Career Partner empowers employees to plan ahead.

Just as employee training and education have become major company responsibilities, management is changing its training philosophy. The goal now is empowering employees to take care of their own careers and futures, which should produce a better-motivated, more productive workforce attuned to

To foster career development, Equinox Interactive Corp. of Woodstock, N.Y., has created Career Partner, a comprehensive, interactive software package that Career Partners International (CPI) distributes as part of its consulting services.

WHAT IT DOES

Career Partner is designed to help individuals conduct an in-depth examination of their career-related attitudes, needs and wants. The program walks employees through a review of their personal lifestyle and past and present jobs, developing a mission statement, objectives and a plan for the future. Employees can inventory their skills and the positive and negative aspects of their relationships on and off the job; build a database of accomplishments and deficiencies; measure themselves against an ideal profile; and develop a series of reports.

According to CPI's plan, employees attend an all-day workshop before receiving the software. In the workshop they discuss Career Partner's main concepts and complete a few typical exercises - for example, preparing the first draft of a personal mission statement - keeping in mind the program's admonition that the process "takes deep introspection, careful analysis, thoughtful expression," and many rewrites. Employees receive a looseleaf notebook with tabs containing the workshop materials, the software manual, and pockets for filing reports. The program is divided into three modules: the Career Management Partner (four disks), the Performance Partner and the Development Partner (one disk each).

Career Management Partner. The most extensive of the three modules, the Career Management Partner, is divided into six sections that coach employees to provide a snapshot of the past and a general over-view of the present. The sections provide various techniques for eliciting answers.

In Gateway to Your Future, employees are asked to respond to the question, "How close is your career to the way you want it to be?" Employees move an icon along a scale ranging from "far away" to "very close," then complete a series of statements on screen: "If I could, I would like to see ..., and I would have more opportunity to ...," and so on, through an extended self-analysis. Finally employees are asked to choose three action items to address during the next six months.

An exercise on finding partners asks employees to list mentors, coaches and confidants who can be asked to advise, give honest feedback, and discuss the employees' profiles and plans.

The Rules of the Road section describes the changing workplace, providing advice, observations and repeated injunctions to learn, grow, become innovative, perform beyond expectations and "break out of boxes." Employees learn they cannot count on longevity or traditional education as chief career assets and must "offer significantly more value than your cost."

To be measured against the rules, users must honestly respond to 60 statements with either "true," "somewhat true," or "not true." The focus is on job-related issues: stress at work, awareness of company training programs and belief in the "standards and measurements by which my job is defined." An exercise on actions to move ahead offers a menu of preloaded "barnstorming ideas" and suggested actions.

The Work-Life Balance Workshop calls for choosing and ranking seven out of a list of 20 values. Employees learn that work is not only a source of income, but also of opportunities for self-expression, skills development and expanded self-esteem. They then identify detractors and actions that can help them achieve balance.

In the Vision Quest section, employees follow a guided exercise to draft a long-term vision and choose actions to make that vision real. Another section, Your Objectives, brings the Wizard into play to help transfer ideas into "clear objectives."

The final section, Career Partnership, leads employees in a review of their progress in reaching the objectives they've identified. It asks for a list of partners and structures an "empowering" conversation.

Performance Partner. The second module asks for more details about the user's current position and company structure. With this information employees can set targets for enhancing performance and value to the company, and broaden the Partners List by stressing interaction with supervisors and peers.

Development Partner. The third module looks farther into the future, asking employees: What competencies have to be added? What training is required? What resources are available on or off site? Who will help you become a more productive employee - and a better person?

Users can generate 14 personalized summary reports that provide feedback and a framework for action. Items considered noteworthy can be added to a list of reminders, and periodically, a "Message to Myself" can be printed for future reference.

WHAT I LIKE

Installation is simple, instructions are clear, and a Help line is provided if problems arise. Another telephone number is provided for questions and clarifications once the program is installed. Note the East Coast location, operating five days a week during normal business hours. Since the program encourages employees to use the software on both office and home computers, the Help line hours could be a problem that the vendor will need to address.

The workshops, as outlined, seem like a great feature. Unfortunately, I could not check the actuality against the theory, because the program was so new and had a limited installed base at the time I conducted this review.

