Career Development Process

Career development is the most important resource an organization can have. So, it becomes prime responsibility of the organizations to take care of their employees and give them an opportunity to grow especially to those who are career conscious and deliver performance. Career in the 21st century is measured by continuous learning of the employees and identify changes in due course of time rather than changes in age and life stages. Career development of employees is not a mere responsibility of organizations, rather it is their obligation to address the ambitions of employees and create such job positions where they can accommodate their growing ambitions.

Employees are career conscious and they’ll stick to an organization where they feel that they have an opportunity to showcase their talent, grow to the maximum possible level and achieve their objectives. When we talk about growth, it can have different meanings to different people. Some may look at it as a fat package, some may want to climb up the ladder in the hierarchy and reach the topmost position while some want to acquire higher skills and competencies along with their growth as a human being. Some people may take it as an opportunity to avail some exclusive perks and benefits. Depending upon one’s own thinking, different people take different actions in order achieve their objectives.

Given the present situations, if employees want their organization to give them an opportunity to grow and achieve their ambitions, they need to be prepared for the future jobs. The main focus of organizations is on the employability of their people. Therefore, individuals should make sure that they have skills and competencies plus willingness to perform a specific job efficiently. Although the organizations can hire employees from outside but they require portable competencies in order to get the job done. For this, they will need to impart training to them and develop skills and competencies according to the job profile. But this is a troublesome process and takes hell lot of time to prepare the employees for a specific job. In order to avoid this situation to the maximum possible extent, organizations take control of the careers of their already existing employees and foster succession planning to fill the topmost positions.

Individuals need to develop new and better skills so that they are fit for promotion and reach to a higher level in the organization. Organizations likewise need to become proactive in designing and implementing career development programs for their employees. It is the best thing they can do to decrease employee turnover. Although it is employees responsibility to plan their career but in today’s turbulent and terrifically ambiguous world of work, it is the employers’ responsibility to provide them with opportunities achieve their ambitions. They need to create that environment and culture for continuous learning and support their employees by motivating and rewarding them.

Career development is a continuous process where both employees, as well as employers, have to put efforts in order to create a conducive environment so that they can achieve their objectives at the same time.

Written By

Susan Ikegwu

Follow her on Twitter and IG @Suzy_Smallz