General Questionnaire You have a maximum of 3 pages for all the general questions. AIESEC & You 1. Why have you decided to apply for a MC position in AIESEC in Central America South? Mention one personal goal you want to achieve during your term. I have a long term vision in my life and MC position in CAS connects to it in several ways. First of all, my personal goal is to study Latin American culture deeper and understand how people live and work here. Also it will help me to have daily practice in Spanish. Also after facilitating AIESEC 2015 vision block at CEELDS conference I felt really inspired by vision and innovation it brings into our organisation which made me interested to be a part of strategic transformation of AIESEC entity towards 2015 vision. 2. List all the National, and International meetings you attended during your AIESEC Experience (Year-Conference-Location-Role) Dates Conference, Location Role Dates Conference, Location Role July 2011 NTtT, Russia Faci August 2010 ITtT, AIESEC Bulgaria Faci July 2011 Summeet, Russia AM, Faci May 2010 NatCo 95, AIESEC Serbia Faci April 2011 NatCo 97, AIESEC Serbia AM, Faci April 2010 NPM, AIESEC Serbia Faci April 2011 CEELDS, CEE region Faci December 2009 NatCo, Russia Delegate Feb 2011 ITtT, AIESEC Greece Faci August 2009 Summeet, Russia Delegate Dec 2010 NatCo 96, AIESEC Serbia Faci, AM May 2009 Plan It, Russia Delegate Nov 2010 NLDS, AIESEC Serbia CM February 2009 NEC, Russia Delegate August 2010 IC, India Delegate 3. What will be the legacy of your position to AIESEC Central America South at the end of your term? -Completed steps for TMP and TLP programs implementation, required in 2011-2012 ( see in specific questions) and developed plan outline for engagement with AIESEC program; -Increased members efficiency (measured by #Member/# X); -Strong functional TM team and good positioning of department. 4. Mention your 3 main achievements in AIESEC so far and the 3 most difficult experiences in your AIESEC experience. Main Achievements Most difficult experiences During my MC VP TM term in AIESEC Serbia members efficiency increased by 52% Working double function during EB experience. In my EB team (2009-2010): TM and Communication. During my GST term I developed a project for coaching 15 countries in GCM implementation in TM and other functional areas. I was a conference manager of a national conference. One track was cancelled and because of financial reasons I had to decide who of facis will leave the team. Developing leadership pipeline in AIESEC Serbia. 20% growth in leadership roles completed, better retention of leaders, improved leadership culture and competition for leadership position. After not unsuccessful application to MC Russia – decision to continue in AIESEC in finding right opportunity. 5. Please grade yourself in the table below. After that, identify the three skills you feel will be most important for you in your term. The way I see the situation all crucial skills required for this position are connected to efficient work with functional team. 1.Coaching. To be able to revise the situation in LC fast and help the TM department to set focuses right away and to follow up the fulfilment of those focuses. 2. Organisational understanding & Planning/Prioritising Cause TM area is transforming in alignment with 2015 vision and new programs. So 2011-2012 regional and local strategies need to reflect CAS 2015 strategy. 3. Team management. In order to have a TM functional team working together on strategic changes and supporting growth of LC results. So skills in physical and virtual team management will be really important. Team Experience 1. Please name one important challenge you faced working with your past team. How did you overcome it? In MC team of AIESEC Serbia it was difficult to figure out my role. On one hand – I was an only international in a team and after many years – so my team expected me to challenge the way things are done in the country. On the other hand being a constant critic was causing not really open relationships. The solution was – to stop dividing the team in my head on “me” and “them” and to accept everything the way it was and then to start searching the solution together. I started working on myself to truly accept everything. And after a while I learned to Skills Level Excellent Good Average Poor Leadership V Team work V Organisational understanding V Coaching V Selling V Time management V Planning /Prioritizing V Team Management V Flexibility V Negotiation V Facilitation/Training V Change management V Conference management V separate what we can and can`t influence and to present my ideas to the team in the way that they see the other side of problem. 