CAREER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT INTRODUCTION: Innovative Career Planning is a most important aspect of human resource management. In the minds of the young managers the upper most question is "How can I plan my career ?" "How can I get ahead in my job ?" "What do I do to get promotions". Many people look back on their careers at the end of their working life with satisfaction knowing that what they did achieve and their career hopes were fulfilled. Others are less fortunate and feel that their potential was not realised. An objecti ve view of a person's career is given by Flippo. According to him, "a career is a sequence of positions held by a person during the course of life time. It comprises of a series ofwork re la te d act iv it ies tha t provide continuit y, or der and meaning to a person's life." Another subjective view of career is that career consists of the changes in values, attitudes and motivation that occur as a person grows older. The underlying assumption in both these views is that an individual can shape hi s de st iny th rough a seri es of wel l pl anned an d we ll ti med positive moves. Careers today are no t wha t they were several years ago. "Careers were traditio nall y viewed as an upward li near progression in one or two firms or as stable employees within a profession". Today, instead, someone's career is more likely to be "driven by person, not the organisation and reinvented by the person from time to time as the person and the environment change." Some even suggest that tomorrow's career won't be so much a gradual mountain climb as much as a series of short hills or learning stages, as the person switches from job to job and firm to firm. Al l this has ma de the job of HR managers more di ff icult and complex. The psy chol ogic al and emoti onal con tra ct bet ween employers and employees has changed. The HR activities like selection and training are starting to change, in addition to serving the company' s needs, these acti vi ti es much now be designee so that the employee's long run interests are served and that, in particular the employee is encouraged to grow and realise his full potential. The focus of employees, now-a-days, is not on perf ormance but on the sort of tr aining, lear ning and development, that will allow them to remain marketable.
Innovative Career Planning is a most important aspect of humanresource management. In the minds of the young managers the
upper most question is "How can I plan my career ?" "How can Iget ahead in my job ?" "What do I do to get promotions". Manypeople look back on their careers at the end of their working lifewith satisfaction knowing that what they did achieve and theircareer hopes were fulfilled. Others are less fortunate and feelthat their potential was not realised.
An objective view of a person's career is given by Flippo.According to him, "a career is a sequence of positions held by a
person during the course of life time. It comprises of a series of work related activities that provide continuity, order andmeaning to a person's life." Another subjective view of career isthat career consists of the changes in values, attitudes andmotivation that occur as a person grows older. The underlyingassumption in both these views is that an individual can shapehis destiny through a series of well planned and well timedpositive moves.
Careers today are not what they were several years ago."Careers were traditionally viewed as an upward linearprogression in one or two firms or as stable employees within aprofession". Today, instead, someone's career is more likely tobe "driven by person, not the organisation and reinvented by theperson from time to time as the person and the environmentchange." Some even suggest that tomorrow's career won't be somuch a gradual mountain climb as much as a series of short hillsor learning stages, as the person switches from job to job and
firm to firm.
All this has made the job of HR managers more difficult andcomplex. The psychological and emotional contract betweenemployers and employees has changed. The HR activities likeselection and training are starting to change, in addition toserving the company's needs, these activities much now bedesignee so that the employee's long run interests are servedand that, in particular the employee is encouraged to grow and
realise his full potential. The focus of employees, now-a-days, isnot on performance but on the sort of training, learning anddevelopment, that will allow them to remain marketable.
"Career planning is the deliberate process through which aperson become~ aware of personal career related attributes andthe life long series of stages that contribute to his careerfulfillment." Carrer planning is a process by which one selects
career goals and the path to these goals. The major focus of career planning should be on assisting the employees inachieving a better match between personal goals and theopportunities that are realistically available in the organisation.Career planning is an effort to pinpoint and highlight those areas; that offer psychological success instead of vertical growth.Career planning is ; not an event or end in itself, but acontinuous process of developing human resources for achievingoptimum results.
It must be noted here that individual and organisational careersare not: separate and distinct. A person who is not able totranslate his career plan into I action within the organisationmay probably quit the job, if he has a choice. Organisations,therefore, should help employees in career planning so thatboth, can satisfy each other's needs. Initially, the individual mustaccept responsibility for his own career, assess his owninterests, skills and values and generally take those steps thatmust be taken to ensure a happy and fulfilling career. The!person's manager also plays a role here. For example, themanager will have to' provide timely and objective performancefeed back, other developmental assignments and support andparticipate in career oriented appraisals etc.
