CAREER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION:The term career planning is frequently used in relation young boys and girls studying at the college level. College students are expected to consider their qualities (physical and mental), psychological make-up, likes and dislikes, inclinations, etc. and decide hat they ant to be in their life. !n other ords, they should decide hat they ant to achieve in their life and ad"ust their education and other activities accordingly. This means they have to plan their career. !n such career planning, parents, family members and college teachers offer helping hand and guide young boys and girls in selecting the most suitable career. #ot of literature, psychological tests etc. are also available on career planning. $ven lectures, orkshops and T% programmes are arranged for guiding students on career selection (particularly after the declaration of &'C results). Career planning enables them to use their abilities(qualities fully and make their life happy, prosperous and rich in quality. )t present, even experts are available to help youth in their career planning. !* and other tests are also conducted for this purpose. The term career planning and development is used extensively in relation to business organi+ations. !t is argued that if the organi+ations ant to get the best out of their employees, they must plan the career development programmes in their organi+ation effectively. 'uch programmes offer benefits to employees and also to the organi+ations. The employees organi+ational career planning. ill develop ne skills ill be available to the organi+ation. This type of career planning can be described as

MEANING OF CAREER (WHAT IS CAREER?):) career is a sequence of positions("obs held by a person during the course of his orking life. )ccording to Edwin B. Flippo ,a career is a sequence of ork activities that provide continuity, order and meaning to separate but related

a person-s life.. Career of an employee represents various "obs performed by him during the course of his orking life. This is described as career path. !n the case of an ordinary orker, the career path includes the follo ing "ob positions : /nskilled orker 0 'emi-skilled orker 0 'killed orker 0 &ighly skilled orker 0 )ssistant foreman 0 1oreman.

$mployees (of all categories) skills effectively. )n individual

ant to gro

in their careers as this provides

more salary, higher status and opportunity to use kno ledge, education and ith potentials "oins a firm not for "ob but for career development. )n organi+ation has to provide better opportunities to its employees in their career development and also use their efficient services for the benefit of the organi+ation.

MEANING

OF

CAREER

PLANNING

(WHAT

IS

CAREER

PLANNING?):Career planning is one important aspect of human resource planning and development. $very individual career for himself ho "oins an organi+ation desires to make a good ith a desire ithin the organi+ation. &e "oins the organi+ation

to have a bright career in terms of status, compensation payment and future promotions. 1rom the point of vie of an organi+ation, career planning and development have become crucial in management process. )n organi+ation has to provide facilities(opportunities for the career development of individual employees. !f the organi+ations ant to get the best out of their employees, they must plan regularly the career development programmes in their organi+ations. !n brief, career planning refers to the formal programmes that organi+ations implement to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the human resources available. Career planning and development is the responsibility of the &2 department of the organi+ation. )s already noted, every person "oining an organi+ation has a desire to make career as per his potentiality, ability, skills and so on.

NEED/PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES OF CAREER PLANNING:1) To map out careers of employees as per their ability and to train and develop them for higher positions. 2) To attract and retain the right type of persons in the organi+ation. 3) To utili+e available managerial talent ithin the organi+ation fully. 4) To achieve higher productivity and organi+ational development. 5) To provide guidance and assistance to employees to develop their potentials to the highest level. 6) To improve employee morale and motivation by providing training and opportunities for promotion. illingness and

