Position Profiles: Strategic Tools for Career Advancement

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Position ProfilesStrategic Tools for Career
Advancement

• Margaret Basket
• Carol Bekar
• SLA Annual Meeting, Baltimore
• June 12, 2006

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Agenda

• Change within the modern information organization
• Pharmaceutical Health Technology Division
  (DPHT) Position Profiles Project
• Overview
• Deliverables
• DPHT member feedback
• Project challenges lessons learned
• Position profiles as strategic tools
• Discussion questions
• Next steps?

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The Evolving Library

• NOW
• Digital-based
• Global reach
• Consultants
• Organized around goals results

• THEN
• Paper-based
• Bound by walls
• Gate keepers
• Organized around functions, processes, services

How are we getting there?
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The Modern Library Professional

• Integrates within the parent organization
• Utilizes technology partners with IT
• Participates on global teams
• Understands and anticipates client needs
• Strives to connect the client to the right
  information at the right time in the right format

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Position Profiles

• Describe the responsibilities of contemporary
  information professionals
• Identify necessary professional, technical,
  personal and educational competencies
• Reinforce the value of information professionals
  within their organizations
• Provide a career path for information
  professionals

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The DPHT Position Profile Project

• Funded by a 2004-2005 SLA Endowment Grant
• Vision create generalized profiles describing
  the work of information professionals in
  Healthcare Industries
• Incorporate SLAs Competencies for Information
  Professionals of the 21st Century, revised June
  2003
• http//www.sla.org/content/learn/comp2003/index.cf
  m

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Project Team

• Margaret Basket, project leader
• Carol Bekar, project consultant
• Stephanie Fitch
• Karen Mirabile
• Cheryl Schairer

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DPHT Project Goals (1)

• Provide a resource for
• Benchmarking
• Strategic Planning
• Marketing
• Professional Development Career Planning
• Recruitment
• Profiles are intended to be a guideline
• They should be adapted and customized by each
  individual organization

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DPHT Project Goals (2)

• Create general position profiles that can be
  adapted by members of the SLA community
• Collaborative effort
• Peer reviewed
• Sponsored by an established professional
  organization
• Involve Division members in the project
• Contribute existing job descriptions
• Review drafts of emerging profiles
• Participate in focus groups
• Distribute electronic copies of deliverables
  widely in easy-to-read/utilize/modify format

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Member Contributions to the Project
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Project Deliverables

• Overview and user guide
• Detailed position profiles
• Established emerging positions
• Summary document comparing key aspects of
  positions
• Sample organization charts

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Position Titles

• Executive Director
• Dir. Information Analysis
• Sr. Information Analyst
• Information Analyst
• Dir. Library Operations
• Digital Librarian
• Mgr e-Resources

• Assoc. Librarian
• Mgr. Taxonomy
• Sr. Info. Proj. Mgr.
• Info. Proj. Mgr.
• Assoc. Info. Proj. Mgr.
• Mgr. Global Prod. Literature System
• Mgr. Communication Training

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Position Profile Details

• Position Title(s)
• Summary Description
• Professional Competencies
• Personal Competencies
• Education Experience

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Example Summary Description Executive Director

• Provides overall vision, strategic direction, and
  management of Library and Information services
  and may include Records Management functions.
• Responsible for policy, strategy, budget, and
  staff development.
• Ensures a cost effective service responsive to
  the organizations research business goals to
  advance its competitive position in the
  marketplace.

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Example Summary DescriptionInformation Project
Manager

• Directs the design, development, and support of
  broad scope, complex Information Management (IM)
  systems or business processes.
• Reengineers global, multi-divisional business
  processes to improve information flow and enhance
  productivity.
• Develops metrics to evaluate process or system
  efficiency.
• Contributes to long-range project planning and
  the evolving technical architecture across
  individual projects.
• Leads and manages projects to advance information
  management initiatives.

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Example Summary DescriptionManager
Communications Training

• Develops, manages and executes plans for
  evaluating and marketing existing and proposed
  products and services offered by the Information
  Management department.
• Ensures that plans are consistent with the
  departments strategy and enhance the value of
  information management to the business.

