Career Development Summary

Career Development Plan Summary John M. Dodds University of Phoenix

Quality Assurance Career Development Summary As Physicians Interactive becomes more independent from Allscripts it is important that each business unit has a clear definition of its function, organization, support/service, and its career development. Of the five business units, the focus here is on Information Technology. More specifically, this summary will address the Quality Assurance (QA) department with Information Technology. A realignment of Physicians Interactive quality needs has been identified to include support and service of the quality and standardization of the entire Physicians Interactive organization. In the past Quality Assurance has only addressed test management of our products/systems. The Quality Assurance organization consisted of a QA manager, QA leads, and an offshore team of QA test specialists. In order for the Quality Assurance department to address functions such as quality metrics, auditing, management of process, change, document/SOP/SLA, software development life cycle a reorganization of the department and career development needs to be defined.

Organization Structure As stated earlier the organization of the Quality Assurance department is as follows:

While this has worked has worked for a test management mentality, with the increased roles of the Quality Assurance department the reorganization of the department will look like:

Job Descriptions and Qualifications There are six positions that comprise the Quality Assurance department. Job descriptions and the qualifications are based on market definition and the needs of the organization, and they defined as follows: Director of Quality Assurance

Provide leadership and direction for implementing quality polices systems and procedures that will ensure a company standard. Specific functional areas include quality systems, auditing of business units and vendors, document control, change management, configuration management, and software test validation. The Director will evaluate, analyze, and reports to management the status of the quality system and compliance, propose corrective action plans where appropriate. Maintains a safe work environment by ensuring that employees in area of responsibility are properly trained.Leads continuous improvement activities.Applies value engineering techniques to processes to assure that the essential functions are provided at minimum overall cost to the organization. Implements Statistical Process Control techniques and tools for continuous improvement and performs design of experiments in all areas of the software development life cycle to control and improve product & process quality and yields. Requirements: Bachelor s Degree, at a minimum 15 + years experience in Quality Management Ability to accurately communicate the financial impacts of quality decisions and to direct implementation activities that yield profitability gains Practical knowledge and experience with IEEE, ISO, CMMI standards

QA Lead Will perform complex testing tasks requiring planning, scheduling and testing to assure that developed products meet design specifications and are within total quality management limits and standards. Ensures all assigned projects/initiatives meet Quality Assurance specifications with regard to expected features, functionality and quality, by implementation of a test plan, and through comparison of the end product to the finalized requirements documents, product descriptions, and technical design specifications. Provide necessary feedback to software developers and designers to eliminate defects within the product as early in the development process as possible. The QA Lead will communicate with IT Development, Technical Operations, Professional Services, Marketing and Customer Service on project risks/issues/concerns/status. Develop test plans and project status reports for project leads and management. The QA Lead manages the testing schedule and resource requirements for all assigned projects/initiatives. Interacts with all project leads to ensure a comprehensive engineering documentation and test strategy. Responsible for documentation reviews for process and project deliverables. Supervise and mentor junior QA engineers to meet established project milestones. Has in-depth knowledge of QA test methodologies and strategies. Understands PI s application and can demonstration systematic approaches for identifying and rendering feature rich, complex test cases. Demonstrates competence and self-motivation in analyzing problems and performing root cause analysis. Has experience with the full product development life cycle process. Has

experience in rendering and reviewing metrics for assessing readiness of phase/project/product. Proven ability to grasp quickly and keep current on new technologies and understand business needs. Has excellent analytical skills and attention to detail. Has experience working in test-driven development model. And the QA Lead will stays abreast of industry-wide changes in technology, programming techniques and testing tools. Requirements: Bachelor s Degree, at a minimum 10 + years experience in Quality Management Practical knowledge and experience with IEEE, ISO, CMMI standards

HA Test Lead The Test Lead reports to the QA Lead(s) on specific project implementations. The Test Lead will supervise a team of HA resources, and will work with other Test Lead(s) and the Team Lead to ensure everyone is busy. The Test Lead will also be responsible for the following:

