BTALENT FAQ
What is BTALENT?
BTALENT is the global talent management tool for Bombardier. BTALENT is a robust, state-of-the-art tool that supports Bombardier in different aspects of talent management, e.g. the internal talent searches for sourcing and recruiting, the performance management process, the personal development planning, the succession planning and Employee Engagement Survey action planning (for managers).
Specific subjects
| How is BTALENT supporting me, as an employee? | We want to become better at identifying global opportunities for our employees. Are you interested in working in a foreign country where Bombardier is established? Is there another function, business unit or area within Bombardier where you are interested in exploring opportunities? This tool provides a channel for you to “raise your hand”, improving talent visibility on a local and global scale. BTALENT allows you to take greater control of your career at Bombardier by assisting you in:
|
| How can I benefit from BTALENT? | The first step is to provide information about yourself and professional aspirations by completing your Employee Profile within BTALENT. You are accountable for the accuracy of the information that appears on your profile. The second step will be to meet with your manager to discuss future possibilities and open a dialogue about your personal development plan for the short, medium and long term, and more specifically what you need to do to get there. |
| Why are you asking me about my mobility? | At Bombardier, enhancing our ability to deploy our talent around the world is a strategic priority. A key element of this is to identify who is mobile. Projects and opportunities emerge worldwide and it is your decision whether or not to be part of them. By encouraging open discussions between managers and employees about mobility, we will connect existing opportunities with those who are ready to move. Mobility can take different forms: occasional or more frequent travel, temporary or medium-term assignments (local or international), or permanent relocation. To ensure we capitalize on the full potential of our employees, it is important to know if you want to travel. It remains your responsibility to be proactive and discuss your mobility with your manager. |
| Why are you asking me about my retention risk? | It is important that our employees know Bombardier cares about them and values their loyalty. Awareness of your retention risk and issues enables us to engage in open dialogue, and gives us the opportunity to defuse retention issues where possible before it is too late. By retaining our talented employees, we are also protecting our organizational knowledge. This is why we are asking you about retention risk in your Employee Profile. |
| What is the Field of Expertise? | The Field of Expertise section will allow the Engineering community to select their engineering disciplines from a drop-down menu, specify their number of years of experience, and provide additional comments. This information will be used for talent management purposes. Employees who are not part of the Engineering community can simply skip this section. |
| Who sees my Performance Plan objectives and ratings? | Your performance plan objective and ratings are accessible only to your Management Hierarchy including matrix manager and designated HR employees. In order to encourage teamwork and transparency with regards to team projects and goals, your public performance objectives can be accessible to your colleagues in your immediate team. |
| Should I meet with my manager to discuss my performance or is the process being conducted electronically? | Face-to-face meetings should occur with your manager at scheduled (mid-year and year-end) and unscheduled times throughout the year. BTALENT is a sophisticated tool to facilitate meaningful conversations between managers and employees about performance and development objectives. |
| When is each phase of the Performance Management Process due? | The Objective setting phase must be completed by February 28th each year. Mid-year is to be completed by August 31st, and Year-end by February 28th. |
| When can the PMP form be used to capture comments? | Performance management is an ongoing process. The PMP form should be used throughout the year by employee and manager to capture any comments on the progress of the objectives. |
| Where is the Personal Development Plan (PDP) form located in BTALENT? | The development plan can be created in the Development section. At the mid-year and year-end review stages, the development objectives can be managed in the Performance section, where the development plan and annual objectives are combined to create one seamless process. |
| How is my performance being assessed? | Your performance is being assessed based on work-related objectives (the What) and competency objectives (the How). Eight (8) global core competencies are defined. All employees are assessed on 4 core competencies including Developing Oneself, Teamwork, Flexibility, and Drive for Results. People managers are assessed on the employee competencies, as well as 4 additional people manager specific competencies which are Developing Others, Team Leadership, Influencing Others and Holding People Accountable. Note that only managers have to be evaluated on people manager competencies. |
| Will I be notified when my manager makes changes to my objectives in BTALENT? | Yes, an email notification is sent if an action is taken in the system after the objective setting phase. In addition, a modification alert appears next to the modified objective. |
