JOB ROTATION

Credit Union Management, Jul 2005 by Grensing-Pophal, Lin

Remember the movie "Freaky Friday" where an overworked mother, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, and her daughter, played by Lindsay Lohan, switch bodies and are forced to adapt to the other's life for one day? Or the movie "Big," where Tom Hanks finds himself a boy in an adult body? In these movies, the characters are surprised to find themselves in new situations they hadn't planned for-and they might not have wished upon themselves.

Not so for Loren Carson and Susan Brooks: Their change-though also dramatic-was well planned and eagerly anticipated, albeit with a certain amount of trepidation.

Carson and Brooks are employees at $24.2 billion/2.5 million-member Navy Federal Credit Union (www.navyfcu.org), with 4,613 full-time equivalents in Merrifield, Va. Carson, manager of public relations, and Brooks, who managed a 24-hour call center operation, had the opportunity about a year ago to experience life in a different part of the credit union.

The job swapping component is part of an executive development program led by Betty Kovalcik, AVP/executive development. Their experiences, they say, have provided them with new outlooks, renewed enthusiasm and increased confidence to take back to their "real jobs."

Since about 20 employees are involved in the program at one time, there are a variety of opportunities available based on individual needs, preferences and skills sets. In their cases, Brooks moved into Carson's PR position and Carson moved to a position in the savings and membership area. "We had an opportunity to request where we wanted to go," says Brooks, "and then our mentors put in where they thought we should go, and then Betty had a chance to say where she thought we should go.

"The job rotation has been a great learning experience for me," notes Brooks. "I came from operations and have always had staff. I've had a 24-hour operation, I did fraud and risk control and collections and approvals and call center operations. But I wanted to increase my exposure to upper management and strengthen my writing skills." Her move to PR, although she says it wasn't her first choice, "has been a great experience-I love it. It's been kind of daunting, but it has been one of the best experiences I've had at Navy Federal."

For Carson, it was a lack of supervisory experience that led her to take a rotation opportunity in the savings and membership area. "My job in PR was in 'a shop of one' and I had been doing it for almost eight years. The whole program has been exciting, but the opportunity to switch into a job with management experience was very good for me."

This is the second round of rotations for Navy FCU, says Kovalcik. The rotations are part of a very structured executive development program. "We start off planning for all 20 people in the participating group to rotate. Our philosophy is to give people a stretch and experience they don't have."

WHAT IS JOB SWAPPING?

Job swapping, which may also be called job rotation or even cross training, says Carol Asselta, SPHR, of A-K Consultants, Inc. (www.akziom.com), in Newfield, N.J., "occurs when employees are trained to perform job duties other than those normally assigned." These duties may be "a short-term ad hoc fix" or "an ongoing planned process." Job swapping-she says, "can take many forms, from one- to two-day temporary assignments to a sophisticated process of job rotation typically lasting six or more months."

Job swapping provides employees with experiences in different jobs on a regular basis and benefits management by providing more depth of experience within the workgroup. These rotations can occur within or between departments. Employees are given the opportunity to switch from one job to another, offering variety and helping to prevent complacency. In addition, employees learn new skills and aspects of the organization that can lead to greater job satisfaction and feelings of self-worth.

"Cross training usually does not result in immediate promotion or advancement or a higher pay grade," says Asselta, "but it does indicate that an employee is interested in learning new skills." The development of new skills may lead to additional opportunities at some later time.

At Navy FCU, says Kovalcik, the job swapping opportunity is not tied directly to any specific promotion or succession planning opportunities and that's by design. Employees participating in the program are fully aware that after the nine-month period they will return to their jobs. Further, they understand that if at some later point a position does open up, they're not guaranteed that spot.

The program is simply-yet powerfully-designed to broaden the horizons of employees by providing them with opportunities they might never otherwise have had. In addition, management staff has an opportunity to view the potential of these employees.

A REWARDING EXPERIENCE

Navy FCU's job swapping program is part of a two-year executive development program that Kovalcik manages. They're in the second round of the process and have brought in 20 participants each time.