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OGL 482 Pro-Seminar II

Unit 3 Assignment:
Networking Plan Template
Kristin Mauldin

College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University

November 21, 2021

Section 1: The Career Decision Matrix

As you move through the data-gathering phase and begin to generate options for potential jobs
and potential employers, this is when you can build and use a Career Decision Matrix. Following
the information from Harrington & Hall text, Career Management & Worklife Integration,
Chapter 4, pages 92-94, you will research, gather, and analyze information from your self-
assessments (i.e. the Kuder assessments in Unit 1, in particular), thematic analysis (themes),
career resources and more to create your Career Decision Matrix.

Career options are broader than jobs. They are paths you can take to get to where you want to be.
Here is a resource that can assist you in determining:
https://careerwise.minnstate.edu/careers/pathways.html

Answer the following:

1) As you have gathered your data take the time to share and fully describe your top
four (4) possible career options. You want to be specific, as this creates a more
meaningful matrix. Describe each career with as much detail as possible. Consider
the following to be used in your 2-3 paragraph response per career option: career
field / organization / job-related responsibilities / opportunities for advancement /
future outlook of the career field. These responses need to demonstrate that you
have gathered your research and analyzed it, so there should be citations
referencing where you got your information, using APA standards. Remember to
include why you are choosing each career option.

a. Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) is my first response when I consider

the career path I want to pursue. HRBPs support business strategy and objectives by

aligning managers and employees with the organizational goals (Miller, 2021). Business

strategy is often conducted through functional leaders in an organization and the HRBP
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ensures that the people of the organization, or that will be impacted by an organization,

are considered in strategic business decisions.

The HRBP role may have other titles depending on the organization, but this is a

role that nearly all large organizations have and is not exclusive to any specific industry.

Because of this, the opportunity for advancement or finding a company with policies that

support my life themes is high. For example, in my current organization the HRBP role

supports client groups across multiple geographic locations. Because of this virtual

operating model, the role itself has become more often a telework, or part time

teleworking role. Also, with the large range of companies that have these roles, and the

complexity of many companies, the opportunity for advancement is great. An HRBP can

advance either through progressive individual contributor roles, or into HR leadership

roles.

HRBP roles are not only strategist roles that influence the business, but these are

also HR generalist roles that develop and employ a wide spectrum of HR knowledge for

the individual in the role. HRBPs roles include but aren’t limited to leadership coaching,

talent planning and development, performance management, and policy guidance

(SHRM, 2021). The skills that make successful HRBPs are high communication skills,

excellent interpersonal skills, understanding of organizational structure and operations,

analytical and problem-solving skills, and comprehension and application of local and

federal laws, regulations, and policies (SHRM, 2021).

b. Project Managers lead the efforts of teams to ensure the goals and deliverables of a

project. Project management has been a growing field of professional focus, and we are
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now in a time that the Project Management Institute considers “The Project Economy,

where projects are the driving force behind how work is done, change is realized, and

value is delivered” (2021). Project management now has a place in nearly every function

of organizations, and in my current company there is a role specific to managing projects

that can be found in numerous functions. This is the Project Management & Planning

Operations role, and one I am currently under consideration for with a focus on

leadership of a new Return to Work program.

Future outlook for project management is great because of the vast applicability

of the skills and competencies project managers hold. This is a career path that I can

explore within my current organization, but also know there is great career opportunities

to advance or explore new industries in project management roles. The career

advancement can come from progressive sizes of projects that a project manager leads, or

also in formal leadership roles over projects, programs, or teams.

