The face of career development has certainly evolved over the past 20 years. In the 70's it meant learning what you wanted to do when you "grew up." The 80's added a critical player to the process... the manager. Thousands were trained as career coaches. They learned how to coach, but never really understood why it was important.  Now we link career development to the business strategy and at CSI we have coined a new term for that...Strategic Development. The result is driving business strategy through the organization on a development agenda. Now one might ask what as taken so long? This is a pretty obvious link to support the organization's bottom line. All we can say is that organizations are now "getting it"...that is strategy and development are part of the same equation leading to competitive advantage. Below is the overall model we use in helping organizations (see last month's article about our work with JDS Uniphase) and in creating products to support the process.

WorkTeam Advantage™ Software Update

Here's an update on the progress we are making on the development of the WorkTeam Advantage™ software. This Internet software is designed to help employees and managers navigate the development planning process. We are rapidly approaching the "Beta" version which we will be testing with several organizations. The "Beta Test" will last about 10 days. During that time we will be asking about 10 people in each organization to work through the system to help us create clear instructions, identify points of confusion, verify our design, etc. If you would like to be a Beta test site or would just like to test it yourself, drop us an e-mail (steve@concepsys.com) or give a call (301-774-9700) and we will add you to the list.

To see a preview of the WTA screens please visit the updated WorkTeam Advantage™ section of the www.concepsys.com website. On the menu you will see "sample results", click on it. There are about 10 screens there for you to see...they will give you a good sense of the look and feel of the software. We will be adding more sample screens in the days ahead.

We are right on target for delivery of the system to users June 1, 2004. We plan to bring companies on one at a time during the summer...about every 2 weeks. So if you even think you want to get in queue (no obligation) drop us a note at steve@concepsys.com or give a call (301-774-9700).

CSI's Work with JDS Uniphase Covered by HR Executive

In the February Concepts we mentioned our work with JDS Uniphase… helping them communicate their new, long term strategy to an organization recently focused on short-term survival tactics.  At the same time they were concerned about retaining core talent critical to moving JDSU forward. That work received the attention of the Editors of HR Executive Magazine and appears in a feature article in the March 16th issue. If you don't get HRE you can get more information by going to www.hrexecutive.com. If you would like a reprint of the article please drop us an e-mail at ask@concepsys.com and we will pop one in the mail to you, or go to the resources section of www.concepsys.com

Drop Us a Note

Please drop us an e-mail with any comments about this e-newsletter, items you would like to see covered, or if you have any news you think others would like to hear.  E-mail us at ask@concepsys.com.