SCOPE OF ORGANISATIONAL CAREER PLANNING:The follo ing activities(areas are covered career planning: a) HUMAN RESOURCE FORECASTING AND PLANNING:&ere, efforts ill be made to identify the number of employees required in ill be ad"usted ith the overall future. !n addition, the selection procedure strategic goals of the organi+ation. b) CAREER INFORMATION:&ere, information relating to career opportunities (promotions, training for self development, etc) employees to gro ill be supplied to employees. 'upplying career information(opportunities has special significance as this motivates and reach to higher position. c) CAREER COUNSELLING:'uch counselling is next to supplying career information. Career counselling is possible by senior executives through periodic discussions ith their subordinates. 'uch career guidance encourages subordinate employees to take interest in certain areas here suitable opportunities of ithin the scope of organi+ational

career development are available. !t is a type of internal guidance and motivation of employees for the selection of possible career paths. 'uch counselling is needed d) CAREER PATHING:3anagement no plans "ob sequences for transfers and promotions of ith their employees. This makes transfers and promotions systematically make up of employees for self development. e) SKILL ASSESSMENT TRAINING:Training is essential for career planning and also for manpo er development. )long ith "ob analysis, organi+ational and "ob manpo er requirement analysis should be undertaken by the management. This prepares proper background for the introduction of career planning programmes for employees. hen employees have to plan their o n careers and develop themselves for career progress.

advance information to employees. Career pathing creates suitable mental

ADVANTAGES OF CAREER PLANNING:) properly designed system of career planning can provide the follo ing benefits: i. ii. Career planning helps an employee to kno available in an organi+ation. Career planning encourages him to avail of the training and development facilities in the organi+ation so as to improve his ability to handle ne higher assignments. iii. Career planning involves a survey of employee abilities and attitudes. !t becomes possible, therefore to group together people talking on a similar avelength and place them under supervisors avelength. iv. Career planning anticipates the future vacancies that may arise due to retirement, resignation, death, etc. at managerial level. Therefore, it provides a fairly reliable guide for manpo er forecasting. ho are responsive to that and the career opportunities

v.

Career planning facilitates expansion and gro th of the enterprise. The employees required to fill "ob vacancies in future can be identified and developed in time.

DISADVANTAGES/LIMITATIONS OF CAREER PLANNING:The main problems in career planning are as follo s : i. Career planning can become a reality organi+ation. ii. !n a developing country like !ndia, environmental factors such as government policy, public sector development, gro th of back ard areas, etc. influence business and industry. Therefore, career plans for a period exceeding a decade may not be effective. iii. Career planning is not an effective technique for a large number of employees iv. ho ork on the shop floor, particularly for illiterate and unskilled orkers. !n family business houses in !ndia, members of the family expect to progress faster in their career than their professional colleagues. This upset the career planning process. v. 'ystematically career planning becomes difficult due to favouritism and nepotism in promotions, political intervention in appointments and reservations of seats for scheduled castes(tribes and back ard classes. hen opportunities for vertical ability are available. Therefore, it is not suitable for a very small

HOW TO INTRODUCE CAREER PLANNING PROGRAMME? (PROCESS OF CAREER PLANNING):!t is not easy to introduce career development programme at the level of an organi+ation. 3oreover, such career development planning is a continuous activity. 4hat is happening in most of the organi+ations is that this concepts is given only lip service and theoretical importance. !f the organi+ation ants to get

the best out of their employees, it must plan the career developments programmes continuously and effectively in its organi+ation. DETAILS OF THE STEP IN CAREER PLANNING:1) ANALYSIS OF PERSONEL SITUATION:This is the first step hich needs to be completed before the introduction hich career ill be prepared to help of career planning programme. This relates to a time from planning is to be introduced. &ere, the base line

the planners to make pro"ections for the planning period and to help in the evaluation of plans. !n order to analy+e the present career situation, the follo ing information ill be required: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. Total number of employees 0 their age distribution, qualifications, positions, speciali+ations, etc. 'tructure 0 broad as required for each grade. 5ersonnel need of the organi+ation. (Category ise) 'pan of control available ithin the organi+ation. 1ield staff at head office ith necessary details, and 1acilitates available for training and development outside the organi+ation. The information collected on these aspects serves as the base for the preparation of career development plan for the future period. 1. ANALYSIS OF PESONNEL SITUATION ithin and ell as detailed and the qualifications

