Performance Management… Principles of Performance Management › HRM Megaposts

Administration of Human Resources in Organizations

Administration of Human Resources:

1. Performance Management
2. Principles of Performance Management
3. Performance Management Cycle
4. Performance Management vs Performance Appraisal
5. Benefits of Performance Management
6. 7 Strategies for People and Performance Management
7. Career Management Introduction
8. Career Management Best Practices
9. Career planning
10. Elements of Career Planning Programs
11. Career Paths
12. Career Development
13. Meeting the Challenges of Effective Career Development

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Performance Management

History of Performance Management

Performance Management began around 60 years ago as a source of income justification and was used to determine an employees wage based on performance. Organisations used Performance Management to drive behaviours from the employees to get specific outcomes. In practice this worked well for certain employees who were solely driven by financial rewards. However, where employees were driven by learning and development of their skills, it failed miserably. The gap between justification of pay and the development of skills and knowledge became a huge problem in the use of Performance Management. This became evident in the late 1980s; the realisation that a more comprehensive approach to manage and reward performance was needed. This approach of managing performance was developed in the United Kingdom and the United States much earlier than it was developed in Australia.
The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) is an association dedicated to improving productivity and performance in the workplace. Founded in 1962, ISPI represents more than 10,000 members throughout the U.S., Canada, and 40 other countries. ISPI's mission is to develop and recognize the proficiency of its members and advocate the use of Human Performance Technology.
The International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) represents over 7,500 HR professionals at the Federal, state and local levels of government. Founded in 1906, IPMA-HR provides information and assistance to help HR professionals increase their job performance and overall agency function by providing cost effective products, services and educational opportunities.
In recent decades, however, the process of managing people has become more formalised and specialised. Many of the old performance appraisal methods have been absorbed into the concept of Performance Management, which aims to be a more extensive and comprehensive process of management. Some of the developments that have shaped Performance Management in recent years are the differentiation of employees or talent management, management by objectives and constant monitoring and review. Its development was accelerated by the following factors:
• The introduction of human resource management as a strategic driver and integrated approach to the management and development of employees; and
• The understanding that the process of Performance Management is something that’s completed by line managers throughout the year – it is not a once off annual event coordinated by the personnel department.
Nowadays, great significance is being given to Performance Management, as companies incorporate them in their effective management strategies. However, a lot of people find this process a complicated one, mostly because of the many options that it offers - on the organization, a specific department/branch, a product or service, and employees, among others.
In order to minimize this confusion, the items below will give you a general idea of what Performance Management is all about as well as the activities that are involved in this process.

What is Performance Management?

Performance management is a process that provides both the manager and the employee (the person being supervised) the chance to determine the shared goals that relates to the overall goals of the company by looking into employee performance.

Why is it important?

Performance Management establishes an outline for employees and their performance managers to assess and to come to an agreement on certain concerns and aims that are in accordance with the overall structure of the company. This enables both parties to have clear objectives that would help them in their work and their professional growth.

Who conducts Performance Management?

Performance Management is carried out by those who oversee the performance of other people - work/team leaders, supervisors, managers, directors, or department chairs.
Many writers and consultants are using the term “performance management” as a substitution for the traditional appraisal system. I encourage you to think of the term in this broader work system context. A performance management system includes the following actions.
• Develop clear job descriptions.
• Select appropriate people with an appropriate selection process.
• Negotiate requirements and accomplishment-based performance standards, outcomes, and measures.
• Provide effective orientation, education, and training.
• Provide on-going coaching and feedback.
• Conduct quarterly performance development discussions.
• Design effective compensation and recognition systems that reward people for their contributions.
• Provide promotional/career development opportunities for staff.
• Assist with exit interviews to understand WHY valued employees leave the organization.
• We have worked with some of the most advanced organizations in terms of Performance Management
Facts
Employee assistance programs (EAP) are designed to resolve problems concerning health, marriage, family, finances, alcohol, drugs, law, stress or other things that may affect an employee’s work performance. EAP programs are usually provided at no cost to employees and their dependents.
The field of performance management can comprise two separate types of management. In one aspect of performance management, an analyst may view the performance of a company as a whole, and also evaluate the effectiveness of the managers and heads of companies in reaching goals. In another sense, performance management may be a system of evaluating employees to help them reach reasonable goals and thus ensure that the company performs better. This discussion will focus on the latter definition.
Performance management of individual employees differs. It generally includes the following: planning work, setting goals, offering feedback and reviews, offering opportunities to learn more in one’s field, and rewarding employees who perform well.
Employee performance management works best when work is planned and goals are consistent. This may mean having a clear way to communicate regarding work expected at the moment and upcoming work. Planning also includes defining expectations of the employee so that he or she is not broadsided by evaluation criteria not included in planning.
Planning and setting goals in performance management also creates a system of predictable rewards for good performance, and consequences for poor performance. This way the employee can reasonably assume the consequences of work performance, whether good or bad.
Performance management also involves giving feedback to employees on a more consistent basis than the average annual review. Instead, an employee’s ability to exceed or failure to meet goals may be monitored on a monthly basis. This provides the employee with either the opportunity to receive compliments and rewards fairly regularly, or to make behavior changes sooner if performance is not up to par.
Often employees feel that end of the year reviews contain criticisms of work in the past year that were never openly discussed with the employee. The employee benefits from a more consistent model of performance management evaluation, since this gives a person time to address issues and change problem issues.
In a performance management model, employees must also be given ways to grow and develop in their field. This means giving opportunities to work on harder projects, pairing less-skilled employees with expert employees, and offering team models where employees can direct and make decisions. Greater responsibility and opportunities to advance in one’s field are essential to maintaining happy and productive employees.
Rewards are also a huge part of performance management. The greatest part of this is rewards of monetary nature, either in bonuses or raises, when employees perform well. As well, employees who actually are now qualified to work in a high level of their field should be placed in positions of greater responsibility, and receive a greater share of pay. Performance analysis should focus as much or more on positive performance than it does on negative performance. Rewards for positive performance must be real and tangible, or else the company runs the risk of becoming a “negative action” company only.
Employee performance management may be taught to companies who have difficulty maintaining performance of employees or who have a long history of unhappy employees and turnaround. Companies may hire experts in performance management to learn how to model its concepts.
THE OVERALL PURPOSE AND AIMS OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
The overall purpose of performance management is to contribute to the achievement of high performance by the organisation and its people. 'High performance' means reaching and exceeding stretching targets for the delivery of productivity, quality, customer service, growth, profits and shareholder value.
Specifically, performance management aims to make the good better, share understanding about what is to be achieved, develop the capacity of people to achieve it, and provide the support and guidance people need to deliver high performance and achieve their full potential to the benefit of themselves and the organisation.
Performance management is concerned with under-performers, but it does this positively by providing the means for people to improve their performance or make better use of their abilities.
An effective performance management system:
A. Requires a shared responsibility between supervisor and employee.
B. Clarifies and aligns performance objectives with university and unit goals and institutional values.
C. Includes feedback and coaching concerning job performance.
D. Identifies training and professional development needs.
E. Measures and documents performance.
F. Provides input for human resource decisions (e.g. compensation, recognition, etc.).
Facts
People work an average of 45 hours a week but consider about 17 of those hours to be unproductive, according to an office productivity survey of more than 38,000 people in 200 countries conducted by Microsoft. The most common productivity barriers reported were unclear objectives, lack of team communication and ineffective meetings, followed by unclear priorities and procrastination.

