Career Development

Career development consists of the personal action one undertakes to achieve a career plan. The term career development and employee development need to differentiate at this stage. Career developments looks at the long term career effectiveness, whereas employee development focus on effectiveness of an employee in the immediate future. The action for career development may be initiated by the individual himself or by the organisation.

Individual Career Development
Career progress and development is largely the outcome of action on the part of an individual. Some of the important steps help an individual cross the hurdles on way up may include:

• Performance: Career progress rests largely on performance. If the performance is sub – standard, even modest career goals can’t be achieved.
• Exposure: It comes through exposure, which implies becoming known by those who decide promotions, transfers and other career opportunities. You must undertake actions to attract the attention of those who matter most in an organisation.
• Networking: It implies professional contacts that would help in striking good deals outside. the men have used private clubs, professional associations, old – boy network, etc. to gain exposure and achieve their career ambitions.
• Leveraging: It is also resigning to career with another employer is known as leveraging. When the opportunity is not come, the only option left is to resign from the current position and take up the new job. However, jumping too jobs frequently may not be a good career strategy in the long run.
• Loyalty to career: Generally Professionals and college graduates generally jump jobs frequently when they start their career. They do not think that career long dedication to the same organisation may not help them further their career ambitions. To overcome this problem, companies such as Infosys, NIIT, and WIPRO have come out with lucrative, innovative compensation packages in addition to employee stock option plans for those who remain with the company for a specified period.
•  Mentors and sponsors: The is mentor is generally speaking, an older person in a managerial role offering informal career advice to junior employee. Mentors take junior employees as their protégés and offer advice and guidance on how to survive and get ahead in the organisation. They act as role models. A sponsor, on the other hand, is someone in the organisation who can create career development opportunities.
• Key subordinates: knowledgeable subordinates, often extend invaluable help that enables their bosses to come up in their life. When the bosses cross the bridge, they take the key subordinates also along with them. In his own self interest, the subordinates must try to find that winning horse on which he can bet.
• Expand ability: who are career conscious must prepare themselves for future opportunities that may come their way internally or externally by taking a series of proactive steps.

Organisational Career Development
The assistance from the managers and HR department is equally important in achieving individual career goals and meeting organisational needs.

• Self assessment tools: the employees go through a process in which they think through their life role, and preference. They identify goals, develop suitable action plans. Two self assessment tools are quite commonly used in organisation. The first one is called the career – planning workshop. The second tool, called a career workbook.

• Individual counselling: the employee counselling is a process whereby employees are guided in overcoming performance problems. It is usually done through face to face meeting between the employee and counsellor or coach. Here discussion of employee’s interest, goals, current job activities and performance and career objective take place. Counselling is generally offered by the HR department. Sometime outside experts are also be called in. if supervisors behave as coaches they should be given clearly defined roles and training. This id however a costly and time consuming process.

• Information services: Employment opportunities at various levels are made known to employees through information services of various kinds. Records of employee skill knowledge and experience and performance indicate the possible candidates for filling up such vacancies. For compiling and communicated career related information to employee, organisation basically uses four methods.

1. Job posting system: Job posting systems are used by companies to inform employee about vacancies in the organisation through notice boards, newsletters and other company publication.
2. Skill inventory: Skill inventory are created to help the organisation learn the characteristics of their workforce so that they can use the skills of their employees, whenever required. Skills inventories also reveal shortage of critical skills among employees, which is helpful in tracing training needs.
3. Career ladders and career paths: Career paths and ladders throw light on career progression and future job opportunities in the organisation. They indicate a career plan complete with the goal, intermediate step and time table for realising the gaol. Usually career path for fast track employees are laid down in the most organisation outlining a series of career moves that these employee needs to initiate in order to reach higher level position.
4. Career resource centre: the career centre is a sort of library in the organisation establishes to distribute to distribute career development materials such as reference books, career manuals, brochures, newsletters and learning guides and self study tapes.

• Employee assessment programme: A new recruit is informed about career policies and procedures of the company. Socialisation efforts help the recruitment learn about these things quickly. An experienced employee, acting as a coach may also help the new recruit from a realistic view of the skills needed at various level and develop appropriate career goal and action plan. Formal orientation programme are used to educate employees on career programme, career path and opportunities for advancement within the company. Several assessment programmes are also used to evaluate the employee potential for growth and development in the organisation. They include assessment centre psychological testing promotability forecasts and succession planning.

• Employee developmental programme: These consist of skills assessment and training efforts that organisation used to groom their employees for future vacancies. Seminars, work shops, job rotation and mentoring programme are used to develop a broad base of skills as a part of such development activity.

• Career programme for special group: In recent years, there is growing evidence reading dual career families developing tension and friction owing to their inability to reconcile the difference between family roles and work demands. When we talk of dual career couple certain puzzling question arise naturally. What if the wife gets a getting promotion in another location; Who buys cleans house if both are busy, etc. realising these problems organisation are providing a place and a procedure of discussing such role conflicts and coping strategies. They are coming out with scheme such as part time work, long parental leave, children care centre, flexible working hours and promotions and transfers in tune with the demands of dual career conflicts.