Talent Development at Pepsico Essay
Qn1. Discuss how PepsiCo uses its talent to sustain a competitive advantage in the marketplace: PepsiCo is known for being in the forefront of talent development among other companies. It produces workers who move on to have successful careers in other departments and companies.
This shows that it takes talent development and career growth as important aspects. Its main focus is commitment on growth which is evidenced in its corporate statement. Its management team firmly believes in developing the company’s current and future leaders to build and sustain leadership capability across the company.
Managers and employees are challenged to work more innovatively, productively and with a greater focus on the organizations values (Fulmer & Bleak, 2008, p.177).PepsiCo Human Resources mission and vision is to make the company where people can be able to achieve their talents and grow. The company needs strong people with leadership skills to succeed in the market place.
To attract and retain the best people, PepsiCo has developed a two-pronged approach to building talent within the organization. The first approach is the PepsiCo career growth model which provides tools, processes and training to drive a broad-based development culture. The second approach is the talent management model which provides talent segmentation and aggressive bench building to deliver growth (Fulmer & Bleak, 2008, p. 179).Qn2.
Discuss three key elements of PepsiCo’s career growth model: PepsiCo’s view of career growth is that it is a partnership between the employees and the organization. The PepsiCo career growth model serves as the company’s main integration tool for achieving career growth. It is made up of key elements such as proven results, leadership capability, and functional excellence, knowing the business cold and critical experiences (Fulmer & Bleak, 2008, p.
180).Leadership capability is meant to how a worker handles leadership positions. It provides a framework to determine a person’s contribution to the organization as a leader.
When coaching their employees on leadership skills PepsiCo considers elements such as consistency in demonstration of leadership abilities, growth of leadership effectiveness, the individuals increasing impact on the organization and the capacity of the individual to take on a more significant leadership position (Fulmer & Bleak, 2008, p. 181).Knowing the business cold covers the aspect of knowing what the PepsiCo is all about in terms of business. It requires the managers or employees being molded for leadership to be able to develop a broader knowledge of the different factors that drive growth. They should be able to seek out new business opportunities and advance their understanding of the organizations markets. This will enable them to make good decisions which are based on good business data such as how PepsiCo makes its products, what methods it uses to sell and deliver as well as customer and supplier information (Fulmer & Bleak, 2008).Proven results are a requirement to the employees to demonstrate consistent and proven business results in order to be considered for future growth opportunities.
PepsiCo looks at the track records of its employees in terms of sustained successes and results that leave a lasting impact. People results are also viewed as important because they play a significant part in performance expectations. How and when the results are achieved is important at PepsiCo for the employees who want to grow in their careers (Fulmer & Bleak, 2008)Qn3. Discuss three key elements of PepsiCo’s talent management model: Fulmer and Bleak (2008) note a key element of the talent management process as the develop readiness component which focuses on job experiences and on the job training. Job experiences are what the employee goes through on a day to day basis. It primarily involves the work itself, challenges and opportunities that come with the job and how they are handled. On the job training allows the managers and workers ate PepsiCo to gain additional experiences while they perform their duties.
Developing readiness requires coaching, mentoring and feedback.Formal education is another element of the talent management process. With a busy working environment most organizations find it hard to have formal training programs. It is through performance management that PepsiCo can be able to know where its employees stand with regards to their career growth and what actions can be taken to help them continue growing. Such actions might involve inducting the employees for formal training programs or on the job training (Fulmer & Bleak, 2008). High potential is another component of talent management. This enables employees at PepsiCo to build their bench strength through experienced planning and also empower workers to drive individual development in a flexible environment.
Qn4. Discuss the challenges that PepsiCo faces related to its talent management system PepsiCo has a history of developing talent from within but it has weak bench strength. The talent process does not address the issue of how to deal with bench strength which is the competence and number of employees who are ready to fill vacant leadership positions. Most managers in PepsiCo are eligible for retirement in five years. This creates a challenge given most employees who go through the career growth and talent management process end up taking leadership positions outside the company.
PepsiCo therefore faces the challenge of consistently filling its management positions from within while faced with aggressive poaching from outside companies (Fulmer & Bleak, 2008).ReferencesFulmer, R.M. & Bleak, J.
L. (2008) The leadership advantage: How the best companies are developing their talent to pave the way for future success. United States: AMACOM. Pp 175-191