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Principles of Performance Management

The principles of performance management

• It translates corporate goals into individual, team, department and divisional goals.
• It helps to clarify corporate goals.
• It is a continuous and evolutionary process, in which performance improves over time.
• It relies on consensus and co-operation rather than control or coercion.
• It creates a shared understanding of what is required to improve performance and how it will be achieved.
• It encourages self-management of individual performance.
• It requires a management style that is open and honest and encourages two-way communication between superiors and subordinates.
• It requires continuous feedback.
• Feedback loops enable the experiences and knowledge gained on the job by individuals to modify corporate objectives.
• It measures and assesses all performance against jointly agreed goals.
• It should apply to all staff.
• It is not primarily concerned with linking performance to financial reward.
To which could be added that performance management is about providing support as well as direction.
The extensive research conducted by the CIPD in 1997 and 2003/4 (Armstrong and Baron8) identified ten maxims from practitioners on how these principles should be applied:
1. 'a management tool which helps managers to manage'
2. 'driven by corporate purpose and values'
3. 'to obtain solutions that work'
4. 'only interested in things you can do something about and get a visible improvement'
5. 'Focus on changing behaviour rather than paperwork.'
6. 'It's about how we manage people - it's not a system.'
7. 'Performance management is what managers do: a natural process of management.'
8. 'based on accepted principles but operates flexibly'
9. 'Focus on development, not pay.'
10. 'Success depends on what the organisation is and needs to be in its performance culture.'
Julie Hill, HR Partner, Retail Sales, Retail Development and HEA Central Sites, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), explained that the principles of their approach to performance management were:
• having a simple process which removes unnecessary paperwork
• establishing simple, clear performance plans
• providing managers with a framework for recognising and differentiating colleagues' individual contribution and rewarding them through devolved pay
• ensuring that any issues around performance shortfalls or capability are resolved
• 'Documentation has to be the exception.'
Julie Hill also pointed out that:
Managing performance is about coaching, guiding, appraising, motivating and rewarding colleagues to help unleash potential and improve organisational performance. Where it works well it is built on excellent leadership and high-quality coaching relationships between managers and teams. Through all this our colleagues should be able to answer three straightforward questions:
1. What is expected of me? How will I be clear about what is expected of me in terms of both results and behaviour?
2. How am I doing? What ongoing coaching and feedback wilt I receive to tell me how I am doing, and how I can improve?
3. What does it mean for me? How will my individual contribution, potential and aspirations be recognised and rewarded?

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Performance Management Cycle

performance management processes taking place in this cycle are:
Plan: agreeing objectives and competence requirements; identifying the behaviours required by the organisation; producing plans expressed in performance agreements for meeting objectives and improving performance; preparing personal development plans to enhance knowledge, skills and competence and reinforce the desired behaviours
Act: carrying out the work required to achieve objectives by reference to the plans and in response to new demands
Monitor: checking on progress in achieving objectives and responding to new demands; treating performance management as a continuous process - 'managing performance all the year round' - rather than an annual appraisal event
Review: holding a review meeting for a 'stocktaking' assessment of progress and achievements, and identifying where action is required to develop performance as a basis for completing the cycle by moving into the planning stage.

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Performance Management vs Performance Appraisal

The terms 'performance management' and 'performance appraisal' are sometimes used synonymously, but they are different. Performance management is a comprehensive, continuous and flexible approach to the management of organisations, teams and individuals which involves the maximum amount of dialogue between those concerned. Performance appraisal is a more limited approach which involves managers making top-down assessments and rating the performance of their subordinates at an annual performance appraisal meeting.
Performance appraisal Performance management
Top-down assessment Joint process through dialogue
Annual appraisal meeting Continuous review with one or more formal reviews
Use of ratings Ratings less common
Monolithic system Flexible process
Focus on quantified objectives Focus on values and behaviours as well as objectives
Often linked to pay Less likely to be directly linked to pay
Bureaucratic - complex paperwork Documentation kept to a minimum
Owned by the HR department Owned by line managers
We have worked with some of the most advanced organizations in terms of Performance Management
Most organizations have some type of employee appraisal or review system and are experiencing the shortcomings of manual Appraisal systems. In talking about Employee Performance Management, the question we are asked most often is “what is the difference between Appraisal systems and Performance Management”
Following is a process diagram that provides a graphical view of the major differences between the two processes:

Performance Management systems typically are:
1. A definition of what you want an employee to do for the next performance period (normally the next quarter, half year or full year). The definition includes specific objectives for the period, backed up by a job description which includes the normal expectations for that position
2. A review of remuneration/bonuses if these objectives are met
3. A review of the personal development objectives
4. Formally Performed quarterly, half yearly or annually but with input all year round
5. Typically fully automated where the information is accessible to all participants at any time
6. Content rich if the automated Performance Management system has features such as a Performance Diary

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Benefits of Performance Management

Linked to Organisational Performance

If Performance management is implemented correctly with specific objectives tied to the Strategic and Operational plan, organisational performance outcomes should increase. For example if the CEO asked for a 3% increase in profit, this objective would be cascaded down to every department, team and individual who can influence the increase in profit. Those who are successful at achieving this objective will get a favorable review, those that could not will get an unfavourable review in the absence of extenuating circumstances.
The process of Performance Management therefore drives organisational performance outcomes. Employees that achieve the organisational goals are rewarded with favourable reviews and bonuses in line with their performance and contribution to the organisation.

Lower Stress

The employee and manager communicate more frequently and agree on changed objectives to suit continuing changes in conditions and priorities. This is an inclusive and collaborative process, which ensures that the employee has input and does not feel they have wasted the year. The employee works to specific objectives that have been thought about and are relevant. If the organisation is using a Performance Management product that has a Performance Diary, both the manager and employee attend the review meeting with copies of their Performance Diary. This contains content from the Performance period about to be reviewed. Given that both have content, they feel much better prepared and stress is lower than if attending a meeting and waiting for surprises.

