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HDA OVERVIEW
HDA Case Studies

Portable Skills Redeployment - Investment Bank

 

Background

HDA had provided outplacement and redeployment consultancy to a large international investment bank for a number of years.

Following a decision by the bank to outsource elements of its IT infrastructure to Asia, it approached HDA with a view to establishing how HDA could provide specific support to a regionally-based IT team comprising approximately 125 team members at all levels, whose skills and knowledge were very likely not to be easily transferable elsewhere within the bank, despite the banks solid internal redeployment record, (typically 80 % successful internal redeployment of at-risk employees).

Context which HDA took into account:

• There was no guarantee of successful internal redeployment, despite a solid record,
• The IT team in question had long service on average, with low turnover & a low level of current transferable skills,
• Opportunities for alternative external employment were low as HDA’s client was the principal employer in the area,
• General internal redeployment workshops for people at risk were already in place, but were viewed as insufficient for the IT team’s needs,
• Site culture had changed somewhat - from the original ''friendly'' culture, to one that had become somewhat ‘’tougher’’, and increasingly performance-focused,
• Morale had recently been low in the IT team,
• Current policy was that the best candidates win open roles; (no preference was given to at-risk employees - the bank prides itself on being a meritocracy).
• The bank provided a sophisticated online career management facility, however, staff either did not know that it was available, or they appeared disinclined to use it.

HDA Intervention

It was agreed that the project should be focused on encouraging career mobility, skills portability & skills/strategies for ensuring successful redeployment, or potentially (with some subtlety) for leveraging external opportunities. These, broad themes were effectively communicated during both the marketing process and during the event.

 Specific objectives included:

• participants to recognise that a positive culture change had taken place around the need within the bank for career self-management,
• participants to focus on identifying their specific strengths/weaknesses with a view to actively improving their marketability and building a ''portfolio'' career,
• participants to ''open up'' & feel comfortable about actively considering both internal & external career opportunities,  
• participants to take ownership of their personal development plans, and to hold themselves  accountable for their growth & marketability inventory,
• participants to improve their networking skills, for internal (&, by extension, external) success, 
• participants to be provided with guidance to write effective CV's & cover letters (short/sharp/to-the-point),

A comprehensive three day interactive onsite event was managed by HDA, including the following elements, and including a number of HDA facilitators, coaches and presenters:

Day 01 - Analysing your skills and future direction

Day 02 - Marketing yourself

Day 03 - Effective networking

IT team members attended the event on a staggered basis over the three days to ensure that departmental operations were not disrupted during the event.

Results

• Analysing your skills and future direction - 81% of participants stated that they would take direct action of some sort as a result of this session.
• Marketing yourself - 85% of participants stated they would take direct action of some sort as a result of this session.
• Effective networking - 90% of participants stated they would take direct action of some sort as a result of this session.
• HDA’s client reported that the event had been viewed as a success, and of significant assistance to the IT team as:
• The team was provided a clear view of what was required by them to progress their careers, in the context of their roles being very likely to be outsourced in the next 18-24 months,
• The team had largely been lethargic about leveraging internal career development facilities and seriously pursuing internal opportunities, leading to a poor record of success with internal applications. The HDA event had provided them with valuable strategies for actively managing their careers, ‘’managing their managers’’ for their career advantage, (eg. by being actively staffed on key learning projects), leveraging HR and L&D, improved internal and external networking, etc.,
• The team generally felt very pleased that the company had taken such an open approach to frankly discussing their career aspirations, and opportunities for developing themselves, both within and potentially outside of the organisation,
• The team had largely replaced a sense of growing distrust and alarm about their futures, with a realistic view of how they would ‘’own’’ their personal career plans.
• The event had created a renewed awareness around career leverage facilities and tools managed by HR and L&D.

Since the event, HDA has worked closely with a number of the individuals who participated in this event; helping them to successfully move into new roles within the bank, to move into new roles elsewhere, and/or to enter self-employment.

 

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