2. PROJECTION OF PERSONNEL SITUATION 3. 4. 5. IDENTIFYING CAREER NEEDS SELECTION OF PRIORITIES DEVELOPMENT OF CAREER PLANS

6. WRITE UP OF FORMULATED CAREER PLANS 7. 8. 9. 10. MANAGERIAL PLANNING IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW AND EVALUATION FUTURE NEEDS

2) PROJECTION OF PERSONNEL SITUATION:!n this second step, an attempt is being made to find out the situation likely to develop after the completion of career development plan. This can be done on the basis of assumption hich can predict hat is likely to happen at the close of the career development plan. ) IDENTIFYING OF CAREER NEEDS:!n this third step of career development plan, efforts are made to find out precisely the career development needs of the future period. !t is possible to identify the scope and limitations of career development needs on the basis of the data collected (through personnel inventory of the organi+ation, employee potentials, and appraisal of employees). !) SELECTION OF PRIORITIES:!t is rather difficult to meet all the needs of the employees and the organi+ation for career development immediately i.e. through one career development plan. 6aturally, there is a need to select the pressing and urgent problems of employees and organi+ation. !n addition, other factors such as technical, financial and administrative must be taken into consideration hile finali+ing the priorities. ") DEVELOPMENT OF CAREER PLAN:-

This is the most important step in the a. 4hat is to be attained(achieved7

hole process of career developing

plan. 'uch plan must describe the follo ing in concrete form(forms : b. The extent to hich it is to be attained, c. The employees involved, d. The department in hich the proposed plan ill operate ; e. The length of time required the achieving the goals. !n order to execute the career development plan, the organi+ation should : a) !ntroduce systematic policies and programmes of staff training and career development for all categories of employees so as to enable them to: I. !mprove their level of skill and kno ledge ; II. 8ain ider experiences; and III. )ssume higher responsibilities. b) $stablish and effectively implement a system of study leave ; c) 9evelop the experience of the employees by encouraging their rotation from one region to another; d) Take positive steps to encourage career development, such as : I. 5roviding ithin the organi+ation; II. 8iving priorities in the filling of vacancies in the follo ing order for: 1. promotion ithin the organi+ation; 2. Transfer ithin the organi+ation; 3. :utside recruitment. III. I . 2emoving artificial barriers to promotion; $stablishing a register of employees for promotion on meritcum-seniority basis; 6) WRITE#UP OF FORMULATED PLAN:)fter deciding the priorities of career development plan, the next ma"or step is to prepare a rite up (brief report) of the career plan. This rit-up should contain all necessary details such as schedule (time sequence of

plan), procedures and other details so that the evaluation of the plan be easy and meaningful. 7) MONITORING PLANNING $%&% MONITORING OF

ill

CAREER

DEVELOPMENT PLAN:3onitoring of the plan is essential for its effective execution. $xpected results(benefits ill be available only hen the plan is implemented properly. 5lanned (expected) targets and targets actually achieved can be compared through suitable monitoring of the plan. The gap bet een the t o (i.e. short falls) can be located quickly. !n addition, suitable remedial measures can be taken to rectify the shortfalls. 8) IMPLEMENTATION (OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN):!mplementation(execution of the plan is an integral aspect of planning process itself. 1or effective implementation, co-operation and coordination at all levels is necessary. The implementation needs proper monitoring so as to avoid possible shortfalls. 9) REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF CAREER PLANS:) plan needs periodical revie . 'uch evaluation avoids mistakes, deficiencies, etc during the implementation stage. !t is built-in device to measure the effectiveness of the plan. )ctual benefits available kno n only through such revie impartially. 10) FUTURE NEEDS:This is the last step(stage of the current career development plan and the first step(stage of the next plan. &ere, on the basis of the achievements of the current plan, the career needs of the future period (of employees and also of the organi+ation) are estimated. The ne the details of the ne a continuous process(activity. This rule priorities are decided and is applicable to career career development plan are prepared. 5lanning is ill be and evaluation. 'uch evaluation should

be done by experts. !t should be conducted systematically and also

development plans of an organi+ation.