The employer/organisation through its policies and systemsalso plays a career planning and development role. For example,he will have to provide career oriented training anddevelopment opportunities, offer career management
programmes and establish career oriented appraisal and job posting policies.
OBJECTIVES OF CAREER PLANNING:
Career planning aims to meet the following objectives:
(i) To offer careers, not jobs to the employees so that talent can
(ii) To have effective utilisation of human resources which will, inturn, lead to greater productivity
(iii) To reduce employee turnover
(iv) To motivate the employees and to boost their morals
(v) To meet the immediate and future human resource needs of theorganisation on a timely basis.
CAREER PLANNING Vs MANPOWER PLANNING:
Both career planning and manpower planning relate to thehuman resources in the organisation, but these are totally
different from each other. The main points of difference betweenthese two are:
(i) Manpower planning is the process of determining manpowerrequirements and the means for meeting these requirements inorder to carry out the integrated plan of the organisation.
Career planning is the process of finding those employees whocould be groomed for higher level positions on the strength of
their performance.
(ii) Manpower planning provides valuable information regardingthe availability of human resources in case of expansion, growthetc. of the organisation.
Career planning gives in a picture of who could succeed in caseof any major developments leading to retirement, death,resignation of existing employees.
In fact, manpower planning is tied to the overall strategicplanning efforts of the organisation. There cannot be effectivemanpower planning in the absence of effective career planning.
INDIVIDUAL CAREER PLANNING:
Planning the career is not an easy matter. Successful careerplanning requires that every individual should set realistic goals,
determine the strengths and weaknesses in his job performanceand develop skills that make him marketable. Before planninghis career, every individual must ask himself the followingquestions:
(i) Who am I ?(ii) Where do I want to go ?(iii) How can I get there?
To answer these questions, he must make a careful self assessment of his needs, interests, values and abilities. Personalstrategies will, then, be formulated for overcoming the
weaknesses and utilising the strengths. Individual careerplanning takes the following factors into account:
1. Preparing Personal Profile. The first important thing incareer planning is the presentation of personal profile. It consistsof various personality traits of the person. It is very difficult toknow one's own nature, but it is essential for preparing personalprofile. One should put some questions to oneself like attitudestowards work, nature, confidence, initiative, future expectationsetc. The answer to these and similar other questions will help indetermining the direction of one's professional career.
2. Formulating Personal and Professional Goals. Bothpersonal and professional goals should be formulated to planone's career. The personal goals will first enable a person toenter the profession and then professional goals will be neededfor reaching higher heights. For example, if a person wants tobecome a doctor, then he should plan his studies for a period of 5-6 years after schooling. Once he becomes a doctor, then hemay set goals for himself in the profession. The setting of performance goals helps in identifying career goals. The careergoals are not set once for all. There should be a flexibility incareer goals. With the change in circumstances andenvironment the goals should be revised.
In order to support long term objectives, there should be shortterm objectives and action plans which can be a part of performance appraisal process. Continuing the previous
example, if one aims to become a doctor then he should studymedical courses for entering this line and then study variousaspects of medicine and surgery. So short term action plans areessential to achieve long term goals.
3. Analysing Environment Effect. A good career planningrequires a systematic analysis of the environment foropportunities. Both inside and outside environment influencecareer planning process. The stage of growth of the
organisation, future expansion plans, thinking of managementetc. should be considered while deciding about career strategy.For example, an expanding organisation will provide more
opportunities to its employees than a mature concern which isnot expected to grow. The outside environmental factors such aseconomic, social, political, technological etc. too need to bediscussed for formulation of career strategy. Not only present,but future environment should also be considered. This requiresforecasting. Since many factors need to be analysed, planning
the career necessitates being selective and concentrating onthose factors which are critical to personal success.
4. Analysis of Strengths And Weaknesses. The strengthsand weaknesses of a person should be matched with jobrequirements and environmental opportunities. Different jobsrequire different skills. One person may be more suitable atsupervisory level only, while the other may go upto middle levelmanagement and so on.