The skills and competencies needed for a project manager are first and foremost

people and team leadership skills. Work must be accomplished through the team

members of projects, and the relationships between stakeholders, customers, sponsors,

and the project team must be managed to ensure objectives are agreed upon and met. The

project manager must have excellent leadership, interpersonal and communication skills

to navigate projects effectively through all the relationships. Project managers are also

change agents and must navigate teams through change management in most projects

(PMI, 2021). Planning of schedules, organization, attention to detail, resource planning,

and scope management are also skills that project managers should have in order to be

successful.
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c. Organizational Development is a process and focus that “helps organizations build

their capacity to change and achieve greater effectiveness by developing, improving, and

reinforcing strategies, structures, and processes.” (van Vulpen, 2021). The overarching

goal of organizational development is to make an organization more competitive, and

there are several facets of organizational development. These include Technostructural

Interventions, Strategic Change Interventions, Human Process Interventions, and Human

Resources Management interventions. The latter two to three are the career areas I wish

to focus on, especially considering my very social based life themes.

Professionals in organizational development design and implement development

plans for their organization or customers once an opportunity for improvement is

identified by the customer. After the organizational development team assesses the

situation, analyzes the information and facts found, they then design a development plan

for the organization that seeks to correct the identified problem (ATD, 2021). This

requires OD professionals to have good assessment, investigative, and research skills.

They then will develop a solution designed to improve the situation, a plan for

implementation, and evaluate the effectiveness of this solution. Much like project

management, this requires skills in communication, interpersonal competencies, planning

and scheduling, and strong evaluation and feedback skills.

The future outlook for organizational development is strong, due to the increasing

understanding and demand for this proficiency. Also, this is a career that can support

organizations in continuous improvement, so there is potentially a never-ending demand

for this career. In my current organization we have an Organizational Development

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function in both the human resources focus and another in the technical functions of our

programs. I would be interested in pursuing the HR focused organizational development,

and in this role, there is advancement opportunities in the contributor and leadership

levels.

d. Human Resources Operational Excellence is an emerging focus of implementing

operational excellence focus on the HR field. Operational excellence emerged within

production and manufacturing environments and focused on creating repeatable

processes, empowering employees to identify gaps and correct these to create smoother

standard operations. Within HR, there are many administrative and transactional

processes that can be performed in standard, repeatable routines. Human Resources

functions are often focused on organizational development for the larger organization,

and process and organizational development internal to HR becomes neglected or the last

to be addressed. The focus of HR Operational Excellence is on identifying gaps or

opportunities for improvement within HR processes to enable the whole HR organization

to work more efficiently through standard work, repeatable routines, and reduced

redundancy.

Operational Excellence skills needed for this career path are a knowledge of

operational excellence programs or initiatives such as Lean Six Sigma, Green or Black

Belt certifications, DMAIC principles, etc. All of these require critical thinking, research

and investigative skills, and attention to details. These also require interpersonal and

communication skills in order to work effectively with the teams that perform the tasks

being addressed for process improvement. Change management, assessment and

evaluation, and providing feedback are also skillsets needed in this career path.
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This career path has a strong future outlook, especially as more and more

organizations take on development and process improvement initiatives. This career also

has opportunity for individual development into more senior roles, as well as in

leadership roles within the function. In my current organization there is some movement

and availability for advancement, but not as much as other HR functions. This may be

different in other organizations, but in the spirit of lean thinking, this may be a function

that does not have a lot of positions in any one organization, but the opportunity for

advancement is present.

Now that you have determined these four options, take a step back and share a fifth
UNTHINKABLE (UT) career option, that you would never do, but are trained for
by what you have learned by earning your degree. Think about skills you have
acquired while earning your degree, which would be transferable to something
completely different.

. Restaurant or Retail leadership is a career path that is very well within my scope

of knowledge gained from the Organizational Leadership degree program. Much

of the sales and product focus of retail management would be trained depending

on the organization, but the leadership skills and knowledge gained in this

program would be especially beneficial to this career path. I have included this

because I have been in retail management before, and I would never go back

because of how poorly this career aligned with my personal priorities and themes.

The skills needed for leading retail establishments are great interpersonal skills,

high and effective communication skills, conflict management, performance

assessment and accountability.

