Career Development

www.humanikaconsulting.com
 Introduction
• Restructuring of organizations makes it essential that
companies reconsider the concepts of career and career
management in order to retain and motivate employees.
• Companies successful at managing employee growth that
accompanies business expansion emphasize that
employees are to be responsible for career management.
Introduction (continued)
• These companies do provide
resources supporting careers
such as development
opportunities, mentoring, and
training managers in how to
coach employees.
• A major challenge is how to
balance advancing current
employees’ careers with
simultaneously attracting and
acquiring employees with new
skills.
 Top 15 Retention Drivers
Retention Items %
1. Exciting work & challenge 48.4
2. Career Growth, Learning & Development 42.6
3. Working with great people & relationships 41.8
4. Fair pay 31.8
5. Supportive management/great boss 25.1
6. Being recognized, valued & respected 23.0
7. Benefits 22.0
8. Meaningful work, making a difference & contribution 17.0
9. Pride in organization, its mission & product 16.5
10. Great work environment / culture 16.0
11. Flexibility 13.6
12. Autonomy, creativity and a sense of control 12.6
13. Job security & stability 10.5
14. Location 10.3
15. Diverse, changing work assignments 7.7

Source: Career Systems International, 2005

 Other Research
Retention Items
1. Career growth, learning and development
2. Exciting work and challenge
3. Meaningful work, making a difference and a contribution
4. Great people
5. Being part of a team
6. Good boss
7. Recognition for work well done
8. Fun on the job
9. Autonomy, sense of control over work
10. Flexibility – for example, in work hours and dress code
11. Fair pay and benefits
12. Inspiring leadership
13. Pride in organization, its mission and quality of product
14. Great work environment
15. Location

Source: Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em, 1999

Purpose of Human Resource
Management
Human Resource Management -
involves attracting, developing, and
maintaining a quality workforce.

Basic Responsibilities of Human Resource Management

1. Attract a quality workforce—human resource planning,

recruitment, and selection.
2. Develop a quality workforce—employee orientation,
training, performance appraisal.
3. Maintain a quality workforce—retention and career
development.
Linking Strategic Planning and Human Resources
 Step One:
Mission, Vision, and Values

• Mission
– The basic purpose of the organization as well as its scope of
operations
• Strategic Vision
– A statement about where the company is going and what it can
become in the future; clarifies the long-term direction of the
company and its strategic intent
• Core Values
– The strong and enduring beliefs and principles that the company
uses as a foundation for its decisions
Step Two: Environmental Scanning
The systematic monitoring of the major external forces
influencing the organization.
1. Economic factors: general and regional
conditions
2. Competitive trends: new processes, services,
and innovations
3. Technological changes: robotics and office
automation
4. Political and legislative issues: laws and
administrative rulings
5. Social concerns: child care and educational
priorities
6. Demographic trends: age, composition,and
literacy
Five Forces Framework
Step Three: Internal Analysis
Culture Competencies

Internal
Analysis

Composition
Scanning the Internal Environment
Cultural Audits -Audits of the culture and quality of
work life in an organization.

How do employees spend their time?

How do they interact with each other?
Are employees empowered?
What is the predominant leadership
style of managers?
How do employees advance within the
organization ?
Competitive Advantage through
People
• Core Competencies
– Integrated knowledge sets within an
organization that distinguish it from its
competitors and deliver value to
customers.
• Sustained competitive advantage
through people is achieved if these
human resources:
1. Are valuable.
2. Are rare and unavailable to
competitors.
3. Are difficult to imitate.
4. Are organized for synergy.
 Composition: The Human Capital
Architecture
• Core knowledge workers
– Employees who have firm-specific skills
that are directly linked to the company’s
strategy.
• Example: Senior software programmer

• Traditional job-based employees

– Employees with skills to perform a
predefined job that are quite valuable to a
company, but not unique.
• Example: Security guard
Composition: The Human Capital
Architecture (cont’d)
• Contract labor
– Employees whose skills are of less
strategic value and generally available to
all firms.
• Example: General electrician

• Alliance/partners
– Individuals and groups with unique
skills, but those skills are not directly
related to a company’s core strategy.
• Example: Independent product label
designer
 Human Resource Practices
• Human resource planning is the process of analyzing staffing needs and
identifying actions that should be taken to satisfy them over time.
 Traditional Versus Career Development Focus