2. What are the characteristics of a successful team? What is the “magic” you bring to a team? In successful team each team member understands the value of working together and know the strengths of others. When people see that common work will bring them bigger value (results, joy, creative solutions etc.) then individual, team is successful. As for me I always was a person who has a lot of ideas. Sometimes those are innovative solutions for problems, sometimes just ideas how to make the work process more interesting. Also I`m a visionary person who tend to connect every action or decision to a bigger goal. 3. Please describe your experience (if any) in virtual teamwork and outline the key learning points you got from it. From October 2010 to June 2011 I was a member of a Global Support Team of AIESEC International. Team was working on facilitating GCM implementation. I had some responsibilities in a team connected to team promotion and research. Also I was managing a subproject -country coaching in GCM implementation. I had 4 coaches in my team who have worked with 15 countries. So my key learning points from this experience are following: -People tend to choose their “physical” responsibilities over virtual, cause they don`t have enough emotional connections to team members that they don`t get to meet. Even one physical meeting with a lot of “emotional” outputs make it better (pictures, videos, skype chat which is always on for random sharing); -Proactivity of one of a team members raise level of responsibility of others; -Subprojects or task forces helps to structure virtual work. 4. What would be your strategy in order to adapt yourself to the team culture that the MC Architects has already in place? I see two main principles which will help me to integrate into a team which is already formed. First of all is proactive attitude and will to get to know team culture (like participating in all kind of informal gatherings, being curios about how some traditions have came into a place). On the other and it will never work without bringing smth from my side into a team. So apart from willing to get to know the team culture I`ll also pay attention to share: about my lifestyle, my passions, believes and values. All that in order to find more common point with other team members and to create some parts of culture together. 5. The MC Architects slogan reads: “Designing beyond growth”. What is your understanding of this phrase? In my head the word “designing” associates with “building a frame”. It`s not only about design, but about engineering. So when it`s about design and growth I`m thinking about a building: you need time to create a frame, but once you`ve created this – your building will be stable. You can skip engineering part and just try to create your building as high as possible, but it` wouldn`t survive the first change of weather. So for me “Designing beyond growth” is about sustainable development and growth based on stable structure. AIESEC in Central America South 1. Please, evaluate the performance of AIESEC in CAS and AIESEC in CAS LCs in 2011 so far. a. Which were the main improvements and bottlenecks? Based on data that I could manage to get (it`s not really accurate because of myaiesec.net transformation) we can see that AIESEC CAS achieved growth in all measurements already during 9 month of 2011 comparing to 2010. Growth in X, especially ICX is really significant (ICX side grew almost twice). So we can underline ICX side as one of main improvements, while OGX is a bottleneck (according to data I found the department didn`t grow). Increasing efficiency of ICX realisation process and adding new focus on ICX GCDP is an achievement that already brought results. I would say, that X+L realisation is a bottleneck (or even a treat) since it was in focus of last MC team and now there is not plan to support it. Even if there is a growth -it`s not that significant as it could be with such number of leaders. Another weak side that I know mostly from talking to CAS member is matching process and servicing of incoming interns. Which influence efficiency of department – we do spend resources on raising and later forms are not matched\late to be matched. 2. Which initiatives would you propose to implement from the MC side in the next months of the term? 1) Launching some regional activities that will involve all LC in GCDP raising and matching (such as regional PBoXes\IBPs or campaign which includes regional recognition). For successful realisation of this activity in ICX and OGX it`s also required accurate recourse planning – which means HR and finances planning and tracking. Also including proper education. 2) Adopting to new myaiesec.net usage as regional internal project. To make sure every member learned how to use it, can get fast support any time (from his MC, not AI), that all knowledge and X forms are successfully transferred and AIESEC CAS is among leaders in using new myaiesec.net 3. Which do you consider are the 3 main priorities for your area(s) that need to be addressed at the beginning of the 2012? For TM area the priorities will be: 1) Implementation of TMP and TLP programs on local level (see specific question). 2) Accurate HR management (goal setting, performance appraisal, goal oriented education, membership criteria, etc.) 3) Leadership development. To support local leaders in managing their Local Comities – coaching, physical and virtual sessions on leadership development, team management skills; partners and alumnus involvement) 4. What is CAS missing to become a leading country in the network? -Legal aspect – recognition of AIESEC programs and activities by countries governments, legal support of our processes. -Managing human resources – creating healthy pipeline for TMP and TLP, smart investments in members development. -Big X projects on both – ICX and OGX sides – in GCDP program. -Big (regional\national) product that we can offer to big partners and that can be sold by any LC (like an leadership development event organised simultaneously in few cities). -Suggesting or supporting regional more initiatives in Iberamerica – becoming trendsetter in the region by fast adaptation to changes connected to 2015 and sharing GCPs. Specific Questionnaire Be as concise as possible in your answers! You have a maximum of 4 pages for all the specific questions. 