Company: New York Life
Innovation: New York Life’s 2012 Ladder Program
Date Introduced: 2012
Award Recognition: Award of Excellence
In 2012, New York Life’s African American Employee Resource Group proposed a development program, Ladders, designed to target diverse employees at the early stages of their careers. The program itself is composed of three key elements: training, career counseling, and mentorship.
The training component includes a curriculum of seven development classes focusing on effective written and oral communications; establishing your own personal brand; organizational savvy and awareness; understanding and leveraging your personal values, talents, and skills; presentation and influencing skills; and professionalism.
The career counseling component features two one-on-one sessions with a professional external coach to help participants assess their career goals and determine how best to achieve them. A mentor is also assigned to each participant to provide career insights and provide guidance on how to take full advantage of the program.
Participants have received coaching and assessments to assist them in recognizing their own strengths, talents, and improvement opportunities, as well as how to maximize them. Participants have created a leadership group that meets on its own to create additional networking and development opportunities for the group.
In addition, the program also empowered other ERGs to see the potential business impact they can have on the organization.