| What is a Matrix Manager and how do I assign one? | A matrix manager is someone with whom you have a dotted line relationship for a specific function, or who has supervised you on a project and could provide feedback on a related objective. The employee is responsible for assigning the matrix manager in the system by going to their employee profile in the section titled “Matrix Manager” (located next to the Employee Information section). Assigning a Matrix Manager grants this person access to view the PMP form, provide comments but not assign ratings. Employees and/or managers can solicit feedback from Matrix Managers. Note that your immediate supervisor’s name should not be entered in the Matrix Manager section. Also, this entry needs to be reviewed from time to time. |
| Who should I turn to if I have questions about BTALENT? | Your manager is always your main point of contact for your questions. You can also refer to your Human Resources Business Partner for more specific questions or comments. Within the application, Quick Reference Guides, and other training materials are also available in the Help & Tutorials section. For further information, you can refer to your local Employee Service Center. |
| How is BTALENT supporting me, as a manager? | Managers play an active role in managing our talent by:
BTALENT assist you in becoming talent champions by supporting your preparation with detailed information from the Employee Profile when meeting with your employees. |
| Who has access to the Employee Profile information in BTALENT? | The information in BTALENT is used for talent management by designated HR employees in organizational roles, including system administrators, who require access to talent management information in order to perform their duties. Employees’ managers, matrix manager and designated HR employees have access to employee profiles. Additionally, all BTALENT users have access to public BTALENT information e.g. employee name, title, department and business unit or division. The confidentiality of the BTALENT information is respected by everyone who has access to your profile. |
| How does BTALENT improve the way we manage performance? | We are continuously pursuing ways to improve performance management as a method for achieving business strategies and improving execution. We have in place a global process which:
|
| Has the PMP rating scale changed? | No, we still have a standard 5-point rating scale for both objectives and evaluation of core competencies: 1 - Does not meet expectations, 2 - Partially meets expectations, 3 - Fully meets expectations, 4 - Exceeds expectations, 5 – Significantly exceeds expectations. Ratings are assigned using whole integers only. |
| Who is a people manager? | A people manager is someone who has direct reports, supervises or leads a team. |
| What purpose does the Calibration exercise serve during the Performance Management cycle? | Calibration is one of the key steps of our Global PMP. Calibration provides equity amongst team members and fosters employees’ trust in the performance management process. It encourages managers to be more effective in differentiating individual employee performance and ensures objectivity overall in the Performance Management Process. Calibration increases consistency across employee groups and raises the quality of evaluation. |
| How can I see my employees’ final comments after the PMP signature? | You can have access to these comments via the Performance dashboard in the Reports page (first link on the left, dashboards as you know them): simply click on the “Completed” portion of the Form Status Grouped by Workflow pie chart, and the respective list of completed PMPs will list. Then click on each form to view this comment after signature if applicable. |
| What is the difference between my local HR system (e.g. SAP HR, HR Connect, PeopleSoft, Employer D, ADP, etc.) and BTALENT? | All of these current HR systems are used to support transactional HR activities. These systems are not tailored to support talent management processes. BTALENT is a complementary application to the current tools we have in place. |
| Why do we have Learning Management Systems to manage training such as e-Talent, Strategia and eHR/SIGAL? | Different tools are presently used to manage training activities, publish their own learning curriculum and monitor their registration processes. We want to continue to encourage the use of your local training system. These tools support us in delivering, measuring and achieving government requirements in training investments. |
| I have already provided most of this information to Human Resources? Why must I complete these fields again? | Unfortunately, the field types between BTALENT and our Human Resources systems are not perfectly compatible; we also have several different systems across Bombardier and some of the information currently available could not be integrated into the new system. Additionally, in order to further improve talent management and succession planning, new fields have been added to capture information that has not previously been included in any other Human Resources systems. |
| You already have all the information about the training I received at Bombardier. Do I need to repeat it in BTALENT? | Unfortunately, the field types between BTALENT and our learning management systems (e-Talent, Strategia and eHR/SIGAL) are not compatible, so it is not possible to import the list of trainings you have followed. Our learning management systems continue to play their role as learning platforms, while keeping your training history. Your Employee Profile in BTALENT is a unique database where you can list all the trainings you have received. You are invited to list them manually in order to present a complete profile of your knowledge in your Employee Profile. |