Want to forge a career? Some people think that they will automatically climb the ladder. But in practice, many career paths turn out different than expected. It is important that you take stock and make changes when your career isn’t heading in the right direction. Depending on your goals, of course.
Who can help you to see if you are still on track and, if necessary, to make decisions and take action? As a Talent Manager at Modis, Deborah Gelfged does (almost) nothing else. Keep reading to find out what kind of support you can expect from Modis.
In the fifteen years that she has worked for the Adecco group – of which Modis is a member, Deborah Gelfged has already had an impact on countless careers. Five years ago, she became Talent Manager. Since then, she has been supporting Modis consultants from the moment they sign the contract. She briefs them for their first assignment and tells them about all the other things she can help them with.
Deborah: “Throughout the year, our consultants meet their talent manager on several occasions. At the end and/or beginning of the year, we reflect on the past year and look forward to the next. During this end-year performance review, we take a closer look at the consultant’s work to see if they have achieved their goals. We also discuss their goals for the coming year, both in terms of the current assignment and for their future career in general. In this meeting, we also look at their expectations and further develop the plan for their career path.”
Based on this, we take a look at which training courses might be useful. A mid-year review, an evaluation meeting, is held half-way through the year.
“It is important that we check whether everything is going well with the current assignment and whether or not we need to adjust the goals. Between those two key moment – the end-year and mid-year reviews – we still see each other and stay in touch by phone/email.”
The talent manager is always in touch with the employees, but also with the customer for whom the employee works. The talent manager is not often present at the place of work, so they regularly ask the customer about their experiences with the employee. This feedback is also important for evaluating whether you’re on track.
“We also have an important role to play at the place of work because we are the customer’s contact person. Prior to each evaluation moment, we organise a meeting with the customer to gather their feedback.”
Of course, a customer might sometimes have negative feedback. Both customers and candidates can also have unrealistic expectations. In such cases, it’s the talent manager’s task to adjust those expectations.
“Supporting the consultant also means being honest with them if their expectations are unrealistic. Consultants may also underestimate themselves. And then it’s our job to pep them up and show them the potential they have.”
“Absolutely, if they need a push in the right direction (laughs). We like to let our employees develop towards new roles. For that we organise assessments, both for their further development and to prepare them for a new position.
During such an assessment, we ask the consultant to take part in role plays, which are based on certain situations. For some, this isn’t an easy exercise. We also ask them to do a personality test. During the debriefing, they have to be open about their preferences, choices, behaviour and reactions.”
“For training courses we collaborate with various partners. We focus mainly on soft skills. But it’s also possible to do courses to improve hard skills. These are tailored to the employee’s career path. Knowledge sharing takes place during so-called sharing sessions. And we also add content to our online training library, the ‘training catalogue’.”
“Not very often. But it does happen sometimes. One of my consultants who specialised in clinical data management suddenly decided to switch careers and become a gardener. That had always been his second passion (laughs).”