Amazing Networking Opportunities

When I joined the IMLP program a few months ago, I was worried that I might not have any contact with leaders at such a big company.  I discovered that I had nothing to worry about.  The networking opportunities that I have encountered so far in IMLP are some of the most rewarding that a young IT professional could experience.

As IMLPs, we have numerous roundtables with Chief Information Officers (CIO's) and executive level managers.  We were able to meet the new GE CIO as well as the different CIO’s of each department at Aviation.  We spend time asking questions and receive advice from those who have excelled in their careers. 

GE has taken on a stronger identity for me after being exposed to leaders.  I have been here for only 4 months yet have already met some of the biggest leaders in the company.  These experiences of meeting and networking with leaders are going to provide endless opportunities for me and for my IMLP peers. 

How about you?  Have you ever had similar concerns about being able to have insight into leadership at a large company?

What's a CIO really do?: Job Shadowing at GE Capital

Have you ever wondered what a CIO does on a day-to-day basis?  What their priorities are, what their vision for the business is, what concerns keep them up at night?  Well, you’re not the only one.  Over the past years, GE Capital IMLPs have been voicing their desire to get more exposure to senior management and have more one-on-one time with top GE professionals.  Seeing this, GE Capital IMLPs engaged in best-practice sharing with other GE leadership programs and, from it, a new GE Capital IMLP initiative was born… IMLP Job Shadowing.

So, what does job shadowing mean at GE Capital?  Well, it’s pretty much like it sounds really.  Each IMLP is given a chance once a rotation to follow around their business’s CIO or other senior IT professional for a full or half-day.  However, this doesn’t mean that you simply get to watch from afar as he/she does his/her job.  Quite the opposite in fact.  Job shadowing gets you involved in the day, allowing you to actively participate in strategic-level meetings, project tollgate reviews, and conference calls with upper management.

In addition to getting this out-of-the-ordinary experience and exposure, job shadowing allows IMLPs to connect with their CIO on a personal level… learning about their families, hopes, dreams, drive, vision, etc.  And where better to get personalized career advice than from someone who’s already worked his or her way up in the organization?  Job shadowing goes beyond a simple networking opportunity, offering a real learning opportunity to IMLPs and giving them a glimpse of what it really looks and feels like to be in a CIO’s shoes.

Though the job shadowing program is currently only done within GE Capital, it has met with rave reviews thus far.  This success has spurred discussion amongst other businesses as well and could work to expand the program beyond GE Capital in the future.  However, this is a great example of how each business’s IMLP program brings something different and special to the table.  Each business's IMLP program, though a fully integrated part of the whole, is it’s own community with it’s own special aspects.  A tight knit family with ties that connect you to countless others throughout the company and roots that spread to the most senior of GE officers.

GE & the United Way team up to help the community

Throughout the coming weeks, many GE businesses are setting aside a week from their busy schedules to participate in the United Way Week of Caring program.  This means that thousands of volunteers from throughout GE will be putting down their computers, phones, notepads, and pens and trading them in for shovels, hammers, paintbrushes, and power tools in an effort to better the communities in which they reside.

This week, GE Capital Solutions took to the streets of Danbury, CT to kick off their Week of Caring.  Partnering with Family & Children’s Aid, a local organization that helps children and young adults in need, the volunteers of GE took on a great variety of projects.  With record numbers of volunteers on-hand, efforts were split amongst projects such as building a new playground for the children, creating new concrete walking paths, painting rooms and murals within the many area group homes, creating a library for use in the children’s academic studies, and much more.

I was put to work on the team creating new concrete walking paths.  Step one was to dig out the area where the path was to be placed.  This meant cutting out a 4-foot wide, 4-inch deep, 50-foot long area through what can only be described as “old-fashioned New England farmland… rocky and rooty.”  After digging the path out, the team worked together to stake out and frame the to-be path using 2x4s, wooden stakes, tape measures, hammers, saws, drills, and levels.  Once the frames were in place and secured, we laid in stone dust and leveled the base of the path, making everything ready for the next day’s concrete pour.

