Background
Jardine Engineering Corporation (JEC) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Jardine Pacific. Originally established in Shanghai in 1923 to support the Group’s engineering operations in China, it now employs 3,370 staff; a third of these staff are working in Hong Kong where JEC has its Headquarters and the remainder work from other offices in Asia.
JEC provides high value engineering and project services. These include bespoke solutions for clients and the distribution of building products and materials. Over half the JEC staff have a technical background, many of whom are qualified engineers. Overall, the staff are divided into two broad groups: project engineers who co-ordinate the work undertaken for clients and manage sub-contractors; a sales force who secure the contracts and liaise with current and prospective clients. In addition there are the staff involved in the normal management, administrative and support functions.
The development challenge
The JEC workforce is mostly between 35 and 40 years of age. Many have been working for JEC since they left school. Some have become set in their ways and need to develop new skills to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive market. One particular problem that has been identified is that project engineers and sales staff can operate in independent silos and miss opportunities for cross-selling. One Senior JEC manager reported a customer as saying: “on occasions we have had three JEC salesmen arriving in the same day and we have had to introduce them to each other”
A new Chief Executive Officer was appointed to JEC at the end of 2004. He identified people development as one of the top priorities for the company. Accordingly he has given his fullest support to Alice Wong, JEC’s Director of Human Capital, in her efforts to devise and implement processes to support the acquisition of appropriate skills and behaviours.
The competency model and the development plan
Alice Wong’s initial approach has been to design and implement two basic cornerstones of development: a competency framework and a development plan.
Competency models are now in place for the engineering function, for the sales function, and for technical services. The model for technical services is attached. As can be seen, the model embraces the requirements at craft apprentice level, technical and functional skills and management and soft skills. Five basic approaches to skills acquisition are identified: class-room training; on-the-job training; external programmes sponsored by the company; knowledge gained through experience sharing and knowledge gained through experiential learning. The competency models were devised through detailed interviews with relevant senior managers in the business. They will be used for devising the company’s learning strategy, for the appraisal system and, at a later stage, to underpin recruitment.
The second document in place is the staff development plan – this is set out in the attached table. This plan is completed annually, after an interview between the employer and his or her boss. Alice Wong will be collating the returns and they will be fed into the design of the training plan.
Implementing the system
Once they had been agreed the competency models were placed on JEC’s corporate intranet and promoted through Departmental meetings. In Alice Wong’s view all staff in Hong Kong now have a good awareness of the initiative and its consequences, but there is still a selling job to be done elsewhere in the Region. It is essential that there is a high degree of awareness since, in Alice Wong’s words:
“The company can provide the environment and tools, but it is the responsibility of the individuals themselves, together with their supervisors, to manage their development”
As Alice Wong would readily agree, the design of systems is easier than getting them to work. There was some initial resistance from some managers to what was seen as a paper-intensive and potentially bureaucratic process. As a result she has offered to make any necessary revisions after a trial period. However she remains optimistic, not least because results from the company’s annual engagement survey indicate a clear and growing demand for development opportunities.