Moderate to High Levels of confidence

Where there is a well-structured Performance Management System that is well communicated, both the employee and manager enter the process with better levels of confidence as there are “rules” that clearly spell out what is being assessed and how. Employees are assessed on achievement of objectives that have been clearly spelled out and agreed to.
Managers have a better framework to assess an employees’ performance as they know on which criteria to assess the employee. The outcome is that both individuals have an informed discussion and focus on achievement of both personal and business objectives, not on issues that are not relevant.
If the organisation has a system with a Performance Diary, then both parties are very well prepared with relevant content to discuss. They have diary notes that relate to performance during the entire Performance Period. This raises confidence and reduces stress and both parties know they can have a content rich and factual discussion about performance.

Focused on performance

Given that these performance reviews happen more frequently, the discussion centers on performance of objectives rather than being dominated by the employees’ needs. The employee’s needs are talked about more frequently as are the needs of the business to achieve specific performance outcomes. This means both the employee and manager communicate more effectively and achieve better outcomes. Emotionally charged discussions tend to be displaced by business focused discussions on achievement of objective outcomes.

Aligned to the corporate plan

As expectations are modified when a Performance Management system is introduced, most organisations switch to defined performance periods. This means that strategic and operational objectives are set at the beginning of the performance period. Formal performance reviews are then conducted quarterly or half yearly and enable management to direct and fine tune effort in relation to the objectives.

High Visibility

By performing frequent Performance Reviews, visibility is increased dramatically. Areas of non performance receive much more focus and attention and problems can be acted upon much quicker. Most Performance Management systems provide reporting as to who has or has not achieved their objectives (departments and individuals).

Planning

By reviewing more frequently, all managers and staff start to plan and execute to well thought out objectives. This results in better resource management, less fire fighting and enables managers to work on the business, not in the business.

Human Capital Development

Given that most Performance Management systems require that managers and employees commit to a Development Plan, employees experience real personal development and become more engaged with the organisation. They feel part of the organisation and start to understand that they and the organisation are interdependent. The organisation is developing the employee and the employee is working towards developing the organisation by achieving its goals.

Compliance

Most Performance Management systems are able to provide graphical compliance reports. Therefore, the setting of Objectives and a Development plan for employees can no longer be ignored. Employees see real planning, are involved in setting meaningful objectives and have input into personal development plans which benefit both themselves and the organisation as well. In all, this results in a more engaged workforce who are more committed to achieving real outcomes for the organisation.

Summary

The major differences between appraisal systems and Performance Management are:
• Performance Management is tied to achieving increased organisational performance, appraisal systems are not tied to organisational performance
• Performance Management Reviews are conducted more frequently than annual appraisals
• Performance Management Objectives are aligned to strategic or operational plans
• Performance Management systems typically have better compliance due to reporting (who has set objectives and development plans, conducted reviews etc)
• Performance Management focuses employees on the Performance of objectives, not how well they are liked by their manager
• Performance Management systems are accessible by all parties, all through the year and this means that both parties attend review meetings better prepared and less stressed
• Performance Management increases staff engagement as they are recognized for their efforts and receive meaningful development
Technology has enabled organisations to move from annual appraisals/reviews to Performance Management. Annual appraisal systems are currently the norm in most organisations as they have not yet adopted new technology which enables Performance Management processes.

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[ 6 ]

7 Strategies for People and Performance Management

Keeping your eye on the business and improving employee performance at the same time can be a challenge; that is why performance management is so important in organizations. By its very definition, performance management contributes to the development of individuals and teams in order to achieve higher levels of organizational performance.
• Do you have the skills and ability to coach employees toward peak performance?
• Are employees clear on what is expected of them, do they have the tools to continuously upgrade their skills and develop their potential?
Employees may never reach their full potential until you first learn how to establish performance goals, clearly communicate expectations, identify the gaps between where an employee is today, the gains that are needed, and design a plan for how to get there.
Performance management can not be a once-a-year event to be ceremoniously concluded by the completion and filing of a form. What good does it do an organization to have completed forms that only document lack luster performance? True performance management is more than tracking and monitoring what is. It must become an everyday conversation and relationship building process that managers initiate to create what can be. The power of the process is realized when employees are clear about what's expected of them and managers use it as a collaborative tool to reach goals, and optimize performance.
Performance is the one thing that every company wants from its employees. After all, isn't that what they are paying for? Conducting review sessions that do not better enable or inspire improved performance just add to the costs.
There are 7 performance enhancing strategies that you might try in service to the employee. Ultimately they are responsible for their actions but they also need you to:
1. Assess performance, identify competency gaps, and then define performance objectives in precise and demonstrable terms.
2. Communicate expectations, roles, and responsibilities through performance discussions that simultaneously build relationships, improve performance, commitment and accountability.
3. Coach employees in a way that corrects performance deficiencies, reinforces appropriate behaviors, teaches new skills, and inspires them to higher levels of performance.
4. Diagnose performance problems early and remove any barriers that may impede employee performance.
5. Collaborate with employees and others to identify performance goals, support systems, and improvement strategies that will improve both today's performance results and the skills needed for tomorrow's challenges.
6. Document all performance-related discussions, quickly, confidently and legally.
7. Retain your most talented performers, recognize all employees for their efforts, and reward great performance.

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[ 7 ]

Career Management Introduction

Career: Career can be defined as a general course of action a person chooses to pursue throughout his or her working life
We may define career as the "occupational positions a person has had over many years." Many people look back on their careers, knowing that what they might have achieved they did achieve, and that their career goals were satisfied. Others are less fortunate and feel that, at least in their careers, their lives and their potential went unfulfilled.
Employers have a big effect on employees’ careers. Some institute formal career man¬agement processes, while others do little. We can define career management as a process for enabling employees to better understand and develop their career skills and interests and to use these skills and interests most effectively both within the company and after they leave the firm. Specific career management activities might include providing realis¬tic career-oriented appraisals, posting open jobs, and offering formal career development activities. Career development is the lifelong series of activities (such as workshops) that contribute to a person's career exploration, establishment, success, and fulfillment.
Career planning is the deliberate process through which someone becomes aware of his or her personal skills, interests, knowledge, motivations, and other characteristics; acquires infor¬mation about opportunities and choices; identifies career-related goals; and establishes action plans to attain specific goals.

Definitions:

Career Management is the combination of structured planning and the active management choice of one's own professional career.
"Lifelong, self-monitored process of career planning that involves choosing and setting personal goals, and formulating strategies for achieving them". ----businessdictionary.com
Career management as a process for enabling employees to better understand and develop their career skills and interests, and to use these skills and interests most effectively both within the company and after they leave the firm.

