Abstract:

Problem:
Contradictions exist between (1) changing (constantly updated) demands of the market and the demands to aged expert’s experience in the past 15-20 years of working in stable conditions, (2) aged expert’s experience as a result of professional past life and aged expert’s experience as a condition for success at present and in the future. Experience gradually collects obsolescent characteristics and the problem of integrating them into the actual professional sphere is the problem of a expert's competitiveness. The expert should treat his or her expertise not as if it has a consistently high value of its own but a changing category that can and should be managed.

Objective:
To work out the Course aimed to help to aged experts to pass from position «My expertise is important and valuable since it is a result of my long-term efforts» to position «The price of my expertise is a changing category and should thus be managed from year to year”.

Idea:
Matrix of work experience (MWE) was worked out on principals of BCG Matrix, which is based on product life cycle theory. MWE helps worker to coordinate his/her work experience with organizational product life cycle. Worker may apply MWE as a frame of his work experience to inspect a portfolio or set of his professional competences, skills, know-how and others, integrated in work experience. MWE has two modified dimensions: “investments in work experience (high, low)” and “benefits by work experience (high, low)”. The investments in work experience are trainings, asking for coaching or mentoring, e-learning and so on. The benefits by work experience are high salary, career growth, rewards and so on.

There are four segments of the MPE:
1) high investments and benefits (Stars, by BCG Matrix);
2) low investments and high benefits (Cash cows, by BCG Matrix);
3) low investments and benefits (Dogs, by BCG Matrix);
4) high investments and low benefits (Question marks, by BCG Matrix).

First segment includes competences, which are expected by new organization strategy and require supplementary efforts of professional development. Second segment describes the part of specialist’s work experience (high level competences, professional achievements, practical skills) which provides organizational effectiveness today. Third segment consists of the part of work experience which was suitable for previous strategy and now became obsolete from organizational position. But at the same time this part of experience is of great value for the worker. To manage forth segment worker should look forward because turbulence environment requires constant organization changes and suitable competences. MWE can be used to determine what priorities should be given in the competences portfolio of work experience. To ensure long-term value creation a worker should have portfolio of work experience that contains both competences providing benefits today and competences demanding investments to provide benefits in future.

Keywords:

Professional experience.