Overall o o o o o o o o o Maintains constant communication with QA Leads and HA resources Work with other Test Lead(s) and the Team Lead to ensure everyone is busy Train New / Junior Team members and other team members as needed Track project progress Track Change Requests Communicate / track team member vacations, holidays, personal days and sick time. Provide feedback for individual performance reviews Provide feedback for team performance reviews Provide feedback for department improvements Requirements Gathering / Analysis / Design Phase o o Perform requirements reviews Review for accuracy

o o o o o o o o o o o o

Review for completeness Review for coverage Provide feedback to QA Lead Supervise requirements entry into QC Perform Technical and Functional Spec Reviews Review for accuracy Review for completeness Review for coverage Provide feedback to QA Lead Help QA Lead with time and resource estimations Help QA Lead with Project / Resource Scheduling Create/update Project Test Plans QA Preparation Phase

o o o o o o o o o o o o

Supervise and participates in the development of Test Scenarios Perform Test Scenario reviews Review for accuracy Review for completeness Review for coverage Provide feedback to QA Lead Supervise and participates in the development of Test Cases Perform Test Case reviews Review for accuracy Review for completeness Review for coverage Provide feedback to QA Lead

o o o o o o

Maintain Traceability Metrics Requirements to Spec. Document Test Scenarios to Requirements Test Cases to Test Scenarios Defects to Test Cases Provide daily/weekly status reports to QA Lead Testing Phase

o o o o o o o o o o

Provide Daily/Weekly test summary reports Perform defect reviews Verify defects to ensure they actually are defects Ensure defects are entered into QC correctly Track defect progress to ensure they are being fixed in a timely manor Generate reports as needed (open rate, close rate, time to close, etc.) Supervise and participates in the execution of Test Cases Ensure Test Scenario s / Cases are updated Track testing progress against timeline Follow issue escalation process UAT Phase

o o o o

Monitor customer feedback and act accordingly Compare customer feedback to requirements Ensure defects are entered into QC Track defect progress Implementation Phase

o o

Help QA Lead with Deployment resource scheduling Ensure all project documents and QC are up to date

o o

Provide final test summary report Review release notes

Requirements: Bachelor s Degree, at a minimum 6-9 years experience in Quality Management Practical knowledge and experience with IEEE, ISO, CMMI standards

HA Test Specialist The HA Test Specialist reports to a HA Test Lead or a QA Lead(s) on specific test management tasks. The HA Test Specialist is responsible for the following:

Overall o o o o o o o Maintain constant communication with HA Test Lead(s) or QA Lead(s) Train New / Junior Team members and other team members as needed Provide feedback for department improvements Requirements Gathering / Analysis / Design Phase Perform Technical and Functional Spec Reviews Review for Understanding Provide feedback QA Preparation Phase o o o o o Develops Test Scenarios Provide feedback Develops Test Cases Provide feedback Maintain Traceability Metrics

o o o

Test Scenarios to Requirements Test Cases to Test Scenarios Defects to Test Cases Testing Phase

o o o o

Participates in the execution of Test Cases Identify and records defects in Quality Center Updates Test Scenario s / Cases as appropriate Follow issue escalation process Other

o o o

Technical specialist in specific engineering methodologies and controls Participates in testing automation Assists in defining software quality assurance processes

Requirements: Bachelor s Degree, at a minimum 3-5 years experience in Quality Management Practical knowledge and experience with IEEE, ISO, CMMI standards

HA Test Analyst The HA Test Analyst reports to a HA Test Lead on specific test management tasks. The HA Test Analyst is responsible for the following:

Overall o o o Maintain constant communication with HA Test Lead(s) Provide feedback for department improvements Requirements Gathering / Analysis / Design Phase

o o o

Perform Technical and Functional Spec Reviews Review for Understanding Provide feedback QA Preparation Phase

o o o o o o o o

Develops Test Scenarios Provide feedback Develops Test Cases Provide feedback Maintain Traceability Metrics Test Scenarios to Requirements Test Cases to Test Scenarios Defects to Test Cases Testing Phase

o o o o

Participates in the execution of Test Cases Identify and records defects in Quality Center Updates Test Scenario s / Cases as appropriate Follow issue escalation process

Requirements: Bachelor s Degree, at a minimum 1-3 years experience in Quality Management Practical knowledge and experience with IEEE, ISO, CMMI standards

