Career Development & Succession Management

Dr. Mihir Ajgaonkar

SP Jain Institute of Management and Research

Mumbai

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 Career Development

Career Anchors

A “Career Anchor” is a combination of perceived areas of competence,

motives, and values relating to professional work choices. Often,
people select a career for all the wrong reasons, and find their
responses to the workplace are incompatible with their true values.

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 1. Autonomy/Independence
The key motives for this anchor are freedom from organizational constraints in order to pursue
professional or technical/functional competency.
2. Security/Stability
People anchored in security tend to do what is required of them by their employers in order to maintain
job security, a decent income, and a stable future in the form of a good retirement program, benefits, etc.
3. Lifestyle
These people want and need to integrate their personal and family concerns into their career.
4. Technical/Functional
The primary concern in this area is the actual technical or functional content of the work being done. The
self-image of people in this group is tied up with their feeling of competence in the particular area
they are in.

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 5. General Managerial Competence
The anchor is a combination of three competencies:
Analytical Competence, Interpersonal Competence, Emotional competence

6. Entrepreneurial Creativity
This anchor is characterized by the overarching need to build or create something that is entirely your
own product.  

7. Service or Dedication to a Cause

The people in this group feel the need not only to maintain an adequate income, but to do something
meaningful in a larger context.  

8. Pure Challenge
People in this group define their careers success by overcoming impossible odds, solving the unsolvable
problem, winning out over the competitor

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 Career Development Philosophy

Career Planning for high performers

Policy – ‘Growing from Within’

Growth in career linked to growth of the

business

Organizational commitment for

employee development

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 Career Development Process

Filling Career Anchor Questionnaire

Identifying possible career routes

Supervisor reviews the possible career routes

Discussion with the employee done in

consultation with HR

Agreement on certain career routes, based on

employee’s interest and organization’s need

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 Career Development Process

Employee prepares individual development plan in consultation

to his/her supervisor

Career planning committee reviews the plan and finalizes it.

Employee’s performance and implementation of IDP reviewed

after one year and appropriate career movements effected by
Career Planning Committee.

Future career routes are decided upon

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 Broad Career Routes
CE (AIL) Business Head (VBG)

Plant Head

Head- Business
Product Group Head / Dvept. / Marketing /
Head HR / Finance Head R&D / Design
Quality Head Functional

Manager HR / Functional Manager

Manager Function Manager Design
Functions Finance
(Vertical /
Horizontal
Growth)
• Planning Sales / Functional
•PED Executives
Functional Engineer Design Engineer Engineer / Executive
•Production
• Materials
• Quality
• Marketing
Services
• Sales GET CA / MBA Trainees GET GET
Coordination

Mfg / Materials./ Quality & Management Technology Sales & Marketing

Mkg. stream stream stream Stream (VBG)

• Lateral movements across the product groups, across functions and across plants can happen
• Movements from Manager Function / Manager Design to Manager Finance are not possible
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 Succession Planning
Objectives:
• Developing senior executives for top leadership positions in line with
ambitious organization growth plans
• Prepare a pipeline of successors for continuity of operations in case of
probable attrition in top management
• Enhance the leadership abilities of senior executives to perform
better in their current roles

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 Approach to succession planning
• Confidential exercise for critical positions (e.g. CEO, COO, and other senor executives).
• Sharing of 360* feedback summary with top management
• Evaluation of the position on required functional, job and growth related competencies.
• Position competency profile - desired
• Competency profile of the present incumbent
• Competency profile of the successor
• Based on the above, the development areas for the successor are identified and recorded in the
Succession Planning template.
• Input shared with the concerned employee as part of organizational feedback at the time of the
finalization of the IDP.

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