Purpose And Benefits Of Career Development Management Essay

[Reyed Mia (Apprentice, DIU)]

Purpose And Benefits Of Career Development Management Essay

The concept of career development is of growing concern to organizations since it matches the needs of a business with the career goals of employees. Formulating a career development plan can help employees to do their jobs more efficiently. Additionally, these plans can be beneficial for employees who might want to move up in a company or look for other jobs in the future. Today, challenging organizations have developed new concerns for the career development of their employees. They put greater emphasis on 'career' with coherent induction, training and development, increased job security by the accrual of experience and qualifications valued in the labour market. According to Appelbaum and Santiago (1997, pp.11-20), firms have flatter structures whereby an employee can begin to look at career strategies to improve his/her career opportunities.

Since a high majority of workers change their careers at midlife, it becomes evident that career development programs are needed throughout the life cycle. Other major reasons for this concern are:

The growth and productivity of organizations depend on the effectiveness of employee performance.

A change in the social values where employees do not consider work as the most important thing in life but rather selecting occupations and careers that fit the individual.

2.1 Definition of Career Development
McDaniels and Gysbers (1992, p.138), state that career development is "the total constellation of psychological, sociological, educational, physical, economic, and chance factors that combine to shape the career of any given individual over the life span.

On the other hand, Gilley and Eggland, (1989, p.48) has defined career development as 'an organized, planned effort comprised of structured activities or processes that result in a mutual career plotting effort between employees and the organization.'

Greenhaul et al (2000) cited in Desimone, Werner and Harris (2002), has defined career development as "an ongoing process by which individuals progress through a series of stages, each of which is characterized by a relatively unique set of issues, themes and tasks." Career development involves two sets of activities: career planning and career management. Career planning is defined as the activities performed by an individual, with the assistance of counselors and other individuals to assess the skills and potential of employees to be able to establish a realistic career plan while career management consists of activities that help an individual to develop and carry out career plans. Desimone, Werner and Harris (2002) points out that "career management involves taking the necessary steps to achieve that plan, and generally focuses more on what the organization can do to foster employee career development."

2.2 Purpose and Benefits of Career Development
Career Development is a very important aspect of a person's life. Rewards and benefits are obtained only when a person is able to develop the career. Career Development helps individuals to develop their capabilities and improve their performance. It is a challenge for organizations to respond to the development initiatives that individuals are engaged in and to make career investments in order to enjoy quicker returns in terms of career growth and progression (Koropov and Kapova, 2007). A recent study of Jo Justin (2010) outlined the various benefits of career development which are as follows:

Reduces attrition of employees
A Career development program helps to increase the level of satisfaction of the employees and therefore reduce the number of people who intend to leave the organization.

Provides equal opportunity employment
There is chance for equal opportunity employment when one considers the career development program since these programs identify each person for the merits. Highly effective people and the results that are shown by the individual are taken as a criterion for their development and not other criteria, which therefore demonstrate equal opportunity.

Improves the use of the employees
Career development enables employees to learn better aspects of their work and improve their capabilities. It also helps them to manage their time efficiently and ensure that the use of employees increases over time.

Improves the quality of the work life of employees
Career Development helps employees learn better methods of working, work ethics and other important aspects of work.

Improves the organization itself
Through a career development program, employees have an increased knowledge of the various activities of the firm. Therefore the sharing of knowledge and work ethics tend to make the organization improve.

Increases the skill of the employees
An employee's skill is improved if he/she goes through a career development program. These programs aim at increasing various facets of a worker's life which makes the latter perform better at work.