Benefits to the organisation

Well-planned and executed career programmes will benefit both the organisation and the employees in a number of ways. These include the following:
• Staffing inventories. Effective career management will help ensure a continuous supply of professional, technical and managerial talent so that future organisational goals may be achieved.
• Staffing from within. Because of the many potential advantages of promotion from within, most organisations like to promote employees when positions become available. But recruitment from within requires a strong career management programme to guarantee that employees can perform effectively in their new jobs. Promoting employees before they are ready to assume their new jobs will result in unsatisfactory performance, as predicted by the Peter Principle.
Peter Principle: Observation that in an hierarchy people tend to rise to "their level of incompetence." Thus, as people are promoted, they become progressively less-effective because good performance in one job does not guaranty similar performance in another. Named after the Canadian researcher Dr. Laurence J. Peter (1910-90) who popularized this observation in his 1969 book 'The Peter Principle.'
• Solving staffing problems. Certain staffing problems may be remedied through effective career management. First, a high rate of employee turnover may be caused, at least in part, by a feeling that little opportunity exists within the organisation. Second, recruiting new employees may be easier if applicants realise that the company develops its employees and provides career opportunities.
• Satisfying employee needs. The current generation of employees are very different from those of generations past. Higher levels of education have raised career expectations. And many workers hold their employers responsible for providing opportunities so that those expectations may be realised.
• Enhanced motivation. Because progression along the career path is directly related to job performance, an employee is likely to be motivated to perform at peak levels so that career goals may be accomplished.
• Employment equity. Guidelines demand fair and equitable recruiting, selection and placement policies and the elimination of discriminatory practices concerning promotions and career mobility- Many affirmative action programmes contain formal provisions to enhance the career mobility of women and other formerly excluded groups, including the development of career paths and the design of formal T&D activities.
Facts
Hobbies Are Good For Your Career
Lets get the definition of “hobby” right. My Oxford dictionary has this to say: favorite activity that a person does for pleasure and not as his regular business. So, sleeping might not fall in that category..:)
Everyone would agree that hobbies are generally good for our well-being but what many do not know is that they are actually beneficial for our careers.
How is it so?
1.Take away listening to music and watching TV which most urbanites consider their only “hobbies”, taking up an interest in something usually involves learning a new skill like baking, gardening, playing soccer or photography. By spending time to learn up new things, we put on our thinking cap, increase our learning curve and let our creative self take over. New found passion can be very exciting and such positive vibes can possibly spill over to our workplace. When new skills are being introduced in our office, we have a greater chance of being trained quickly.
2.Our skill or knowledge in the new activity increases over time and eventually you might find yourself good at it. When we discover we can be good at something other than what we are paid for, it builds our self-esteem. When confidence builds up, it helps in our overall self-image.
3.Hobbies are a good way to take our minds away from work responsibilities albeit temporarily. It’s the best stress reliever. Otherwise, the stress that builds up over time due to overwork will only leads to burnout and eventually, our career suffers. This reason alone should get us to get a hobby immediately.
4.Some hobbies allow us the opportunity to meet people of the same interest. We build new networks and this might lead us to new career
opportunities. Now you see why so many businessmen pick up golfing.
5.Hobbies give the perception of a well-rounded being. Some recruiters are particularly concerned about hiring candidates that have a good work-life balance. Someone that has no other interest besides work might come across as boring or simply lazy.

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Career Management Best Practices

Providing Employee Assessment and Career Planning Workshops. Companies such as Apple Computer and Sun Microsystems hold on-site workshops where employees learn to take charge of their careers, beginning with assessing their abilities, interests, and values. They then engage in a planning process where they explore the organization's needs to determine possible future options and how to prepare for them. Then they are ready for productive career discussions with their managers.
Conducting Career Coaching Workshops for Managers. While employees are learning to take charge of their careers, managers are learning how to support their efforts by becoming familiar with the career assessment and planning process, practicing career coaching techniques, preparing for various types of employee-initiated career discussions, and giving honest feedback.
Establishing Employee Career Centers. Companies such as Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, and Motorola, to name a few, have set up internal career centers where employees can come for self-assessment. Services may include computerized programs that incorporate 360-degree feedback, competency assessment, confidential counseling, career management and resilience training, lunch-and-learn seminars, and information, sometimes through an intranet system, about internal opportunities.
Giving Open Business Briefings. To meet employees halfway in planning their careers inside the organization, companies such as Sun Microsystems, 3Com, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, and Microsoft openly discuss strategic decisions and plans that may impact jobs or skills that will be required in the future. At 3Com, most departments hold weekly discussion sessions on the status of the business and what it may mean to employees.
IBM has a national website for employees that provides information about the strategic direction of the company. Managers are also expected to provide strategic information to their people. Sun's management has promised workers that it will make employees aware of a strategic decision that will affect staffing, such as plans to outsource a function. "As soon as we've decided something, you'll know," Sun says. Then it follows through on its promise.
Sharing such information would be frowned upon by many companies. But the companies that practice such openness believe they are simply treating their employees as respect-worthy adults rather than perpetuating the outdated parent-child relationship.
Andy Grove, chairman of Intel, is a strong believer in giving employees the information they need to stay resilient, or, as he calls it, "owning your own employability. "Every quarter," he says to his employees, "I give you a two-hour dump of what's happening to us. You have to figure out what that means to you”
Facts
Most executives cited the lack of challenges or opportunity for career growth, rather than inadequate compensation, as the main reason they left their last job, according to a recent survey by executive search firm Korn/Ferry International. Twenty percent cited ineffective leadership, while 17 percent said the attractive job market was why they left their last jobs.
Creating an Internal Network of Information Providers. Raychem, for example, has set up a network of more than 400 people throughout the organization who are willing to take the time to talk with employees who want to learn about the nature of their work and job qualifications. Called "I.I.I.N.siders" (for Insiders Information Interview Network), the computerized database houses the names and backgrounds of volunteers.
Chase Manhattan Bank maintains a list of employees who are willing to be shadowed by those interested in moving into their line of work. An employee who wants to be a derivatives trader, for example, can spend the day with an actual trader, learning about the challenges of the job, and come away with a realistic understanding of the work.
Maintaining Internal Job and Talent Banks. Microsoft has created an on-line service where employees can learn about open positions and the skills required for them. Microsoft also places large amounts of career information on what it calls its "electronic campus," including a "resource and referral" section with lists of books, professional associations, conferences, courses, articles, and other information recommended by coworkers.
In its Career Partnership Center, Advanced Micro Devices maintains a data bank of employee skills that can be accessed by managers looking for internal talent. The company also integrates the career development plans of all employees into its long-range workforce planning process.
Many other companies are moving to implement virtual career centers that feature on-line computer platforms that show various career paths and allow employees to benchmark their skill levels against those required for desired jobs so that they can make plans to close the gaps.
Establishing Individual Learning Accounts. As more and more employees seek opportunities for customized and self-directed development, some progressive companies have created individual learning accounts, providing designated amounts of time and money that employees may "spend" on classes, internships, or other learning opportunities of their choice. While giving employees more freedom to select personalized learning experience, this concept also helps companies save money previously spent on large-scale, "one-size-fits-all" training programs.
Starting a Mentoring Program. Formal mentoring programs have grown in popularity in recent years. The list of companies who have launched mentoring programs includes Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, Charles Schwab, Ford Motor Company, Ernst & Young, Quaker Oats Company, IBM, Georgia-Pacific, Ceridian, J. C. Penney, PriceWaterhouse-Coopers, 3M, and General Mills.
In one study, mentoring programs were found to be effective in increasing employee retention by 77 percent within companies that implemented them.11 There are three main goals for most mentoring programs—to increase opportunities for women and minorities, to develop leaders, and, increasingly, to enhance performance and increase the retention of employees at all levels.
Companies with successful mentoring programs report that having the CEO and senior managers actively involved in mentoring and supporting the programs is important. When the practice of mentoring cascades through the organization from the top, it becomes a prestigious thing for managers to take part. Some companies expect all managers to become mentors, to the point that they include mentoring as an item to be reviewed on performance appraisal.
Current mentoring programs have become highly structured. Hewlett-Packard maintains an on-line mentor database that mentees can use to search for mentors with specific areas of expertise. They can even interview potential mentors and submit their choices in order of preference. Hewlett- Packard's program uses written mentoring agreements that establish the ground rules for the partnership, and the company conducts half-day training sessions for mentors and mentees. Other companies have appointed internal human resources staff as "retention managers" or "career management representatives" to act as consultants to all employees, especially the difficult-to-replace talent, such as software engineers.

