How A Counter-Intuitive Job Swap Programme Encouraged Talent Management

One would ask why the HR Function at our Client would see a problem in such a situation. And then turn it into an opportunity. A number of team members at our Client had held the same roles for several years, therefore had specialised in their respective functions and routines and were considered indispensable to the business. However, they were not growing and developing professionally. The challenge presented to us as their Human Resources Consultant, was to look at the issue of stagnation in skill sets and personal development and turn that into an opportunity for growth.

We worked with the HR team to design and implement the ‘Job Swap’ programme as a framework that challenged the team to revaluate their roles and position in the company. As the name suggests, the programme required individuals to trade places with colleagues and gain a different perspective on the current processes and roles. The swaps were implemented where the qualifications and skill set broadly matched - Colleagues actively traded places for a period and performed each other’s roles. In cases where qualifications and skill sets did not match, individuals shadowed the job holder for three months and performed activities within their abilities under the supervision of the job holder. This was done within and across functions, through the entire organization, as part of the long term talent management strategy.

The results were greater than expected. Individuals learnt new skills and acquired new abilities, thus uncapping hidden talent and potential. In several cases, a fresh pair of eyes resulted in the status quo being challenged and improved the ways of doing things – fantastic examples of business process improvement. In cases where the relationship was internal customer – internal service provider, the increased awareness of how things looked through the eyes of the other brought about a significant improvement in team-work and cooperation, resulting in process improvements and a decrease in turn around time. Additionally, this supported leave cover, which in the Middle East is a factor many businesses struggle with. Further the Client saw added benefits in terms of reduced resource requirements, greater customer satisfaction scores, cost reductions, and improvement in quality levels.