HA Tester The HA Tester reports to a HA Test Lead on specific test management tasks. The HA Tester is responsible for the following:

Testing Phase o o o o o Participates in the execution of Test Cases Identify and records defects in Quality Center Maintain Traceability Metrics, Defects to Test Cases Updates Test Scenario s / Cases as appropriate Follow issue escalation process

Requirements: Bachelor s Degree, at a minimum 0-1 year experience in Quality Management

Training Program Currently, there is a limited plan for training of employees or career development, and that PI has hired employees with specific skill sets to fulfill needed job roles. With the realignment of the QA department it will be expected that new hires will come into the organization at the ground level. And that PI will train the employee on our processes, tools, and products. Once the employee has shown the ability to successfully perform their job function and has the desire to be promoted a training program will be defined, milestones identified. An overall training program will be defined to align to the job functions within the QA department. Whether training is be outsourced training classes or internal classes, training requirements will be defined and as part of the employees career development section within the performance appraisal. Performance Methods There will be two methods used for performance of an employee. Training performance will evaluate an employees understanding prior to and after completion of the class. And then three months after the class was completed the employee will be surveyed for their knowledge and applicability of the training. The training curriculum will be evaluated based on the job requirements and the surveys. Employee performance will be conducted quarterly completing a performance appraisal form. The appraisal will address result orientation, behaviors, support surveys, career development, and training needs. Challenges of the Department The Quality Assurance department supports the entire organization and thus has many challenges to face regarding service orientation, communication, attitude, teamwork, and effectiveness. Our

performance appraisal should be based on individual contributions as well as how the team achieves success in project initiatives. Different types of appraisal Physicians Interactive uses a results oriented, manage by objective approach for evaluating an employees performance quarterly. This quarterly performance evaluation has been used to determine success of assigned tasks, deliverables, and initiatives. The scoring of this evaluation has a direct impact to the bonus rewards program. Physicians Interactive also uses a behavior oriented appraisal that is completed once a year. This yearly performance review is used to determine behaviors and actions of the employee. The scoring of this evaluation has a direct impact to the salary merit of an employee. The performance appraisal system should be modified to have an evaluation that is completed quarterly where goals of the company are aligned with specific department and individual goals. Then assigned tasks, deliverables, and initiatives would be defined. And have behavior expectations, career development, training needs assessed. Scoring would be based on the employee s accomplishments and behaviors. The quarterly appraisal score could still be used for the bonus incentive program, and then at the end of the year a summary of the quarterly reviews would be written to score the employees salary merit. Difficulties of evaluating performance The challenge with the current process is that the quarterly appraisal system does not help the employee and organization look forward past the three month interval, the focus is very short term. And the yearly review does not allow any feedback to the employee in correcting or to be success in meeting or exceeding expectations. Changing the performance appraisal system to include short and long term expectations allows for the employee to react and be proactive to the organizations expectation and culture. This will also allow the organization to be more dynamic in its expectations and give appropriate and valuable guidance/direction. Unique needs of a department appraisal There are unique needs associated with an individual and department performance appraisal system. One need is since our economy is now a service economy evaluations need to assess not only individual efforts but address how the department is servicing others by common goals and accomplishments. In order for us to be competitive, a department evaluation section must be included as part of the appraisal to focus on service and support relationships. As we here at Physicians Interactive have a more diverse organization, with an onsite staff and an offshore staff the need for creating a team type environment is more evident. These diverse teams are able to develop a variety of strategies and solutions from the individuals within quality assurance, from different ages, cultures, and genders to develop the product and support that benefits all. Adding a department section within the appraisal system will communicate and motivate members of the department to use collective efforts to have a common attitude to achieve a common goal.

