Talent Development at Deloitte — Avery's Portfolio

A New System of Talent Development

On behalf of Deloitte Consulting, three collaborators and I created and proposed a new way to onboard, develop, and retain Senior Consultants for the worldwide consulting firm. The program includes four major elements: an onboarding portal, a mentoring program, new hire training, and ongoing learning. We follow a new employee, Alex, from hire through the first year to illustrate how the system can work in action

The Onboarding Portal

First, Alex will be introduced to the online Onboarding Portal, where they will complete new hire paperwork, get briefed on the benefits package, select their health insurance, stock options, and other benefits, as well as complete other administrative paperwork. They will also answer no more than 5 questions about their goals and aspirations that will help the Onboarding Team with the mentor matching process. This portal and all of its information are available to all employees during their tenure with Deloitte so their information can be easily accessed in the future. In addition, this portal can be used to complete time sheets, check leave balances, find tax forms, and other information that is needed regularly.

Next, in a different section of the Onboarding Portal, Alex will complete a detailed self-assessment that is based in the competencies set for the Senior Consultant role. This assessment is self-rating questions for behaviors, characteristics, and values/preferences for the working environment. There are also situational questions that have several short answers where Alex will select the best-fit response to an event that is typical in the SC role. Similar to SAT or GRE questions, nearly all of the answers would be “correct”, but some are more in line with how Deloitte wants to conduct business. Examples of instruments that would be used include the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire; the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire; and the Motivational Value Systems Questionnaire.

The needs assessment finds that Alex has the right KSAs to excel as a subject-matter expert in several different areas of accounting; has a calm and wise demeanor that lets others quickly trust them; and they can effectively translate complex issues and solutions into clear and concise advice for clients. Alex needs to be trained further in four competency areas- handling difficult situations; effective team building; effective coaching; and making impact through initiatives.

Alex will be assigned modules in the onboarding portal. Several are standard for all new hires (indicated with an *), then a few additional competencies to fill in skill gaps that were identified by the needs assessment. The modules will be completed during Alex’s first 6 weeks on the job, preferably within the first 3 weeks. Two weeks after each module is completed, a transfer of training assessment will be sent to Alex for completion.

Having a Mentor

Alex will be assigned a mentor prior to their first day in the office. They will communicate with their mentor via email or phone to be introduced and to share a little bit of background information. Alex’s mentor is Jenny, a Senior Consultant who has been with Deloitte for 18 months. Jenny will meet Alex on their first day, give them a tour of the office, and assist them with accessing the onboarding portal. Jenny and Alex will meet at least weekly during Alex’s first 6 weeks on the job. Jenny will share her organization expertise and knowledge, as well as serve as a social introduction to the workplace. Jenny will also discuss with Alex the kind of projects they want to be assigned to and help make connections with the relevant project managers. Alex will also be able to use Jenny for questions that come up, as team member support is an important aspect of developing a learning culture at Deloitte. After the first six weeks into the position, Alex and Jenny both receive a satisfaction and impact survey to evaluate the meaningfulness of the mentorship experience.

After Alex’s first 6 months on the job, they will meet with their supervisor to discuss their progress in developing KSAs in the areas that were assigned. The supervisor will complete an evaluation of Alex, with some standard performance management questions (for all SCs) and questions that were written for the training modules that Alex completed to improve in the necessary areas. The evaluation form asks the supervisor to rate Alex’s behaviors, attitudes, and skills in the relevant functional area (example questions in appendices C and D). The conversation and form should both address how Alex is applying the training skills to their work (transfer of training). Based on this conversation, Alex will then pick the other 5 hours of training that they want to complete to enhance their skills.

At the 6 month mark, Alex finds that they enjoy consulting work, and appreciates being able to develop their skills as a supervisor and coach. They chose two more training modules focused on the coaching and handling difficult situations competencies, to complete in Q3 and Q4. Alex’s supervisor will focus on-going evaluation processes on how Alex is learning and applying their learning.

