Career Planning

Meaning
Career planning is the process by which one selects
career goals and the path to these goals. Career
development is those personal improvements one
undertakes to achieve a personal career plan. Career
management is the process of designing and
implementing goals, plans and strategies to enable the
organization to satisfy employee needs while allowing
individuals to achieve their career goals. So, due to
this career planning and development is necessary to
each and every employee in an organization. The
need of career planning and development is felt in
each and every organization of today’s global world.
Components of Career Planning
Need for Career Planning
Career Planning is necessary due to the following reasons:

1. To attract competent persons and to retain them in the organization.

2. To provide suitable promotional opportunities.

3. To enable the employees to develop and take them ready to meet the future
challenges.

4. To increase the utilization of managerial reserves within an organization.

5. To correct employee placement.

6. To reduce employee dissatisfaction and turnover.

7. To improve motivation and morale.

Career Development
Career development is essential to implement career plan. Career
development consists of personal improvements undertaken by the
individual employee, training, development and educational
programmes provided by the organization and various institutes.
The most important aspect of career development is that every
employee must accept his/her responsibility for development.
Various career development actions prove useful if an employee is
committed to career development.
Process of Career Planning & Development
The following are the steps in Career Planning and Development:

1. Analysis of individual skills, knowledge, abilities, aptitudes etc.

2. Analysis of career opportunities both within and outside the organization.

3. Analysis of career demands on the incumbent in terms of skills, knowledge, abilities,

aptitude etc., and in terms of qualifications, experience and training received etc.

4. Relating specific jobs to different career opportunities.

5. Establishing realistic goals both short-term and long-term.

6. Formulating career strategy covering areas of change and adjustment.

7. Preparing and implementing action plan including acquiring resources for achieving
goals.
Steps involved in Career Development System
There are four steps in establishing a career development system. They are:

1. Needs: -Defining the present system i.e. this step involves in the conducting a needs
assessment as in a training programme.

 Establish roles and responsibilities of employees, managers, and the organization.

 Identify needs; establish target groups.

 Establish cultural parameters; determine organizational receptivity, support, and commitment to

career development.

 Assess existing HR Programme or structure; consider possible links to a career development

programme.

 Determine prior attempts at solving the problem or need.

 Establish the mission or philosophy of the programme.

 Design and implement needs assessment to confirm the data or collect more data.

 Establish indicators or criteria of success.

Steps involved in Career Development System
2. Vision: -The needs of the career system must be linked with the
interventions. An ideal career development system known as the
vision links the needs with the interventions.

 Create a long-term philosophy.

 Establish the vision or objectives of the programme.

 Design interventions for employees, managers, and the

organization.

 Organize and make available career information needed to

support the programme.
Steps involved in Career Development System
3. Action Plan: -An action plan should be formulated in order to
achieve the vision. The support of the top management should
be obtained in this process.

 Assess the plan and obtain support from top management

 Create a pilot programme

 Assess resources and competencies.

 Establish an advisory group.

 Involve advisory group in data gathering, programme design,

implementation, evaluation and monitoring
Steps involved in Career Development System
 Results: -Career development programme should be integrated with
the organization’s on-going employee training and management
development programmes. The programme should be evaluated from
time to time in order to revise the programme.

 Create long-term formalized approaches.

 Publicize the programme.


Evaluate and redesign the programme and its components .
Advantages of Career Planning and
Development
For Individuals:

1. The process of career planning helps the individual to have the knowledge of various career
opportunities, his priorities etc.

2. This knowledge helps him select the career that is suitable to his life styles, preferences, family
environment, scope for self-development etc.

3. It helps the organization identify internal employees who can be promoted.

4. Internal promotions, upgradation and transfers motivate the employees, boost up their morale and
also result in increased job satisfaction.

5. Increased job satisfaction enhances employee commitment and creates a sense of belongingness
and loyalty to the organization.

6. Employee will await his turn of promotion rather than changing to another organization. This will
lower employee turnover.

7. It improves employee’s performance on the job by taping their potential abilities and further
employee turnover.

8. It satisfies employee esteem needs.

For Organizations: -
 A long-term focus of career planning and development will increase the effectiveness of human resource
management. More specifically, the advantages of career planning and development for an organization
include:

i. Efficient career planning and development ensures the availability of human resources with required skill,
knowledge and talent.

ii. The efficient policies and practices improve the organization’s ability to attract and retain highly skilled and
talent employees.

iii. The proper career planning ensures that the women and people belong to backward communities get
opportunities for growth and development.

iv. The career plan continuously tries to satisfy the employee expectations and as such minimizes employee
frustration.

v. By attracting and retaining the people from different cultures, enhances cultural diversity.

vi. Protecting employees’ interest results in promoting organizational goodwill.

Limitations of Career Planning
1. Dual Career Families: - With the increase in career orientation among women, number
of female employees in on increase. With this, the dual career families have also been
on increase. Consequently, one of those family members might face the problem of
transfer. This has become a complicated problem to organizations. Consequently
other employees may be at disadvantage.

2. Low ceiling careers: -Some careers do not have scope for much advancement.
Employees cannot get promotions despite their career plans and development in such
jobs.

3. Declining Career Opportunities: -Career opportunities for certain categories reach the
declining stage due to the influence of the technological or economic factors. Solution
for such problem is career shift.

4. Downsizing/De-layering and careers: - Business process reengineering,

technological changes and business environmental factors force the business firms to
restructure the organizations by de-layering and downsizing. Downsizing activities
result in fixing some employees, and degrading some other employees.
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