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Career planning

Career planning is an individual’s lifelong process of establishing personal career objectives and acting in a manner intended to bring them about.
Are you not satisfied with the way your career is moving? Don't know in which way you should direct your career? Long past are the days of lifetime employment and now you need to plan careers as how to shift from one organization to another for gaining maximum industry experience. The task of career planning is quite a laborious one and it requires systematic planning of every step and a calculated execution. Take the onus of planning your own career.

The Concept of Career

The tern 'career denotes all the jobs that are held during one's working life. It is viewed as a sequence of positions held by an individual during the course of his lifetime. Edwin B. Flippo defined a career as a sequence of separate but related work activities that provide continuity, order and meaning in a person's life. This is the objective career. A career may be viewed as amalgam of the changes in values, attitudes and motivation that occurs as a person grows older. This is a subjective element in the concept of a career.

Career Planning Introduction

In each of us rests the power to shape our future and it will be shaped by our action or inaction- Kate weldelton
you should control your career for your own advantages. for controlling your career, you make effective planning for your future and implementation it practically. because you are the only one who has the right about your decision of future planning, before you start your career planning, first ask yourself:
• Who are you?
• Where are you now?
• what do you want? (Develop your 1-2-3-5-10....year vision)
• How can you get there?
"Effective career planning is about finding a job that works for you, matching who are to the life you are are going to lead"-----John Lees
Facts
"It is not in doing what you like, but liking what you do that is the secret of happiness."
--James M. Barrie

Definitions of Career Planning

Career planning is an ongoing process through which an individual sets career goals and identifies the means to achieve them. The process by which individuals plan their life’s work is referred to as career planning.
"Career planning is a process of systematically matching career goals and individual capabilities with opportunities for their fulfillment."(Schermerhorn: 2002)
"Career Planning is a deliberate process of becoming aware of self, opportunities, constraints, choices, and consequences; identifying career-related goals; and "career pathing" or programming work, education, and related developmental experiences to provide the direction, timing, and sequence of steps to attain a specific career goal." [McMahon and Merman: 1987)

Career Anchors

Career anchors denote the basic drives that create the urge to take up a certain type of a career. These drives are as follows:
• Managerial Competence: Person having this drive seek managerial positions that provide opportunities for higher responsibility, decision making, control and influence over others.
• Technical Competence: People having this anchor seek to make career choices based on the technical or functional content of the work. It provide continuous learning and updating one's expertise in a technical or specialised area such as quality control, engineering, accounting, advertising, public relations etc.
• Security: If one's career anchor is security than he is willing to do what is required to maintain job security (through compliance with organisational prescriptions), a decent income and a stable future.
• Creativity: This drive provides entrepreneurial and innovative opportunities to the people. People are driven by an overwhelming desire to do something new that is totally of their own making.
• Autonomy: These people seek a career that provides freedom of action and independence.
Career is viewed as a sequence of position occupied by a person during the course of his lifetime. Career may also be viewed as amalgam of changes in value, attitude and motivation that occur, as a person grows older. The implicit assumption is that an invididual can make a different in his destiny over time and can adjust in ways that would help him to enhance and optimize the potential for his own career development. Career planning is important because it would help the individual to explore, choose and strive to derive satisfaction with one’s career object.

Nature of Career Planning

The following are the salient features of career planning:
• A Process: Career planning is a process of developing human resources rather than an event.
• Upward movement: It involve upward movement in the organisational hierarchy, or special assignments, project work which require abilities to handle recurring problems, human relations issued and so on.
• Mutuality of Interest: The individual's interest is served as his needs and aspirations are met to a great extent and the organisation's interest is served as each of its human resources is provided an opportunity to develop and contribute to the organisational goals and objectives to the optimum of its ability and confidence.
• Dynamic: Career planning is dynamic in nature due to an ever changing environment.

Objectives of Career Planning

Career Planning seeks to meet the following objectives:
• To provide and maintain appropriate manpower resources in the organisation by offering careers, not jobs.
• To provide environment for the effectiveness, efficiency and growth of its employees and motivating them to contribute effectively towards achieving the objectives of the organisation.
• To map out careers of various categories of employees suitable to their ability, and their willingness to be 'trained and developed for higher positions.
• To have a stable workforce by reducing absenteeism and employee turnover.
• To cater to the immediate and future human resourcesss need of the organisation on a timely basis.
• To increase the utilisation of managerial reserves within organisation.

Steps in Career Planning Process

Step 1: Self-Assessment The first and foremost step in career planning is to know and assess yourself. You need to collect information about yourself while deciding about a particular career option. You must analyse your interests, abilities, aptitudes, desired lifestyle, and personal traits and then study the relationship between the career opted for and self.
Step 2: Goal Setting Set your goals according to your academic qualification, work experience, priorities and expectations in life. Once your goal is identified, then you determine the feasible ways and objectives how to realize it.
Step 3: Academic/Career Options Narrow your general occupational direction to a particular one by an informatory decision making process. Analyse the career option by keeping in mind your present educational qualification and what more academic degrees you need to acquire for it.
Step 4: Plan of Action Recognize those industries and particular companies where you want to get into. Make the plan a detailed one so that you can determine for how many years you are going to work in a company in order to achieve maximum success, and then switch to another. Decide where you would like to see yourself after five years and in which position.
Step 5: Catch Hold of Opportunities Opportunity comes but once. So, whenever you get any opportunity to prove yourself and get into your desired career, try to convert it in every way for suiting your purpose. Remember, a successful professional is also quite opportunistic in his moves, examining every opening to turn to his favour.