Ongoing Assessment

Timeline for the 5 levels of evaluation:

Directly following training: Receive evaluation focused on reactions immediately following on-boarding and training sessions. We want to have an idea of how the training was received and if the program materials were perceived as useful or relevant. This evaluation can be conducted via surveys or interviews (particularly when it’s a new program, this might provide extra insight and context) on self-reported feelings or beliefs about the topics covered, the way they were presented and the content overall.
2 weeks later: Receive evaluation of learning and transfer of training to see if we accomplished what we hoped to. This is meant to be a summative evaluation primarily, focusing on the specific areas that came up during Deloitte’s initial needs assessment. We would be looking for changes in base knowledge and ways of thinking. We would also ask some formative questions about their feelings towards their job preparedness after having taken this training.
6 months in: Evaluate behavior. This can be done through surveys, for example, asking for the frequency or likelihood of the employee to engage in business development efforts. We could also observe employees to see if people are adopting attitudes and behaviors to certain situations.
Ongoing, long term: Evaluate results of the talent development program through customer satisfaction responses and average tenor of employees. We should answer the following questions; did we improve the experience customers report when working with these consultants? Are these consultants staying longer?
After 1 full year, then ongoing: Assess how employees do on their first official performance assessment, and track for an additional year to assess career trajectory. Assess return on investment (ROI) through the financial savings of lowered turnover rates and higher rates of returning clients and client satisfaction. Employees will be more prepared and thus more efficient in their work. This can be assessed by surveying project managers about the readiness of Senior Consultants on their teams.

Using Evaluation to Improve the Mentorship Experience

Taking intentional steps to match mentors and mentees greatly improves outcomes for all parties and the company, through increased engagement, improved job performance, and a faster time-to-work for new hires.

Mentor Matching Questions

(Hayes, n.d.) and (Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, n.d.)

Skills, knowledge, and experience will be collected from the employees’ resumes, previous self-assessments, and other documentation. This experience, in addition to a survey, will be used to match mentors with mentees.

Mentors will take a survey, describing their mentorship skills and qualities. Mentees will take a separate, but similar, survey and will be matched with a mentor based on their interests, goals, what they want in a mentor, what they wish to get out of the mentorship program, etc. The mentee survey will consist of questions such as:

Please order the areas that are most important for you to develop (from most important to least):

[These areas were developed based on Deloitte’s “Next Level Role Expectations” for Senior Consultants]

Team building
Effective communication
Conflict management
Coaching
Developing client trust
Problem solving
Critical thinking
Innovation

Please order the qualities that are most important for your mentor to have (from most important to least):
1. Active listener
2. Broad range of knowledge
3. SME on skills I have specified an interest in
4. Networking ability
5. Teaching ability
6. High availability
7. Can provide constructive feedback
Please order the goals that you most wish to achieve from the Mentorship Experience (from most important to least):
1. Learn how to network more effectively
2. Stimulate my creativity
3. Establish my career goals
4. Acquire more resources
5. Learn new skills related to my professional goals
Are there any other things we should consider that would help with the matching process? __________________________________________________________

Here, potential mentees can write in an open-response answer identifying any specialized characteristics or needs the employee might have. For example, if the employee states they are having a difficult time with their transition from state government culture to Deloitte culture, we might consider matching them with a mentor who also came from the state government and can better help them with that transition and guide them through the culture of consulting.

Logistics questions will also be asked on the mentor survey and the mentee survey, such as their preferred mode of communication and availability.

Post Mentorship Survey Questions

Mentees will rate the following questions on a scale of 1 to 5 from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree:

When I have questions, I have someone I feel comfortable talking with to help me get the answers.
My mentor provided insight on Deloitte culture and norms.
My mentor assisted me in my transition to Deloitte.
I appreciated my mentor’s guidance and assistance.
I appreciated my mentor’s knowledge and experience.
I appreciated my mentor’s friendship.
I believe that my mentor wants me to succeed at Deloitte.
I feel more connected to Deloitte because of my relationship with my mentor.
My mentor and I will stay in contact.
I would like to be a mentor for a new Senior Consultant in the future.
One of the greatest benefits of the mentorship program was ____________________________________________________
Something I wish I had gotten from or would change about the mentorship program was* ____________________________________________________