5. Developing Alternatives. A good career planning requiresthe development of several alternatives. The alternatives areassessed in view of the environment and the opportunitiesavailable. One alternative may be suitable under particularconditions while the other may benefit under other situations.Sometimes, efforts are made to overcome weaknesses to takeadvantage of opportunities. The strategies should be developedto meet the threats in the environment and cope with suchsituations. A person with excellent technical and managerialcapabilities may like to join an expanding concern so that hebenefits later on.
6. Developing Contingency Plans. The career plans aredeveloped in the environment of uncertainty. Even though somefuture assumptions are made, but these may not prove correct.So contingency plans should be formulated for facing theuncertain future situations. One may be happy while working ina growing concern because of more career opportunities but an
assumption should be made if the venture fails then what is tobe done.
7. Monitoring Career Plan. The career plan should bemonitored to find out if it goes as per the assumptions or not. Asrequired by a particular situation some adjustments may beneeded. The monitoring should be done at the time of performance appraisal or when some project or assignment iscompleted. The appraisal should be in reference to the goals or
objectives set not only in operating areas but also in areaswhere some milestones were to be achieved.
The Choice of Career of an individual is influenced by hisparents, peer group and sometimes, the status symbolassociated with certain fields. When coupled with lack of awareness about various options available today the choice
becomes even more difficult. Each individual has uniquedisposition and there are numerous vocations demanding variedskill sets. People are also capable of adapting to various jobswithin their range of abilities. Therefore, given appropriatetraining and efforts, one can be fit for more than one job.
The most important aspect regarding this is self awareness. Oneneeds to assess his or her aptitude through standardisedpsychological tests and stay abreast of fast changing scenario of
employment, opportunities and trends in the market. Careerchoice is not a one time episode. Rather it is a long processstarting from planning through preparation and entry. Steppinginto a career warrants setting into life styles.
Self awareness is more than gauging one's aptitude, personalityvariables and interests. Although some jobs may be suitableaccording to one's aptitude, the work conditions and timecommitments may render the Job unsuitable after all. In the
world of work, it is not just the opportunity a valuable but alsoother aspects like the work conditions, nature of Job, salary,environments, future prospects, status symbol and vacations,which need to be considered. An individual can weigh the prosand cons of the alternatives keeping these factor in mind.
Unrealistic and misjudged choices could lead to dissatisfactionand even depression, wise career choices lead to greater Jobsatisfaction, better adjustment in life and an integrated
personality. So before one 'plunges into a career, one shouldquestion, think and act. The important facts while planning thecareer are as follows:(i) Career choice is irreversible. Once a career is chosen, it isextremely difficult to leave it and start again.
(ii) Be aware of employment trends. Select such as career whereit is easy to gain employment and chances of further progressand also there.
(iii) Avoid narrow field of specialisation. It limits one's choice of career.
(iv) Make a realistic choice. The choice made should beaccording to your abilities and not something which is too toughand difficult to achieve, which can lead to frustration.
MANAGING THE WORK SITUATION OR CAREERMANAGEMENT
Every management should have a policy to provide itsemployees with appropriate opportunities, encouragement andcareer growth. This policy should be consistent with thecontribution of the employees to the growth of the organisation.Career planning of the organisation should be done in such away that every employee has a fair. consistent. and uniformchance of promotion, By providing equality of opportunities ingrowth, management can improve the morale of the employees.
Every employee should be provided information about theopportunities of growth that exist in the organisation, dependingupon his qualification and experience.
ELEMENTS OF CAREER MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME
A career management programme should have the followingimportant elements:
1. Preparation of an Upto date Inventory of Job Positionsin the Organisation. The first element in career planning is thepreparation of an upto date job inventory, which will givecomplete information about the job positions. This inventoryshould contain the following information:
(i) Number of Jobs at each level of career paths, number of vacancies' likely to occur due to normal turnover and retirementand additional hands needed on account of implementation of
development programmes.
(ii) Information about the duties, responsibilities and functions of each job.(iii) Requisite academic qualifications, training, skills experienceand personality traits required for performing each jobassignment.
The above information will help in the development of career
pattern, the placement of personnel who will best meet jobrequirements and the promotional opportunities in theorganisation.