Advice on Career Planning

1. Try not to waste much time and wait too long between career planning sessions.
2. Don't ever judge and analyse yourself, like your likes and dislikes, abilities, etc. by listening to what people around you say. Be your best judge.
3. Be open to constructive criticisms.
Career planning is a very important step that needs to be considered in totality. If need be, you should not be hesitant to take the help of professional guidance and find out the best career planning for yourself.

Different phases in the career of an employee:

Most working people go through career stages and it has been found that individual’s needs and expectations change as the individual moves through these stages.
1. Exploration Stage: This is the stage where an individual builds expectations about his career. Some of them are realistic and some are not. But the fact is that these could be a result of the individual's ambitions.
2. Establishment Stage: This could be at the stage where the individual gets his first job, gets accepted by his peers, learns in this job, and also gains the first tangible evidence of success or failure. The establishment/advancement stage tends to occur between ages 25 and 44. In this stage, the individual has made his or her career choice and is concerned with achievement, performance, and advancement. This stage is marked by high employee productivity and career growth, as the individual is motivated to succeed in the organization and in his or her chosen occupation. Opportunities for job challenge and use of special competencies are desired in this stage. The employee strives for creativity and innovation through new job assignments. Employees also need a certain degree of autonomy in this stage so that they can experience feelings of individual achievement and personal success.
3. Mid-Career Stage: The individual's performance levels either continue to improve, or levels, or even deteriorates.
4. Late Career: This is regarded as a pleasant phase, where one is allowed to relax and play the role of an elderly statesman in the organization.
5. Decline: The stage, where the individual is heading towards retirement.
FMCG sector tops MBA graduates wish list; Hindustan Unilever as most-preferred recruiter
The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector has emerged as the sector of choice for business school graduates with Hindustan Unilever topping the list as the preferred recruiter, according to a Nielsen survey. Thirty six per cent students preferred a career in the FMCG sector.
In its 12th year, the study took the views of 1,100 final year students from the top 35 B-schools in India in October-November last year. A majority of students also felt that FMCG has the highest growth potential.
After FMCG, top sectors of choice are management consulting, IT consultancy and services, investment banking, foreign and domestic banks, IT product and development, financial institutions, retail and conglomerates. Amongst the recruiters of choice, HUL was followed by Google, Aditya Birla Group, Accenture, McKinsey & Co, Infosys, P&G, BCG, Citi Group, Microsoft, TAS and Axis Bank.
"With the FMCG growth in the country being driven by consumption, the sector continues to find favour with students who see it as a sector with huge growth potential," says Nielsen executive director Dinesh Kapoor.
HUL's executive director (HR) Leena Nair said the economic environment has helped FMCG to be the sector of choice amongst the future talent.
"The finance sector probably lost out due to the environment. There is also excitement and speed of working in the FMCG sector, which do attract young talent. Companies like HUL have big leadership practices and brands which is yet another major attraction," says Nair.
Nair says HUL has undertaken a lot of work to become the destination for the best of talent. "We are constantly identifying and grooming the next generation and leaders. We also invest a lot on training and mentoring talent," she said. HUL won the number one position after a decade.
HUL was also ranked the 'dream company' amongst B-school companies for the third year in a row, followed by P&G and McKinsey & Co. ITC also made it into the list of dream companies.
The average salary expectations of the students from their dream company remained the same as compared to the last year at Rs 16 lakh per annum, reflecting students gave more value to their role and job.
However, the salary expectation from a foreign company continues to remain almost double than that from an Indian company.
The 2011 Nielsen survey also showed that the top five dimensions students considered when it comes to seeking employment were high degree of independence at work, salary package, learning on the job, growth prospects and standing of the company in the market respectively.

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Elements of Career Planning Programs

Elements of Career Planning Programs

Though programs differ, four distinct elements of career planning programs emerge. They include (1) individual assessments of abilities, interests, career needs, and goals; (2) organizational assessments of employee abilities and potential; (3) communication of information concerning career options and opportunities with the organization; and (4) career counseling to set realistic goals and plan for their attainment. Each of these elements is discussed in greater detail below.

Individual Assessments

Individual assessment of abilities, interests, career needs, and goals is basically a process of self-exploration and analysis. Individuals are frequently guided by self-assessment exercises.
The self-assessment process is basically viewed as an individual responsibility; however, organizations can aid in this process by providing the employee with materials and opportunities for self-exploration and analysis.
A variety of self-assessment materials are available commercially, but a number of organizations, including IBM, Xerox, General Motors, and General Electric, have developed tailor-made workbooks for employee career planning purposes.
Individual career planning exercises can be done independently by employees or in workshops sponsored by the organization. Workshops have the advantage of combining a number of career planning elements including self-assessment, communication of organizational career and development opportunities, and one-on-one counseling to ensure that career goals are realistic.

Organizational Assessments

A key issue in career counseling sessions is whether an employee's goals are realistic in terms of organizational possibilities and organizational assessments of employee abilities and potential. Accurate assessments of employee abilities and potential are important to both the organization and the individual.
Organizations have several sources of information for making assessments of employee abilities and potential. First is selection information, including ability tests, assessment center test, interest inventories, and biographical information such as education and work experience. Second is current job history information, including performance appraisal information, records of promotions and promotion recommendations, salary increases, and participation in various training and development programs. Organizations have traditionally relied on performance appraisal data as the primary basis for assessing employee potential.

Career Information within an Organization

Before realistic goals can be set, an employee need information about career options and opportunities. This includes information about possible career directions; possible paths of career advancement; and specific job vacancies. In organizations with informal career planning programs, employees learn about career options and opportunities from their supervisors within the context of developmental performance appraisal interviews. Organizations with more established career planning programs make greater use of workbooks, workshops, and even recruiting materials to communicate career options and opportunities. Career paths have been defined as logical progressions between jobs or from one job to a target position. They can be either traditional or behavioral.
Traditional career paths are based on past patterns of actual movement by employees. They tend to be limited to advancement within a single function or organizational unit, such as purchasing, sales, or customer relations. Years of service to the organization largely determine the rate at which advancement can occur. For example, a salesman might expect to advance to the position of account supervisor after five years, to sales supervisor after 10, to district manager after 15, and to regional manager after 25 years of service.
More flexible patterns of employee career movement are described by behavioral career paths, which are based on analysis of similarities in job activities and requirements. Where similarities exist, jobs can be grouped into job families, or clusters. Thus, all jobs involving similar work activities and levels of required skills and abilities form one job cluster, regardless of job title. Focusing on job similarities across functions and organizational units brings to light new career options for employees and greater flexibility for the organization in utilizing its available human resources. One organization, for example, was able to shift a number of its sales personnel to purchasing positions when sales declined in one major product line and opportunities became available in the purchasing department. This shift was undertaken when a job analysis showed behavioral similarities between the two previously distinct functions.