1. What are the 3 main bottlenecks of Talent Management in CAS and which strategies would you propose to overcome them? The absence of MC VP TM for a long period No common direction in LCs in TM area. I see it as a challenge because now we can`t be sure if we will have right resources to support organizational goals for the term. Now the solution is one-to-one coaching and building a strong functional team. Low members efficiency. In terms of resources AIESEC CAS has great potential which is now used in efficient way. Ways to overcome this are described in question # 7. Not flexible structure – slow moving from one program to another, LC opportunities (TMP and TLP) are not connected with OGX picks (pre X and after X). So the solution is very complex: it involves generating new opportunities, their alignment with TMP and TLP programs and with X pipelines (both ICX and OGX). 2. What is the role of TM in AIESEC and in the MC Team? I see the main role of TM in NGO in linking personal goals of members and organisational goals and providing needed support for fulfilment of those goals (opportunities, education). So the role of TM in an MC team combines two main parts: -(related to organisational goals) Strategic management of organisational human resources (planning, pipeline management, tracking, facilitating people passing from one stage to another). TM need to make sure that organization had resources to realise it`s goals. -(related to personal goals of members) Strategic management of organizational talent programs to ensure their quality and relevance. 3. How would you implement the new programmes (TMP, TLP) in CAS LCs? Present strategic perspectives, concrete actions and timeline. Role of 2011-2012 term in AIESEC 2015 vision fulfilment is to ensure alignment of the experiences we are providing with standards set for programs of new AIESEC XP and to set our own specific criteria for all 4 programs, relevant for the region. So I would suggest to focus on creation and implementation of way that we will use to adopt programs to realities of each country. Program development teams, which consist of members of MC and EBs – could be a structure that will work to do it. Month Activity October Programs education at MAX November Analyzing members experience and leaders experience in LC, defining key factors of successful experience and what need to be done in order to align current members and leaders XP with TMP and TLP programs. Adopting EB selection process for TLP program (technical in myaiesec.net) December Leaders education about new programs. Creating task forces for developing programs standards for AIESEC CAS. Create implementation timeline. EB selection according to TLP. January Selecting “program development groups”, task forces starts working. February Developing programs criteria for CAS. Running promotion for program based recruitment. Developing TLP induction plan March Running selection for program based recruitment April Managing programs in myaiesec.net TMP & TLP induction for new members May Tracking implementation of created criteria Managing pipeline between members and X programs – opportunities promotion 4. How do you see the importance of X+L is affected by the refreshed AIESEC Experience, the new programs and the new measures of success? AI is mentioning that we are still striving to have maximum number of members using more than one program (ideally – all of them). But on my opinion, since dual experience is no longer one of the MOSes the importance of X+L results in country ranking will be decreasing. So I see that setting a priority on providing dual experiences will be a choice of a country itself. On the other hand, I think that the program approach makes it easier to communicate values of different programs to members. So new flow of experience itself could be a source for new ways of pipeline management and results in X+L realisation. Since X+L was a focus of AIESEC CAS in the last term and X+L mindset became one of the main achievements, I think work in this direction should be continued, even if it`s not one of the global focuses right now. 5. How do you consider the new AIESEC experience will affect AIESEC operations overall? First of all, result of AIESEC countries on a global level will be measured differently. According to 2 new X programs we will not longer have country ranking by total X number. GCDP & GIP programs results will be measured separately. On my opinion, it will affect AIESEC CAS in a good way, cause it will help to showcase good results that CAS is having in GIP. I also see that since now a person can start from 1 of 4 programs – we have a chance to attract more people into organisation which will directly affect the intensity of experience that local leaders are having. So it`s really important to pay attention on preparation that local leaders (especially EB members) are receiving for their roles. 