Perks of varied assignments at Telus, GE and RBC include networking, experience
A hybrid between recruitment and training and development, rotational leadership programs give new graduates, new hires and high-potential employees an opportunity to try out a variety of roles in different areas of a company.
Canadian HR Reporter talked to three companies to find out how they’re using rotational leadership programs and the advantages they get from them.
Telus: New grads find their way
When Jeremy Baxter graduated from a marketing management program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Burnaby, B.C., two years ago, he wasn’t exactly sure where he wanted to go. Then he heard about a rotational leadership development program at Telus and he was sold.
“The range of experience that I’m getting in such a short amount of time, with a leading-edge company, was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” says Baxter, who is in media relations at Telus in Vancouver. “Millenials, we want challenge, we want flexibility and that’s continually delivered through the different rotational opportunities.”
Thus far, he has done a rotation in marketing operations, advertising, client operations and public relations. Along the way, he has taken a variety of training sessions and the network he’s built within Telus is invaluable, he says.
“The varied experience (we) get, from project management to leadership to analytical positions, has given me tremendous learning and responsibility,” says Baxter. “It’s a tremendous growth curve and you’re really positioned for success.”
A rotational program works well for recruitment and retention, as it gives new employees a better understanding of the business in different areas, along with networking opportunities and the chance to work with experienced people, says Nadia Kirkland, an HR manager at Telus in Burnaby, B.C.
“This gives them that opportunity in a large company to realize you can have multiple roles, wear different hats in one organization and do not have to jump over from company to company,” she says.
In 2005, Telus started to formalize its four rotational programs in business transformation, consumer solutions, management and graduate engineering. While internal employees can come into the program, it’s largely directed at new graduates. Those in the first two programs participate in rotations of four to six months while those in the latter two sign on for three one-year rotations. About 70 to 80 new graduates join the program each year, with anywhere from 200 to 300 in the programs at one time.
All participants are full-time employees who are put into real projects, says Kirkland.
“They’re not seen as a temporary resource, they’re part of the team, but it is acknowledged they will likely move on.”
Once they have completed their rotations, they move into different positions.
“It’s sort of up to them to see what’s available in the company internally,” says Kirkland, but many participants have gone into manager roles or taken over teams.
GE: Two-year rotation equals five years’ experience
General Electric has offered training programs for decades and rotations have been a key element, says Terry Peach, manager of organization and staffing.
“It accelerates that learning curve by giving you that broader experience,” he says. “It’s really helped (employees) zero in and focus in on what their career interests are because they get a chance to check out the different facets of the business and different types of roles.”
Graduates can choose from a variety of two-year leadership development programs: financial management, commercial leadership, engineering, operations management and human resources. The programs combine rotational work experience with classroom training, mentoring and performance feedback.
“It gives us a real strong competitive advantage in the marketplace to recruit people,” says Peach. “A lot of them find that very, very attractive — it accelerates their learning, it helps them transition from school to work, it gives them a chance to check out different practices.”
Often graduates come out of school with preconceived notions about their careers that are not always right, he says. The rotational program helps people “avoid making a fatal career mistake,” says Peach. “We say in a rotation of two years, you gain five years’ experience.”
About 20 to 30 employees join the programs each year and there are about 8,000 employees at GE in Canada. The recession has had some impact, with reduced numbers, says Peach, but the leadership programs have high credibility because they bring in great talent.
“When you have senior leaders in the company (who) started their careers in these programs, they don’t question the value.”
Technical and leadership training for participants is delivered through on-site classes, a corporate university or week-long seminars at one site. Usually the people are linked up with a mentor but they also gain exposure to senior leaders and special events bring participants together, says Peach.
Participants usually are given feedback on their performance from their managers at the end of each rotation, he says.
RBC: Producing leaders of tomorrow
RBC launched rotational graduate leadership programs (GLPs) in 2001 partly because there weren’t enough people entering the organization at a higher level. MBAs are “the feeder for our future leaders of the company and they bring a different perspective and challenge the status quo,” says Patrick Charles, national manager for Canadian banking, learning and delivery at RBC in Toronto.
Internal candidates can bring baggage, he says, meaning they do not challenge the status quo as much and business leaders appreciate the recent, more relevant education of newer employees.
“(RBC) felt bringing in this new blood or new people with new learning would keep the organization on its toes to produce the leaders of tomorrow,” he says.
Each program is two years long, with four rotations of roughly six to nine months, and about eight to 10 MBA grads are recruited in July. The enterprise program can include rotations in Canadian banking, operations, IT, wealth management — anywhere there’s a need, says Charles.
There is also an annual $3,000 learning budget for participants who are matched with a senior vice-president as a mentor. Four different assignment managers also provide support.
Those who complete the program appreciate they can call one of these people up, “whereas their colleagues who did not go through the program, there is this protocol built in that you can’t just pick up the phone and call the head of HR,” says Charles.
“So it’s a very different dynamic. For the most part, they can move up a lot quicker than other individuals.”
An MBA graduate who joins RBC as a manager in commercial markets, for example, can take two years to build up his business.
“However, for them to move on, it’s a struggle, because nobody knows them,” he says.
As the program has evolved, so has the retention rate of participants, from about 50 per cent in 2001 to 2003 to 100 per cent after 2005, says Charles.
That improvement was helped by a more active role from RBC’s leadership development. To help participants find a permanent placement, an individual nearing the end of his assignment is considered at an HR talent session that looks at potential future executives.
“The success factor is a lot greater than trying to let them do it on their own,” he says.