Department motivation and expectations The QA department should be motivated the same as individuals. We have identified department motivations to include a way for us to succeed in quality of the activity/deliverables we are participating in. Department members should provide a successful deliverable service oriented sense of urgency, customer commitment, and customer satisfaction. All of these goals being accomplished will elevate Physicians Interactive financial bottom line and employee s opportunity for bonus incentive and salary merits. Motivations also consist of management assisting the business units in business and financial goals. The QA department s expectation is to become more effective, have better attitudes, teammates listening to one another and helping each other. The most important expectation of the department is being able to work better together to ultimately succeed in a common goal and being able to provide quality, qualitative deliverables being produced. Strategies to discourage social loafing There are some strategies that can be employed to discourage and/or reduce social loafing (the tendency to reduce the amount of effort applied when working in a team) which include: Evaluating each member of the department independently will encourage each member to pull their own weight. Have checkpoint statuses on planned completions, milestones, and contributions and compare that to the actual. If the group is put together well (meaning each member brings a different set of skills) then each person will feel that the group can not achieve their desired results without each person s contribution. Even better would be to assign tasks that are complex as opposed to simple. This will discourage loafing as the members will feel a sense of accomplishment for tackling such a difficult task. The ideal department makeup to discourage social loafing would be focused, comprised of diverse talents, and be told early on what (and when) their (team and individual) evaluations will be based. Individual employee responsibilities The individual employee s primary responsibility towards the QA department is to keep in mind that while this may be a group effort, each person should be contributing their maximum. This is not to say that each person will not take (and give) assistance to others along the way. Each department member should cooperate and coordinate efforts to ensure the project is carried out in a timely fashion. Keep in mind that in a group effort, each member should avoid working in a vacuum and check in with their team before attempting to change the direction of the project. Your individual responsibilities and desires will have to be weighed against the good of the team. Ideally, each person within the department will have a chance to contribute an equal share and pull together the project in question in a timely manner, with all persons in the department impact the success of the quality of the organization.

Incentives and Benefits As indicated earlier the financial incentive program is a company performance bonus program. Based on the organization achieving specific sales, profit, and ROI goals employees will be eligible to receive a bonus. The bonus program is quarterly and the calculation is as follows: x% of employee yearly salary equals y dollars Q1 bonus = 15% of y dollars Q2 bonus = 20% of y dollars Q3 bonus = 25% of y dollars Q4 bonus = 40% if y dollars Benefits for fulltime employees are packaged by the HR department which encompasses health, dental, vision, life insur., 401k and company matching, disability, and etc. Employees receive new hire packages that explain in detail company benefits. Strategies for Managing Career Development Once an employee is hired their manager will outline the company goals, the tied in department goals and the expected goals for the first quarter goals for the employee. Within the performance appraisal system career development objectives and expectations are defined. It is expected the employee and their manager will define the career aspirations and matching organizational opportunities. Also, within the performance appraisal system definition of the training requirements for the employees current and future job role will be written. Compensation Plan Based on market analysis PI will market the job roles within the seventy percentile of the software quality assurance sector as a baseline. The specific salary will be adjusted on the candidates skill set. The range of each job role will be sized for an employee to receive approx. 7 cost of living yearly merit increases. The gap between ranks will be no more than 10% of a salary increase.

References Cascio, W. (2006). Managing human resources: Productivity, quality of work life, profits (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill

Career Development Summary Barbara Ferrari HRM/531 Toya Pruitt June 7, 2010

Kudler Fine Foods is an upscale food store with three locations in the San Diego area that specializes in gourmet specialty food with a strong focus on customer satisfaction. Over the past three years Kathy Kudler has proven herself to be an entrepreneur who has the stamina and the drive to maintain current operations and is seeking growth in her business. Along with maintaining her specialty food stores, Ms. Kudler has found that the catering services offered have proven to be quite profitable with very little attempts at marketing these services. Profits from the catering business are 25% greater than the stores, with very little overhead. That being said, Ms. Kudler has decided that expanding the catering services is the organizations number one initiative for the next fiscal year. Five new employees will either be promoted from within or newly hired. A training program will commence to provide the gaps in knowledge and enhance the skills of the team. A performance management system with the emphasis on the team performance is proposed and a newly revised incentive and benefit package, with a focus on career development is outlined for review. In planning for the future goals of Kudler Fine Foods (KFF) market growth, a well thought out workforce plan is essential to anticipate the demands that provide qualified personnel to meet these challenges. Through a thorough job analysis and understanding the competencies necessary for the change, this will give a proactive perspective in meeting the strategic plan of KFF. The skill set of the team will integrate experience, a comprehensive knowledge of catering, the ability to work as a team, and an understanding of customer satisfaction. The organizational structure will be composed of a managing chef, responsible for over site of functions within the team, a culinary coordinator, with responsibility to facilitate training and coordination, and three servers. Below are listed the job descriptions and qualifications for the needed positions. MANAGING CHEF The managing chef is responsible for the overall operations of the catering service in collaboration with Kathy Kudler. He or she will direct and coordinate activities for purchasing, meal planning, and compliance with safe food handling. In consultation with the financial advisor for Kudler Fine Foods maintains fiscal responsibility within the catering service. DUTIES