2) Using the information, you have gathered and shared above it is time to fill in your
Career Decision Matrix. You can find an example in Table 4.2 on page 93 of our
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text. When you complete the matrix below, be sure to remove any unnecessary
labels.

a. Down the left-hand side of the matrix, you will list your ten (10) life themes
from your thematic analysis. You can also add more that were not part of
your presentation as Theme 11 and so on.

b. Across the top of the page, you will list the five (5) career options you are
considering.

c. Next, fill in each cell with a high (h), medium (m), or low indication of the
match between that theme and the alternative under consideration.

d. Calculate your Career to Theme Consistency Points (CTCP) aka Summary,

by assigning high = 5, medium = 3, and low = 1, and then adding them up to
determine the ranking of your career choices to your themes. Not all themes
can have high designation (if everything is important, nothing is important).
The goal is to identify how your career options align with your life themes, so
you have better information to determine which aspects are most important
to you in your next career step.

Career Career Career Career Career

Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4 Option
HRBP PM OD HROps UT

Family High Med High High Low

Dedication

Stability and High High High Med Low

Security

Service to High Med High Med High

Others

Empathy High High High High High

Authenticity Med High Med Med Med

Curiosity Med High High High Med

Social High High High Med High

Relationships

Accountabilit High High High High High

y
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Seeking Joy Med High Med Med High

Love High Med Med High High

CTCP 44 44 44 40 38
(Summary)

3) Now that you have determined these career options in relation to your life themes:
a. Reflect to what extent your Career Decision Matrix development process has
helped your career development decisions.

Creating this matrix has helped me take a closer look at each career path I am

currently considering to understand how well each relates to my personal themes. It

did not help in this evaluation that I have considered many things as highly applicable

to my life themes, but I also don’t see this as invalid because many of the careers

were focused on supporting people and their work within organizations, and my

themes were highly socially focused as well. This reflection back to my themes and

potential career paths did help me see which supported which themes best, so when

deciding which to pursue I will have a better idea of which themes will be supported

through each of the careers. If there is a high priority theme, security or family for

example, and I am deciding between two paths that support one or the other better, I

can decide if the balance of the other themes is enough for some sacrifice in my

priorities or if I should reconsider an opportunity.

b. Share which career option(s) you feel would be worth researching more and
pursuing as you begin to think about your networking plan.

I am starting to develop a mental model of how my career path can take place, and the

three careers that placed top of my rankings can all have a part. The first is a role

within a Project Management function in my current organization. As I mentioned in

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the description, this is a role I am being considered for, but as I envision a career path

in human resources, I was wary of this role straying from what I believe to be a well

suited path for myself. This role would strongly support many of my themes, with a

little less support on some high priority themes (family dedication and love). This is a

wonderful opportunity though to develop technical and organizational leadership

skills, as it is outside of my current human resources administrative functions and is

an associate manager level role. I feel that pursuing this could position me next for a

role in Organizational Development, where I could return to HR and develop my

network and my competencies in HR priorities to make me more well rounded to an

HRBP role later. My ultimate goal is an HRBP role, and if I continue to network as I

currently have been in my organization, I may be able to start as an early career

professional, but with my other skills and experiences I am considering an altered

path to this role. All three just about equally measure up, it will just take reflection on

which of the themes I am willing to get less support on for now.

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Section 2: Networking Plan

Now that you have completed your Career Decision Matrix we now need to move forward and
develop a networking plan that you can use to help you reach your career goals. Review
Harrington & Hall text, Career Management & Worklife Integration, Chapter 4, pages 77-83.
Developing and managing your network of people who can help you is an important ongoing
process whether or not you are currently happy in your career.

The purpose of this activity is to:

• Help you assess and enhance (extend or strengthen) your developmental network relative
to major challenges you will face in the next 1-3 years
• Help you develop a networking strategy that will work for you
• Help you develop a specific plan to pursue over the next 6 months to 1 year
• Create an accountability mechanism

Research on leadership development has demonstrated that people benefit from a variety of
developmental relationships, including short-term and long-term alliances with bosses, peers,
senior executives, coaches, subordinates, and family members, the more diversity and depth
there is in your developmental network, the better. Depending on our dominant learning tactics,
we are more or less likely to pay attention to the quality of our developmental network.
This assignment was adapted by Professor Kathy E. Kram from a worksheet developed by
Professor Deborah Kolb, Simmons Graduate School of Management. Adapted by permission.

