government - growing the business by growing the employee

Detailed Description:

A social science research and consulting firm is in the midst of a five-year expansion program. Two years ago, the organization hired a number of college graduates with degrees in public policy, social work, and the social sciences. Their current job as Associates in the firm involves participation in project tasks with a focus on acquiring academic information and research experience in their area of expertise. Many of them have been successfully performing these functions and have been identified by various senior personnel as candidates for promotion to a Senior Associate level. Senior Associates are expected to have academic strengths, but more importantly, should have strong project management skills. To function at the Senior Associates level, they will be expected to oversee all aspects of projects and balance the project requirements with the constraints (e.g., budget, time, staff levels, staff with available skills) imposed upon them. At this point in their careers, their work experience has given them little exposure to business development activities, client interaction, schedule and budget management constraints, staff development issues and other management skills activities.

The company offers a generous educational assistance benefit, and in the past many employees gained project management experience by attending classes at accredited institutions. Despite the quality of instruction, however, most new graduates experienced difficulties applying their new skills in a real project management setting. Sometimes projects ran into trouble, requiring senior staff interventions. The organization needs to fast track their most promising Associates. To accomplish this, each promotable Associate will be paired with a Senior Associate mentor for six months. During that time, the mentor will task the Associate with various management responsibilities while providing scaffolding for each activity as needed. Associates will have access to an intranet site that will provide resources and help support the training program. Associates who show interest and aptitude for project management will be given increasing responsibilities. At the end of six months, employees who will remain in the project management track will be paired with a second mentor for six months to concentrate on strategic business planning. These mentors will help the Associates explore ways of acquiring additional business to help grow the company and sustain their position.

Learning Outcomes:

The goal is that the Associates think like social sciences consultants and can balance real-world considerations such as project demands, staff capabilities, personnel issues, and management issues within resource (e.g., budget, people) constraints. They will learn to:

Identify resources for business opportunities
Foster relationships with clients
Design and develop timelines and tasks for projects
Manage projects within resource constraints
Create budgets for the projects according to task specifications and guidelines
Manage and mentor junior staff
Express themselves orally and in writing
Acquire knowledge of the corporate culture at the higher level