2. Preparation of Personnel Inventory of Present andAnticipated Homan Resources. The second element in careermanagement is the preparation of inventory of human resourcesin the organisation. This inventory will contain information aboutthe currently employed manpower resources, their academicqualifications, training, experience of various positions held and
the appraisal of their performance. Further, an estimate will beprepared for the anticipated future manpower requirementsbased on job estimation. This manpower inventory will providethe basis for planning and development of manpower resourcesneeded by the organisation. It will lay a scientific base forplanned career advancement and selection of eligible personsfor career promotions.
3. Career Planning and Development. Till recently, majorityof the organisations are not aware of this element of careermanagement. They are not aware of the needs and aspirationsof the employees. But research has proved that it is veryessential for the organisation to give consideration to the longrange and short range goals and aspirations of the employees.Only then the management can devise career plans which willhelp the employees in moving towards their goals. Thedevelopment of career plans will educate the employees in self-development. From the very stage of entry into the organisationthe employee should know, which career path he has to follow toreach the desired level in the organisation. The managementhas to go through the following stages for an efficient andeffective career management programme:
(i) Matching of Management and Individual Career Plans.While allocating jobs to the employees, management shouldtake into consideration their personal interests, goals, needs,aspiration and capabilities. If the management fails to do so, andthe employees are not associated with their jobs, the employees
will not display their real worth in their work and themanagement cannot make optimum utilisation of manpowerresources. Thus, the management should pnwide a flexibleorganisational structure which will match the career paths withthe individual interests, capabilities, aspirations, attitudes on theone hand and the manpower needs of the organisation on theother hand. Once the individual employee in assigned a specificcareer path, he will be allowed to continue unless it is felt thatthe particular path does not suit the employee or that he will do
(ii) Management Development. A very important segment of career management programme is the managementdevelopment and introduction of development techniques whichhelp in effective implementation of this programme.Development of personnel should relate to the present andfuture needs of the organisation. Moreover, the individual
employees abilities and potentialities as indicated by theirperformance appraisals will also have an impact on thedevelopment programme.
For the development of management skills, a lot of techniquescan be used. But the most important and commonly usedtechniques are "on the job training" and "coaching through workexperience". Training will enhance the skills and knowledge of personnel, give them an added sense of dignity and confidenceand improve their capacities in their respective fields of work.
Training should be given keeping in view the employees' past job experience and anticipated assignments. Managementshould try to have a model plan for each career path, describingthe skills required at specified points of time and devisingtechniques for enabling the employees to acquire or developthese skills. Thus management development can be veryimportant in career management in the following way:
(a) Assessing manpower needs.
(b) Ascertaining skills and capabilities required for effectiveperformance. (c) Utilisation of full potential and capabilities of employees.
(d) Development of potential and capabilities of employeesthrough training and coaching.
(iii) Criteria in Development of Career Planning. In the next
stage, the management has to decide the criteria which is to beused for developing career planning. A number of criteria can beused by the management for this purpose such as :
(a) Dialogue. Dialogues can generate the interest which will beadvantageous to the organisation as well as the individuals.Generally, this dialogue is between the individual employee andhis immediate superior, but it can be between the individual andthe top management of the organisation.
(b) Guidance. Within the framework of the career planning,individual employees can be guided to plan intelligently their
own careers. They should be given information about options,opportunities and goals available.
(c) Involvement and Participation. Employees should beinvolved in the setting of goals, time schedules, value systemand other meaningful issues. This participation will give them a
sense of belongingness to the organisation.
(d) Feedback. There should be an effective feedback of information including employees' personal information as well asinformation about his career paths. This information is to becollected in a systematic way so that it can be used for knowinghow many and what kind of human resources are available inthe organisation.
(e) Dynamic. The career planning programme should bedynamic because individuals are not static, they are changingentities.
(iv) Career Planning System. The career planning system willbe effective only if the individual and organisation are honestand informative about each other. Career planning system cangenerate data of great use in manpower planning process, Thepersonnel department can playa very important role byorganising career planning workshops for employees which givethem the basis for initiating career changes, Some of theimportant methods of career planning are:
(a) Career Paths. "Career paths can be defined as the simplystructured series of predetermined on the job experiences whichresult in job promotions within the organisation itself. Careerpath can be a useful method, only when structured experience isa technical necessity. This method will not be suitable in thechanging environment of individuals and the organisation.