Answer the following:

1) As you think about the major changes that are likely to take place at your place of
work in the next few years, what major challenges and opportunities do you foresee
that you will need to deal with in the next 1-3 years?

Describe and explain why these are your top three (3) of Challenges here:
a. Diminished funding of contracts is a potential challenge in my organization. As a

defense contractor to the United States of America’s government, my

organization relies on their missions and priorities for the funding of our projects.

If a bid for a new program or contract is lost, or the organization does not win

projected contracts, the funding for many groups could be lost. This could

potentially reduce the available positions in indirect programs that support the

overall organization, such as human resources where I am interested in focusing

my career.
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b. Loss of talent, or inability to staff our teams is another challenge. If the

organization is unable to retain or attract individuals to positions to backfill lower

levels, or to staff teams up as needed, my organization may be unable to release

me to new work. Another potential reaction to this challenge is also that the

employees currently in place may need to take on new work to support the

functions of roles that cannot be filled. If this challenge is realized, it may

diminish my opportunities to move on to new roles or to develop in meaningful

ways if I am overworked in my current position.

c. Outsourcing of consulting services is another potential challenge. We often lean

on consulting agencies to provide assessments and data from these assessments.

As I want to work into roles that consult through project management or

organizational development functions, I see a challenge would present itself if the

company decided to outsource these functions. If it is decided that the company’s

resources would be better spent on outsourced contracts, the potential

opportunities I envision in these roles would no longer be available within the

organization I am a part of.

Describe and explain why these are your top three (3) of Opportunities here:
d. The number one opportunity is an opening in a new role, a Project Management

& Planning Operations Associate Manager. This is a newly created role in a

current effort to stand up a formal, standardized program over some of the current

work I do. This role provides leadership and oversight to the functions I currently

perform for several responsibilities of my current role but is not an HR focused

role. This is a terrific opportunity for the financial benefit and the new
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development opportunity in a role that is people focused, but not HR. This would

provide development in team management, program management, relationship

building, and process improvement.

e. I work at a location in our company that is often harder to staff in long term,

relationship building human resources positions. This is an opportunity for me

specifically because I am not willing to relocate at this time and being a fixture to

this location could provide longevity benefits to human resources strategies.

Developing in high demand competencies, continuing to enhance relationships

with other leaders, and being eager to stay at this location could be greatly

beneficial to career opportunities for me.

f. The great resignation, as well as expected retirements, could prove beneficial to

my career targets. In my career so far I have seen little movement or new

opportunities in human resources for my location. I am at a smaller site, so even if

roles are available that boast telework as an option, there is often a focus on the

location that the departing employee was at. As the higher level human resources

positions start to become available in my location, I have an opportunity to

progress into these as I develop my competencies.

2) Given these challenges and opportunities, what type of help are you most likely to
need? Check one and explain why.
a. Help in getting the job done ______
b. Help in advancing my career ______
c. Emotional support ______
d. All of the above ___X___
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Whether in the opportunities, or feeling the implications of the challenges, I could potentially

need help in getting the job done. This could be because of skills I do not have yet, or

because of increased responsibility but not increased bandwidth. I may need help in

advancing my career if fewer openings are available, both in finding opportunities and in

presenting myself as a leading candidate for roles that are available. All of this may take its

toll, or even taking on a new role in the near future that requires much growth, and I will

need emotional support. I often lean on my social relationships within work to understand

what others’ paths have looked like, and this may be another opportunity to do that as I learn

to navigate my path and understand if it is, or is not, any different than my colleagues’ paths.