Source: Adapted from Fred L. Otte and Peggy G. Hutcheson, Helping Employees Manage
Careers (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992), p. 10.
 HR is growing in importance, if…
…we envision and manage HR as a business
Consumer
Consumer Markets
Markets
Value
Value delivery
delivery better
better than
than
What Business is competitors
competitors
HR In?
Enterprise Strategy
and Objectives

Human Capital Strategy to Achieve

the Enterprise Strategy

Talent
Talent Markets
Markets High High Competitive Financial
Financial Markets
Markets
Performance Performance HR
Employer
Employer of choice ––
of choice Talent Organization Services Returns
Returns in
in excess
excess of
of
Employees
Employees of
of choice
choice alternatives
alternatives

Dependable HR Controls

Public
Public Policy
Policy and
and
Reputation
Reputation
Conformity
Conformity with
with
expectations
expectations
Performance Appraisals
• Performance Appraisal
– The process of formally
evaluating performance and
feedback to an employee

Two Purposes of Performance Appraisal

1. Evaluation—document and let people know how
well they are
doing; judgmental role.
2. Development—identify how training and support
can improve
performance; counseling role.
 Retention And Career Development

• Career Development
– Manages how a person
grows and progresses in their
career
• Career Planning
– The process of managing
career goals and individual
capabilities with
opportunities for their
fulfillment
Career and Health

• High levels of career uncertainty and

occupational dissatisfaction are
positively correlated with high levels of
psychological and physical distress
(Herr, 1989).
• High levels of unemployment are
associated with increased rates of
chemical dependency, interpersonal
violence, suicide, criminal activity, and
admissions to psychiatric facilities
(Herr, Cramer, & Niles, 2004).
 The Basics of Career Management
• Career
– The occupational positions a person
has had over many years.
• Career management
– The process for enabling employees
to better understand and develop
their career skills and interests, and
to use these skills and interests
more effectively.
• Career development
– The lifelong series of activities that
contribute to a person’s career
exploration, establishment, success,
and fulfillment.
The Basics of Career Management
• Career planning
– The deliberate process through
which someone becomes aware of
personal skills, interests,
knowledge, motivations, and other
characteristics; and establishes
action plans to attain specific
goals.
• Careers today
– Careers are no simple progressions
of employment in one or two firms
with a single profession.
– Employees now want to exchange
performance for training, learning,
and development that keep them
marketable.
 The Meaning of “WORK”
“Work is undeniably one of the most
essential of all human activities. For a start,
it is the basis of economic survival of
individuals… and society. Beyond this, an
individual’s job structures much of her or
his time and, one hopes, provides a source
of personal fulfillment. An occupation also
shapes one’s identity and, in the eyes of
others, largely determines an individual’s
status or position in society”

Work, Industry, and Canadian Society, Krahn

& Lowe. 1996

26
 Why Is Career Management Important?

From the company’s perspective, the failure to

motivate employees to plan their careers can result
in:
– A shortage of employees to fill open positions
– Lower employee commitment
– Inappropriate use of monies allocated for training
and development programs
Why Is Career Management Important?
(continued)

• From the employees’

perspective, lack of career
management can result in:
– Frustration
– Feelings of not being valued
by the company
– Being unable to find suitable
employment should a job
change be necessary due to
mergers, acquisitions,
restructuring, or downsizing.
Career Management and Career Motivation

• Career motivation refers to:

– Employees’ energy to invest in their
careers
– Their awareness of the direction
they want their careers to take
– The ability to maintain energy and
direction despite barriers they may
encounter
• Career motivation has three
aspects:
– Career resilience
– Career insight
– Career identity
 The Value of Career Motivation
Components of Career Motivation

Career Resilience Company Value

• Innovation
• Employees adapting to unexpected changes
• Commitment to Company
• Pride in Work

Career Insight Employee Value

• Be aware of skill strengths and weaknesses
• Participate in learning activities
• Cope with less than ideal working
conditions
• Avoid skill obsolescence
Career Identity
What Is A Career?
• Traditional Career
– Sequence of positions held within
an occupation
– Context of mobility is within an
organization
– Characteristic of the employee
• Protean Career
– Frequently changing based on
changes in the person and
changes in the work environment
– Employees take major
responsibility for managing their
careers
 Comparison of
Traditional Career and Protean Career
Dimension Traditional Career Protean Career
Goal Promotions Psychological success
Salary increase
Psychological contract Security for commitment Employability for flexibility