(b) Job Posting. Job posting as a method of career planning isan intra. organisational activity. In this method, the organisation.announces the various positions and vacancies in the classifiedsection of a newspaper. Employees apply for these positionsaccording to their aspirations and career plans. Thus in thismethod, the employees opt themselves for promotion or jobchange, When individuals apply on their own for the vacancies,it will produce a climate in the organisation which will produce
individual and organisational optimisation, This method canproduce very effective and efficient results. Job posting creates
an attnosphere of openness, honesty and confidence among theindividual employees.
(c) Assessment Centre. This method can be applied in almostall the situations. Under this method, miniature situations of jobfunctions and processes are created under controlled conditions,
where individuals may be systematically observed by specialistsand the candidates' readiness to advance in the organisation isevaluated. The process of assessment can be carried out by Idesignated unit of the organisation or a consultant. Theassessment centre is an effective method to provide anobjective evaluation of developed abilities, potential, strengths,weaknesses and motivation of employees. This evaluationprovides a basis of career planning and development.
CAREER MODELS:Research has concluded that there is, generally, uncertaintyamong managers of professional employees about how to guidethe, careers of their subordinates? Why have some professionalsremained high performers over the years while other have not?What have they done differently? Part of the confusion aboutcareers has grown out of the career models used by theorganisations.
(i) Pyramidal Model
The first and most influential model is the Pyramidal Model of organisations and of careers. In this model, authority, status andpay all increase as the individual moves up the pyramid. Asprofessionals first moved into industrial and governmentorganisations, this was the sole career model they encountered.Many professionals with advanced degrees become primecandidates for management positions. But many professionalswere dismayed to find that the ability and willingness to manageseemed almost the sole criteria for advancement, recognition orreward in their organisations.
Similarly, many organisations found that the pyramid modelfailed to take important realities into account. Too often, theyfound themselves promoting a key technical specialist to amanagement position because it was the only way to rewardhim. More and more firms began to set up special new pay and
promotion schemes such as the dual ladder for their professionalemployees in order to recognise the critical contributions theycould make as individuals
. These criticisms have not subsided. Instead, they have persistedand indeed increased in recent years.
(II) The Obsolescence Model
After the initial stage was over, a new problem arose. As thenumber of professional with 20-25 years experience grew, a newmodel of professional careers began to emerge. The lowperformance ratings of many of these senior employees led tothe use of the metaphor of obsolescence. The picture projectedby the metaphor was that of a rapidly changing technology inwhich the skills of the older professionals were rapidly outdatedand in which recent professionals who had mastered the latesttools and techniques were at a premium.
This model carries with it an implied solution to the problem.When it is assumed that professionals become obsolete likemachines, the obvious solution is to update or reeducateprofessionals and to restore them to the state they were in whenthey came out of management school,-on top of the newest andmost sophisticated techniques.
All this money and effort spent on training of obsoleteemployees rests on a questionable model. It has not beenconcluded that these training courses improve performance.
(III) A New Model
A new model of professional careers have been developed byresearchers after an extensive and in-depth research. Accordingto this model there are four distinct stages in a professionallytrained employee's career. Each stage differs from the other inthe tasks an individual is expected to perform well in that stage,
in the type of relationships he engages in and in thepsychological adjustments he must make. Research has provedthat individuals who were moving successfully through thesestages had received the high performance ratings. Converselyindividuals who had remained in the early stages were likely tobe low rated. These stages are as discussed below:
(a) Stage I. In stage I, the individual works under the directionof others as an apprentice, helping or learning from one or more
mentors. As he is new.. to the organisation and lacksexperience, and because others do not know how much they canrely on his judgement, he works under the fairly close
supervision of a more experienced person. Much of the work inthis stage involves fairlyroutine duties. The individual customarily gets assignments thatare part of a larger project or activity directed by a supervisor.Many young professionals find such a relationship frustrating.
They are eager to have their own projects and independent jobs.
If the individual learns quickly and well at this stage, he will begiven increased responsibility. If he fails to do so, he maycontinue to do the routine work under close supervision as longas he remains with the organisation.
