Profile of Success: Illustration in the Real World
PROFILE OF SUCCESS
Systems Manager
Illustration in the Real World
Background I started college a couple of times but failed most of my courses, mainly because I did not go to class and was not motivated. I was not involved and did not have a particular reason to go to college. I enrolled at FCCJ and took classes irregularly—sometimes full-time, sometimes part-time. I did well in some of the classes and poorly in others.
During this time, I got a job at CityStreet, a global benefits provider, and I realized that I really liked business. I also realized that I would not go far without a college degree. So I decided to try college one more time. My first course then was English, and my teacher, Marian Beaman, was great. I did well in that course and from then on. From FCCJ, I went to Florida State and Purdue University, where I have recently completed an M.B.A. Later, I wrote Professor Beaman to thank her for setting me on a good course; it changed my life.
I now have a great job with lots of potential for advancement.
Degrees / Colleges A.A., Florida Community College, Jacksonville; B.S., Florida State University; M.B.A., Purdue University
Employer Procter & Gamble
Writing at work I write many kinds of documents, like memos, work and development plans, and speeches for presentations. We have structured meetings at P&G, so before meetings we prepare and distribute talk sheets, which provide the necessary background for what will be discussed at the meeting. I write technical design documents with precision analyses of systems. I also write e-mail that is read by senior management. I always make sure that those e-mails are correct because I do not want the executives to be distracted by errors. If I make careless mistakes in writing, I will not get far in the company. I also write about human resources issues. Whenever you manage people, you have to be aware of issues and situations that might offend employees.
I was surprised by how much writing I do as an essential part of the job. I am a computer scientist, but my writing has to be good.
Karen’s Illustration
The following memo is an example of the illustration that Karen writes as part of her job. It details the objectives of a workplace initiative to help women already employed by Procter & Gamble plan careers within the company.
Vocabulary development
Highlight the following words as you read Karen’s memo.
retain: to keep
matrix: a grid or table
aspects: parts of
align: to be in line or parallel (in this case, to agree)
objectives: goals
From: Upright, Karen
Subject: Women’s Network: Assignment Planning Matrix
As you know, we have an enrollment goal for 30 percent of our employees to be women, but we are currently at 20 percent. We need to grow our enrollment, but we also need to retain the women currently in the organization. Greg and I met a few weeks ago to determine how to improve assignment planning for the women in our organization. We agreed to use the Assignment Planning Matrix as a starting point. The matrix is a good career-planning tool, with a section on career interests, rated from “highly desirable” to “undesirable.” It also contains a section on specific P&G career interests, with sections to describe aspects that make a particular choice desirable or undesirable and a place to give weight to the various career choices. Completing the matrix requires thought as to what course an individual wants to pursue and why. I have reviewed a sample with and provided training to the women in our organization. Each of them has been asked to complete the matrix, meet with her manager to align on content, and submit a final version to her manager. This information can be shared at the next Leadership Team meeting.
This initiative has several objectives:
- Have each member of the network start a long-term plan for her career.
- Use the long-term plan to develop a short-term plan for assignments and competency development.
- Share this information in written form with the immediate manager and section manager of each member of the network, enabling the manager to speak for each woman’s career interests and providing a reference point for each member’s career goals.
- Enable the Leadership Team to plan assignments within the organization for each member of the network, matching individual goals and interests to organizational goals and needs.
I encourage you to support the women on your teams as they work through the Assignment Planning Matrix over the next few weeks. Please let me know if you have any questions.
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