CAREER STAGES:$ducation is thought of in terms of employment. 5eople go for school and college education and prepare for their occupation. %ery fe people stick to the ithin the same "ob throughout their life. 3ost of them s itch "ob either

organi+ation or in some other organi+ation. Chances are they change "obs, depending on available opportunity, several times before retirement. 4here opportunity is restricted they continue follo ing stages: 1) E!"#$%&'I$(:)lmost all candidates ho start orking after college education start around mid-t enties. 3any a time they are not sure about future prospects but take up a "ob in anticipation of rising higher up in the career graph later. 1rom the point of vie of organi+ation, this stage is of no ait and select a career relevance because it happens prior to the employment. 'ome candidates ho come from better economic background can 2) ESTABLISHMENT:This career stage begins ith the candidate getting the first "ob getting hold of the right "ob is not an easy task. Candidates are likely to commit mistakes and learn from their mistakes. 'lo ly and gradually they become responsible to ards the "ob. )mbitious candidates migration to another "ob or he lack of opportunity. ) MID#CAREER STAGE:This career stage represents fastest and gainful leap for competent employees ho are commonly called ,climbers.. There is continuous ho are improvement in performance. :n the other hand, employees unhappy and frustrated performance. !n other to sho ill remain ill keep looking for more lucrative and challenging "obs else here. This may either result in ith the 'ame "ob because of of their choice under expert guidance from parents and ell- ishers. ith the same "ob. They go through the

ith the "ob, there is marked deterioration in their their utility to the organi+ation, employees

must remain productive at this stage. ,climbers. must go on improving

their o n performance. )uthority, responsibility, re ards and incentives are highest at this stage. $mployees tend to settle do n inn their "obs and ,"ob hopping. is not common. !) LATE CAREER:This career stage is pleasant for the senior employees ho like to survive on the past glory. There is no desire to improve performance and improve past records. 'uch employees en"oy playing the role of elder statesperson. They are expected to train younger employees and earn respect from them. ") DECLINE STAGE:This career stage represents the completion of one-s career usually culminating into retirement. )fter decades of hard have to retire. $mployees hard to compromise retirement.. ho ork, such employees ill find it ere climbers and achievers

ith the reality. :thers may think of ,life after

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STAGES IN CAREER DEVELOPMENT

CONCEPT/INTRODUCTION TO CAREER DEVELOPMENT:Career development consists of the personal actions one undertakes to achieve a career plan. The terms Ccareer development- and Cemployee development- need to be differentiated at this stage. Career development looks at the long-term career effectiveness of employees here as employee development focuses of effectiveness of an employee in the immediate future. The actions for career development may be initiated by the individual himself or by the organi+ation.

INDIVIDUAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT:Career progress and development is largely the outcome of actions on the part of an individual. 'ome of the important steps that could help an individual cross the hurdles on the ay Cup- may include: I. PERFORMANCE:Career progress rests largely on performance. !f the performance is substandard, even modest career goals can-t be achieved. II. E'POSURE:Career development comes through exposure, kno n by those opportunities. Dou must undertake actions that of those ho matter most in an organi+ation. III. NETWORKING:6et orking implies professional and personal contacts that ould help inn striking good deals outside (e.g., lucrative "ob offers, business deals, etc.). hich implies becoming ould attract the attention ho decide promotions, transfers and other career

for years men have used private clubs, professional associations, old-boy net orks to gain exposure and achieve their career ambitions. I . LEVERAGING:2esigning to further one-s career ith another employer is kno n as "ob (opportunity in leveraging. 4hen the opportunity is irresistible, the only option left is to resign from the current position and take up the ne terms of better pay, ne strategy in the long-run. . LOYALTY TO CAREER:5rofessionals and recent college graduates generally "ump "obs frequently hen they start their career. They do not think that career-long dedication to the same organi+ation may not help them further their career ambitions. To overcome this problem, companies such as !nfosys, 6!!T, 4!52: (all information technology companies high) have come out here the turnover ratios are generally ho remain ith the ith lucrative, innovative compensation packages in title, a ne learning experience, etc.). ho ever,

