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Talent Management—Programs & Actions
Alcoa Campus Partnership Program
Started in 1997, the Alcoa Campus Partnership Program supports the company’s commitment to build a workforce that exemplifies the qualities of leadership, excellence, and inclusion. This program relies upon a cooperative and coordinated effort of our business and resource units to recruit new talent from a group of 20 partner universities.
The universities were selected based on the quality and breadth of their academic programs, the diversity of their student populations, and their historical relationship with Alcoa. We strive for a consistent, year-round presence on campus by meeting regularly with faculty, offering information sessions for students, attending career fairs, providing guest speakers in the classroom, and conducting interviews.
We invest more than US$1 million annually in this program through grant monies awarded to the partner universities. The grants support educational initiatives that focus on promoting inclusion, gender equity, and global perspectives in the fields of business, science, engineering, and technology.
Each year in the U.S., we hire approximately 100 to 200 interns and an additional 100 to 200 recent college graduates. The most highly sought graduates are those with degrees in engineering, business administration, computer science, accounting/finance, marketing, human resources, procurement, and environment, health, and safety. We rely on the Campus Partnership Program to help uncover top talent in these areas.
To further increase Alcoa’s brand as a preferred employer among campus students, we instituted an Alcoa page on Facebook in 2008. We have already seen considerable traffic and networking.
Performance Management Process
Our performance management process is the foundation of our talent assessment and is based on the following principles:
- Individual roles and objectives directly support organizational business objectives;
- Evaluations are based on results and competencies that align with achievement of those results;
- Employees are accountable for performance; managers provide support;
- Employees receive “rounded” feedback on their performance;
- Rewards are based on demonstrated results;
- There are linkages with employee development and succession planning; and
- The process supports “raising the bar” of performance.
Performance management is designed to focus on improvement, continuously elevating standards for both individual and organizational performance. It is linked with our overall people development and succession planning processes and completely integrated with our compensation system. In 2008, approximately 90% of salaried employees participated in the performance management process.
One performance management principle emphasizes employees have primary accountability for performance, and supervisors and colleagues contribute to the performance development process. Employees will regularly receive constructive and appreciative feedback from colleagues, supervisors, and customers, and evaluations will be based on the achievement of individual and teams results in a manner consistent with Alcoa’s values.
Performance Management Process
The performance management process is a continuous loop of planning, executing, and assessing results. This is supported by a foundation of continuous feedback, growth, and development. Positive efforts should result in rewards, both in the form of compensation and career advancement.
During 2008, we introduced important enhancements to the performance management process that we piloted with more than 1,000 senior leaders, beginning with their mid-cycle review. The purpose of the top-down rollout was not only to gain further experience with the process and incorporate any changes based on feedback, but also to ensure that senior leaders first understood and then could lead the process within the organization.
Enhancements to the performance management process include:
- A tighter link between organization and individual goal setting by establishing individual goals alongside company goals;
- The addition of a competency framework to establish the behaviors and skills important to goal achievement and to serve as the foundation for development planning and other human resources systems; and
- Automation of the entire process to enable effectiveness of the process and allow for calibration and use of metrics to ensure quality and consistency. These data will also help us understand competency gaps that can be resolved through workforce development.
During 2009, an additional 22,500 employees around the world will participate in the new process, with automation available in Australia, Brazil, the United States, and some European countries.
People Review Process
Beyond the performance management process, we conduct a global assessment of the top executives and managers, with some business and resource units electing to assess lower job levels.
The people review process ensures there are highly qualified individuals in key positions, not just today, but tomorrow, next year, and five years from now. More than 100 leaders were reviewed in 2008 to inventory and assess the depth of our talent, as well as to plan development opportunities to meet the needs of the individual and organization.
Our Leadership Evaluation and Development (LEAD) software database enables us to track employee profiles that capture career interests, job experiences, business and technical skills, performance, and potential ratings. The database includes more than 6,400 employees.
Learning Express
Since 2003, Learning Express has been our employee self-service online learning management system (LMS).Through an expanded e-learning strategy, 70% of our global hourly and salaried employees have the opportunity to develop individual learning plans, ensure professional and technical certifications, manage course enrollments, and maintain comprehensive records of existing, acquired, and developing skills.
In 2008, Learning Express courses were available in more than 15 languages to our employees in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
At the end of 2008, the system held five years of training history, 2.4 million records for 48,000 employees, and certifications for some of our manufacturing employees
Leadership Development
In 2003, we launched a suite of renewed and revised leadership development programs. Leveraging a variety of instructional media, these programs have been delivered to global leadership audiences that include general managers, location managers, and functional and/or senior operations leaders.
In 2008, our leadership development experiences emphasized the importance of developing high-performance teams and focusing on Alcoa’s strategic priorities of profitable growth, disciplined execution, and the leveraging of the Alcoa Advantage—the notion that the combination of businesses and assets within Alcoa is greater than the sum of its parts. We recognize and reward our employees and know that building success over the long term takes a team.
A continued goal of our leadership development curriculum is to address the leadership challenges inherent in managing our global environments. Executive education programs examine the economic, social, and environmental responsibilities of our Alcoa businesses and explore how leaders can positively impact our shareholders, employees, customers, and communities in which we are located.
For example, one key feature of the “Alcoa: Our Story” development program for newly hired salaried employees is a community immersion experience that showcases Alcoa as a values-based global company. As we do this, we create a culture where we can invest in our future and deliver in our present.
We continue to leverage more than 150 members of our global leadership program who are program graduates to serve as the cornerstone of our executive education faculty. These graduates have attained the very highest levels of leadership within Alcoa, and their careers span functional, business unit, and geographic boundaries.
Our leadership development programs are also a valuable retention tool. Our investment in talented people, coupled with recruiting loyal teams, helps drive and build dynamic businesses for the future.
Sustainability Training
From intranet sites to workshops and classes, we use a variety of methods to educate our employees on sustainability.
The Sustainability Network—a group of representatives from all of our European businesses that began working together in 2006—focuses on educational and informational programs, as well as the creation of specific business unit plans, to integrate sustainability in the business decision-making process.
In Brazil, our businesses have adopted an e-learning tool called Chronos to help train some 1,000 leaders in the concept of sustainability.
We also sponsor the Sustainable Enterprise Academy, which conducts sustainability training. Each year, various employees—including functional managers and plant managers—participate in the academy’s twice-a-year courses. Our employees also attend other sustainability-oriented programs and courses conducted by independent organizations, such as the University of Cambridge.
Our internal sustainability website provides employees with additional insight on how they can integrate sustainability into not only their business practices but also their daily lives.
We are also working to educate our employees on how they can personally reduce greenhouse gases. In Australia and the United States, the “Make an Impact” program includes a greenhouse gas footprint reduction kit and associated education program for Alcoa employees and their communities.
Case Studies
Talent Acquisition Program Builds Future Leadership Strength
Public, Private Collaboration Creates Unique Apprenticeship Program
Employment Program Brings Security to Guinea Communities
Leadership Succession in Russia
Early Works Programme Delivers Local Benefits
Partnership Brings Training to Amazonian City
Netherlands Training Extends from Least to Most Experienced
Refinery Impact Assessment Helps Build a Skilled Workforce in Guinea
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