Employee Development and Human Resources

The Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) is a human services organization based in Los Angeles, and primarily serving the Asian and Pacific Islander community. Services range from language translation to transportation. The executive director of LTSC is Bill Watanabe, whose three month sabbatical helped to refresh his leadership strategies and encourage employee development throughout the organization. This case study is about the potential benefits of a paid sabbatical for both the individual and for the benefit of the entire organization, particularly with regards to strengthening and empowering second-tier management.
Questions
1. The development planning process as it is described in figure 9.1 refers to both employee responsibilities and the responsibilities of the company to its employees and stakeholders. The three core components of development planning include self-assessment, reality check, goal setting, and action planning. This case study shows that LTSC did a good job applying all of the features of development planning, starting with the self-assessment needed to understand the widespread benefits of a senior leader’s sabbatical. A reality check helped to show how Watanabe’s sabbatical might help to recharge the batteries not just of the leader but of the entire management team, while the goal setting process was established in a realistic way that also included scheduling and measurements. Finally, the action planning stage included succession planning, which Watanabe might have put off were it not for the increased level of trust he cultivated through observing the performance of second-tier managers in his absence.
2. To obtain maximum developmental benefit from the sabbatical of a senior manager like Watanabe, I would recommend building sabbaticals into the employee development policy at LTSC. Sabbaticals have long been viewed as “integral” to academic careers but less so in other professions (Carraher, Crocitto & Sullivan, 2014). Therefore, the HR manager would be advised to communicate the importance and function of a sabbatical as it applies to LTSC. Using the successful sabbatical of Watanabe as an example, it would be easy to develop a comprehensive sabbatical strategy as part of the overall employee development plan for LTSC.
Each employee or manager serves different roles, and therefore it would be important to strategize who would be best at filling those roles during the sabbatical. If possible, formal list can be developed to determine how the person’s duties would be delegated in their absence. Alternatively, the roles and responsibilities of persons on sabbatical could be divided in a more informal way. Furthermore, I would recommend that to obtain maximum developmental benefit, that all managers be encouraged to consider their own plans for a sabbatical, with each person making the recommendations for who would be assuming their responsibilities and how. Finally, if there are any quantifiable needs for any of the departments, then those needs would be best expressed using data-driven models.
3. Two additional development activities that would be helpful for LTSC include career mapping and leadership development. Career mapping should ideally include goal orientation for all employees of LTSC (Maurer & Chapman, 2013). Goal orientation ensures that all employees are on track toward meeting their personal and career goals, rather than fulfilling roles that do not suit them and which could lead to discontent and turnover. Likewise, career mapping helps human resources managers better strategize pathways to success for individuals, departments, and the organization as a whole. In addition to career mapping and goal orientation as development strategies, the human resources department should have formal leadership development programs including mentoring. Mentoring is critical for empowering the employees of LTSC, and could illuminate areas of potential growth for several second tier managers who can start to cultivate new leadership and communications skills without additional investment in formal employee training.


References

Carraher, S.M., Crocitto, M.M. & Sullivan, S. (2014). A kaleidoscope career perspective on faculty sabbaticals. Career Development International 19(3: 295-313, https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-04-2013-0051
Maurer, T.J. & Chapman, E.F. (2013). Ten years of career success in relation to individual and situational variables from the employee development literature. Journal of Vocational Behavior 83(3): 450-465.