Development Plan: Field Engineer to Senior Engineer - Essay Example

Development Plan: Field Engineer to Senior Engineer Background Some responsibility must fall on aperson as he grows through life. For most engineers, it entails leading projects. However, there are those with the responsibility of developing through the corporate ladder to become either a corporate officer or manager among other senior positions. On other occasions, it constitutes starting personal companies and in the process becoming employers and bosses. Engineers handle problematic technical assignments by applying basics of mathematics and science in the process of building solutions that remain cost effective in the society. Engineers apply discoveries in the field of science to enhance consumer services and products. Most of engineers work to produce new products by either developing new ones or improving existing ones. In addition to working to develop new products, engineers work to produce, test, and maintain new products. They deal with among others issues supervising production assembly lines, evaluating causes of break down in products, as well as conducting tests aimed at enhancing the quality of products. Engineers with supervisory roles manage products to their conclusion. In the modern world, engineers use computers in creating and assessing designs of products squarely. Furthermore, computers are relevant when monitoring the quality of products, development of specifications, as well as testing operations. The case The initial steps into management was very difficult for me considering that I started as a field engineer and now am a senior engineer at Saudi Aramco. I asked so many questions while moving forward. Was joining the senior management levels the right career path for me? Was I ripe for management roles that come with being a senior engineer? (Audley, 2007, 63) Did I require additional skills and training to execute my new roles effectively? What if, I failed to work effectively in my new roles? Did my company Saudi Aramco, have the right channels for my career growth, or was it necessary for me to change companies? Transition from Doer to Influencer It was essential for me to comprehend during my development that my roles would change considering that the change would be very spectacular. My job would no longer be ensuring that the job is complete but creating a proper environment for others to do the job. As an engineer on the growth path, I needed to know that the new roles would come with the duty of making sure that work takes place through others. I was in the process of moving away from doing work on a daily basis to aiding others via delegation of duties, allocation of resources and materials, mentoring, as well as facilitation among others duties. The lessons I learnt while transcending from a field engineer to a senior engineer with managerial roles still apply to date. The biggest challenge I learnt in the process was learning to change from the point of a doer to an influencer. As a professional engineer, I help people to solve their problems by applying technology. However, in the management capacity, I retain the roles but I change the means of attaining this goal as they become complex because I work through other people. Primarily, I am a facilitator because of the managerial duties that come with the position of a senior engineer. In this case, I offer direction, provide tools, and train appropriate people working to achieve set goals (Sinnott, 2008, 56). However, it was not that transition meant I forget the engineering knowledge. As a much as I grew from a field engineer and was no longer in the trenches, I still needed enough knowledge concerning the prevailing state of technology to continue earning respect from employees besides extending necessary support to them. Because of this need, I stayed semi-current in the field of engineering by reading trade magazines, journals, as well as blogs. On other occasions, I joined other engineers during grapevine to listen to their stories as I shared in comprehending their ways of making decisions. This helped me to stay relevant and in the process, I avoided rubber-stamping engineering decisions without sufficient knowledge. Growing through the ranks and roles to become a senior also came with scaling down from being an expert to a village idiot. This helps me in building a team. In my inquiries, I ask questions that other engineers cannot dare ask for fear of appearing awkward. Successful transition hinges on a developed culture of hitherto leadership. This type of culture entails all employees through all categories demonstrating efficient leadership qualities. A purposeful effort to strengthen the capacity of employees having leadership qualities in the organization enhances a successful transition by eliminating dependency on one person holding an essential position. Evaluating the current culture in the company as well as defining the ideal culture clearly will serve this organization wells in laying the most appropriate succession scheme. The exercise defines necessary competences to deal with current challenges in leadership positions and future gaps. The next step for the company will constitute selecting, evaluating, as well as building its leaders. Additional Training I discovered along the way that as much as I did not need training in bolts and nuts about the latest technologies, I needed additional education that would make me an efficient manager. In the first four years of transition, I remained undecided between taking a Masters degree in Computer Science and undertaking an MBA. I sought the advice of various people in addition to reading different advisory articles (Mednick, 2004, 114). One of them held that MBAs do not have the capacity to prepare engineers to become proper managers. Drawing marketing plans and filling in cashbooks do not train a person to motivate employees in a company or prepare a person to handle underperforming employees. However, after lengthy consultations, I opted to enroll in leadership and public speaking courses. One of the reasons that enhanced this choice was the need to sharpen my skills to result into being an efficient manager. At the end, I am planning to have an MBA just in case I change jobs in future (Roth, 2013, 21). Then, the degree will work as an accelerator of my career. The hardness of soft skills Being a senior engineer is about people because it constitutes management. There appears to be a big difference between engineering that is about things and management that concerns people. Although I am a professional engineer, I needed the capacity to handle social perspectives of employees. I care about the welfare of employees genuinely and this made my growth up the ladder a bit smoother. Computer codes and machines are more predictable compared to people, which was one the driving forces behind my enrolling in leadership and public speaking courses (Rogers, 2003, 29). It is not possible to find people as deterministic or concrete. While it is easy for transcending engineers to handle costing, budgeting, project planning, and risk analysis, the reverse is true for people. People’s issues pose the greatest challenges. To succeed, I know that various people have different needs and preferences especially regarding means of communication. Some prefer verbal communication, others visual, and still others felt it proper to communicate through written means. The leadership and public speaking course taught me multiple ways of communicating with employees. Successful managers must put