Career Counseling

It is in counseling sessions, typically with supervisors and managers in developmental performance appraisal interviews, that most employees explore career goals and opportunities in the organization. Supervisors and managers need accurate assessments of employee abilities and potential, as well as information about career options and opportunities in the organization. HR professionals may be involved in some informal career counseling activities, but basically their role is to support career counseling activities of supervisors and managers. This means providing supervisors and managers with needed information as well as with the necessary training to function effectively as counselors.
In career counseling sessions, employees seek answers to the following kinds of questions:
1. What are my skills and what are the possibilities for developing them or learning new ones?
2. What do I really want for myself insofar as work is concerned?
3. What's possible for me, given my current abilities and skills?
4. What's really required for certain jobs?
5. What training will be required if I choose to pursue a certain career objective?"
When counselors are equipped to help employees find the answers to such questions, realistic career goals can be set. Next, development strategies must be devised.

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[ 11 ]

Career Paths

Career paths have historically focused on upward mobility within a particular occupation. One of four types of career paths may be used: traditional, network, lateral, and dual.
a. Traditional Career Path—An employee progresses vertically upward in the organization from one specific job to the next.
b. Network Career Path—A method of career pathing that contains both a vertical sequence of jobs and a series of horizontal opportunities.
c. Lateral Skill Path—Traditionally, a career path was viewed as moving upward to higher levels of management in the organization. The availability of the previous two options has diminished considerably in recent years. But this does not mean that an individual has to remain in the same job for life. There are often lateral moves within the firm that can be taken to allow an employee to become revitalized and find new challenges.
d. Dual-Career Path— A career-path method, that recognizes that technical specialists can and should be allowed to continue to contribute their expertise to a company without having to become managers.
e. Adding Value To Retain Present Job—Regardless of the career path pursued, today’s workers need to develop a plan whereby they are viewed as continually adding value to the organization. If employees cannot add value, the company does not need them, and much of the evolving work environments cannot use them either. Workers must anticipate what tools will be needed for success in the future and obtain these skills. These workers must look across company lines to other organizations to determine what skills are transferable, and then go and get them. Essentially, today’s workers must manage their own careers as never before.
f. Demotion—Demotions have long been associated with failure, but limited promotional opportunities in the future and the fast pace of technological change may make them more legitimate career options.

Five ways to handling a career transition

It's never easy to get out of the comfort zone of an existing career and dive into something completely new. The older you get and the higher you climb on the career ladder, the more unsettling it may get to make that switch. Nevertheless, a career transition , if handled the right way, can be just the right ticket to a fresh lease of professional life.
TAKE STOCK OF PRIORITIES-
Do a self-analysis before taking the plunge, advises MD of head hunting firm Executive Access Ronesh Puri. "List out all your skills as well as the challenges you anticipate in the new career. Identify how your previous experience can complement your new role," he says.
DON'T BE SCARED TO TAKE A RISK-
Your priorities keep changing, so you might need to do a course correction . Don't be scared to experiment . "A lot of people are risk averse . But nothing in life is zerorisk ," says Puri. If you are at a stage in your life when you are not in a position to take that risk, postpone your decision. But don't let it constrict you, he adds.
HAVE A BACK-UP PLAN-
What is your continuity plan? How will you handle things if your new career doesn't pan out well for you? Your confidence levels will be much higher if you have a back-up plan in place.
PLAN YOUR FINANCES WELL-
In certain cases, a career transition may involve a reduction in income and a consequent hit on finances . That's why you need to think ahead about how to manage your family obligations, EMIs and other expenses. It could mean cutting down on your indulgences; dipping into your savings or some other avenue.
ENHANCE YOUR SKILLS-
Develop new skills that are required for the career change. Take an online programme or read up as much as you can about your new career choice. "Acquire all the skills, knowledge and information possible about the new field before entering it. Do your groundwork well," says CEO of executive search firm Symbiosis Management Consultants Vinay Grover.

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Career Development

Career development is the process of improving an individual’s abilities in anticipation of future opportunities for achieving career objectives.
A formal approach taken by an organization to help its people acquire the skills and experiences needed to perform current and future jobs is termed as career development. Company’s policies especially policies regarding promotion, counseling the employees, opportunities to excel in future help employees to develop their career. Career development consists of skills, education and experiences as well as behavioral modification and refinement techniques that allow individuals to work better and add value.
Career development is an ongoing organized and formalized effort that recognizes people as a vital organizational resource. It differs from training in that it has a wider focus, longer time frame, and broader scope. The goal of training is improvement in performance; the goal of development is enrichment and more capable workers.
Recently, career development has come to be seen as a means for meeting both organizational and employee needs, as opposed to solely meeting the needs of the organization as it had done in the past. Now, organizations see career development as a way of preventing job burnout, providing career information to employees, improving the quality of work lives and meeting affirmative action goals. That is, career development must be seen as a key business strategy if an organization wants to survive in an increasingly competitive and global business environment.
In simple terms it means 'Providing employees an opportunity to grow', especially to those employees who deliver performance.

