A RESEARCH AND CASE STUDY ANALYSIS TO JUSTIFY CAREER MANAGEMENT PLANNING FOR EMPLOYEES

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CONTENTS PAGE Executive Summary..iii Introduction.. 1 Philosophy behind Career Management Plans 2 Background and Key Findings of Case Studies/Research Work Considered 2 Right Management Inc Report.. 2 Case Study on Nigeria Bank Employees.. 4 Case Study on Information Technology Industry.. 4 Recommendations Derived and Conclusions......... 5 References.. 6

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1. Employees who Know the Way to Progress are More Engaged in Company Work than those who have no Idea of Career Ascent Scope.. 3 2. More than Half of the Workforce is Motivated to Stay in a Positively Ascending Career Environment. 3 3. Correlated Model of Career Development shows Better than Satisfactory Ratings in Variables Affecting Employee Mood 4

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The paper is a research analysis upon the subject of Career Management plans, their role and justification in modern organization structure, for the benefit of employees and therein conversely, the organization at large. Career Management Plans are Essential for Continual Growth The competitive edge a strong workforce offers is paramount in todays changing scenario of organization. Mergers, acquisitions, dissolution, etc. are almost a daily affair and the change of organizational objectives may often affect the clarity of employees. Career Management plans enable them to foresee their new roles, in the light of such changes and help them adapt quickly. This, notwithstanding, the consistent ascent in career, up the ladder, gaining more experience, change of profiles, managerial opportunities, promotion and remuneration: such salient points in the career are effective motivators for employees and their effort transcends when put under such a roadmap which promises value and appreciation in return for performance, thereby also lending an incentive of growth for the organization, overall. Research and Case Studies Reveal Positive Impacts While over the years, eminent management theoreticians, human resource practitioners have continually voiced, opined, and postulated certain models of career development schemes and policies, their empirical nature made them dicey and not compliant to generic implementation. More recent practices, fledging feedback oriented research has rendered effective and actionable results. Firms like Right Management Inc and Batrus Hollweg International, have shown through individual case studies, reports and surveys etc. the positive impact career management plans have rendered upon organizations. Interestingly, more and more educationists are indulging in decoding the right formula for effective career development plans, and most of them involve in extensive statistical research that generates standardized and normalized results. Their observations, during such initiatives, help us discover consistently, how the empirical theories of the past have been holding true, though on case to case basis. Return of Investment An Important Metric While most of the organizations employ huge staff for their human resource management, rarely do they employ standard assessment and measurement tools that yield real time and relative indexed performance metrics with respect to the overall growth of the association. This is where the Return Of Investment in Human Capital needs assessment and such an initiative is necessitated to maintain the progressiveness of human capital in an organization. iii

A RESEARCH AND CASE STUDY ANALYSIS TO JUSTIFY CAREER MANAGEMENT PLANNING FOR EMPLOYEES

INTRODUCTION With the slow and steady advent of conglomerates like General Electric, which is still reputed for its leadership training and human capital enrichment, it has become a global trend to value the ethos and pathos of the employees, and therein motivate their efforts towards aligning them with the objectives of the company at whole. This requires special effort on the part of human resource executives of companies to educate and guide the employees upon the relevant goal, objectives and performance benchmarks that must be considered for progressive development. Over the years, consistent research and experimentation by many management theoreticians and practitioners has yielded the important perspectives towards guidance methodologies for the employees, which pertains to their career trajectory and enables them realize their full potential. This paper delves deep into some recent case studies, research works, findings, recommendations, etc. by eminent practitioners and management educationists, to extract some logical and objective points that would saliently justify the importance of career management plans, career development schemes, etc. for the overall enrichment of employees. Notably, we find that such initiatives are true investments on the companys part which yield astonishing results. During the course of this we also encounter how some of the metrics that point towards the importance of strong career plan appraisals, are often ignored or remain unobserved, thanks to the idiosyncrasies of most mid and top level managers. The paper considers some case studies and some research reports, apart from articles and essay reviews by some notable authors. Overtly, the paper is encouraged by the findings of Right Management, a talent management firm; a case study on Nigerian Bank employees; and another case study on the information technology industry. Additionally we also use critical references from: a case study on Manheim, a vehicle remarketing firm, conducted by Batrus Hollweg International; and some paraphrases from Leadership: Classical, contemporary and critical approaches by Keith Grint. The reference list details the publication details of each source consider.

PHILOSOPHY BEHIND CAREER MANAGEMENT PLANS The perspectives: of leadership being contextually measureable, as noted by R. M. Stogdill; of the importance and relevance of conditions, actions, and the emotions of followers being relevant to leadership, as suggested by Chester Barnard; and the situational approach of contingent action in leadership to control and assess group behavior, a theory by Fred E. Fiedler (Grint, 1997) draws us to think that leadership is often misconstrued as action from the top brass. It entails us to think that there are factors in the lower brasses of the organization that compel and buffer the progress of an organization. Giving special attention to the enrichment of employees is a mark of good leadership, which gains their trust and therein lays the primary intent of crafting and designing a career management plan or career development scheme for the employees because results show that career development had a stronger linkage with job satisfaction than career commitment (Adekola, 2011). Another strong point to be taken into account is performance is the precursor for career management and development, hence for any employee development is dependent on performance and that career management is a moderating variable in this entire process (Appelbaum, Ayre, & Shapiro, 2001). As may be paraphrased from the reports of Right Management, a subsidiary of Manpower Inc (leading employment services provider), the delegation of people with right skills for the right jobs, so as to meet the current and future demands of organization, as well as the gross objectives it is required that the available resources (human and material, both) be aligned in coordination with the organizations objectives. Changing environments, continuous and predictable nature of organizations being involved in mergers and acquisitions: the dynamic work environment needs the employees to be adaptable, which is rendered when they have clear ideas of their career growth and career ascent scope (Management, 2009).

