CAREER DEVELOPMENT
BY
ANITHA . R
MEANING:
• Career development is an ongoing process of gaining
knowledge and improving skills that will help an
individual to establish a career plan.
DEFINITION:
• Career development is self development over the life
span through the integration of the roles, settings, and
events of a person’s life.
• Gybers and Moore
OBJECTIVES OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT
• To understand career development from a developmental and multicultural
perspective.
• To able to discuss and apply models of career counselling that is appropriate
for use in an organisation.
• To understand the use of assessment procedure in career development
intervention.
• To understand how to use technology in career development intervention.
• To plan, design and implement life long career development programmes.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
• Career need assessment
• This refers to assisting employers in assessing their own personal career needs.
Often employees are uncertain as to which type of work will suit them. So, a HR
manager should help them in this decision-making process. A number of evaluation
instruments are available that help a person in determining his or her main interest
and basic aptitudes. For example, Strong’s Vocational Interest Blank. This helps
individuals to do their own career planning.
• Career opportunities
As employees have definite career needs, so it is obligatory upon an organisation to
chart out specific career paths through the organisation. Employees want to know
what types of job are now and will be available in the near future. What type of
duties are to be performed whether any training and development is required or not
and what jobs lead to other jobs in the organisation?
• Need opportunity alignment
After the employees have assessed their career needs and have become aware of
organisational career opportunities, rest is the alignment of need and opportunities.
Now, HR manager should select suitable development techniques, for example,
special assignment, planned position rotation, coaching, mentoring, etc. few
development techniques have been discussed earlier in the chapter.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT AS A JOINT RESPONSIBILITY
• Career development is a joint responsibility of both individuals and
the organisation. While the personal department of the organisation is
required to share this responsibility with individuals including
managers and employees, they in turn must take the initiative for
career planning and preparing themselves for future jobs through
development programmes and experiences.
EMPLOYEES RESPONSIBILITY OF THEIR CAREER:
• The employer and the employee are equally responsible for career
planning and development. Employee should be responsible to update
their skills, abilities and knowledge. Some organisation provides
employee empowerment approach to development where employee
can create their won developmental programmes. The following few
suggestions for the employees in this regard:
Set your own mission statement – what you want to achieve in job and life?
Identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Take full responsibility for your own growth and development.
Manage your image inside and outside the organisation. Show your
achievements.
Always update yourself with current knowledge, skills and abilities.
Build your won network by attending conferences, seminars and social
gatherings.
Try to be a team member. Provide solutions and do not point out the problem.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES
• Career planning workshops structured workshops are available to guide employees individually
through systematic self-assessment of values, interest, abilities, goals and personal development
plans. During workshops, employees are made to define and match their specific career objectives
with the needs of the company.
• Career counselling career counselling helps employees discuss their career goals in one to one
counselling sessions. Along with goals, other variables identified are capabilities, interests, and
current job activities and performance.
• Mentoring involves coaching, advising, and encouraging employees of usually lessor ranks.
Mentor (superior officer) is an important aid in the development of an employee (mentee) or
protégé such as greater job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and attainment of higher
salary and career progress. Mentoring is also valuable for improving the job involvement and
satisfaction of the mentor.
• Sabbaticals There are temporary leaves of absence from arrangement, usually at a reduced
amount of pay. Periodic leaves or sabbaticals help employees in terms of refreshing their learning
and rejuvenating their energies.
• Personal development plans (PDPs) in this employee write their own personal development plans. Such
development plans include development needs and action plans to achieve them. A PDP could be the nucleus
of a wider career play such as setting out alternative long-term strategies, identifying one’s long term needs
and setting out a plan of self-development.
• Career workbooks These consist of questions and exercises designed to guide individuals to figure out their
strengths and weaknesses, job and career opportunities, and necessary steps for reaching their goals. Many
workbooks are tailor made for a particular firm and can be completed in several sessions. Workbooks
generally contain organisation’s career policy, career options available in the organisation, organisation
structure, and job satisfaction along the career ladders.
THANK YOU