6. How do you see the usage of the new platform affecting the results and operations in CAS. What would you recommend to overcome this? The whole network is facing same problems with the new platform, so countries which will be fastest to adapt can even benefit from it. In order for this to happen CAS need to be among the first countries to start using myaisec.net efficiently -Make sure all forms of AIESEC CAS got transferred successfully and are located in a right program menu. Make sure there are always available contacts of LC responsible people; -Revise all content to make sure all information is in the place (wikis, files, forums etc.); -Run myaiesec.net education for leaders and members of AIESEC CAS, track the usage. -Support new members in myaiesec.net registration creation of guidelines. All mentioned above requires fast reaction and a lot of operational work. So I see the solution in opening an RST position\assigning myaiesec.net related responsibilities to one of current RST members. It also could be done as a national internal projected that would be run by VP IMs. 7. Which key measures would you take to increase the effectiveness of CAS members when our current X/Members rate is really low? Which could be the reasons for the gap and how would you close it? The measures that need to be taken care of in order to increase members efficiency are following: -Number of people, directly allocated to ICX (raising, matching, reception), -Number of people, directly allocated to OGX (promotion, matching), -Number of project based on X, where all other functional areas support X realisation. So I see the big importance of working in synergy with VP LCD and both VP ICX and VP OGX to develop LC structure, supporting X. Statistics of the last years of AIESEC CAS shows that number of X realised approximately the same as number of leaders, which means mostly leaders are working on X realisation. So another solution – is development of delegation skills for leaders and X oriented education cycle for TMP members. 8. Propose 3 key actions (and briefly explain each one of them) to increase retention rate at LC level. -Leadership development (To increase the ability of local leaders to manage their members). Leadership development programs can be done though many ways, depending on available resources: Regional Conference Cycle, coaching of EB member by MC VPs and RST members which includes personal development blocks, physical and virtual trainings by AIESEC CAS partners. -Coaching and mentoring program development. Members work with older members on their personal development. Track goals achievements and personal development goals (PA, mentoring, goal setting, JD creation and managing MOSes for each JD). -Correlation of AIESEC projects and university activities. To revise activities of members in their universities and manage project teams accordingly: have campaigns and competitions during semesters or breaks, provide opportunities to stay involved with AIESEC during vacation, engaging non AIESEC members to support events realisation during busy periods. 9. How would you establish the cooperation with LCVP TMs in CAS? Provide the information about regional & personal meetings, frequency of the meetings, tracking, information channels you would use, etc. -Monthly or be-weekly personal coaching meeting (physical\virtual). Agenda combines personal development (MBTI test, personal development goals for the term) and professional goals. -Quarterly physical meeting with a whole TM functional team. Plans revision, functional education, teambuilding and sharing among VPs. -Monthly virtual update chat which a whole TM team. Plus virtual functional trainings, scheduled for a whole team or several LCs, depending on needs. The most efficient channels of communication and tracking will be discussed with team members. 10. How would you assure the development of all the members of your regional team, when the TM knowledge level is very different in the LCs? The main tool is one-to-one coaching meetings which combines personal and professional development agenda. Another tool that I would use – is running functional task forces inside the functional team. Based on level of operation and type of problems that LC is facing in TM area, VPs will be connected into taskforces/subprojects to work together and address their specific issue. I would also focus on creating a team from VP TMs so they can support each others with sharing GCPs and ideas. Thank you for reading my application! I also would like to mention, that I`m aware of visa process for Russian person to Costa Rica and I researched on this topic. So here I would shortly explain you the process and timing. Action needed Time\preparation requirements Getting touristic visa for 30 days I do have all needed documents, I can get this visa in 1 day Legalization of documents in Rosta-Rican embassy in Russia To get needed documents for long term visa (criminal record and birth certification) Till 20th of October I`ll get criminal record, cause I applied in advanced. To legalize and prove those documents in Russian institutions 2 weeks To legalize documents in Costa Rican embassy 3-4 days According to my calculations I can prepare and legalize all documents till 10th of November. The moment I have touristic visa and legalized documents I can enter Costa Rica and apply for 1 year visa there. This is a process that I learned from Russian who is already in Costa Rica. She informed me about all steps based on her experience and about duration of each step. Also I confirmed this info with embassy of Costa Rica.