2.3 Key success factors for Career Development
2.3.1 Organisational support
Organisational support for Career Development, also called organisational sponsorship or organizational career management, refers to programs, processes and assistance provided by firms to support and enhance their employees' career success. Organisational career management comprises formal and informal strategies. Formal strategies include studies sponsorship, career planning, training and assessment centres while informal support include mentoring, coaching and networking opportunities (Barnett and Bradley, 2007, p.622). In our competitive labour market, it is increasingly difficult and costly to attract and retain the best employees with the necessary skills. Hence it is imperative for organizations to convince employees that they provide better opportunities, challenges and rewards than their competitors. As such, Erdogan et al., (2004); Heslin (2005) in Barnett and Bradley (2007) state that it is a challenge for firms to attract, motivate and retain the best employees. One way that organisations may meet this challenge is to support employees to develop their own careers and increase their career satisfaction. Baruch (2006, pp.125-38) argued that organizations need to adopt a supportive rather than directive role, which can enable their employees' career success. This implies that organizations should adopt strategies that enhance employees' career satisfaction and so potentially increase the organisation's ability to attract and retain these employees.

Employees will generally strive to fulfill their obligations, by showing greater organizational commitment, higher productivity levels, higher job satisfaction and lower turnover levels, if they perceive that the company is fulfilling its obligations through suitable career development practices, promotion, training and support, and so on. As such, organizations must adopt a strategy for careers that tackles career management in an integrative and holistic way. As pointed out by Harrison (1997), top management in an organization must ensure that line managers take full responsibility for building and maintaining an environment in which it becomes possible for employees to take responsibility to develop their own careers and make good choices.

2.3.2 Planning
Harrison (1997) identified five different kinds of planning needed for a career management system to achieve its aims in an organization:

planning for staffing

planning for performance management and development

planning for change

planning for leveling off and disengagement

planning for replacement and re-staffing.

2.4 Evolution of Career Development
Desimone, Werner and Harris (2002), depicted two approaches of career development namely: traditional model and contemporary model of career development.

2.4.1 Traditional Models of Career Development
An adult progresses through a sequence of stages during his/her work life. Greenhaus et al (2000) describe the traditional model as "the notion of an orderly series of career stages linked to age ranges, place the career into the context of a person's life, and contains overlapping concepts." In this regard, Greenhaus combined these approaches into a five-stage model which are briefly described below:

Stage 1: Occupational Choice (Preparation to work)
Individuals engage in assessing possible occupations and selecting the best one

Stage 2: Organisational Entry
This stage is where an individual selects a job and a firm to start working in the chosen career field.

Stage 3: The Early Career (Establishment and Achievement)
At this stage, an individual has established a career by finding a right place in the world and becoming proficient in an organization.

Stage 4: The Midcareer
The midcareer stage is when an individual his/her life structure and choices adopted during the early career.

Stage 5: The Late Career
There are two challenges at this stage:

An individual strives to remain productive in work and maintain self-esteem.

An individual prepares for effective retirement.

2.4.2 Contemporary Views of Career Development
With the emergence of new technology, globalization, changing of employment relationship, team working and flatter organizational structures, employees and organizations are now flexible and adaptable in an uncertain environment. As such, Hall and Mirvis (1995) advanced the concept of protean career which means that individuals drive and reinvent their own careers. Hence, with time, an individual will be involved in lifelong learning and self-development which are the core aspects of career development. A more recent study (Yongho 2009, p.637) found that "protean career reflects a new psychological contract between employer and employee which is based on the transactional relationship". Furthermore, Hall (2002) pointed out that protean career is the extent to which an individual manages his/her career in a proactive and self-directed way driven by personal values.

2.5 Conceptual Model of Career Development
As proposed by Jackson et al (2006), a conceptual model of career development helps to establish a clear definition of career development process and its components which comprises of assessment, direction and development.

Figure 1: Components of Career Development
Source: Donald W. Jackson Jr et al (2006)

Component 1- Assessment

It is concerned with evaluating an employee's strengths and weaknesses through self-assessment or organizational assessment which may be evaluated through performance appraisal or assessment centres.

Component 2: Direction

Direction involves the type of career an employee wants to take and the drivers to achieve the career goals. It includes socialization, career workshops, individual career counseling and career information services.

Component 3: Development

Development is the process on trying to build on strengths and overcome weaknesses by developing appropriate programs to ensure individual success and capabilities.

Based on our study, we will focus mainly on the development part.

