I found this week readings of design organization to be very interesting and I was able to relate my experience at Intel to this week’s assignment.
My first job out of college was joining the Intel Corporation in their Sales and Marketing Rotational Program (SMRP). The purpose of the program is to rotate recent college graduates (RCG) within the various sales and marketing divisions every six months for 2.5 years.
The purpose of this process is to train a core set of employees that will have the opportunity to experience working in various marketing and sales divisions and understand how these division all interact with each other and fully understand Intel’s sales and marketing initiatives. Upon finishing the program, a graduate is placed in a middle management position of their choice where they feel they can be a valuable asset.
The SMRP has been around for over twenty years and a testament to the success of the current group of senior managers and executives at Intel who are alumni of the program.
One of the key aspects of the SMRP is not just pairing program members with a senior manager as a mentor, but also for one to be part of the continuous and targeted cross-organizational training. (Galbraith, 2002),
Intel has its own internal university called Intel U. This is one of the main reasons that this fortune 500 company is the gold standard in training and retaining top employees. As a SMRP member, I was required to complete a curriculum during my two and half year program by taking classes such as “Intel Marketing 101” and “Power Base Selling”. The great thing about the classes is learning how Intel does business. However, what I enjoyed most about taking classes at Intel U was the opportunity to meet other employees within the company. “The reconfigurable organization sees every training event as an opportunity to build know-who.” (Galbraith, 2002),
I heard many times from my mentors and other executives, that Intel’s biggest asset were its people. (Galbraith, 2002),
And from my experience there in no question that this is the gold standard in management training and retaining.
Galbraith J.R. (2002). Designing Organizations: An Executive Guide to Strategy, Structure and Process. pp. 73-90.
Hi Damu,
ReplyDeleteI was interested in your post because I have no experience working for a huge multi-national company like Intel and I find the concept kind of exhilarating. To me it seems so vast. Last year I finished a year-long management training course which was sort of cobbled together by our small HR department. What we learned was very common, off-the-shelf management courses like Emotional Intelligence and Behavioral Interviewing, nothing earth¬ shattering but it left me wanting more (which is why I’m in this program now).
So what I’d like to know is if the training you received at Intel U was a more universal type of education or was it pretty homogeneous? I’m not sure if you’re still with Intel, but if not, were you able to apply what you learned to the companies you worked for afterwards.
I also found it interesting because I spent a lot of time yesterday and today doing the Ethics module for the 540 class and there was some great information and guidelines about what makes a good mentor, and even how to best work with a mentor. How did the mentorship workout for you there? Are you still in touch with your mentor(s)?
Anyway, I appreciate you sharing this story which relates to my topic about the hierarchy of needs as well as the “people” category of the star model (Galbraith, 2011).
Hi Megan,
DeleteAfter I graduated form the Sales and Marketing Rotational Program (SMRP), I made an industry career move from technology to the entertainment industry. I'm currently a TV producer at CNN. However, my experience at Intel was one of the greatest learning experiences of my career.
The Intel U class are fairly homogeneous for the most part. A lot of the classes such as Power Base Selling are taught to the sales force to provide the sellers with the tools and develop the skill set to sell. I left Intel to work in the entertainment industry and the first job I landed was as a TV agent. I was constantly using techniques from many of the Intel sale classes as a TV agent.
In regards to your mentorship question. I'm actually still very close with both of my Intel mentors, and still consider them my mentors. Being able to have a senior executive at Intel as a mentor/friend/colleague was a truly amazing experience. It was almost like being school, but you're learning how to maneuver internally within the company, and how to beat the competition from experienced industry leaders. I believe mentorship is paramount in the development of anyone's career.
Damu, it's interesting to hear about how concepts from the reading connect to your experience at Intel. It sounds like they really have a good handle on the "people" dimension. Gailbraith notes that "flexible organizations require flexible people." Do you think the Intel program promotes this sort of flexibility? Gailbraith also says that alignment across all 5 dimensions is important. Reflecting back on your experiences at Intel, can you think of linkages between the "people" dimensions, and others, for example structure, process, and strategy?
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Intel Sales and Marketing Program promotes flexibility. The essence of the program is about flexibility. The mission of the program is to find the best fit the program member by giving them the opportunity to work in various groups within the company, and after the program choose the division that make the best sense for the employee and the company.
After looking back at my experience at Intel and after reading the Star Model by Gailbraith, I am able to see a direct corealtion between how Intel develops and train its employees and how it links to the overall strategy. As I mentioned, many of the current senior executive at Intel are former SMRP grads. The goal of the SMRP is to train, mentor, and give young employees key working experiences so that they will be able to continue the leadership that drives the company forward.