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Summary Document

• Compares key aspects of positions
• Title
• Span of control
• Decision making authority
• Budget authority
• Key working relationships
• Education experience

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Information Management Organization Chart 1
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Information Management Organization Chart 2
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Download Project Deliverables

• Documents available in Word format (.doc)
• Organizational charts available in PowerPoint
  format (.ppt)
• All documents can be viewed downloaded at the
  following site
• DPHT Employment Relations Page
  http//www.sla.org/division/dpht/Members20Only/em
  prelat.cfm(SLA membership ID and PIN required)
• Project blog (for a limited time only)
  http//sla-divisions.typepad.com/dpht_position_pr
  ofile_pro/

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Member Feedback (1)

• This is really important work with useful
  deliverables
• One of the outcomes of this project should be to
  stretch our possibilities
• Every organization is a hybrid of these functions
• This brings position descriptions to a whole new
  level. Meeting these competencies will be a
  challenge.

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Member Feedback (2)

• Shattering the glass ceiling
• We manage large budgets
• We manage large numbers of people
• We provide critical sensitive compliance,
  scientific, and competitive activities
• Our peers at this level are recognized with a
  certain status
• What do we have to do to achieve parity with
  other industry professionals?
• Collaborate with an SLA division where
  information pros are directors to find out how we
  can achieve parity?

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Member Feedback (3)

• Dont just want to be compared to other
  librarians-want to be compared to other managers
  as well. Titles are important.
• Debate over labels chosen for positions
• Librarian
• Cataloger

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Project Challenges

• Requirements for higher level management
  positions (science background? PhD?)
• Specifying education and experience requirements
  for positions (MLS vs. science backgrounds)
• Creating technical vs. managerial track

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Lessons Learned

• Many information organizations have outdated job
  descriptions
• Position profiles are not time sinks they have
  value in todays business environment
• Executive titles are very difficult to achieve
• Information professionals are passionate about
  titles and perception

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• Do you have comments about the DPHT Position
  Profiles Project?

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• Great, so we have position profiles.
• How will they be useful to me?

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Position Profiles A Tool for Benchmarking

• How does your organization incorporate the
  services described by the position profiles?
• Does your organization provide the services
  detailed in the profiles?
• How is your information organization positioned
  within the parent organization?
• Does your staff exhibit the professional and
  personal competencies listed?

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Position Profiles A Tool for Strategic
Planning

• The position profiles could inspire
• Marketing campaigns
• Expansion of services
• New or expanded staff positions
• An organization wide development plan
• Discussion and collaboration within our industry
  related to elevating our status and positions
  within our organizations

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Position Profiles A Tool for Marketing

• The position profiles can be used to market
  services and opportunities both internally and
  externally
• Job postings
• Creation of pertinent and accurate job
  descriptions for submission to HR
• Accurately represent your work to other
  organizations with whom you interact (e.g. IT)

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Position Profiles A Tool for Professional
Development Career Planning

• The details within the position profiles (e.g.
  the personal and professional competencies,
  position summaries) could guide
• Individual or organizational development plans
• The creation of formal job ladders with clear
  expectations

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Position Profiles A Tool for Recruitment

• The healthcare industries face a shortage of
  information professionals with science
  backgrounds. These position profiles could help
• Encourage undergraduate science majors to pursue
  information science
• Increase awareness of an information related
  alternate career path among workers with M.S. and
  Ph.D. degrees in science

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• How could these position profiles be used as a
  strategic tool for both career advancement and
  advancement of the profession?

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We need your input!

• Feedback!
• Are the profiles useful?
• How will you use them?
• Ideas for disseminating deliverables
• Ideas about keeping the profiles current
• How can we incorporate these materials into
  recruiting efforts?
• How do we break through to the Executive level
  without leaving the profession?
• What should we do as a follow-up to this project?

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Leave your commentson the blog!

• http//sla-divisions.typepad.com/dpht_position_pro
  file_pro/

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Recommended Reading
John Cohn and Ann Kelsey Staffing the Modern
Library a How To Do It Manual. New York
Neal-Schuman, 2005
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Questions?