1. Develop budgets, staffing levels, and reviews performance of the team. 2. Designs menu in collaboration with the customer. 3. Anticipates and plans for food purchases. 4. Prepares menu in accordance with time constraints. 5. Promotes customer satisfaction by active listening and engagement. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE The managing chef must be a graduate of an accredited culinary school with a minimum of 5 years of experience. A strong background in managerial skills is desired.

CULINARY COORDINATOR The culinary coordinator will be responsible for purchasing high quality food for catered parties. He or she is responsible for the training and coordination of the servers and coordinating the aesthetics and timeliness of meal presentation. DUTIES 1. Perform in collaboration with the managing chef plans and purchases food needed in sufficient quantities. 2. Training of servers in the practice of safe food handling and presentation. 3. Plates hors devours in an aesthetically pleasing way. 4. Interacts with customers to promote satisfaction. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE The food coordinator will have a strong interest in food preparation and be knowledgeable in safety guidelines of food handling. Minimum of 2 years experience in the catering business required.

SERVERS Under the direction of the managing chef and culinary coordinator the servers are responsible for assisting in preparing food and distributing the food in a professional manner. DUTIES 1. Assists in set up of required equipment.

2. Assists in plating food on platters for distribution. 3. Distributes food to customers in a pleasant manner. 4. Clears used utensils and clean after event. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE No prior experience necessary. Has the ability to take direction and interact with customers well.

The job postings will go on the intranet for a period of one week for internal candidate s preferential consideration, then available to the public for further consideration of external candidates. Training will emphasize safe food handling and presentation of meals. This will entail a multifaceted approach that involves a diverse approach to training and will stress the management s commitment to our new business initiative. The training approach is one that incorporates the resources within the team and Kathy Kudler to provide the knowledge and skills needed. The training objective will also place an emphasis on teamwork to strengthen collaboration and cooperation in working toward a common goal. It is well known that effective training leads to a better person-job fit thereby maximizing performance. The training will commence the first day subsequent to hiring and will last for a two week time frame. The managing chef and culinary coordinator will conduct training sessions that consist of classroom time and CD offerings. The trainees will complete self-directed learning modules available on CD before they attend class. This will prove to yield a two pronged benefit, maximizing class time and decreasing anxiety by allowing the trainee to familiarize themselves with the material prior to class. Formalized classroom instruction will focus on role playing, transforming the learning into an activitybased learning experience. As this is a team approach, it is expected that the team provide feedback to each other along the way to enhance the team s performance. Team members need to be comfortable asking for and offering help, listening and providing feedback, and considering ideas of others. To assure a successful catering service the behavior needs to be modeled by each individual. At the time of the performance appraisals any weaknesses identified, workshops or educational opportunities to reduce weaknesses are scheduled to be completed by the next performance evaluation. Measurements of results are the goal to any successful training system. To measure the effectiveness of the training, outcome measures based on customer satisfaction and safe food handling are measured after each catering experience. Feed back to the employees are planned at those times to monitor progress. If at any point an employee is not meeting the goals set forth, a remediation in the areas of weakness is implemented. A detailed performance improvement plan, outlining the areas for enhancement and in what time frame the correction is to be made, will provide a framework for development. Performance management requires a commitment by managers to focus on improving performance on a timely basis and reinforcing desired behaviors consistently on a daily basis. To define

