Has your career gone T-shaped? It might be the best thing that could happen in your working life, according to Emma Kelly, Head of Centres of Expertise at Vodafone NZ.
The description "T-shaped person" has been around HR circles for some time. The upright bar on the letter T represents your depth of expertise in your primary field; the crossbar represents your ability to collaborate with experts in other areas and apply knowledge to areas beyond that primary field.
T-shaped people also possess skills like emotional intelligence and creativity. Their ability to contribute, be flexible and problem-solve makes them high performers who can boost an organisation's overall productivity.
They are in high demand at employers like Vodafone, which is looking for people who fit the description to a, er, T.
"Employees who are T-shaped tend to relish adding skills and experience and knowledge to their toolbox by working across an organisation, rather than building their career in a linear, upward trajectory," Kelly says. "The need to build T-shaped employees in today's market is really critical given the increased competitiveness and the effect of border closures."
Companies like Vodafone aim to be customer-obsessed and, among many other roles, is future-facing, helping others with digital transformation. It encourages its team to be happy to evolve, shifting them into different roles with a range of skills that develop over time, she says.
"People with a T-shaped skill set are often the most in demand," she says, "and they also often have the best job satisfaction.
"From the employee's point of view, it's rare these days for people to have the same job or to be in the same organisation for life. The future of work lends itself to what has been described as 'the portfolio of careers', and the expectation is that people might have a variety of careers in their working lifetime.
"So the benefit from an employee's perspective is that they get to build their skill sets in a way that gives them opportunities within the organisation, but also externally. They're more marketable as a result of their skill set picking up and that ability to move from one career role to another.
"They've got an understanding of, say, stakeholder management or contract negotiations and can use those skills in a different context or a different environment and build on them. We've got lots of examples in our organisation of people who have T-shaped careers, and they tend to be some of our most engaged and fulfilled people."
Kelly says Vodafone acts on its philosophy of helping its people grow and develop: "We have a number of programmes that lend themselves to supporting people in building themselves and their careers in the way that they choose to.
"We offer secondments for people to move into different parts of the organisation and support coaching for individuals who are showing talent within our leadership population. We're also creating opportunities for people to work on key projects or programmes to develop their skill sets."
The company has invested in cultural capability. "We have programmes for emerging Māori and Pasifika leaders; we've also got a programme for our most senior leaders in building cultural capability in Te Ao Māori and Te Reo Māori.
"We have recently created a new role to further build cultural capability in the organisation, which supports our existing partnerships with iwi like Ngāi Tahu and Tupu Toa. We are now looking at building a pipeline for people coming into the organisation through P Tech and relationships with students at selected schools."
Other internal support networks include Mana Wahine, Rainbow Whānau, VoChi (Vodafone Chinese) and Salaam. Vodafone uses the Joyous platform to help staff give regular, constructive and actionable feedback and offers parental support including paid partner leave and "return to work" programmes. In the first six months back from primary caregiver leave, staff can work 30-hour weeks and be paid for 40.
Working from home became the reality during the first Covid lockdown. Vodafone surveyed staff in May 2020 to ask them how frequently they wanted to WFH. Kelly says the most popular option (34 per cent) was 2-3 days a week.
"Following the first lockdowns up to August 2021, we gradually saw more team members return to the office – but on average less than 50 per cent of our team members were in the office on any given day. Some staff come in almost every day and, if it suits their family/home situation, that's completely fine too."
Kelly says a key has been empowering teams to "co-create" the solution that's right for each. "In our team, we have a team meeting once a week and other meetings on topics as appropriate. In my mind, what we've agreed is that there's no need to be in the office - all our meetings are set up with the Teams platform.
"The flip side is, if there's a requirement to be together, say for a workshop or a brainstorm, we stipulate up front that we will need to be in the office at that time.
"Vodafone was embracing free-range working before we went into these lockdowns and allowing people to choose the way they want to connect makes a big difference."
Kelly believes it is crucial for companies to lift their ability to adapt and change in coming months: "The skills shortage is going to get worse before it gets better, due to border closures and what has been called the Great Resignation. We are all competing for the same talent which, in many cases, is industry-agnostic. It's becoming even more critical for organisations to be really clear on what their differentiation is for employees coming on board and to retain existing employees."
For more information, go to: www.vodafone.co.nz/careers