(b) Stage II. The primary theme in stage II is independence. Inthis stage, a person is expected to improve his professional skillsto a high level. One way to achieve this competence is todevelop an area of specialisation. Using this strategy of focusinghis energies in one area enables the individual to develop asense of competence. In addition to increasing his self esteem,the individual also tends to enhance his visibility in theorganisation. A carefully selected speciality in stage II usuallyforms the base for a productive and successful career. Failure toestablish such a base is a risk few professionals can afford totake. In stage II, peer relationships take on greater importance.A person at this stage continues to be someone's subordinate,but he comes to rely less on his supervisor or mentor fordirection. Research indicated that doing well in stage II isextremely important in the process of careeer development.Moreover many people remain in stage II throughout theircareers, making substantial contributions to the organisationand experiencing a high degree 'of professional satisfaction.However if they do not move beyond this stage the probabilitythat they will continue to receive above average ratings,diminishes.
(c) Stage III. In stage III, three roles are played by theindividuals. Informal mentor, idea man and manager. These arenot mutually exclusive, one individual may play all the threeroles. The most central shift that occurs as a person, moves intostage III is the nature of his relationships. In stage II, he had totake care of himself, in stage III, he has to take care of others, toassume some form of responsibility for their work. In this stage,he has to satisfy a number of people. He now has responsibilitiesupwards as well as downwards. In this stage, he must develop a
sense of confidence in his own ability to produce results and tohelp others do the same. He must be psychologically able andwilling to take responsibility for someone else's output. Along
with conflicts, stage III also brings long term satisfaction. Thereis adequate socialinvolvement, recognition from peers and the satisfaction of helping junior professionals in furthering their careers.Generally, the organisational rewards, both money and status,reach a fairly satisfactory level. Some people find this stage
satisfying till retirement. Others move on to a new stage.
(d) Stage IV. Stage IV people usually play at least one of threeroles manager, internal entrepreneur, idea innovator. Thesepeople are not close enough to the details of the daily work toperform in these roles. Instead, they formulate policy and initiateand approve broad programmes. One of the major ways in whichthose in stage IV influence the direction of the organisation isthrough the selection and development of key people. Thepeople in this stage are also heavily involved in key relationshipsoutside the organisation.
In this stage, the individual influence others by means, otherthan the direct supervision-through ideas, through personalselection, through reviews, through resource allocation andthrough changes in organisational designs. Another critical shiftfor those moving in stage IV is a broadening of perspective anda lengthening of time horizons. Moreover, he must also becomeaccustomed to using power. He needs to be able to formalliances and to take strong positions without feeling permanentenmity towards those who differ with him.
This new model also raises a number of questions:
(i) Whether the person who skips a stage will be a failure? Theanswer is that though he will not be a failure, but the personwho goes through these stages will be better equipped forsettling into a professional career.
(ii) Whether the only successful people are those who haveprogressed to stage IV ? The answer is that people in all stagesmake important contributions to the organisation. However,research indicates that as people grow older, they are less likelyto be highly valued if they don't move beyond the early stages.
(iii) Do people only move forward in these stages? Generally,those moving backward implies demotion and people are
(iv) Are the stages not merely another way of describing themanagement hierarchy? But this is not so. Many non-managersperfonn stage III and IV work, but in traditional hierarchy nonmanagers could not be in the top hierarchy of the organisation.
Our model of career stages has both pragmatic and theoretical
implications for those who work in organisations as well as forthose who manage them. Individuals need a longitudinalframework within which to form their own career decisions.Managers need a framework for predicting some of the longterm consequences of short term career decisions. Managers inseveral organisations have found it useful to examine the stagesof career development in their own organisations as a way of identifying the factors that block or facilitate movement betweenstages.
iv.: The Japanese Career Model The Japanese model emphasises life time employment andpromotions based on seniority. The Japanese have realised theimportance of a stable workforce long back (immediately afterWorld War II) and have consciously put legal restrictions onterminations. The extensive use of automation and robotics inwork place also contributed to the practice of life timeemployment in Japan. One reason for the widespread use of such advanced technology is that employees know that they willnot lose their jobs. Extensive training is also offered to workersso that they do not leave the company. Despite life timeemployment, Japanese companies do have a mechanism fordischarge, namely, early retirement. Early retirement is given toworkers even in their late 40s-if necessary, of course, backed byattractive severence pay and benefits.