strong systems and management programs. Scholars enlist the following as factors that add value to the company: offering high quality services, recruiting, and hiring competent staff. This company outlines the following competences to facilitate its survival in future. Developing successor leadership and business qualities Strategizing ways of developing and maintaining critical employees Building an efficient company framework (Taba, 2002, 76) Creating management structures that enhance the performance of the company Recording procedures and systems in manuals to facilitate efficiency and offer support to the efficient transfer of knowledge Executing the right strategic planning schemes putting into consideration transition of leaders Recruiting, selecting, and hiring competent staffs Implementing financial and accounting controls as well as full-fledged marketing program Observing how different employees communicate with me is a significant feature I study before choosing the means of communication to use. Leadership skills prepare me through many ways of generating relationships, handling emotions, as well as bringing people together towards a common goal. My career path Case from other companies Demographic trends among companies show that most of them favor leaner times for forming associations and trusting as well as investing in growing internal talent. Figures from the Bureau of Population Census show that there will be a sharp contrast in population trends in the ages of fifty-five to sixty-four and twenty-five to thirty-four between 2014 and 2024. The former will increase by more than fifty percent while the latter will reduce by seven percent. The projection is that few young people will join employment coming in as replacements for many people leaving the workforce through retirement. Therefore, the current decade will see companies losing more than fifty percent of senior managers basing on the demographics. These factors make the company to put great value to adopt a strategic succession scheme. Furthermore, competition for the best talent in the market continues to increase (Yukl, 2013, 41). This poses a great challenge for organizations to invest in the general retention of their best and experienced talent. Saudi Aramco Case Our company used to experience a high turnover of senior managers because of failure to invest in the development programs that promote their retention. Following on the same, the company loses a lot of experience and much knowledge. Our company goes through the same process after losing executives after either losing executives after either losing executives either after either losing executives either through retirement or after pouching by rival companies in the industry (Wiggins, and McTighe, 2005, 19). However, following the report delivered the select committee, the company understands that it is not viable to attract executives from other companies to replaces those either leaving or retiring. Apart from the practice being costly, information in the report concurs with research by the Centre for Creative Leadership those executives from outside the company fail in the first eighteen months at an average rate of sixty-six percent. Solution Contrary to what most scholars hold, Saudi Aramco is one of the companies that believe in developing careers for their employees. Scholars posit that the best way to develop your career path as an engineer is to change employers. I did not do this yet within seven years I rose from a field engineer to a senior engineer with managerial roles (Fitzgerald, 2002, 33). They aver that often when one is at a level such as a field engineer (that I held at the start), the company would promote you to a management level lower than what a person would get had he or she switched employers. Saudi Aramco does not believe in bringing new managers from outside the company as they have an elaborate succession plan. The scheme allows employees from within inject new aspects as well new ways of doing things when there is a change in the management team. The employee succession program helps employees interested in advancing their careers. This helps the company to have committed employees. Executives and managers at Saudi Aramco stay for an average of seven years as opposed to three to four in other rival companies. My experience in the company helped the authorities to recommend me as I rose through the ranks. The best way the company is going to deal with the succession crisis will be identifying and building the internal talent and capacity crucial for senior managerial responsibilities. The concern cuts across all senior managers and not strictly of the Chief Executives Officers. It is my responsibility as a leader interested in attracting, recruiting, hiring, maintaining, and developing quality staff to day and in future in the company. Comparatively, the trend in our company is also common in the government, business, as well as non-profit organizations where they have poor succession schemes that make them fail to manage transition in leadership. Management of transition as well as proper planning of filling the vacuum left by leaders who quit contributes to the performance of the business. The Individual Development Plan Name: Position: Role: Location: Duration: 12/2014- 12/2015 Focus of Development: Recently promoted, transforming the functioning of the new role Top Strengths Project management Result oriented Influence Efficient development of Teams Necessary Actions a. Work with the board, other executives, as well as other employees in the creating search committee as others develop their respective development plans. If necessary, offer coaching to those that require assistance. The timing is appropriate as the program starts in the course of next handling one manager every week. The company will not spend anything because I will facilitate the program. b. Work in conjunction with other seniors to develop my individual development plan c. Create sessions for participants to horn their skills in conflict resolution, listening abilities, as well as coaching abilities (Geddes, 2008, 61). The program also starts next week with participants taking one course every week. Furthermore, the company will not spend anything because we will make use of the company portal d. Take and conduct an in-house essential course for managers. This is the first program that the company will incur costs of about US$ 600 for every three days. e. Reading the necessary materials for improving personal skills is the last step in the plan. The cost for each book is US$ 30. Works Cited Audley, R J. Decision Making. London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 2007. Print. Fitzgerald, Stephen P. Decision Making. Oxford, U.K: Capstone Pub, 2002. Internet resource. Geddes, Patrick. Town Planning Towards City Development: A Report to the Durbar of Indore. Indore: Holkar State Printing Press, 2008. Print. Mednick, Sarnoff A. Learning. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 2004. Print. Rogers, Everett M. Diffusion of Innovations. New York: Free Press, 2003. Print. Roth, Veronica. Allegiant. , 2013. Print. Sinnott, Daniel. Leadership Turnover: The Health Care Crisis Nobody Talks About. Trustee Magazine, 2008. Print. Taba, Hilda. Curriculum Development; Theory and Practice. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 2002. Print. Wiggins, Grant P, and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005. Print. Yukl, Gary A. Leadership in Organizations. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print. Read More