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 Career
The series of work-related positions a person occupies through life.

Career Paths
Represent employees movements through opportunities over time.

Careers and Career Planning

Career versus Job

 Career Planning must link individual needs and aspirations with organizational needs and opportunities, evaluating, advising and informing its staff on career planning, individual development efforts with training and development programs. Career planning is the process by which one selects career goals and the path to these goals. The major focus of career planning is on assisting the employees achieve a better match between personal goals and the opportunities that are realistically available in the organization.

2008 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

 Career planning seeks to meet the following objectives: Attract and retain talent by offering careers, not jobs. Use human resources effectively and achieve greater careers, not jobs. Reduce employee turnover. Improve employee morale and motivation.

Objectives

 Organization-Centered Career Planning

Focuses on jobs and on identifying career paths that provide for the logical progression of people between jobs in the organization.

Individual-Centered Career Planning

Focuses on an individuals career rather than in organizational needs.

Careers and Career Planning (contd)

Organizational and Individual Career Planning Perspectives

Individual Career Management

Self-Assessment

Feedback on Reality

Setting of Career Goals

Individual Career Planning Components

Career Choice

Interests

Self-Image

Personality

Social Background

Individual Career Choices

General Career Periods

Portable Career Path

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Individual Career Development

Job Performance Exposure Networking Resignations Organizational Loyalty

Mentors and Sponsors Key Subordinates Growth Opportunities International Experience

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2008 Thomson/South-Western. All rights reserved.

 Career planning process involves the following steps: Identifying individual needs and aspirations: most individuals so not have a clear cut idea about their career aspirations, anchors and goals. The human resource professionals must, therefore, help an employee by providing as much information as possible showing what kind of work would suit the employee most, taking his skills, experience, and aptitude into account.

Process

 Analyzing career opportunities: Once career needs and aspirations of employees are known, the organization has to provide career paths for each position. Career paths show career progression possibilities clearly. Aligning needs and opportunities: This process consists of two step: first, identify the potential of employees and then undertake career development programme. Such an appraisal would help reveal employees who need further training, employees who can take up added responsibilities, etc.

 Review from Time to time. After initiating these steps, it is necessary to review the whole thing every now and then. This will help the employee know in which direction he is moving, what changes and likely to take place, what kinds of skills are needed to face new and emerging organizational challenges. From an organizational standpoint also, it is necessary to find out how employees are doing, what are their goals and aspirations, whether the career paths are in tune with individual needs and serve the overall corporate objectives, etc.

 Career planning is a process of integrating the employees need and aspirations with organizational requirements.

Need for Career Planning

1. Every employee has a desire to grow and scale new heights in his workplace continuously. If there are enough opportunities, he can pursue his career goals and exploit his potential fully. He feels highly motivated when the organization shows him a clear path as to how he can meet his personal ambitions while trying to realize corporate goals. Unfortunately, as pointed out by John Leach, organizations do not pay adequate attention to this aspect in actual practice for a variety of reasons. The demands of employees are not matched with organizational needs, no effort is made to show how the employees can grow within certain limits, what happens to an employee five years down the line if he does well, whether the organization is trying to offer mere jobs or long-lasting careers, etc.

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3. when recognition does not come in time for meritorious performance and a certain amount of confusion prevails in the minds of employees whether they are in with a chance to grow or not, they look of greener pastures outside. 4. Key executives leave in frustration and the organization suffers badly when turnover figures rise. Any recruitment effort made in panic to fill the vacancies is not going to be effective.

5. New employees mean additional selection and training costs. Bridging the gaps through short-term replacements is not going to pay in terms of productivity. 6. Organizations, therefore, try to put their career plans in place and educate employees about the opportunities that exist internally for talented people. Without such a progressive outlook, organizations cannot prosper.

What is Career Development?

Career development is an ongoing process, one that you should be focused on as you approach a career and progress through it. Career development helps you take stock of who you are and where you want to go in life. In order to achieve growth, continue learning, and achieve momentum in your career you must

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Career progress and development is largely the outcome of actions on the part of an individual. Some of the important steps that could help and individual cross the hurdles on the way up may include: Performance: Career progress rests largely on performance. If the performance is sub-standard, even modest career goals cant be achieved. Exposure: career development comes through exposure, which implies becoming known by those who decide promotion, transfers and other career opportunities. You must undertake actions that would attract the attention of those who matter most in an organization. Networking: networking implies professional and personal contacts that would help in striking good deals outside (e.g., lucrative job offers, business deals, etc.) For years men have used private clubs, professional associations, old-boy networks, etc., to gain exposure and achieve their career ambitions.