the performance, formal performance appraisals are given bi-annually to document progress. An effective assessment can provide information and insights needed to make informed decisions. The performance appraisal developed uses a Likert method of summed ratings to describe the employee s competencies in any given category. Along with the rating system, an area to identify strengths and weaknesses, mutually developed employee goals, a development plan to obtain those goals, and any employee comments that are applicable are added. Each employee is provided with the appraisal two weeks prior to the formal evaluation and is expected to do a self-evaluation for comparison. If the employee does not concur with the appraisal, both the self-appraisal and the performance evaluation are submitted to Kathy Kudler for review. A final decision with an explanation is provided within two weeks. To avoid a mismatch in performance evaluations, managers are encouraged to communicate frequently, provide timely feedback, and encourage the employee to prepare for the appraisal interview. If behaviors are substandard there is a tiered corrective action process, beginning with a verbal warning. Subsequent to a verbal warning there is a written warning, suspension, and if substandard performance continues, the final step of termination is instituted. Prior to suspension it is expected that the first line supervisor will counsel the employee and develop a written plan for improvement. All suspensions must be agreed upon by the managing chef. This catering business is based on the premise of teamwork, not only will the individual undergo evaluation, but the team is evaluated as well by Kathy Kudler. While the individual performance appraisal using the Likert method of self-rating has the tendency to create a self-rater bias, the team evaluations will have a peer evaluation component integrated into the rating to potentially negate the inherent difficulties of evaluating the team as a unit. The unique needs of a team appraisal take into consideration the performance of the team as a whole and are evaluated based on customer evaluation along with peer ratings. The expectations and motivation of the team are modeled by the managers and clear guidelines and objectives are communicated at the beginning of each catering encounter to negate social loafing that can impact a team s performance in a negative manner. Each individual employee is expected to work diligently for the elevation of the whole team s success. If these expectations are not met, the manager will begin the tiered corrective action process. The compensation program at Kudler Fine Foods is committed to attract, motivate and retain the most highly qualified people. The strategy is to provide a total reward system that is linked to performance. A merit-pay system for the top performers in the catering division enhances a competitive base pay. The merit system is contingent on strong performance appraisals, both individual and team. Customer satisfaction and profitability is the cornerstone of determining merit pay for team and individual compensation. In addition to pay for performance, full-time employees receive health care benefits, dental insurance, life insurance, vacation, paid holidays, educational assistance, employee discounts, and a flexible spending account. Part-time employees receive pro-rated benefits if more than 20 hours are worked. All of these benefits, with a detailed explanation are available on the Kudler Fine Foods intranet. Prior to employment, new employees receive a detailed packet delivered to their homes that explain the benefits thoroughly. At Kudler Fine Foods, we are committed to advancing the careers of our employees and are committed to providing sufficient support that enables the employee to become more self-managing by

focusing on matching individual and organizational career needs. In accordance with partnering with our employees in career development, top level managers are expected to provide mentoring by meeting on a regular basis to identify opportunities for advancement available within the company based on interest and compatibility. It has been shown that when employees are better informed about their career opportunities within the organization and if they believe they will benefit from these opportunities; develop a commitment to the organization. Investing in the careers of our employees by providing them with the feedback to indicate where they are now and making the tools available to arrive where they want to be has, shown to outperform the competition by 41% in customer satisfaction, employee retention, and quality. KFF is a diverse organization to work for and make accommodations to work schedules when available, provide childcare opportunities, and integrate the needs of dual career families into our family. The organization is confident that this new direction of diversifying our strategic plan and incorporating a catering service into our repertoire will enhance our profitability with an increase in market share. The above initiative calls for minimal change to our already existing strong business strategy and the capital invested will far outweigh the increase in staff requirements.

Resources Alina Ileana Petrescu,& Rob Simmons. (2008). Human resource management practices and workers' job satisfaction. International Journal of Manpower, 29(7), 651-667. Retrieved May 31, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1596418721). Cascio, W. F., (2006), Managing human resources: Productivity, quality of work life, profits (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Kirkpatrick, S.. (2009). Workforce Assessments: Fears and Facts. Public Manager, 38(4), 56-60. Retrieved May 24, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1969898531). De Vos, A., Dewettinck, K., &Buyens, D. (2009). The professional career on the right track: A study on the interaction between career self-management and organizational career management in explaining employee outcomes. European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 18(1), 55-80. doi:10.1080/13594320801966257 Marks, M. L. (1993). Preparing for recovery: How HR can add value by confronting employee fear and burnout..Employment Relations Today, 20(2), 175. Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/