) If your major challenge or opportunity is related to your work, how well positioned
are you to get information, advice, and resources about new opportunities and
possibilities? Check one and explain who can help you and why.
Very Well __X____ Okay ______ Need to Expand My Network ______

For my largest challenge and opportunity, I have leaders and peers in my network already

that can lend their insight to help me navigate. For both I can lean on my relationship with

the manager who hired me, Brandon. He has promoted and relocated and is now a senior

manager of human resources for my location. He has advanced insight into the needs and

status for our location, so for the challenges of projects not getting funded or headcount

diminishing, he would be able to help me navigate potential changes that may be

approaching. For my greatest current opportunity he can help me navigate if the position is

offered to me. I have already presented the available opportunity to him, and the fact that I

have interviewed for it. He is a great sounding board because he agreed taking this role could

diminish my human resources career path for now, as it would be difficult to return at the

level the potential opportunity is. However, he is also an advocate for taking on such a great
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opportunity. If I am presented with an offer for this, I will go to him first with the offer

details, my reflection through this assignment, and I trust I will leave that conversation with

great insight on what decision to make to ensure I remain on a path that will navigate me to

immediate and future successes.

) If your major challenge or opportunity means making a move into a leadership

position, do you have relationships with people who can give you advice and
effectively advocate or champion you for important assignments or other
developmental activities? Check one and explain who can help you and why.
Yes __X____ No ______

As I mentioned above, Brandon is a senior manager in human resources who can help me

navigate a leadership opportunity. I also have developed strong relationships with various

levels of leaders in the organization, in human resources as well as the new function I would

be a part of or work with, and I trust many of these people to help me navigate new

assignments. Specifically, Jeff is the senior manager who is hiring for the role I have

interviewed with. He has already championed for me to get through a recruiter’s queue to

secure an interview with his team. I have worked with him since June on the new program

initiative he is taking on, and he has seen my work and relationship with the stakeholders,

and we have developed an appreciation for the work we both do. This has helped me

immensely in getting to this point, if I am offered and take the position, I trust him to

continue to be an advocate and champion for the leadership I bring to the position.

) If your challenge or opportunity means that you will need emotional support, to
what extent do you have people who can give you support? Check one and explain
who can help you and why.

a. I have a strong support network to help me. __X___

b. I don’t have people to help me through changes I will have to make. ____
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In considering taking on the leadership position, I do have a great support system with

my current teams, as well as my friends and family. These people are also invaluable in

supporting me if the challenges are realized as well. They have already supported me

emotionally through roles I have not been selected for, for challenges I have faced in my

work development or motivation, as well as in my current personal life challenges. My peers

have not hesitated to support me through just talking, as well as lending a hand in guidance

or support with my workload. I trust these contacts would continue to support me

emotionally through the challenges I may face ahead.

) If your challenge or opportunity means that you will need help getting the job done,
advancing your career, or getting emotional support, do you have people in your
network who can fulfill these functions? Check one and explain who can help you
and why.
Yes __X____ No ______

I have advocates who will support me with career advancement and in getting the job

done in Brandon, Jeff, and my current manager Kristy. They have all demonstrated the

respect and value they place on me, and trust that when I ask for help that I truly need it.

They also are all advocating for my next opportunity, whether in their organization or not

they have expressed and demonstrated their excitement to see me advance in my career. I

also have peers, friends, and family that have all demonstrated that they will be emotional

support as I need it. The people in my personal and professional networks have all already

celebrated success with me and supported me in my current personal life challenges. I trust

that they will continue to be there for me, as I continue to be there for them. We have a

mutually balanced, respectful, and valued relationship that we all trust each person will be

there as much as they can be for the support that we each need.
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) What is your approach to building relationships? How are you at initiating

relationships? In what settings are you most comfortable meeting people?

a. Joint or shared work, projects, and committees __X___

b. One-on-one appointments, with specific agendas ______
c. Informal “no agenda” social settings __X____
d. Going for coffee, lunch, or drinks ___X___
e. Leisure activities such as golf, tennis, or theater ______
f. Other ______

While I will set appointments to initially meet a person I have not been previously

connected with, I much prefer informal or regular work as a means to meet people. I prefer to

build relationships through more organic conversations to understand someone as a whole

person. I value the work they do and the person and background that they hold as well. I find it is

easier to get to know people on these more personal levels through informal channels, and I

thrive in presenting myself in these settings better as well. I will meet a person where their

preference may lie, but I find that once in conversation with a new contact, the way I converse

and present myself is authentic to me. I prefer a setting that I can laugh, inquire, and present the

real me that is bubbling and eager for development and advancement.

