A career path at Edelman doesn’t necessarily look like the typical hierarchical hike to the top. It’s more like climbing on a jungle gym. We believe that work, like life, should offer options. Some employees want to shoot straight up the ladder; others may want to explore a part-time arrangement after welcoming a child or transitioning into retirement; while some want a lateral move just for a new experience. Flexible options such as these are possible through our career-pathing structure called “Edelman NEXT.”
Whether you want to work in a practice providing deep industry expertise, or contribute your talent to a particular geography or specialty group, we constantly seek to provide opportunities for our people to grow professionally and personally, while providing our clients with the most skilled team members available for their accounts.
Through our annual performance reviews and discussions, managers help employees identify where they want to go and how they can get there. Development plans are created to address expertise gaps and enhance existing skills. Employees have a lot of say in what they want to do, where they want to go and what they want to accomplish. And they can have multiple paths.
A Global Outlook
Ready to try something new in another country? Our Daniel J. Edelman Global Fellows Program gives select employees the unique opportunity to work on key client accounts in new countries. After spending 12-18 months learning from their colleagues and their new environment, Fellows return to their home office to share their knowledge and experience with others.
We also offer short-term global assignments that can last a couple of weeks to a few months. All assignments offer an opportunity to share expertise, gain new knowledge and transfer knowledge throughout the company.
Commitment to Leadership Opportunities for Women
At Edelman we are working to increase the percentage of women in leadership roles as well as the range of opportunities for women across the company, by creating an environment in which women want to stay and where they are encouraged to lead and succeed. That’s why, in 2011, we launched the Global Women’s Executive Network (GWEN) as a recruiting, collaborating and career-planning group for women within Edelman. With over 700 members, GWEN seeks to mentor, advocate, educate, and create policies and career paths. We’re committed to giving the women at Edelman every opportunity to excel to the senior most levels of the firm. Currently, around 30 percent of women hold leadership positions at Edelman, and our aim is to have an even 50/50 split by 2015.
Cultural Intelligence
With a network of 67 offices, we are keenly aware there is no one-size-fits-all approach to doing business and engaging people in each region. To effectively operate across borders, we are working to ensure our staff are aware of the considerations between cultures and better understand the day-to-day implications of cultural nuances. In 2012, we created an intensive training initiative to uncover the dynamics of cultural intelligence. Launched initially for the EMEA region, we have 12 ambassadors who are charged with driving a deeper understanding of how culture impacts the counsel we provide clients, our collaboration between offices and our awareness of global audiences. This bottom-up initiative is run by our World Class Everywhere group, which includes graduates of the global Edelman Leadership Academy. Our goal is to build an agency culture that deeply understands differences to help fuel strategic planning, but is highly skilled in bridging them to ensure multi-market clients receive a consistent service and experience across the world.
In short, we expect our people to always be asking “What’s next?” and we help find the answer.