 Stage 1: Preparation for Work (ages 025) Stage 2: Organizational Entry (ages 1825) Stage 3: Early Career (ages 2540) Stage 4: Mid-career (ages 40 55) Stage 5: Late Career (ages 55retirement)

Stages of Career Development

 Succession planning is: The process of ensuring a suitable supply of successor for current and future senior or key jobs arising from business strategy, so that the careers of individuals can be planned and managed to optimize the organizations needs and the individuals aspirations.

Succession planning

A typical succession planning involves the following activities: 1. Analysis of the demand for managers and professionals by company level, function and skill. 2. Audit of existing executives and projection of likely future supply from internal and external sources. 3. Planning of individual career path based on objectives estimates of future needs and drawing on reliable performance appraisals and assessments of potential.

 4. Career counseling undertaken in the context of a realist understanding of the future needs of the firm as well as those of the individual. 5. Accelerated promotions with development targeted against the future need of the business. 6. Performance related training and development to prepare individuals for futures roles as well as current responsibilities. 7. Planned strategic recruitment not only to fill short term need but also to fulfill long term needs

 The purpose of succession planning is to identify and develop people to replace current jobholders in key positions. Through succession planning, compares assure a steady flow of internal talent to fill important vacancies. Succession planning encourages hiring from within and creates a healthy environment where employees have careers and not merely jobs.

Need for succession planning

 It helps in identifying human resource shortages and skill shortages before openings occur. Thereafter, it becomes easy to groom qualified candidates for future vacancies. The organization is thus assured of continuity of operations and better-qualified incumbents. Preparing a schedule for succession is critical to the success of a company, especially at the top level. When the baton changes over a period of time, disruption and dislocation are minimized. Indeed, when a new CEO is meant to consolidate on past successes, a slow shift is ideal.

 If qualified candidates are not available within the company, outsiders can be considered readily for possible openings. Complete dependence on succession from within or from outside is not desirable. Internal candidates require a pat on the back when they do well. External candidates are needed for injecting flesh blood into the company. The absence of a succession plan can seriously hamper the growth prospects of an organization. Imagine the disastrous consequences when there is a sudden vacuum at the top level. There is no one to steer the ship.

 Critical plans needing immediate action get postponed. The organization remains headless and directionless for a while. Suitable candidates may not be available internally, as no one has been groomed in the past, keeping such an eventuality in mind. Bringing in outsiders may mitigate the crisis temporarily but the long-term impact is bound to be negative. Internal forces may start a rebellion and create tug-of-war situations.

Succession Planning Process

Identifying development needs of the workforce

Assisting in identifying needed future job skills

Noting employees who might fill future positions

Succession Planning

Communicating the succession planning process to employees

Tracing and regularly updating succession plan efforts

HRs Role in Succession Planning

Succession Planning Considerations

Make or Buy Talent

Succession Planning Skill Areas

Electronic/WebBased Succession Planning

Succession Planning (contd)

Areas for Planning Succession

 Exploration stageinvolves identifying interests and opportunities. Establishment stageinvolves creating a meaningful and relevant role in the organization.

Traditional career stages

 Maintenance stageinvolves optimizing talents or capabilities. Disengagement stagethe individual begins to gradually pull away from work and develop other interests.

Entry Shock for New Employees

Supervisors

Feedback

Time

The Work

Career Transitions and HR

Alternative Career Moves

Technical and Professional Workers

Dual Career Ladders

Women and Careers

Sequencing Glass Ceiling

Special Individual Career Issues

Global Career Concerns

Repatriation Global Development

Dual-Career Couples
Family vs.Career Relocation

Special Individual Career Issues

Common Concerns
Do company training programs help my chances for a promotion? How do I advance my career? Why hasnt my boss given me career counseling? Arent most promotions based on luck and knowing the right people? Do I need a degree for that job? With all the talk of downsizing, how secure is my job?

 Holding seminars Workshops Speeches Newsletters

All of these items can help to increase interest in planning Senior management backing is a must

HR can increase planning awareness by

Development vs. Training

Employee Development Needs Analysis Methods

Assessment Centers

Psychological Testing

Performance Appraisals

Developing Human Resources

HR Development Approaches

Possible Means for Developing Employees in a Learning Organization

Management Lessons Learned from Job Experience

Management Development
Supervisor Development
Executive Education Leadership Development

Management Development Methods

Management Mentoring Management Modeling

Management Coaching

Stages in Management Mentoring Relationships

Problems with Management Development Efforts

Failing to conduct an adequate needs analysis Trying out fad programs or training methods

Common Problems in Management Development

Failing to address organizational factors that result in encapsulated development

Substituting training instead of selecting qualified individuals

In retrospect