The philosophy of DHL Express has always been to groom and develop employees from within the organization and successfully transition them to leadership roles. It is the employee’s career aspiration that is a key consideration in his career planning process. Hence, every employee fills a career aspiration form, where he/she details the functions/roles that the employee aspires to work in. This eventually forms the base on which people and potential roles are matching during “Talent Panel”, which is a formal process of identification of high potential employees and roles that are critical for business success.

The Talent Panel is an annual exercise conducted post the performance appraisals. The idea behind the initiative is to identify individuals who can quickly respond to diverse, intense, varied and adverse assignments, demonstrate superior results under first-time conditions or constantly changing environments, eagerly learn new competencies in order to perform.

In effect, the panel provides a forum where the management can discuss the recommendations for high-potential staff. Before the next role is identified for the employee, his career aspiration is taken into account. Post that, the development plan is discussed with the high potential employee to ensure that he/she is ready to take on the identified role in the future.

If the role is of managing people, the employee’s potential to a lead team/people is the key area that is to be discussed in the panel. The Panel provides feedback to the employee while chalking out his Individual Development Plan (IDP) and ensures that the employee is working towards his next goal.

Career paths are defined for each individual and it gives visibility to an employee as to where in the organization do they stand. They also receive the required skills and competencies for each role. Managers are encouraged to have career conversations with each employee and play a supportive role in developing the employee for the new role.

Ultimately, it is Talent Panel, manager’s inputs, employee’s career aspiration, competencies & skills that aid in identifying the high potential staff.

DHL Express takes leadership development very seriously. The Certified International Management (CIM) program is a flagship program for developing people managers. They developed managers according to a well-defined framework 70-20-10, which states that 10% of people development comes through formal training; 20% through line manager coaching and feedback, and 70% through challenging assignments back at work. The CIM program is delivered through the senior management team. In fact, 45 per cent of the learning & development budget is allotted to developing people managers.

Along with such initiatives, there are other programs that are specially designed for the senior and top leadership like Global Executive Leadership Program and Leadership Programs for the Top Executives. These programs reflect how important people are for DHL Express for it is they who deliver the “customer promise”, which ultimately determines the success of their business. DHL Express believes that developing managers to be the 21st century leaders is the key to helping achieve its strategic ambitions of being an Employer of Choice, Provider of Choice and Investment of Choice.