User protection is satisfactory, but could be improved through registration of the software, a prerequisite for using the Help line. Movement from screen to screen is smooth, using icons at the bottom for Back, Next and Finish. Flipping back and forth between modules, sections or reports is also simple. But care must be taken to follow instructions exactly to protect against error messages or possible loss of input.

Working through Career Partner is not a one-shot exercise, but an evolutionary process. The program is designed to allow revision and updating of initial results. Varying styles of eliciting information help keep the user alert and minimize the ennui that is bound to creep in. As progress is made in meeting goals and timetables - or as slippage becomes evident - the Scorecard option provides a recap.

Some users might find it difficult to formulate their mission or properly describe their skills and develop action plans. But the Wizard offers many helpful prompts and suggestions. The reports, recaps and messages allow employees to build a substantial packet of materials for study and reference.

The manual is clear and well-organized, with illustrations of key screens. One appendix reviews the Report Editor, a second looks at the Tools menu, and the final appendix zooms in on the Help options. Provisions are made for creating backup disks, which is strongly advised.

The Resource Room, an option available at various stages, is another interesting program feature. Clicking on the Resource Room icon brings up a list of suggested books, videos or career strategies for a broad range of topics.

The program repeats certain key verbs over and over - build, plan, develop, learn, manage, create, act, improve, perform, measure, move, expand and think - the imperatives that dominate today's workplace and lifestyle. I also like the emphasis on partners, especially the determined effort to encourage interaction with supervisors.

WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

Career Partner has a measure of overkill; in trying to cover all the bases, duplication creeps in. Some tightening and streamlining are in order.

A crucial issue is how much honesty and sincerity users bring to their work with the software. Some may be tempted to color their responses to give the employer a favorable picture. Moreover, while much of the input will be confidential, it is expected that management partners will share printouts of surveys and recaps. If employees know that information is to be used, say, for succession planning or as a basis for project assignments, problems with honesty might escalate.

Some minor annoyances pop up. Repeating the name of a desired partner causes that name to appear over and over on the recap list. One reference is enough.

As each section is finished, the instructions are to click on Next to assemble and print the material, but nothing happens. You have to go into the File icon and choose the Print option. The extra step should be eliminated.

Some of the messages, advice and suggestions sound oversimplistic, especially since the target user group is exempt employees and skilled nonexempts. There is sound advice, but some platitudes are mixed in that might be recast: for example, "It's never too late to grow," or "free the future to have what's really great over what's merely good." Also, is it necessary to remind someone to take notes about an important career meeting, or to suggest a follow-up thank you? Closer editing might provide a leaner, tighter exercise.

SUMMARY

Can an interactive program actually help employees increase their productivity, move to higher performance levels, and enhance their value to the employer? Will participating employees find the patience required to complete all the exercises? Will they be convinced of its value? Will sufficient benefit accrue to the company to warrant the substantial cost in dollars, time and effort?

If the management of a company using the program continues to provide proper support, backup and resources after employees work through it, Career Partner's carefully structured modules offer an excellent chance of meeting that challenge. It would be interesting and instructive to survey user companies and their employees after one year or more. Only thorough field testing and record keeping will permit proper evaluation of the program.

Career Partner/Windows

Career Partners International 370 Lexington Ave. New York, NY 10017 Phone: (800)-686-5999 Fax: (212) 889-5735

Product Use: Interactive, self-paced program designed to place responsibility for managing performance, development and career mobility in the hands of employees. Provides tools for career management within a changing workplace. A generic tailoring feature allows for input of the purchasing company's name, mission statement, available resources for employees and other information.

Equipment Requirements: IBM PC or compatible, 486 DX-33 or higher processor; 8 MB RAM, 16 MB recommended; 11 MB free hard-disk space; a VGA monitor and mouse. Windows 3.1 or higher; works with Windows 95.

Release Date: June 24, 1996

Installed Base: 12 (as of September 25, 1996)

List Price: $600.00 per employee up to 250 employees, with volume discounts. Price includes workshops. Customization possible at extra cost.

David Shair, a retired HR executive, is a director of the Metro New York Chapter of SHRM and editor of its monthly newsletter.