Career Planning and Development

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Chapter 10Career Planning and Development

Learning Objectives

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Understand the importance of career planning and development.

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Identify the responsibility for career planning and development.

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Discuss the HR department’s role in career planning and development.

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Discuss some of the major factors contributing to successful career development.

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Understand the preparation desirable for a career in HRM.

Chapter outline

Chapter 10 is divided into three main sections. Section one discusses the importance of career planning anddevelopment in today’s rapidly changing business environment. The second section extends the ideas presented in the first section and examines the relationship between HR planning and career planning anddevelopment. It central focus is issues that are important for the development and maintenance of careers in businesses today. The final section, section three, presents a number of factors that should be considered by people considering Human Resource Management as a career.

Importance of career planning and development

Until recently, employees could join an organisation fully expecting to stay with it for their entire career. Now, life-long careers are a thing of the past. Some naive employees still feel that they are immune to theongoing reductions because they are doing good work and adding value to the organisation. However,increasing competition, rapid technological change, relentless restructuring and downsizing mean that high performance no longer protects employees from dismissal. People increasingly will move from opportunityto opportunity without regard for traditional job boundaries. Some experts predict that soon full-time careerswill no longer be the norm.Realistic career planning forces employees to be proactive and to anticipate problems and opportunities. Itdoes this by making them establish and examine their career objectives. Career planning and developmentinvolves two processes — career planning (employee centred) and career management (organisationcentred). Career management is integral to HR planning, but HR planning and/or career management do notexist or are not integrated in some organisations.Ideally, career planning and development should be seen as a process that aligns the interests and skills of employees with the needs of the organisation. This means that careers must be managed strategically so theskills demanded by the organisation’s strategic business objectives are understood and a work force with amatching profile of skills is developed. Career planning and development play a major part in ensuring thatthe organisation has a competitive and knowledgeable work force.

HR planning and career planning and development

Employees and organisations are paying more attention to career planning and development because:

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employees are increasingly concerned about their quality of life

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there are EEO legislation and AA pressures

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educational levels and employee aspirations are rising

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workers are making the transition from vertical careers to lateral careers

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organisations have an increasing sense of obligation to employees. ‘The most valuable thing that a business can give its members,’ says Handy, ‘is no longer employment but employability, thesecurity of a saleable skill.’

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Shortages of skilled workers is producing a global talent war.

Employee’s responsibility

Every employee should be concerned about his or her own career planning and development. Unfortunately,many employees ignore this responsibility, preferring to leave it to the organisation. By adopting such a passive stance, employees give up control of their career, limit their future employability and reduce their chances of achieving their career goals.Although some organisations provide in-house career planning and development, this is often geared to theorganisation’s needs and not those of the individual employee. Individual career planning means that theemployee must critically examine his or her personal and vocational interests, personal and career goals and present skill and ability levels.

HR department’s responsibility

Proactive HR managers recognise the importance of career planning and development in satisfyingindividual and organisational needs. If the HR department is fully aware of the organisation’s future HR needs, career chances and training and development opportunities, then it is well placed to promote career planning among employees.

Factors in career development

Individual employees must accept the responsibility for their own career development. Failure to do so will prevent smooth and optimal career progression. Factors that are important to successful career developmentand growth include:

Performance -

Employees who perform badly are rarely considered for training and developmentopportunities, international assignments or promotion.

Exposure -

If an employee is to succeed, he or she must become known to senior management. Employeescan become known to the organisation’s decision makers through superior performance, report writing, presentations,; and involvement in company training and development programs and social activities.

Qualifications

- US research indicates that a strong correlation exists between graduate earnings and thequality of the university they attended.

Employer reputation -

Some organisations have a ‘star’ reputation as breeding grounds for high-potentialemployees. Consequently, getting a job with the right company can be an important factor in career successand long-term employability.

Nepotism -

Thirty per cent of publicly listed companies in Hong Kong have boards of directors on whichhalf or more of the executive directors are related as family members

.Mentor - Successful managers usually have a mentor or sponsor who helps advance their career by offering advice, giving instruction and opening up career opportunities. Benefits of mentoring

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The protégé, by developing more skills and self-confidence, performs better and provides longer service to the organisation.

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Mentoring, by identifying talent, helps companies encourage and capitalise on diversity.

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Mentoring provides a structure for the growth and development of all employees.

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Mentoring helps inculcate corporate values.

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Mentoring improves employee job satisfaction and motivation.

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Mentors can buffer women from discrimination and help them overcome gender-related barriers toadvancement.

Unfortunately women and minorities often find themselves excluded from mentoring relationships. This is because mentoring is frequently based on personal relationships built up outside working hours.

Ingratiation -

Ingratiation may be an effective career strategy, especially when associated with competence

. Development -

Ongoing expansion of skills and knowledge makes an employee more valuable and,therefore, more attractive to the organisation

. International experience -

International experience is increasingly a key to career success (particularly for those aspiring to top management).

Language skills -

The internationalisation of business and the development of global business centresdemand that fast-track managers possess not only good English skills but competency in a second (or third) language.

Computer and Keyboard skills -

To have a competitive advantage, computer literacy is a must. High skilledemployees must be “technology capable”.

Networking -

It is extremely important for an employee to build a network of contacts who are likely to beuseful to his or her career development.

Goal setting -

‘successful career planners are self motivated, self starters who are hard working, and mostimportant of all, goal directed. They have established what goals they want to achieve and how to goabout it’

. Financial Planning Skills -

Today savvy employees know there are no life long employment guarantees.

Golf -

Golf is at the centre of business, especially in Asia where most major business deals are concluded onthe golf course. The golf course is now called the boardroom of the new millennium because business discussions that start on the golf course often end up in the boardroom

. Appearance

- There is ample evidence to indicate that appearance plays an important role in compensationand career success.

Career plateau

A career plateau refers to that point in an employee’s career at which the probability of an additional promotion is minimal. When this happens, employees find themselves blocked and unable to achieve further advancement. If an employee is to avoid plateauing, it is critical that he or she have the ability to adapt anddevelop in the face of change or transition. Employees are now ‘reaching plateaus earlier in their careers than did their predecessors — and far earlier than their own expectations — [so] it is important for organisations and individuals to prepare to cope withthe phenomenon successfully, particularly when the signs of an impending plateau are observed’. The risk of obsolescence is less if organisations accept responsibility for employee development and if employees are prepared to invest time in their development.

Dual careers

As more women enter the work force, HR managers must develop specific policies and programs designedto accommodate the dual career aspirations of employees and their spouses. HR managers must be particularly alert to the implications of an employed spouse when providing career counselling to anemployee. Dual career couples need to be flexible, to be mutually committed to both careers, to adoptcoping mechanisms (such as clearly separating work and non-work roles) and to develop the skills of career