) What is your preferred style?

a. Occasional phone calls or e-mails just to ask “how are you?” ___X___
b. Phone calls, e-mails, or visits with specific requests or questions ______
c. Holiday cards and letters ______
d. Dropping in or calling when you’re in the neighborhood __X____
e. Arranging in advance to get together at professional meetings ______
f. Relying on the chance that your paths will cross ______
g. Inviting people to join you for lunch, coffee, golf, and so on ___X___
h. Contacting people when you find some information, an article, or an opportunity that
might interest them ______
i. Other ______
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This is much related to the previous question; I prefer informal and more personable

settings to get to know others and build relationships. For example, when I have had the

opportunity to travel or stay longer on travel in order to get face to face time with my virtual

teams, I have eagerly jumped at the chance. I have made sure to meet as many people face to

face while there, even if they were not in or the focus of my reason for travelling. When I have

had new team members visit me, or new colleagues start in my location, I offer to meet for lunch

or show them around the site. As we walk, we have opportunities to chat and learn more about

each other. This helps us learn the various paths we have taken, the priorities for our current and

future goals, how we can support each other, and just helps develop a deeper relationship with

each other.

) Now turn your attention to the “Action Planning” part of the exercise (top of page
82). Respond to the following questions:

a. What are your goals in developing a professional network? Be specific.

I wish to develop a more diverse and robust professional network. I have focused on

Human Resources professionals as those I focus on, but as I navigate potential new roles I have

seen great value in developing this network to include other peers and leaders across my

organization.

b. How will a well-developed network of contacts help you achieve your career goals?

Having a diverse and well-developed network will help me in navigating towards current

goals, as well as learning of new opportunities that I have not previously considered. The more

diverse my network is, the more diverse perspectives I am able to gain in my interactions. This

will help as I navigate choices in my career path to understand if and how different roles will

help, or hinder, my navigation towards my long-term goals.

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c. What are some of the characteristics of the people you are looking to include in your
network?

I am seeking diverse characteristics and roles to include in my network. I do seek to

include people that are open to career discussions, who are candid in feedback and transparent in

their messages. Networking with contacts that are not willing to advocate for me or be

forthcoming with feedback or obstacles they are aware of is counter productive to my goals. I

hope to continue networking with people who are authentic, genuine, and have a desire to

connect and support others in their network. Contacts who will approach networking with these

characteristics are more likely to share knowledge and insight that will help me develop towards

my long term goals.

d. Where might you come in contact with these people? How will you grow your network /
initiate contact with new potential networking contacts?

As I have networked with my current contacts, I have often heard them mention other

contacts that could support me as well. I will start pursuing these new contacts more and start

seeking new suggestions as well. I have also begun networking with peers in my course, and I

think this is developing my comfort level in approaching new contacts. I have network

connections on LinkedIn through professional contacts I have already, I can also continue to

develop this external professional network through initiating conversations with them and

seeking to see if they have additional contacts that have my focuses if they do not have these

themselves.

e. Who in your network are you looking to enhance your relationship with? How will you
go about enhancing these relationships?

I am most eager to enhance my relationships with various leaders at my work location

and within the Project Management function that I am exploring a new opportunity within. I will
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enhance these relationships by initially setting meetings to discuss challenges or career advise

they can provide if I am offered the position in leadership. This will help me understand them

better as I take on a role that will work closely with them, and will develop new appreciation for

how their and my roles will interact. I will also start working on site more often to ensure I can

meet with them face to face, and having my preferred meeting method I will present myself more

authentically and develop a more rounded and personal relationship with them that will enhance

the professional relationship greatly.

f. How can you leverage your existing network? Might some of your existing networking
contacts know others who you should be in contact with?