BACKGROUND AND KEY FINDINGS OF CASE STUDIES/RESEARCH WORK CONSIDERED While each of the case studies and research work has deep rooted theory and tabulations to support and logically state the findings, some f the most endearing and stark facts are the only ones we concentrate on to bring ahead the objective justifications for the career management plans. Right Management Inc Report In a global survey conducted independently by Right Management, which had almost 28,000 respondents, across 10 countries and 15 major industries, it was found that most leaders and managers lack the skill and effective technical knowledge to guide their employees and subordinates through an enriching career ascent plan.

3 The survey, which had employees from organizations whose revenue ranged between US$1 million and US$1 billion, also observed the lack of self assessment tools in most offices for the employees. Also, it observes that many of these do not take into account the relevance of Return Of Investment (ROI) metrics on the human capital investments. The report also shows stark correlation between the employee engagement and their perception of progression towards career goals, and how detrimental are those employees to the work environment who have no roadmap or motivation towards career growth.
Figure 1 Employees who Know the Way to Progress are More Engaged in Company Work than Those who have no Idea of Career Ascent Scope

Source: Report Career Development- Increase the strength of your workforce, Right Management Inc (2009)

A roadmap, a foresight or even a general idea of the expected progress that a company can offer an employee is instrumental in their retention. We encounter that the statistics that show how motivating a favorable career climate can prove to be in shaping the intent of an employee towards continuing in the given company.
Figure 2 More than Half of the Workforce is Motivated to Stay in a Positively Ascending Career Environment Source: Report Career DevelopmentIncrease the strength of your workforce, Right Management Inc (2009)

Case Study on Nigeria Bank Employees This study on a sample space of 505 employees from The First Bank of Nigeria, yielded how Career planning, career management, job satisfaction and career commitment directly impact the career development of the sample employee base. The author has indulged in a flurry of references, paraphrases and citations of major management gurus and scholars throughout the century therein drawing attention to the fact that importance of career management planning and the relevant policy making has been undermined for a long time, in spite of continuous dictums by stalwarts of human resource planning. Based on his hypothesized model of career development, the statistic of the study show that The mean scores for career planning, career development, job satisfaction and career commitment were greater than five indicating a high degree of agreement from the respondents (the variables were measured on a 7 point Likert scale where 7 denoted strongly agree) (Adekola, 2011).
Figure 3 Correlated Model of Career Development shows Better than Satisfactory Ratings in Variables Affecting Employee Mood

Source: Journal Article - Bola Adekola PhD., Australian Journal of Business and Management Research, 2011

Case Study on Information Technology Industry This case study selects the Information Technology domain for its analysis, owing to the strong predictability of constant change affecting this domain. As stated within, this industry also retains the financial strength, retentive employment attractiveness, and the overawing dependence of other industries which allow it to indulge in some long term investments like Career Management Planning for its human capital. The case study derives how performance is basically the forerunner for career development, and a career management plan simply moderates this process.

RECOMMENDATIONS DERIVED AND CONCLUSIONS We identify from that there are key elements in an organizational environment that address to the overall progressiveness of the employees, and conversely they catalyze the performance of the organization. Career development, as a whole, resides primarily in: Rewarding and recognizing effort with promotions & delegation of responsibilities Enriching the employees through learning and explorative assignments Maintaining a succession plan roadmap, for every generic position thereby offering motivation to employees Self assessment tools and personalized Career Mapping Ensuring equal opportunities (gender based), and enabling empathetic discourse of reforms, therein ensuring retention of human capital Shaping career plans in adherence to the long term organizational objectives We must acknowledge that the career management planning, policy making and scheming must concurrently inculcate the interests of the employees and the gross objective attention towards retention of human capital to the organization, apart from the inherent attention to shaping a pool of talent which peaks at the most important times, and is motivated towards the progress and success of the organization. Steps 2, 3, and 4 (International, 2009), employed in creating an empowering system of employees in Manheim, a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc. (a worldwide leader in vehicle remarketing services), are currently very practical and conceivable for todays organizational scenario. On a conclusive note, we do observe the perks of maintaining a career management program for the workforce. It is evident how such a scheme develops a trust between the employee and employer relation, accounts for a growth in the performance metrics, relents the scope for job dissatisfaction, ensures a firm grip on the measurability of individual performance, by extrapolating the overall company output With every organization already invested and divested in multiple domains, the scenarios of changing environments in workplace is commonplace. A career management plan ensures that employees adapt to such changes more readily, thanks to the plan they foresee, and find new roles suited for their skill set and rearrange their positions, job profiles without any major setback or delay in the transitional procedures.

REFERENCES Adekola, B. (2011). Career Planning And Career Management As Correlates For Career Development And Job Satisfaction A Case Study Of Nigerian Bank Employees. Australian Journal of Business and Management Research , 100-112. Appelbaum, S. H., Ayre, H., & Shapiro, B. T. (2001). Career Management In Information Technology: A Case Study. Career Development International , 142-158. Grint, K. (1997). Leadership: Classical, contemporary and critical approaches. Oxford Management Readers. Oxford University Press. ISBN-10: 0198781814 ISBN13: 9780198781813 International, B. H. (2009). Implementing A Career Management System And The Power Of Engagement. Retrieved September 15, 2012, from Research Institute BatrusHollweg: http://www.bhiresearchinstitute.org/ri-case-studies/Implementing-A-CareerManagement-System-And-The-Power-Of-Engagement.html Management, R. (2009). Career Development - Increase the Strength of your Workforce. Melbourne: Right Management Inc.