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SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS dates according to the TASKs needed by the employee, and Perhaps more interestingly, the Career Navigator collects the TASKs held by the potential mentors. Essentially, the em- data on the career paths that employees take through the com- ployee is presented with a list of mentor candidates, ordered pany as they move from position to position, including the by their ability to mentor that particular employee. Employees frequency and speed at which they do so. This creates the po- then have the option of allowing their mentors access to their tential for the Career Navigator to eventually look years into learning plan. Facilitating these mentorship relationships and the future, indicating where future staf? ng gaps may occur, putting their management in the hands of the employees is and providing remedial suggestions on how to adjust training highly supportive and makes employees active drivers of their and hiring now to close those future gaps.

own career advancement. This kind of insight, provided by big data, could be tremen-

Another aspect of employee support for career advancement dously valuable both to the company and to the individual em- opportunities is the Career Navigator’s capacity to facilitate ployees. Although the Career Navigator is still in testing and supportive communication between the employee, their men- development, it holds tremendous promise in terms of increas- tors, and their supervisor. Each employee’s learning plan has ing transparency, and supporting and nurturing employees several web-based discussion areas. through their maritime career. In addition, it is hoped that it

There is a discussion area for each TASK the employee has will open up the “black box” of data which will be incredibly been assigned or accomplished, one for each high-level goal valuable in helping companies understand, predict and opti- they are working towards, and one overall discussion area. mize both short-term and long-term career progression with

Each of these discussion areas allow the supervisor/mentor to (not “for”) their employees.

guide the employee, and the employee to ask questions. These This kind of initiative, where the employee is made a part- discussions are not only supportive, but their history provides ner in the joint success of his/her personal goals and company valuable insight into the learning style of the employee, their goals, has been shown to greatly improve company culture abilities, and their areas with opportunity for improvement. and, as a result, safety. Over time, employees who are not

Overall, the Career Navigator presents a central hub of sup- driven to succeed tend to drift to other places of employment. port available to the employee regardless of when they need it Likewise, new employees choose their place of work based on or where they are. its alignment with their own desire to progress and succeed. It is not an instant process, but it is a powerful one in the making of a great company.

Decision Making and Strategic Planning

The data managed by the Career Navigator has the potential to provide incredible value to employees and employers as the data grows year after year. Consider for a moment that the

Career Navigator “knows” which TASKs are assigned to each employee, and which have been accomplished. It learns over time how long, in general, it takes for employees to accom- plish a TASK. It knows when TASKs lapse or are lost because the employee leaves the company. It even learns, over time, the typical progression of employees through the TASKs, and which career paths present the most ef? cient routes from one

TASK to another. And because these TASKS are often related to the abilities needed to ? ll a company position, an opportu- nity presents itself to mine this data for succession decision making and strategic planning.

According to Jeff Joyce, “Big data is the new frontier all

Murray Goldberg is CEO successful companies should leverage and the Career Naviga- of Marine Learning Systems tor provides that tool set. It may seem esoteric, but the Career (www.MarineLS.com). An

Navigator provides hope for the employee and sustainability eLearning researcher and for the company.” With this data, the Career Navigator should developer, his software has be able to identify candidates who are ready or nearly ready to been used by 14 million ? ll needed positions, and then automatically generate learning people worldwide.

plans linked to learning materials to support those employees’ progression into those positions.

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