Mind Mapping for Career Pathing

Challenge

The company I work for currently employs nearly 11,000 people in this region.  There are many different  divisions and numerous departments within those divisions.  A great challenge within the company is  career pathing for employees.  It is hard to define a specific career journey because there are so many  possible paths.  Employees may not only want to move up within their department; they could also want  to move to a different department or even division.  There is not enough communication to relay to  employees about the necessary steps to change job roles within the company.  To tackle this challenge, I  became a member of the “Career Squad.”  The ultimate goal of the squad is to empower the employees  in their career journey through clarification, transparency, and education.

Selection

We have selected to use the mind mapping tool to further understand employee concerns and  brainstorm ideas to achieve small goals.  As stated in Guadalupe Gutierrez’s video, “Mind Mapping Tool,” a  mind map allows us to look for themes and patterns within our data to establish criteria for the “What  If” phase.  In order to effectively clarify a career path, we must be able to identify the patterns and  interests of our employees.

Application

We first collected our data by sending company-wide surveys to understand “what is.”  The surveys  included questions about the overall environment within the company and improvements that could be  made.  Open-ended questions were also included so that we could get verbatim from the employees.   We took a deep-dive into the employee feedback and survey results to understand that there is  employee dissatisfaction surrounding career pathing, or rather, a lack of information and  communication.  There is no clear alignment on what career paths could potentially be available.

Similar to the mind mapping process described in Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie’s book, Designing for  Growth, the squad held a “yard sale” with all of the survey results.  We made mind maps of all relevant  information regarding employees wanting to change job roles, including the stakeholders that would be  involved in the process.  Through the verbatims on the survey, we found a pattern that many employees  would like to have more networking tools accessible.  The Career Squad was able to brainstorm how to  incorporate this pattern and create a small goal to help our ultimate goal for career pathing.

Our insights, mind maps, and brainstorms revealed that a mentorship program would allow employees  not only to meet new people within the company and establish relationships, but also learn about the  division they may want to transfer to on their career path journey.  Currently, we have some mentorship  programs in place, but they are exclusive to the division and there is not much communication on the  programs for joining.  Thus, a small task force within the Career Squad is now working on is identifying  the mentorship programs that are available divisionally, and learning the pros and cons of the programs.   From there, we can evaluate the programs and create one ideal program that could be non-divisional.   Then, all employees would have access to the program.  This will help with networking and ultimately  the employee career path.

Insight and Approach

Mind mapping is a great tool to use because new ideas are always generated when themes and patterns  are found.  While we started our Career Squad focused on the employee career path as a big picture, we  found from survey results that networking is an integral part of the process.  I was surprised to see how  our big goal was changed by our employee feedback and squad insights.  We were then able to create  small goals to accomplish, such as identifying mentorship programs.  From there, we can use the mind  mapping tool again to find out what works and what doesn’t within the mentorship programs currently  available.  In the future, I would like to include more people in our mind mapping brainstorm.  This will  allow us to get different perspectives and ideas for how we can improve our company and educate our  employees on career pathing.  I am looking forward to using the learning launch tool as well so that we  can test our innovation in real life.


Mind Mapping for Career Pathing Challenge The company I work for currently employs nearly 11,000 people in this region . There are many different divisions and numerous departments within those divisions . A great challenge within the company is career pathing for employees . It is hard to define a specific career journey because there are so many possible paths . Employees may not only want to move up within their department ; they could also want to move to a different department or even division . There is not enough communication to relay to employees about the necessary steps to change job roles within the company . To tackle this challenge , I became a member of the “ Career Squad . ” The ultimate goal of the squad is to empower the employees in their career journey through clarification , transparency , and education . Selection We have selected to use the mind mapping tool to further understand employee concerns and brainstorm ideas to achieve small goals . As stated in Guadalupe Gutierrez ’s video , “ Mind Mapping Tool , ” a mind map allows us to look for themes and patterns within our data to establish criteria for the “ What If ” phase . In order to effectively clarify a career path , we must be able to identify the patterns and interests of our employees . Application We first collected our data by sending company - wide surveys to understand “ what is . ” The surveys included questions about the overall environment within the company and improvements that could be made . Open - ended questions were also included so that we could get verbatim from the employees . We took a deep - dive into the employee feedback and survey results to understand that there is employee dissatisfaction surrounding career pathing , or rather , a lack of information and communication . There is no clear alignment on what career paths could potentially be available . Similar to the mind mapping process described in Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie ’s book , Designing for Growth , the squad held a “ yard sale ” with all of the survey results . We made mind maps of all relevant information regarding employees wanting to change job roles , including the stakeholders that would be involved in the process . Through the verbatims on the survey , we found a pattern that many employees would like to have more networking tools accessible . The Career Squad was able to brainstorm how to incorporate this pattern and create a small goal to help our ultimate goal for career pathing . Our insights , mind maps , and brainstorms revealed that a mentorship program would allow employees not only to meet new people within the company and establish relationships , but also learn about the division they may want to transfer to on their career path journey . Currently , we have some mentorship programs in place , but they are exclusive to the division and there is not much communication on the programs for joining . Thus , a small task force within the Career Squad is now working on is identifying the mentorship programs that are available divisionally , and learning the pros and cons of the programs . From there , we can evaluate the programs and create one ideal program that could be non - divisional . Then , all employees would have access to the program . This will help with networking and ultimately the employee career path . Insight and Approach Mind mapping is a great tool to use because new ideas are always generated when themes and patterns are found . While we started our Career Squad focused on the employee career path as a big picture , we found from survey results that networking is an integral part of the process . I was surprised to see how our big goal was changed by our employee feedback and squad insights . We were then able to create small goals to accomplish , such as identifying mentorship programs . From there , we can use the mind mapping tool again to find out what works and what does n’t within the mentorship programs currently available . In the future , I would like to include more people in our mind mapping brainstorm . This will allow us to get different perspectives and ideas for how we can improve our company and educate our employees on career pathing . I am looking forward to using the learning launch tool as well so that we can test our innovation in real life .