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 diversity. This program relies upon a cooperative and coordinated effort of our business and resource units recruiting new talent through relationships with more than 20 key U.S. universities that are developed and maintained year-round.
Each year in the U.S., we hire approximately 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. The Campus Partnership Program uncovers top talent in these areas by focusing recruiting efforts at colleges selected for their quality, diversity, historical relationship with Alcoa, and other factors.
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 "living" Alcoa's values.
- 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 overall people development and succession planning.
- The process supports "raising the bar" of performance.
Performance management is designed to focus on improvement, raising the bar 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 2007, approximately 85% 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
At the nucleus of 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.
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 1,200 leaders were reviewed in 2007 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 had grown to include more than 6,400 employees.
Learning Express
Learning Express, Alcoa's self-service online learning management system (LMS), puts the power of learning in our employees' hands. Through this LMS, employees can search the Alcoa global learning catalog, manage course enrollments (e-learning and instructor-led), develop individual learning plans, ensure certifications, and maintain comprehensive records of existing and acquired skills.
In 2007, the system was available to our employees in Asia, Brazil, France, Hungary, Iceland, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, as well as parts of Mexico, Costa Rica, and Canada. More than 156,000 training records were tracked for instructor-led courses and more than 38,000 for online courses in 2007.
Executive Leadership Development
In 2003, we launched a new design for executive leadership development. Since that time, these programs, which include a variety of support systems and occur over a nine-month process, have been delivered to targeted audiences that include general managers, location managers, commercial leaders, and senior leaders.
One goal of our leadership development curriculum is to identify and illustrate the leadership challenges inherent in managing our global environments, collective health, and overall safety at all levels within Alcoa. The curriculum highlights the economic, social, and environmental responsibilities of our businesses and focuses on how leaders can positively impact the employees, customers, shareholders, and communities we serve.
The more than 150 members of our global leadership population who are program graduates serve as the cornerstone of our faculty and bring more than 30 years of history and knowledge transfer to future Alcoa generations. These graduates have attained the very highest levels of leadership within Alcoa, and their careers span functional, business unit, and geographic boundaries.
We will be expanding our leadership development focus to include developing holistic teams on Alcoa's growth leadership traits. Ultimately, we are trying to match a leader with a team with a mission. As we do this, we create a culture that can invest and deliver. We recognize and reward our high-performance people and know that building businesses over the long term takes a team.
Our development programs are also a valuable retention tool. Our investment in talented people and in 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.
In 2007, the theme of the annual leadership meeting in Europe was sustainability. More than 100 leaders from all Alcoa European businesses, as well as the top management of the corporation, attended the event. In addition, the Sustainability Network—a group of representatives from all of our European businesses that began working together in 2006—has focused 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, the 2007 leadership meeting also had the theme of sustainability. In addition, our businesses in that country 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.
In 2007, we expanded our internal sustainability website to provide 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, the "Make an Impact" program includes a greenhouse gas footprint reduction kit and associated education program for Alcoa employees and their communities. A similar program will be rolled out in the United States through an Alcoa Foundation grant to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
Case Studies
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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