Kim Carter is a Lead Associate within the People Services team. She leads performance management operations at the firm. Her works involves managing the Goals, Annual Summary, and Pulse Check technical processes, as well as helping employees navigate their way to the right forms and resources. Kim and her team generate metrics to tell the story of how the firm is performing and how well the firm, as a whole, understands the performance management process. Outside of work, Kim spends a lot of time with her family — going to sporting events with her son and dance recitals with her daughter, and supervising while her husband does yardwork. She also enjoys going to the beach and spending time practicing her Titanic pose on cruise ships.
How did you get involved in performance management at the firm?
Early in my career, I worked in customer service, helping employees understand their benefits at the firm. From those experiences I developed a passion for human resources and later took on the lead role for terminations and leaves operations. As part of that work I developed an interest in policy writing. At the time, we didn't have a worker's compensation policy formally documented or published, so I documented the policy to help the firm lower its liability risk. As a result of that work and other successes, I ended up winning a Values in Practice (VIP) award which, looking back, was definitely a highlight of my career. I'm all about learning and taking advantage of growth opportunities, so I looked for additional opportunities. When there was an opening for a lead position in what was then called the Assessment Center, I applied and that's how I ended up in my current role.
“Practice being confident in your views, thoughts, and opinions.”
What were the critical experiences that propelled you forward in your career?
A year after I took the role of managing the Assessment Center, I was approached to manage the Training Coordination team. I accepted the challenge and it opened doors to more experiences, broadened my skill set, helped me expand my network, and allowed me to understand the world of talent outside of customer service and performance management. I took a team that felt that their work was transactional and led them to be more strategic. In collaboration with the Learning and Development (L&D) team, Information Services, and other Enterprise Solutions Group colleagues, we designed and implemented the Career Central Learn platform for the firm, which was a great shift in our L&D technology.
Is there any advice that you would offer to those looking to grow their career at the firm?
I'm very shy and introverted by nature and that was something I had to work to overcome early in my career. One of my mentors encouraged me to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable; to share my opinions, thoughts, and ideas; and to volunteer to participate in and lead projects. So I would suggest practicing being confident in your views, thoughts, and opinions. The greatest thing to do is to collaborate across a team, and come to a solution and finished product together. I think that's only possible if everyone becomes comfortable sharing their ideas and contributing to the greater good to formulate a shared solution.
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