Pepsico

Take the Pepsi: Talent Development at PepsiCo. Sonya Stamper Strayer University Hrm532- Talent Management April 28, 2011 Question: Discuss how PepsiCo uses its talent to sustain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. PepsiCo can be described as growth. It is the very first component of PepsiCo’s corporate values statement (“Our commitment to deliver sustained growth, through empowered people, acting with responsibility and trust”), and is the core of the business strategy: “Performance with Purpose” (Sizler & Dowell, 2010). PepsiCo is known to produce leaders so that they can go to other companies and have a successful career, when it comes to talent development. PepsiCo provide the tools, processes, and frameworks that support and sustain employee growth and development. PepsiCo shows how talent management practices work both internally and externally during the same period. According to Stockley (1996), talent management is defined as a conscious, deliberate approach undertaken to attract, develop and retain people with the aptitude and abilities to meet current and future organizational needs. Also noted by Stockley (1996), talent management involves individual and organizational development in response to a changing and complex operating environment. PepsiCo approaches talent management from within the context of our talent sustainability framework (Sizler & Dowell, 2010). The four frameworks in talent management that PepsiCo uses are talent acquisition-finding the right talent; talent management and development-building bench strength for key leadership positions; PepsiCo University-developing a broadly accessible learning environment; and inclusive culture-shaping the PepsiCo culture and reinforcing the behaviors required to support the talent. PepsiCo will focus on the talent management and development portion of the framework to show how they sustain the competitive advantage over other organizations and how they produce leaders. Question: Discuss three key elements of PepsiCo’s career growth model. There are five critical components of the growth model that PepsiCo uses which are proven results-you have business and people results that require both to be “in the game.” Results are measured by our performance management process and reinforce the cultural emphasis on growth; leadership capability-reflects the competencies and behaviors that employees are expected to demonstrate; functional excellence-describes the basic building blocks of knowledge for any given role; knowing the business cold-having a deep understanding of the various PepsiCo business models and go-to-market capabilities; and critical experiences-providing individuals with the right set of experiences is one of the most effective ways of developing talent (Sizler & Dowell, 2010). Out of the five critical components the three key elements are leadership ability, functional excellence and knowing the business cold which should end up as a long term career growth. According to the PepsiCo website, the leadership ability is very important as you move into the senior roles. Entry-level managers should focus on doing it the right way and setting an example for anyone who wants to get into that position. As you move up to middle management and a senior leader a person they should demonstrate leadership abilities. Personal and career growth requires deep functional skills. Depending on the field of study you are in, the person should have the understanding and drive for growth. PepsiCo expect for everyone from employees to managers to be committed in building the functional expertise. As noted on the PepsiCo website, once an individual reaches a certain level or position in the organization, and functional excellence has been well demonstrated the basis for getting bigger and better jobs shifts to other areas such as leadership capability or key experiences. PepsiCo wants their managers to develop a broader knowledge of how they make, sell and deliver the product. PepsiCo believes the managers who fully understand what drives their business will make better business decisions (PepsiCo). When putting the career growth model together the results will be a long-term career growth. As noted on the PepsiCo website, managers are responsible for providing employees with opportunities to grow in line with their results, capabilities and career aspirations. Some of the guidelines to be considered for coaching and building your career which are think about experience; be flexible; be patient; a career is a long-term journey; and build for the long term. Question: Discuss three key elements of PepsiCo’s talent management model. Another part of the development framework for PepsiCo is the talent management model. There are three phases that outline the talent management are identify-the process by which individuals are identified as having additional potential to take on more senior roles in the organization; develop readiness-70 percent of development occurs on the job, 20 percent comes from coaching, feedback, and mentoring, and 10 percent is formal training; and movement-this is based on developmental needs, accumulate experience, and talent pool for senior most roles (Sizler & Dowell, 2010). Question: Discuss the challenges that PepsiCo faces related to its talent management system. There are several challenges that PepsiCo face in relation to talent management. One of the challenges is defined as what is a high potential' It is difficult being able to differentiate the high-potential person from the average person. It is very easy to capture a person’s history and prior experience on assessing that person’s potential. According to Sizler & Dowell (2010), there is no single or unifying definition of what exactly “potential” is or looks like. Most organizations have their own definition, which can make the identification process challenging and difficult. Many organizations change their definition every few years, especially when a new senior leader is appointed. The second challenge is the difficulties of deciding what metrics they should use for talent management. This challenge would be all about accountability and what get measured get done. PepsiCo amongst other organizations believe that there should be two or three potential successors for key leadership roles. The role is determined by human judgment, which typically comes from the senior leader of the organization. Another metric used is the number of developmental moves. This is used internal to show how to ensure that the moves were actually developmental. This metric says that people were moved to different roles because there results were improved and they were not moved just for the sake of it. Another metric being used is to drive enterprise wide accountability for movement. This is far a shared goal among multiple leaders to move a certain percentage or number of individuals (usually high potential, but in some cases, other talent pools might be considered) across borders, divisions, lines of business, or even countries (Sizler & Dowell, 2010). The last final metric being used is for talent distribution model. This metric is helpful for developing a broad prospective of the talent available. Another challenge that PepsiCo faces is the changing in workforce. The workforce includes the aging of the boomers, the rise of the smaller Generation X into more senior roles and the entrance of generation Y. These changes will drive a number of changes in how an organization operates. The organization needs to provide everything they do, including career paths, performance expectations, and even the sharing of talent calls with employees. Another change, organizations will need to find ways to be more flexible in their work arrangements and how work gets done (Sizler & Dowell, 2010). References PepsiCo- Australia & New Zealand. Our Approach to Careers. Retrieved from www.pepsicocareers.com Sizler, R & Dowell, B. (2010). Strategy-Driven Talent Management: A Leadership Imperative. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Stockley, Derek. (1996). Talent Management Concept-definition and explanation. Retrieved from www.derekstockley.com