Definitions

Followings are the main definitions of career planning:
• According to Schuler, "It is an activity to identify the individual needs, abilities and goals and the organization’s job demands and job rewards and then through well designed programmes of career development matching abilities with demands and rewards".
• In the words of Mansfield, "Career development is a process in which personnel experience, concept and publicly observable aspect of career interact to precipitate each successive stage of occupational statuses".
• According to Middlemist, Hill and Greer, "Career development is a process of planning the series of possible jobs one may hold in an organization over time and development strategies designed to provide necessary job skills as the opportunities arise".
Career development helps you take stock of who you are and where you want to go in life. In order to achieve growth, continue learning, and achieve momentum in your career you must assess your situation and your goals frequently, otherwise you doom yourself to the fate of a robot working a daily routine. Here are a few career development questions you can ask yourself:
• Where do I want to be in my career at the end of this year? What job would I like to retire from? It’s O.K. to think about next month or even 30 years from now. You can’t achieve career development without having a goal.
• Do I like the field I’m working in? Career development doesn’t mean you have to develop the career you currently in, but can also mean changing careers, even changing environments. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to work in the big city. You can start thinking now about finding jobs in New York or jobs in Philadelphia. Remember, it is your career, your life, your choices. Answer your questions honestly (there are no rights or wrongs!) and reconsider the questions from time-to-time as your desires may change.
• What would I like to learn more about? If you have strong interests in a particular area, you also probably have strengths and talents in that area. Your desire to learn more about a certain subject or field will propel you faster in your career. Find your niche!
Growth means, to an employee, one or more of the following:
1. Climbing up the ladder in the organizational hierarchy.
2. On-going increase in remuneration.
3. Acquiring higher level skills & competencies.
4. Occupying higher level Job positions.
5. Having an opportunity to avail of some exclusive benefits (perks & privileges).
Facts
A survey showed that men tend to prefer innovative companies that are financially healthy and offer quality products and services, good training and career prospects, whereas women look for factors like easy accessibility, flexible work arrangements, pleasant atmosphere.
While older respondents had greater concern for strong management, values and image, quality products and good work atmosphere, the younger workforce look for technological innovativeness, flexible working arrangements and global career opportunities.
Most executives cited the lack of challenges or opportunity for career growth, rather than inadequate compensation, as the main reason they left their last job, according to a recent survey by executive search firm Korn/Ferry International. Twenty percent cited ineffective leadership, while 17 percent said the attractive job market was why they left their last jobs.
Top executives' exit gives PepsiCo
Feb,2012. NEW DELHI: At least three senior officials have exited PepsiCo India at a time when its global parent has announced 8,700 job cuts, potentially impacting the beverages and snacks maker's performance in the crucial summer season.
"There's a lack of roles in leadership positions; and growth opportunities are limited," a PepsiCo official said, requesting not to be named.
PepsiCo insiders said besides lack of growth opportunities within India and lesser number of roles being created for PepsiCo India officials in its US headquarters compared to the past, the company pushing diversity to accommodate more women in leading roles may have also played a role in some exits.
Career development is not a mere management responsibility. It is a composite organizational process which involves people, addresses their ambitions, assigns them roles & responsibilities commensurate with their potential, evaluates their performance, and creates Job positions to accommodate growth ambitions of employees. In the career development cycle, a number of actions have to take place at different levels as outlined below:
Employees
1. Decide what they want from their careers now and in the future.
2. Examine individually, or along with their Supervisors, their interests & ambitions.
3. Create 'Development Plans' by obtaining inputs from the Supervisor, to meet the requirements of the current Job and to cater for the long term perspectives.
4. Work with the Supervisor to identify on the job learning and training opportunities and other avenues for professional development.
Managers/ Supervisors
1. Identify the job-related knowledge, skills, competencies and experience needed for an employee to be effective in that position.
2. Help subordinates to define their short and long term development needs which support organizational objectives and employee's career goals.
3. Support Employee Development Plans by indicating specific steps that need to be initiated to accomplish the learning goals.
4. Help the employee in understanding the type of Jobs which will be best suited for his/ her career growth.
Organization/ Management
1. Provide a job and compensation structure that support the organization's as well as individual's growth & development perspectives.
2. Enrich job-positions to create more challenges in the work-environment.
3. Provide time and funds for employee development activities.
4. Create processes to utilize the knowledge, skills and abilities of each employee, aligned fully to the organizational goals.
5. Undertake pro-active man-power planning to meet future staffing needs.
6. Evaluate employees & create succession pipe-lines for vital job positions in the organization.
7. Identify & nurture talent and reward performance in a transparent manner.
Systems Approach
Career development requires a systems approach.
1. This implies Institutionalization of processes to automatically capture essential data about each employee at the time of recruitment or induction.
It also includes maintenance, over the service span history of employment, of the following details:
a) training details,
b) performance statistics,
c) awards & recognitions,
d) special skills & competencies,
e) promotions,
f) pay increments and
g) Many other fields which depict the capability profile of an individual.
2. If these details are available to the management on an 'Employee Dashboard', career planning can be managed as a part of the HR Vision.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions.
The Myers-Briggs personality assessment has been identifying introverts, extroverts and other personality types since 1943. Based on the theories of psychologist Carl Jung, the Myers-Briggs questionnaire has been gauging personalities through attitude, style and cultural changes occurring during the past 60 years. Many consider it an essential tool for hiring and career development. The indicator is frequently used in the areas of pedagogy, career counseling, team building, group dynamics, professional development, marketing, family business, leadership training, executive coaching, life coaching, personal development, marriage counseling, and workers' compensation claims.
Career-Impacted Life Stages
Each person’s career goes through stages that influence an individual’s knowledge of, and preference for, various occupations. People change constantly and, thus, view their careers differently at various stages of their lives. Some of these changes result from the aging process and others from opportunities for growth and status. The main stages of the career cycle include the growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and decline.
a. Growth Stage: The growth stage is roughly from birth to age 14 and is a period during which an individual develops a self-concept by identifying and interacting with other people. Basically, during this stage an individual establishes his or her identity.
b. Exploration Stage: The exploration stage is the period roughly from ages 15 to 24, during which an individual seriously explores various occupational alternatives. The person attempts to match these occupational alternatives with his or her own interests and abilities resulting from education, leisure activities, and work.
c. Establishment Stage: The establishment stage is roughly from ages 25 to 44 and is the primary part of most people’s work lives. Hopefully, during this period, a suitable occupation is found and the person engages in those activities that help earn a permanent career. During this period, the individual is continually testing personal capabilities and ambitions against those of the initial occupational choice.
d. Maintenance Stage: Between the ages of 45 to 65, many people move from the stabilization sub stage into the maintenance stage. During maintenance, the individual has usually created a place in the work world, and most efforts are directed at maintaining the career gains earned.
e. Decline Stage: As retirement becomes an inevitable reality, in the decline stage, there is frequently a period of adjustment, where many begin to accept reduced levels of power and responsibility.
Conclusion:
Employee career development cannot take place without support from the top management. Commitment of top management is crucial. Employees also need to be given feedback about their career development efforts. It is difficult for an employee to sustain years of preparation to reach career goals unless they receive feedback. Career development does not guarantee success but without it employees would not be ready for a job when the opportunity arises.

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Meeting the Challenges of Effective Career Development

Creative decision making is a must in designing and implementing an effective development program. The three phases of development often blend together in a real_life program. These three phases include the assessment phase, the direction phase, and the development phase.

a. The Assessment Phase

The assessment phase involves activities ranging from self-assessment to organizationally provided assessment. The goal of both of these types of assessment is to identify employees' strengths and weaknesses.

b. The Direction Phase

This involves determining the type of career that employees want and the steps they must take to make their career goals a reality. It involves:
• Individual career counselling
• Information services

c. The Development Phase

The development phase is taking actions to create and increase skills to prepare for future job opportunities and is meant to foster this growth and self-improvement. The methods are
1. Mentoring & Coaching : It has become increasingly clear over the years that employees who aspire to higher management levels in the organization often need the assistance and advocacy of someone higher up in the organization. When senior employee takes an active role in guiding another individual, we refer to this activity as mentoring and coaching. This can occur at any level and can be most effective when the two individuals do not have any type of reporting relationship.
2. Job Rotation: Involves moving employees from one job to another for the purpose of providing them with broader experience.
3. Tuition Assistance Programs: To help individuals plan their careers, organizations try to provide additional information in order to have better choice of the career.

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Source: Human resource management (web). www.whatishumanresource.com (english)