BENEFITS OF CAREER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT:
Career planning and development is beneficial to the individualas well as to the organisation. These benefits are as discussedbelowBenefits To The Individual
1. It helps the individual to discover his own talents, needs andmotives related to work.
2. It helps fulfill the individual's need to know what his positionand future in the organisation will be.
3. It provides a sense of affiliation with the organisation and afeeling that the organisation is interested in the individual'sdevelopment.
4. It provides greater opportunity for the individual to obtainoptimal return for his personal investment (contribution of
talent, time etc.) in the organisation.
5. It provides the individual with a greater awareness of his workenvironment and hence, promotes more intelligent decisionmaking with respect to careers and avoids frustration caused bylack of career information.
6. It helps fulfill the individual's need to retain a sense of controlover his personal destiny in the increasingly complex andimpersonalized modern industrial society.
7. It provides greater opportunities for change in the workingenvironment that would otherwise lead to boredom.
8. It is conducive to job satisfaction by providing assignmentsmost suited to the individual's needs and tastes.
9. It leads to optimal personal development by developingabilities and aptitudes to the full.
Benefits To The Organisation
1. It helps in increasing efficiency/productivity in jobs and inturn, effectiveness in meeting the organisational objectivesthrough greater creativity, motivation and contribution of thestaff.
2. It helps in reducing the turnover of high potential staff and
absenteeism of all staff.
3. It facilitates staff mobility by planning assignments wellenough in to move at short notice.
4. It helps in providing greater assurance of an adequate supplyof qualified personnel for future openings in managerial,technical and other key positions.
5. It promotes continuity of organisational knowledge by drawingmore upon internal personnel resources.
6. It helps in reducing pressure on job classification and otherpersonnel system resulting from frustrated career.
7. It provides an added input in programme planning by offeringmore data on the capabilities of the work force which, in turnpermits a better judgement to be made of whether or in what
manner proposed programme objectives can be accomplished.
8. It prevents organisational chaos by helping to provide a moreregulated, ordered and objective procedure for upward mobilityof the staff members.
9. It promotes optimum utilisation of human resources both atpresent by preventing instances of mismatched staff membersand in the future by permitting longer term planning of thedevelopment of the employee's usefulness to the organisation.
10. It contributes significantly to the reduction of costs.
LIMITATIONS OF CAREER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT:
There are some drawbacks of the career planning anddevelopment also:
1. Career planning is not suitable for small units where theopportunities for vertical growth of the employees are very few.
2. Several environmental factors may upset career planning anddevelopment efforts of the organisation e.g. government policy,reservation policy, regional pressures, trade union demands etc.
3. Problems may crop up, if the management fails to focus onany of the career related issues e.g. minority groups, earlycareer issues, retirement issues, late career issues etc.
STEPS IN EFFECTIVE CAREER PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT:
Systemetic career planning offers a large numbers of benefit tothe individual as well as to the organisation. To ensure thesuccess of such activity, a number of steps should be taken. Afew of these steps are as follows:
1. Support from the Top Management. Career planning
efforts to be effective must receive consistent support and helpfrom the top management.
2. Clear Cut Goals. The corporate goals must be laid downclearly. It is not possible to develop appropriate goals for humanresources if the management is not sure about the corporategoals.
3. Rewards for Performance. There must be appropriate
rewards for employees as well as managers, who show promise.Employees must be made willing to expand their abilities andmanagers must be willing to coach, counsel and share theirknowledge with employees.
4. Proper Placement. Every effort must be made to put theemployees on jobs for which they are best suited. If a talentedemployee is put on a job, below his standard, he will quit infrustration as soon as he gets the opportunity.
5. Career Paths. The career paths for different employeesshould be laid down clearly. Fast promotions should be availableto talented people.
6. Continuous Basis. Career planning efforts should be carriedout on a continuous basis keeping the changing needs of employees and the organisation in mind. A record of careermovements of employees must be kept and periodic assessmentof who has gone where should be made.
7. Awareness. There should be publicity of the careeropportunities in the organisation, so that all the employeesbecome aware of these opportunities.
SUCCESS IN CAREER:
Conventionally, a persons career success is judged by theorganisational level achieved, the salary earned, or the standing
in a profession. Career experts, however, argue that this is toosimple a conception, career success should be judged on severaldimensions as discussed below:
1. Career Performance. Career performance can be judged bythe level of objective success and the level of psychologicalsuccess.
