One of the greatest expectations of employees in the organization is the possibility of ascending and growing in the organizational pyramid. Likewise, for the organization it is of great importance to ensure the retention of talent that will make a difference when it comes to achieving strategic purposes.
Perhaps we have heard, in the commercial areas, for example, the phrase that says: “we lost a great salesperson and we gained a bad boss” and consequently in the end it is necessary to fire him because it is no longer possible to return him to the previous position where he was so successful in his management and results, to the point that he was considered and granted the possibility of being head of the area. This situation occurs at all points of the organization, we have competent collaborators who show every day their ability to offer more and better results and therefore it is possible that career plans allow you to advance and grow in the line of command of the company.
The career plan is a strategy that is aimed at designing a growth process that allows employees in the organization to identify a path that goes up to the strategic levels and is nurtured by activities designed and intentionally established by those responsible for the professional growth of the collaborators such as "seedbeds of talent", "cradle of Management", "hotbeds of leaders" and other names that may be exotic but are ultimately geared to the same result. The important thing is to recognize the route that each company must follow when identifying and assessing the competencies of both the vacant position and the applicants to fill it.
A good career plan represents benefits for both the employee and the company and therefore also requires a training and training structure to be an experience that represents and adds added value for all participants. (On this I recommend Myriam's article Astrid Ramírez López and Diego Fernando Sánchez Marín found at
The purpose of this reflection points out the importance of the commission letter as a mechanism to ensure that the career plan will be successful in the collaborator selected to fill a vacant position. In the first place, it is necessary to identify the requirements of the position in terms of knowledge, experience, skills, etc., in such a way that potential candidates to fill said vacancy can be recognized internally. Candidates for the position must go through an evaluation process that includes interviews by their future bosses and co-workers; some psychotechnical tests and even an assessment session to assess the skills of the future occupant of the position.
Once the collaborator who will assume the new job has been defined, it is necessary to make him known in a broad and detailed way the functions and responsibilities of his new position, present the main activities to be carried out and the results that the area expects and the company of your new job. Formally, the written document is delivered where the main aspects of the assignment are clarified, some of which are:
- It must clearly state the duration of the assignment, start date and termination date.The document must mention that at the end of the assignment time, the company will carry out an evaluation of adaptation to the new position and performance, verifying the achievements and aspects in the which must still grow and improve. It is informed who will be their immediate boss to whom they must report. To be successful in the assignment, the human management or training area will design and develop a training and education plan in the key aspects to ensure outstanding management. It is also mentioned in the document that the new position will become official once the assignment is completed and its evaluations are satisfactory according to the indicators assigned for its development and management.
It is important to mention that while the assignment lasts, the collaborator will not receive any additional monetary value in terms of salary and will appear on the payroll with the same position; all changes to the job title and salary will occur after the employee is officially appointed to the new job.
The time that is normally used for the assignment is three months, enough time for the immediate bosses, the work team and the collaborator himself to identify if he responds and meets the expectations for which he was appointed. It is possible that situations occur where the boss or even the same collaborator or both together reach the conclusion that it is best to stay in the position they had been carrying out, in such a way that the collaborator assumes the functions of their original position and the company again will select a new candidate for the development of the functions of the job.
The engagement letter allows the employee and the company to recognize an opportunity in the employee's professional development plan and a challenge in strengthening the skills required to successfully develop the job where the vacancy was generated. By making the employee official in the new job, the assignment ends but it does not mean that they should not have an accompaniment process that allows them to consolidate in the management they carry out, it is the responsibility of the immediate boss to schedule and provide feedback that allows the employee to identify the aspects that must be maintained, those that must be improved and those that must be acquired through training and education processes.
In cases where it is necessary to return the employee to the previous job, a special accompaniment is required, especially from the immediate boss, which allows him to again adapt to the management that he had been developing and prepare the work team to receive him again as part of his group since it is possible that the feelings that accompany the collaborator may be related to failure or the feeling of not having responded to the expectations that the company placed on him or in resentment for not agreeing with the decisions that led to leave the order.
I hope that these ideas allow us to recognize the importance of discovering, developing and consolidating the talents we have in our work teams and in the same way we can clarify the expectations of those who see an option on the ladder of the organization to continue advancing towards new positions that enable them to improve their contribution to business results.