2.5.1 Career Development Programs
As pointed out by Jackson et al (2006), a career development programme is a planned process for linking employees' career needs with the organizations career needs. Today every individual focuses on the development of his/her career as there is fierce competition in the labour market. Hence, organizations need to begin to realize the importance of career development programs that are eminently suited to all employees in an organisation. Career development programs have enabled managers to reconcile problems such as low productivity, high labour turnover and low morale at work. Tser-Yieth Chen et al (2004) argued that human resource managers must recognize that there are a number of diverse groups within an organization, and hence, the career development programs that are developed for these employees must be flexible enough to accommodate this diversity. As a result, career development programs help employees to satisfy their career expectations and enhance their level of job satisfaction

The career development programs are:

2.5.1.1 Mentoring
Murrell, Crosby, & Ely (1999) as cited in Vaiman and Vance (2008) state that "mentoring occurs between two people in which the more experienced and knowledgeable mentor provides a host of career development, (e.g., sponsorship, exposure, visibility, coaching, protection, and challenging assignments) and psychological (e.g., role modeling and acceptance) functions to a prot?g?." Mentoring is therefore an important influence in professional development where the war for talent is creating challenges within organizations to retain talent. For instance, the benefits of mentoring include increased employee performance, retention, commitment to the organization and sharing of knowledge.

2.5.1.2 Job enrichment
Job enrichment is another aspect that can help towards the development of an individual's career. Desimone, Werner and Harris state that "job enrichment involves varying some aspects of the job in order to increase the potential to motivate workers" (2002, p.585). In other words, this implies that jobs should be redesigned to motivate employees to take responsibility and attain increased levels of achievement. Hence, jobs should be challenging, interesting and meaningful and employees must be given appropriate recognition and advancement in their careers for a job well done.

2.5.1.3 Coaching
According to Armstrong (1996), coaching is "a person to person technique designed to develop individual skills, knowledge and attitudes." Furthermore, Don and Bruce (1996), suggest that coaching requires a person who has the appropriate knowledge to instruct other people on an individual or team basis. While knowledge of the task is important, an effective coach must possess good communication skills to provide effective information to the individual.

2.5.1.4 Training programs
A recent study of Bhatti and Kaur (2009) stated that training is one of the most efficient and reliable human resource technique to enhance organizational and employee productivity. In line with this, Bhatti and Kaur (2010) pointed out that training programs should be designed in a way that create win-win situation for both the firm and employees. However, a recent study by Shrestha (2009) indicated that the negative aspects of training and development are increment in salary and promotion by the trained employees, demonstration of overconfidence and intention to quit the job.

2.5.1.5 Job rotation
Job rotation is a lateral transfer of employees between jobs in an organization. It is a staffing strategy for employees in their early careers than for those in late career. Job rotation is a way for employees to increase their networks of contacts and facilitate the transfer of company culture. Harvey and Bruce (1996), suggest that job rotation enables an employee to learn several job skills and a wide range of operations within an organization.

2.5.1.6 Tuition assistance programs
Firms must offer assistance programs to support their employees' education and development. A tuition-reimbursement program is an important aspect of a professional development program as it increases the probability employees will continue with their education and continue to work for the firm in the future. These programs include educational expenses, including tuition and exams fees and such programs make employees become more valuable, creative and innovative (Desimone, Werner and Harrris, 2002).

Employee Retention
3.0 Introduction
The human resource possesses skills, experience and knowledge that add economic value to organizations. Employees play a fundamental role to the achievement of organisational goals. Hence, it becomes imperative for firms to adopt appropriate retention strategies for their workforce. In Mauritius, many organizations invest on employees' studies as well as training and development programs to build employees capabilities. For instance, most of the accounting firms offer the possibility for HSC and degree holders to work for them and study at the same time by sponsoring their ACCA tuition and exams fees. Unfortunately, after a few years of working, many employees get better jobs elsewhere while others continue further studies abroad. Moreover, many organisations face the problem of frequent labour turnover arising job dissatisfaction on the part of the workforce due to inappropriate employee retention strategies which include poor working environment, lack of employee involvement in decision making, poor remuneration and the application of traditional retention strategies.


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