Career vitality, according to Head of Talent at Fidelity Investments Andrea Hough, is your ability to grow in your current role. Fidelity takes this growth seriously with programs that allow employees to take on challenging assignments to create opportunities for career growth. "Our people can follow their passions and see where they lead. Expand their horizons and try something new," she said.
Over the last two years, the company has adopted such programs as part of a high level strategy to keep employees engaged, mobile and retained. Since then, Fidelity leaders have seen that for programs to work talent must be on board and involved in driving success, according to Hough.
"We knew that because of the changing demographic of the workforce and the work we do we needed to be proactive to put infrastructure in place for growth," said Hough. "Our talent mobility consists of a series of programs, tools and support to help our people decide where they want to go and what they want to do, again and again all within the company."
Something for everyone
Fostering development with a self-directed approach can give workers more options and more incentive. For example, among other programs, Fidelity's talent exchange pilot program, MyNextMove, lets staffers connect with colleagues online who want to gain experience and explore the possibility of a permanent job exchange. Similarly, the company's online career center outlines potential career pathways and the needed skills for those paths, allows employees to review open positions and connect with others in those roles. Though Fidelity's "Thrive" marketplace, workers can learn new skills they might need for a new role and work on related assignments.
"I've been with Fidelity over six years, and at about year five, I found myself feeling the mobility itch," said Jessica Duhamel, director, compliance for the company's ethics office. However, she knew Fidelity encouraged growth, and even expected it. "The company takes talent development so seriously, we hear that frequently from leadership and they walk the talk." Duhamel said she never considered looking outside the company at this time.
While she didn't have to add to her "competencies" to change her career trajectory, Duhamel said she still had to sell herself as a candidate. The program helped her make it happen: "I was able to show fresh eyes and perspective were things I could bring to the table — an understanding of how the company works and the relationships I'd developed. These were the skills they needed, with the ability to get things done."
A supportive manager was key to Duhamel's success story, too, she said. He told her it wasn't part of his job to hold her back, but that it was his job to help her grow. "He's not the exception at Fidelity," she added. Last year, the company saw 20,000 users each quarter on this platform, Hough said.
Keeping on top of things
"'Managing employees on an annual review cycle is like managing your relationship on your anniversary,'" Hough said, citing a quote she said she heard once. "We work in an agile environment today, we must iterate more frequently."
The strength of these programs relies on keeping the lines of communication open, Hough said. Rather than annual performance reviews, managers now have quarterly conversations with their subordinates. In these, the emphasis is on individual goals, team goals, development and discovery, Hough said, and how they all anchor to growth and mobility.
When employees are ready to do something else, they build a growth plan with their team, which could include upskilling or cultivating new professional relationships, Hough explained. Making changes in service of these plans works best when those changes are light lifts, Hough said, and piloting programs before scaling them helps ensure success.
"We create programs with a 'try, scan, scale' agile approach. Try it, see if it's working, and if it is, scale it up for everyone," Hough said. The company also uses focus groups to solicit feedback. "[We] spend lots of time with associates to make sure it resonates," she said "It's by Fidelity for Fidelity."
Internal ambassadors
"Change Champions" help implement Fidelity's talent programs across the organization. They evangelize and report back on the programs, Hough said. "I get emails daily from employees telling me they wished they'd have done it sooner," she said.
While workers and managers are sometimes afraid or even too comfortable in their roles to look beyond, Hough noted, planning for the future through learning and mobility has re-energized Fidelity's workforce. "It's a change continuum: we moved past asking why, now we're in a place of how, and we're ready to go," she said.
Duhamel considers herself a Change Champion, though informally. "I've given Andrea's info to more folks than I can name. I get pinged with questions — 'How did you do it?'" she said. "I love being able to point people to Andrea, her team and their resources. The program works for everyone."