacts and connections that can help employees gain knowledge. Apart from that, because the line between mentoring and networking has become very blurred, recently the concept of "Mentworking" (Mentoring and Networking) has emerged, where employees are introduced to leaders or experts in the industry and then receive learning and guidance from them. And because teaching someone can strengthen the learning gained, employees can also become mentors for other people in need (such as new employees), so that they also gain lessons in other areas such as communication.
Experience
Explore experiences that can open up development opportunities for on-the-spot learning. There are many ways to develop employees through experience, such as through job rotation, job enlargement, job shadowing, special projects, stretch assignments, and so on.
Career discussions involving the “Three Sights” are important to help employees determine their career direction. Especially in Foresight discussions, where identification of employee personal characteristics becomes an important basis for the subsequent discussion process. Therefore, early assessment of employee potential, competency and capability can be important to help identify what can be the basis for employee development in the future.
Article by Herjuno Tisnoaji - Resident Assessor prasmul-eli