Mobility Vertical Lateral

Responsibility for Company Employee

Management
Pattern Linear and expert Spiral and transitory

Expertise Know how Learn how

Development Heavy reliance on formal Greater reliance on relationships

training and job experiences
 A Model of Career Development
• Career development is the process by which
employees progress through a series of stages.
• Each stage is characterized by a different set of
developmental tasks, activities, and relationships.
• There are four career stages:
– Exploration
– Establishment
– Maintenance
– Disengagement
A Model of Career Development (continued)
Exploration Establishment Maintenance Disengagement
Developmental Identify interests, Advancement, Hold on to Retirement
tasks skills, fit between growth, security, accomplishments planning, change
self and work develop life style , update skills balance between
work and non-
work
Activities Helping Making Training Phasing out of
Learning independent Sponsoring work
Following contributions Policy making
directions
Relationships Apprentice Colleague Mentor Sponsor
to other
employees
Typical age Less than 30 30 – 45 45 – 60 61+

Years on job Less than 2 years 2 – 10 years More than 10 More than 10
years years
Career Path on Telco Industry
The Individual
• Accept responsibility for your own career. Roles in Career
• Assess your interests, skills, and values. Development
• Seek out career information and resources.
• Establish goals and career plans.
• Utilize development opportunities.
• Talk with your manager about your career.
• Follow through on realistic career plans.

The Manager
• Provide timely performance feedback.
• Provide developmental assignments and support.
• Participate in career development discussions.
• Support employee development plans.

The Organization
• Communicate mission, policies, and procedures.
• Provide training and development opportunities.
• Provide career information and career programs. Source: Fred L. Otte and Peggy G. Hutcheson, Helping
Employees Manage Careers (Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1992), p. 56.
• Offer a variety of career options.
Career Development Process
1. Discovery
Determine Where You
Want To Go
4. Preparation
Get closer to your
goal
Management
Support
and Coaching 2. Assessment
Identify strengths &
development areas

3. Planning
Make a Career
Development Plan
Succession-Planning
Checklist
RATE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR
SUCCESSION PLANNING
For each characteristic of a best-
practice succession-planning and
management program appearing in
the left column below, enter a
number to the right to indicate how
well you believe your organization
manages that characteristic. Ask
other decision makers in your
organization to complete this form
individually. Then compile the
scores and compare notes.

Scores

Source: From William J. Rothwell, “Putting Success into Your Succession Planning,” The Journal
of Business Strategy 23, no. 3 (May/June 2002): 32–37. Republished with permission—
Thomson Media, One State Street, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10004.
 Sample Agenda—
Two-Day Career
Planning Workshop

Source: Fred L. Otte and Peggy Hutcheson, Helping Employees

Manage Careers (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992),
pp. 22–23. In addition to career development training and
follow-up support, First USA Bank has also outfitted special
career development facilities at its work sites that employees
can use on company time. These contain materials such as career
assessment and planning tools.
Employee Career
Development Plan

Source: Reprinted with permission of the publisher, HRnext.com Copyright HRnext.com, 2003.
 Design factors of Effective Career
Management Systems

• System is positioned as a
response to a business need.
• Employees and managers
participate in development
of the system.
• Employees are encouraged
to take an active role in
career management.
• Evaluation is ongoing and
used to improve the system.
 Design factors of Effective Career
Management Systems (continued)
• Business units can customize
the system for their own
purposes.
• Employees need access to
career information sources.
• Senior management supports
the career system.
• Career management is linked
to other human resource
practices such as training,
recruiting systems, and
performance management.
 Traditional talent management is not up to the
challenge

Acquire Develop Deploy Retain

Largely a function Assignments for

of training “A” Players
Heavy reliance on Driven by compensation
expenditures
external recruitment benchmarks and surveys
to meet immediate
needs

Deficiencies
• Minimal alignment with business strategy
• Less effective given labor market realities
• Does not maximize the “yield”
A new model focuses on develop, deploy,
connect

1. Develop 2. Deploy
Acquire Retain

3. Connect
Develop Deploy
Build capability Broaden and
through on-the-job deepen capability
learning through stretch
Connect
assignments
Create networks and
high-quality
relationships that
maximize performance
Advantages
• Focused on productivity of critical talent
• Creates dividends for acquisition and retention
 A new model focuses on develop, deploy,
connect
In an environment of skills shortages and limited resources, the
focus must shift from managing “A” players to “A” positions
From “A” Players To “A” Positions

How do we support our How do we support

top performers? our most critical
positions?