Objective Success. Objective success is usually reflected by
the achievement of the most common measures of success e.g.pay and the attainment of high post in the organisation.Attaining objective success depends upon how well one
performs one's job and the extent to which it is valued by othersin the organisation. While it is generally true that the bestperformers are the most successful, this is by no means alwaysthe case. Sometimes, a person who is a very good performergets passed over for another who is not quite effective. Or twopeople may be equally capable, but their careers may progress
at different rates because they work for different firms eg. aperson working in IT industry will progress at a faster rate ascompared to a person working in paper industry.
Psychological Success. Psychological success occurs when theperson's self-esteem increases. Psychological success may belinked to objective success. It may increase when the pay of aperson increase. It may decrease when one experiences jobdissatisfaction. But self esteem may also increase when onebegins to sense personal worth in many other ways ego Jobrecognition, developing confidence and competence etc.Objective career success may then become secondary. Thissometimes happens after one has achieved some degree of economic security, enough to be certain that family andpersonal commitments can 'be met. The achievement of psychological success explains that why some persons who hadbeen advancing rapidly but then slowed down, can be quitehappy with their lines.
2. Career Attitude. Career attitudes are the specific individualattitudes related to work. These are the attitudes about the workitself, the place of work, Job satisfaction, the level of achievement and the relationship between working life andpersonal life career attitudes begin to be formed early in life,before a person joins a job and continue to be shaped by theperson's work experiences.
3. Career Identity. Individual identity is the unique way that a
person believes he fits into the world. Work, career and a placein the organisation will have an effect on identity. Career identityis that particular facet of a person's identity related to hisoccupational activities.
4. Career Adaptability. Career adaptability is the individual'swillingness and capacity to change occupations and/or the worksetting in order to maintain his standards of career progress.
The level of career adaptability has important implications for
managers, professionals and persons who aspire for careeradvancement. Those interested in advancing to higher levelsmust be able to handle different jobs and to make frequent
moves. Job-hopping is a common practice in many organisationsand it shall continue to stay.
NEW ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES & CHANGINGCAREER PATTERNS:
In strong trend in the 1990's has been called Restructuring,downsizing and rightsizing. Organisations are cutting theirlabour costs by reducing the size of their permanent full timestaff. These cuts have affected middle managers as well as bluecollar workers. Organisations have abolished entire levels of management to become flatter, quicker to respond and closer tothe customers. To meet varying labour needs, the new right sizefirms hire temporary workers or contract out work to smallerfirms and consultants. There has been a substantial rise in parttime employment because (i) part time workers are lessexpensive (ii) they provide greater flexibility in schedulingemployees for peak demand period.
Career patterns for individual employees are also changing. In atraditional career plan, one enters the organisation near thebottom, works in the same firm for many years, gradually andpredictably moves up and retires from a fairly high levelposition. The bulge of young professionals has made climbingthe hierarchy much more competitive and the flattening of organisational structures has reduced the number of management positions. This has caused a great deal of frustration, since the middle aged employees fail to advance asrapidly as they had expected. Even greater frustration andcareer blocking is afflicting young professionals. Most of theseprofessionals resort to Job hopping as a career pattern, toadvance rapidly.Organisations are trying to maintain the motivation andcreativity of employees by developing alternatives to the
traditional hierarchical career path. Some of these alternativesare:
1. Organisational pay and Job Structures are changing toaccommodate new forms of career movement. BroadBanding is becoming. the common practice. It is the combiningof many previous discrete job titles, ranks and pay grades intomuch winder categories ego a company has ended 19,000 Jobtitles and over 32 salary grades into 200 titles and 13 salary
bands. This system encourages lateral Job movement by de-emphasising progress through a myriad of Job grades and by
rewarding both performance excellence and in band jobchanges.
2. Spiral or Cross Organisational Career Paths. Offeranother attraction to today's employees, the possibility of staying in one location much longer. With the increasing number
of dual career couples, people may prefer to remain in the samecommunity for a longer period, moving between different typesof Jobs within the same establishment or moving within thesame specialty across local employers.
Unfortunately, HR specialists are finding it difficult to change theprevailing 'up or out' culture of most organisations, whichdefines lack of upward progress as failure. Employer orientedcreative career planning is becoming even more important toeffectively utilise talent and provide satisfying career for today'semployees. Since traditional linear career planning is no longerfeasible.
