Empower

Empower

User-Centric Career Pathing

Challenge
Evaluate and expand Hearst Magazines professional development processes to ensure equitable access to and support for advancement opportunities.

My Role

  • Handled all of the research 

  • Developed the entire program framework

  • Gathered feedback and obtained buy-in from Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

  • Gathered feedback and obtained buy-in from Human Resources

  • Gathered feedback and obtained buy-in from Executive Sponsors across the organization

  • Partnered with Chronus to design the end-to-end experience for both mentors and mentees

  • Created a standardized evaluation process 

  • Developed the name, logo and brand identity

What I accomplished

Obtained sponsorship from executives across the Magazines group

Created a scalable framework that is currently in beta testing. Once the first cycle is complete we will gather feedback, make adjustments and scale up to the entire Magazines division.

Duration
1 Year

Stakeholders

  • Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

  • People and Culture Team (HR)

  • Executive Leadership Team (ELT)

Design Process

Observe & Analyze

Identify Challenges

Build a Framework

Ideate

Observe & Analyze

Research Goals
Gather information about the employee experience across different business groups within the Hearst Magazines division. 

Gather information on existing DE&I talent pipelines and recruiting programs.
Gather information on existing career mobility processes and policies.

Identify strengths and weaknesses of existing mentorship programs. 

Understand what concerns users have regarding career mobility within the corporation.

Qualitative Research:

  • Market Research 

  • Group Interviews

  • 1:1 Interviews

Demographics

Members of Hearst Magazines ERGs
Employed by Hearst Magazines for 2 or more years.
90% Women 
Age 23-47 
College educated undergraduate and above. 

Setting the Scene

On a national level, 2020, and the years leading up to it, revealed severe ideological conflicts within the USA relating to class and identity. Systemic problems like income inequality existed long before the COVID19 pandemic. However, the increased anxiety and uncertainty resulting from the global health crisis inevitably amplified employee feelings of stagnation and frustration, leading to “The Great Resignation”.

In order to understand the environment at Hearst Magazines, it’s important to examine the social context that contributed to the overall employee sentiment.

“Unprecedented Times”

  • Employees are asked to work from home due to the COVID19 pandemic.

  • George Floyd is brutally murdered by police causing mass outrage and a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement.

  • Hearst Magazines President Troy Young resigns after allegations of inappropriate workplace behavior.

  • Hearst Magazines editorial staffers vote to form a union.

  • Hearst Corporation releases their first public DE&I report revealing a lack of ethnic diversity within the organization across all levels, and committing to a more equitable workplace.

  • Hearst Magazines Sells Marie Claire U.S.

    Hearst Magazines offers voluntary separation packages to the entire sales and marketing division

Identify Challenges
Secondary Challenges 

  • How can we effectively communicate our benefit offerings and development pipelines to the entire organization?

  • How can we combine DEI and mentorship to develop inclusive leaders? 

  • How can we develop an internal multicultural talent pipeline?

Insights

  • Overall, employees felt satisfied with their existing roles and responsibilities despite there being a lack of diversity.

  • Satellite offices outside of NYC felt overlooked when it came to growth opportunities, allocation of resources and communication of benefits.

  • People expressed interests in leadership programs and training to further refine their skillset.

    Several users were unaware of developmental benefits like the tuition reimbursement policy.

  • Users identified a trend where people of color who were seeking mobility within the organization were overlooked. These individuals ended up taking positions with competitor brands and shortly after returning to Hearst at their ideal title and salary range.

  • Lateral moves seemed to be frowned upon throughout the organization from the top down.

  • Users expressed disinterest in mentorship and sponsorship programs as most were department-led grassroots initiatives that were not tracked by management for performance and development conversations.

Ideate

Objective
Improve overall retention rate and promote an inclusive workforce.

Strategy
Develop a comprehensive career pathing program that prioritizes ERGs and facilitates internal mobility.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) can provide invaluable business insights and serve as spaces for special interests groups to gather, share ideas and build relationships outside of work - leading to an increased sense of belonging and improvements in morale within an organization. During the COVID19 pandemic ERGs were even more vital as they gave employees a chance to support each other throughout all of the socio-political challenges that arose.

Part 1

Internal Networking
An opt-in internal networking tool for Hearst Magazines ERG members across all divisions and outer offices where users can browse by location, vertical, division, team and title with the purpose of expanding their Hearst network and seeking out mentorship

Part 2

Career Pathing
A customized 6 month peer-to-peer career training program open to all ERG members across all verticals, divisions and outer offices with at least 1 year of service, with the purpose of developing future leaders and building an inclusive internal talent pool. 

Candidates can follow a standard career path established by Hearst or seek lateral moves by connecting with mentors via the internal networking tool.

Build a Framework

Employee Experience

Peer-to-Peer Career Training

Candidates can follow a standard career path established by Hearst or seek lateral moves by expressing interest to the HR team, and connecting with mentors in their areas of interest. 

During the program, and with mentor supervision, candidates must shadow a minimum of 2 projects and lead at least 1 project related to their end career goal. 

Mentor Criteria

  • Must be employed by Hearst Magazines for 1 year or more.

  • Must be in good standing with the company.

  • Must be an expert leader in their craft.

  • Open to all levels if mentoring someone seeking a lateral move.

  • Must be in a leadership role Senior or above with a minimum of 3 direct reports if mentoring someone seeking upward mobility.

Education

Internal Education
Mentors and Mentees must complete 5 modules on Hearst’s Learning Management System (LMS) prior to starting their mentorship. The goal of these self-paced training is to build skills and values that align with Hearst Magazines vision.

LMS Curriculum:

  • Feedback

  • Time Management

  • Design Thinking

  • Leading with Empathy

  • Allyship & Accountability

External Education
Mentees seeking lateral moves may have a skills gap. In this case they may utilize Hearst Magazine’s Tuition Reimbursement policy to obtain external training related to their area of interest.

ERG Engagement

Candidates must actively participate in the ERG of their choice. Involvement will be measured in meeting attendance and ERG leader feedback. Further involvement such as planning and taking on a leadership role are encouraged but not required. 

Review pROCESS

There will be 2 review cycles consisting of:

  • 50% Mentor feedback

  • 25% Training Hours

  • 25% ERG Lead feedback 

Candidates must recap their experience and showcase their achievements via a case study presentation prior to their final review.

Reward and Recognition

At the end of the program candidates and mentors will be placed on a talent shortlist for TA to identify internal candidates during the recruiting process.