Week 11 Application Assignment – Steve Tatum – Shaping the Future

At Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (SSC) we depend heavily on a steady influx of talented professionals that can help improve our competitiveness and meet customer demand. That's why leadership is continually focused on improving the quantity and quality of the talent pipeline -- from cultivation and employee engagement through the timely deployment of critical skills -- essentially all the workforce issues addressed in this week’s readings.

Employee engagement is a top priority, especially during the cyclical downturns in our industry (like the one we are now experiencing).  As stated by Heymann and Barrera, “when the economy is doing poorly, the threat of turnover is naturally reduced; however, employee engagement remains essential to having higher productivity than competitors” (2010, p. 3).

And there are several other dynamics influencing our workforce strategies as well. The aerospace workforce continues to age while the number of new, eligible graduates with engineering degrees continues to shrink.  As a result, our leadership is shifting from a generation that “built major institutions, most patterned after models that made sense at the time they were constructed -- pyramidal, hierarchical, based largely on command-and-control” (Erickson, 2010, p. 5) -- to new leaders that are able to operate and respond effectively to a “complex, rapidly changing environment” (Erickson, 2010, p. 5).  Other company’s objectives related to this week’s readings include:

·         Improving and leveraging our gains in diversity and inclusion

·         Enhancing top talent acquisition and deployment
·         Enhancing knowledge sharing and talent management

While SSC’s Human Resources team has embraced these challenges and implemented a number of initiatives to address them, there is much work to be done and course corrections will likely be necessary.  For example, the Communications organization has emphasized rotational assignments across the Corporation to enhance talent development.  However, one of the best practices identified in How to Keep Your Top Talent, is to “forget rote functional or business-unit rotations; place young leaders in intense assignments with precisely described development challenges” (Martin & Schmidt, 2010, p. 4).

In summary, SSC faces some real challenges in the years ahead as our government customers attempt to navigate dynamic global conditions and face tremendous budget pressures.  Given the many changes occurring in our business environment, the question we must address is:  Are we developing a motivated workforce that can boost company performance? (Nohria, Groysberg & Lee, 2008).  The insights offered by this week’s readings on rewards and motivation can help steer us in the right direction.

References

Erickson, T. (2010). The Leaders We Need Now. Harvard Business Review, 88(5), 62-66.

Heymann, J., Barrera, M. (2010). Engaging Employees in the Company's Profits and Their Own, Harvard Business School, pp. 1-28

Martin, J., & Schmidt, C. (2010). How to keep your top talent. Harvard Business Review, 88(5), 54-61.

Nohria, N., Groysberg, B., and Lee, L. (2008) Employee Motivation: A Powerful New Model, Harvard Business Review, pp. 1-7