My existing network does consist of colleagues and leaders at the local and larger sites

that can help me navigate building my network. They can help me understand which leaders are

the decision makers, or who can help me gather support for the program I will support in the

potential leadership role. If I take on other HR roles, I can also lean on my existing network to

understand the various contacts I will need to make and help me navigate these new contacts and

their preferences or styles.

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Section 3: SMART Career and Networking

Using a SMART goals-based approach, as well as project planning and management skill best
practices, create a detailed project plan for at least two specific goals. At least one must be
related to your Career Plan, and the other related to your Networking Plan. Both of these goals
need to be things that you are passionate about accomplishing.

Your selected goals and SMART plan (see SMART goal information provided in the Unit)
should be structured based on a one to two-year timeline. It should include specific milestones,
action items, sub-tasks as well as task-related interdependencies as applicable. With respect to
each goal, critically think about what specifically are the things you will do in the next one to
two years to achieve these goals.

Develop a clear and detailed SMART plan, with facilitating goals and steps/actions required
to accomplish your selected goals. It should be evident, by looking at the format and structure
of your plan, that you have developed some significant skills respect to project management.
Include Gantt charts or other visual project representations as you see fit, and be sure to address
your approach to tracking/measuring your progress.

1) What is your Career Goal?

I aspire to take on the Associate Manager of Project Management & Planning Operations

role that will build a new program that supports employees in their return to work

journeys, as well as the business productivity and safety targets.

a. Specific – I will lead the implementation of a new program that follows company policy

that guides the program functions to ensure that employees are treated fairly, and

provided opportunities to continue working as they heal from injury or illness.

b. Measurable – This is measured in the reduced number of accrued days away from work,

the tracking of work performed by employees in the program, and the impact on keeping

programs on track through keeping employees actively working.

c. Attainable – This is possible because I am familiar with the program and historical

limitations. I also am developing a network of contacts to support the new initiative and
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have the senior manager leading the cross-site efforts to ensure that my location and role

is successful in implementation and execution of this program.

d. Relevant – This goal matters to me because I have been a part of this program in an

ambiguous role that has held little influence. As a part of the program for three years, I

see the opportunity for improvement and the value improving this program will bring

employees, the business, and the relationship between leaders, employees and the union.

e. Time-Based – I will achieve success within a six to twelve month timeframe.

2) What is your Networking Goal

I will develop my network to include a diverse array of professions and leadership levels

internally and externally. I currently have only 1-2 project manager contacts and will

benefit from a more diverse network of HR professionals.

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a. S – I will increase my network of HR contacts by 50%, and project or program

management professionals by 100%, to support my journey as I navigate new

opportunities.

b. M – I will measure this by my number of contacts as well as the number of

conversations or advice received.

c. A – I have a solid foundational network already established, it is attainable to

increase this through new and existing channels.

d. R – This is important to me as I continue my journey in human resources or

navigate a new journey in a project management leadership role.

e. T – I will achieve these results within the next twelve to eighteen months.
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References

ATD. (2021). What is organization development: The 5 phases of OD Strategies. Association for

Talent Development. https://www.td.org/talent-development-glossary-terms/what-is

organization-development.

Miller, C. (2021). The Role and Responsibilities of a Human Resources Business Partner.

BizLibrary. https://www.bizlibrary.com/blog/workforce-management/human-resources-

business-partner/

PMI. (2021). What is Project Management? Project Management Institute.

https://www.pmi.org/about/learn-about-pmi/what-is-project-management

SHRM. (2021). HR Business Partner. SHRM | Society for Human Resource Management.

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/job-descriptions/pages/hr-

business-partner.aspx

van Vulpen, E. (2021, October 28). What is organizational development? A complete guide.

AIHR. https://www.aihr.com/blog/organizational-development/.