Overall, the day was hard work, but it also very rewarding.  Putting aside the fact that it was a great opportunity for networking and team building, it always feels good to take some time to help out people in need.  It’s times like these when I’m proud to be a member of a company like GE.  A company that takes civic engagement as a responsibility… one that puts a priority on giving back to the community.  This is also why I’m glad that IMLP puts a focus on volunteering.  With IMLP-run volunteering committees always organizing volunteering opportunities, the GE volunteers website available as a way to easily find volunteering events in your area, and with business-sponsored initiatives such as the United Way Week of Caring going on, volunteering is definitely a part of IMLP and GE as a whole.  I’m already looking forward to the next one.  Hope to see you there!

The Business Impact of Social Events and Networks

Lately, I have heard my friends who work outside of GE making remarks about social networking and social events that understate the business benefit of connecting with coworkers outside the traditional office setting.  Comments surface in general conversation like "social networking is just for college students" or "social events like dinners, picnics and outings are just frivolous wastes of time".

I would argue (and GE seems to agree), that the exact opposite is true.  Social events and online social networking develop the internal connections that make doing my job at GE faster and more efficient.  Here are a few examples of social events, groups and networks at GE that make me more effective and knowledgeable on the job:

All Programs Council (APC)

As an IMLP at GE Healthcare, I participated in the All Programs Council, an organization that facilitates interaction between all of GE's leadership programs and direct hires.  Other GE businesses have similar groups as well. They organize professional development speakers, MBA/Graduate fairs, sports activities and evening outings.   By participating in these events, IMLPs quickly get to know people of their age group in the talent pipeline across the business whom they can rely on when they need information on any function(HR, Engineering, Finance, etc).

IMLP Best Practice Sharing Committee

This group organizes events and sessions within the IMLP program so all of the IMLP participants from all over the world can benefit from each others' experience through training sessions and seminars.

GE Connect

Can't find the right person with the right knowledge to help with your job?  Just looking to connect with people who work in similar positions to share knowledge?  GE Connect, GE's own social network is the place to go.  The power of GE Connect to accelerate the way we do business is evident in this post from Jason Meller:

"When other professionals ask me about my experiences working for GE, a company with over 300,000 employees, my normal response is that it can actually feel like a tightly knit group. How is this possible? Well it turns out GE’s been playing the facebook game as early as 1999 with a custom built tool called Support Central."

I could keep going with all the other social events and opportunities that build better teams at work but, I would like to hear from you, our readers.  Wether you are an IMLP reading this blog, or a student who has experienced this social team building effect in other  businesses, what are your most positive social/business experiences and how did they aid you in your day to day work?

GE Social Networking - est.1999

One of the greatest disadvantages of working for a large company is the inability to connect with the people across the business. Unless you know someone who knows someone else who may know of the person who can actually perform the task you want; you can be stuck for weeks in a quagmire of unanswered e-mails and frustration.

This problem is not strictly limited to corporations but also pervades academia and our personal spaces.  Fortunately, thanks to social networking applications like facebook, myspace, or linkedin, the ability to easily connect with someone with a special skill or a similar interest in proximity to you has shaped the way our generation deals with large groups of people. These social networking web applications are becoming so useful that many employees at fortune 500 companies are beginning to leverage them for internal work purposes, even if it means violating an internal internet policy.

The underlying problem is that at the end of the day, facebook was spawned for American college students attending major universities. While the company has made great strides to make it a useful tool for young professionals, it still is missing the key features necessary to make it the "game changer" it has the potential to be.

When other professionals ask me about my experiences working for GE, a company with over 300,000 employees, my normal response is that it can actually feel like a tightly knit group. How is this possible? Well it turns out GE's been playing the facebook game as early as 1999 with a custom built tool called Support Central.

Here are some interesting 1st and 3rd party perspectives from vendors, customers and employees who have had an opportunity to actually use the system and will give you some background on how it works:

• "A Humbling Experience" -  Chuck Willis, EMC


• "GE’s Enterprise Collaboration Backbone" - Oliver Marks, ZDNET


• "Information worth billions" - Interview with Gary Reiner - CNN Money

While Support Central isn't flawless and doesn't provide the same clean-line aesthetics as would expect from today's brand web 2.0, it does accomplish the lofty goal of laying the foundation for employees, vendors, and customers to connect and relate to the fabric of the company while producing some outstanding and measurable results. To me, the fact that a huge company like GE recognized the value and implemented a form of social networking through a web-based application as early as 1999 demonstrates excellent judgement and reassurance that at GE, if an idea is good and makes fiscal sense, no one will be able to stand in your way to accomplish something great.