Career Development at Hanna & Hanna Inc.

Lauren Hanna7/23/12

EHRD 613

The Audit

Hanna & Hanna Inc.

• Hanna & Hanna is a family owned and operated organization that provides court reporting and video services to domestic and international legal firms.

• CEO- Kelly Hanna

CEO’s Definition of Career Development (CD)

• Person setting personal goals for what he/ she wants to accomplish within their career.

Do you see CD in your organization?

• “Yes. I have created different of positions that allows my employees to start from the bottom up. My employees have vast opportunities. They can choose their own goal paths such as Management, IT, Accounting and Marketing. I prefer my positions to be internally because they know the business. Anyone can sell, but this is a field where you must know the business, especially being a small business. However, my organization needs to develop a career development document or plan that is there for the employees to use for reference and become a requirement. Everything we did is ran in-house.” (Hanna, 2012)

Hanna & Hanna’s CD Programs

• Hanna & Hanna strongly supports learning in their organization to stay ahead of their competitors.

• CEO encourages all of the employees to seek outside trainings that are work-related and will pay for their expenses and workshops as well.

• Hanna & Hanna has sent employees all over the US for trainings. The most recent was to Washington D.C. where two of the employees attended a technological conference to learn about new technologies and to see which systems could enhance Hanna & Hanna.

• One of the senior executives just traveled to Florida where he received the highest certification that legal videographers can receive in the industry. Hanna & Hanna paid for all of his training as well as they motivate their employees to be the best of the best .

If any, what areas of the organization have room for improvement?

• “Because we are still a new organization and growing each year, right now the company is doing the best it has done so far, we have produced more jobs, have received new clients, have great technological systems, etc. However, I have focused so much on the product and being proactive with the business, I have not been focusing so much on the internal part of my business, my employees. I am aware of how important they are and I love my staff and I would love to bring on more, however I’m not completely comfortable in the recruiting area. I would also like to hire someone or find a career coach to come and speak to all of us or at least teach me more so I can be confident in teaching my employees about the subject. ” (Hanna, 2012).

Implementing a Career Plan

at Hanna & Hanna

Career Development at Hanna & Hanna

• At Hanna & Hanna every employee is a tremendous asset. Not only do the employees have certain full-time jobs, but they are all family member and working extra hard to ensure not only that their company survives, but they are the best out there.

• It is essential to understand that the internal areas of the business are just as important as the external areas.

• Employees are the key to making the organization successful. • At Hanna & Hanna the employees are responsible for all areas of the business because they

are still a growing organization. This is beneficial because it is teaching the current employees how to run the business once the senior executives retire.

• Employees must know that Hanna & Hanna supports self-directed learning and wants to pay for each of the employees to enhance their knowledge of the court reporting and video industries from recruitment to the highest quality of technology.

Employee Engagement

• One of the way to enhance employees careers is to make sure they are happily engaged in their workplace.

• Development Dimensions International uses five areas of focus to measure their employee engagement: Align Efforts with Strategy, Empower, Promote and Encourage Teamwork and Collaboration, Help People Grow and Develop, Provide Support and Recognition Where Appropriate. (Development Dimensions International,

• Each of these should be imperative at Hanna & Hanna. The employees need to see that they are appreciated and are beneficial to Hanna & Hanna.

• Unhappy employees increase inefficiency, laziness, turnover and low motivation in the workplace.

Seeking Talent For Hanna & Hanna

• Hanna & Hanna is a learning organization, so it it important it stays that way. • Previously mentioned, employee engagement is essential for employers to

recognize. So, one must select candidates who are fit for the job, the values of the company and the company culture.

• Senior executives set the company culture.• What are employees most attracted to? According to Deloitte, the Board

asked employees what they expected from their employers – – “1. interesting, challenging work. 2. Open, two-way communication. 3. Opportunities

for growth and development.” ( Athey,2004) Money was eighth.

Keeping Talent Hanna & Hanna

• Employees’ career focus has changed from the past. They now focus on the following (Wellins, Smith & Erker, 2012):• Increasingly interested in having challenging and meaningful work. • More loyal to their profession than to the organization.• Less accommodating of traditional structures and authority. • More concerned about work-life balance.

• Prepared to take ownership of their careers and development.

Implementing CD Programs at Hanna & Hanna

• Hanna & Hanna is doing a phenomenal job at seeking trainings and programs for their employees. Travel is important and a diversity approach for a technological industry.

• One item Hanna & Hanna could adopt could be creating a actual Development Plan. This is a document that each employee would fill out to show where they are, where they want to be in the short term and the long term.

• Having a Development Plan will create a way for the executives to see if their employees are satisfied, provide a way to see where the employees want to be eventually and see their employees interests.

You Can Be The Career Coach

• According to Anthony Grant, “coaching is thus, collaborative, individualized, solution-focused, results oriented, systematic, stretching...for fostering individual and organizational change and comprises both personal or “life” coaching, and workplace coaching with staff, managers and executives.” (Grant, p.13, 2006)

• Being a small organization, Hanna & Hanna has an advantage because senior executives can take the time to sit with the employees and discuss their careers. Also, because you are a family-owned business you are automatically involved with each other personal lives, however it is imperative to be respectful and be professional. In order to be a successful company, you will have to separate family time and work time.

• By giving senior executives the ability to become the career coaches, the organization will also be able to save money rather than seeking outside help such as a consultant. Anyone can be a coach!

Career Understanding

• Today, young adults do not have the same perspective of a career as the older generation. • Currently, young adults are being taught that they are to move to a new position within

two years, where as the older generation is used to staying in their positions for a longer amount of time.

• As an employer this is essential. You need to be ready to move your employees and know that they will be expecting it.

• Robert Reich states that adapting to change and adaption have become a requirement for youth and adults to be successful in the workplace.

• At Hanna & Hanna it excellent to have various CD programs because it will allow your employees to become proactive by taking the initiative to seek programs to increase their knowledge, skills and abilities, become self-directed and keep Hanna & Hanna a learning organization.

Thank you!

References• Grant, A. (2006) A personal perspective on professional coaching and the

development of coaching psychology. International Coaching Psychology Review. Volume 1 number 1

• Niles, S. G. & Harris-Bowlsbey, J. (2008). Career development interventions in the 21st Century, 3rd Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. (ISBN 9780136080572)

• Athey, R. (2004). It's 2008: do you know where your talent is? New York: Deloitte Development LLC.

• DDI.(2012). Driving employee engagement. • Wellins, R., Smith, A. & Erker, S. (2012). Nine best practices for effective

talent management. Retrieved from http://www.ddiworld.com/DDIWorld/media/white-papers/ninebestpracticetalentmanagement_wp_ddi.pdf?ext=.pdf