Company Industry – High Technology Company

The Situation:

Worldwide component selling prices dropped 34% in the preceding two years
The competition was faster to market and had better focus on customer needs and solutions
The organization was experiencing high turnover with key Sales and Marketing positions particularly during the first and fifth years of employment
Internal research indicated that high performers stayed with the company not only because of good pay, but also interesting work and growth opportunities
The company's short-term strategy was to focus on building a great Sales and Marketing organization while working on bringing cutting-edge solutions to the marketplace

What We Did:

Analyzed the organizational capabilities needed to deliver on the short- and long-term strategies

Defined the psychological contract required to attract and retain high performers (i.e., If you give me X, I'll do Y)
Identified key improvements to HR programs required to deliver on this new implicit contract many of which involved learning & development and career opportunities
Designed new HR programs and created tools for managers to deliver on the new promise, including:
- Critical competencies for each role
- Career paths
- Success (role) profiles
- Promotional criteria
- High-performer acceleration process and programs
- New selection tools to select the best (and the best fit)
- New performance management process
Trained managers so that they could understand and explain the new implicit employment contract and new tools to aid in recruitment, selection, recruitment, & promotion
Trained hiring managers how to conduct a behavior-based interview

The Outcome:

Decreased turnover overall (from 18% to 13%)
- Significantly less undesired turnover
- Higher proportion of desired turnover
Increased rate of acceptance on job offers extended (from 30% to 75% in the first year)
Increased interest in organization at campus recruiting events
More effective reviews by managers
More focused training and development initiatives (including a new corporate university)