A Critical Workforce Segment-Based

Talent Strategy
 A new model focuses on develop, deploy, connect
Building a critical workforce segment strategy: example
Business Unit Strategic Plan
Build new technologies
Grow Asia

HR, Finance, IT, Sales and Business

Supply Chain Marketing Development

HR Business Global Key Sales Technology Demand

AP Analyst
Partner Account Mgr Analyst Platform Mgr Planning Mgr
Strategic Core Critical Strategic Critical Strategic
Support Support Position Support Position Support

For Core Support Positions For Critical Positions – regardless of level

• Reduce talent investments or outsource • Increase access to investments and build
For Strategic Support Positions talent by feeding from strategic support
• Maintain investments and buy talent positions
 A new model focuses on develop, deploy,
connect
Workforce planning focuses HR programs levers that will most
effectively meet the business demand for critical talent

3. Talent Management
1. Talent Demand 2. Talent Supply
Objectives
Forecast Forecast

Internal and
Driven by business plans
external labor
and workforce attrition 4. Talent Management market factors
Programs

Serves to define:
• Future business demand for critical talent
• Opportunities presented by the external market
• Potential to maximize existing talent
 A new model focuses on develop, deploy,
connect
Develop: Ensuring that critical workforce segments are acquiring
cutting edge skills to drive innovation

• Formal training helpful for meeting

specific requirements
• Learning is social in nature - people
Capability learn through their interactions with
Develop Deploy others, especially when tasked with
Performance real-life issues

Commitment Alignment
• People are more committed to the
learning that occurs when they are
Connect “tested” in ways that matter, especially
when they collaborate with or are
accountable to others
 A new model focuses on develop, deploy,
connect
Deploy: Strategic deployment of critical workforce segments will
enable intensified growth

• People learn the most in jobs that

stretch them to grow, tap their unique
skills, and fuel their imaginations
Capability • The best organizations avoid
Develop Deploy pigeonholing people based on the
Performance confines of their resumes
Commitment Alignment • They also employ formal systems to
manage performance - And they offer
Connect frequent dialogue and feedback
 A new model focuses on develop, deploy,
connect
Connect: Connecting talent in critical workforce segments converts
knowledge into productive action
• People-to-People: Cultivate high-
performance networks of high-quality
relationships (i.e., CoPs, knowledge
Capability management programs)
Develop Deploy • People-to-Purpose: Build and sustain a
Performance sense of personal and organizational
Commitment Alignment mission
• People-to-Resources: Manage
Connect
knowledge, technology, tools, capital,
time, and physical space to achieve
professional and business goals
 Employees’ Role in Career Management

• Take the initiative to ask for

feedback from managers and
peers regarding their skill
strengths and weaknesses.
• Identify their stage of career
development and
development needs.
• Seek challenges by gaining
exposure to learning
opportunities.
• Interact with employees from
different work groups inside
and outside the company.
• Create visibility through good
performance.
 Managers’ Role in Career Management
Roles Responsibilities
Coach Probe problems, interests, values, needs
Listen
Clarify concerns
Define concerns
Appraiser Give feedback
Clarify company standards
Clarify job responsibilities
Clarify company needs
Advisor Generate options, experiences, and relationships
Assist in goal setting
Provide recommendations
Referral agent Link to career management resources
Follow up on career management plan
HR Manager’s Role in Career Management

• Provide information or
advice about training and
development
opportunities.
• Provide specialized
services such as testing to
determine employees’
values, interests, and
skills.
• Help prepare employees
for job searches.
• Offer counseling on
career-related problems.
 Company’s Role in Career Management

Companies are responsible for

providing employees with the
resources needed to be
successful in career planning:
– Career workshops
– Information on career and
job opportunities
– Career planning workbooks
– Career counseling
– Career paths
Evaluating Career Management Systems

• Career management systems need

to be evaluated to ensure that they
are meeting the needs of
employees and the business.
• Two types of outcomes can be
used to evaluate:
– Reactions of the customers
(employees and managers) who use
the career management system
– Results of the career management
system
• Evaluation of a career
management system should be
based on its objectives.