"umping the "obs frequently ("ob-hopping) may not be a good career

addition to employee stock option plans for those company for a specified period. I. MENTORS AND SPONSORS:-

) mentor is, generally speaking, an older person in a managerial role offering informal career advice to a "unior employee. 3entors take "unior employees under their protEgE and offer advice and guidance on ho sponsor, on the other hand, is someone in the organi+ation create career development opportunities. to survive and get ahead in the organi+ation. They act as role models. ) ho can

ORGANISATIONAL CAREER DEVELOPMENT:The assistance from managers and &2 department is equally important in achieving individual career goals and meeting organi+ational needs. ) variety of tools and activities are employees for this purpose. () SELF#ASSESSMENT TOOLS:-

&ere the employees go through a process in their life roles, interests, skills and that come in the

hich they think through

ork attitudes and preferences. They

identify career goals, develop suitable action plans and point out obstacle ay. T o self-assessment tools are quite commonly used in the organi+ations. The first one is called the career-planning orkshop. )fter individuals complete their self-assessment, they share their findings light on ho ith others in career to prepare and follo orkshops. These orkshops thro through individual career strategies.

The second tool, called as a career orkbook, consists of a form of career guide in the question-ans er format outlining steps for reali+ing career goals. !ndividuals use this company specific, tailor-made guide to learn about their career chances. This guide, generally thro s light on organi+ation-s structure, career paths, qualifications for "obs and career ladders. )) INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING:$mployee counselling is a process hereby employees are guided in overcoming performance problems. !t is usually done through face-to-face meetings bet een the employee and the counselor or coach. &ere discussions of employees- interests goals, current "ob activities and performance and career ob"ectives take place. Counselling is generally offered by the &2 department. 'ometimes outside experts are also be called in. if supervisors act as coaches they should be given clearly defined roles and training. This is, ho ever, a costly and time-consuming process. *) EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES:These consist of skill assessment and training efforts that organi+ations use to groom their employees for future vacancies. 'eminars, base of skills as a part of such developmental activities. +) CAREER PROGRAMMES FOR SPECIAL GROUPS:orkshops, "ob rotations and mentoring programmes are used to develop a broad

!n recent years, there is gro ing evidence regarding dual career families developing tensions and frictions o ing to their inability to reconcile the differences bet een the family roles and dual career couples (a situation naturally: the ork demands. 4hen e talk of ife have hat if here both husband and

distinct careers outside the home) certain pu++ling questions arise hose career is important; ho takes care of children ; ife gets a tempting promotion in another location ; ho buys

groceries and cleans the house if both are busy, etc. reali+ing these problems, organi+ations are providing a place and a procedure for discussing such role conflicts and coping strategies. They are coming out ith schemes such as part-time centers, flexible ork, long parental leave, child care ith orking hours and promotions and transfers in tune

the demands of dual career conflicts.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT ACTIONS:() JOB PERFORMANCE:$mployee must prove that his performance on the "ob is to the level of standards established, if he ants career progress. )) E'POSURE:$mployee-s desire for career progress should expose their skills, kno ledge, qualifications, achievements, performance etc., to those take the decision about career progress. ho

*) RESIGNATIONS:$mployees may resign the present "ob in the organi+ation, if they find that career opportunities else here are better than those of the present organi+ation. +) CHANGE THE JOB:-

$mployees present "ob.

ho put organi+ational loyalty above career loyalty may

change the "ob in the same organi+ation are better than those in the &) CAREER GUIDANCE:)nd counselling provides information, advice and encouragements to s itch over to other career or organi+ation, here career opportunities are better.