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Career Management: what it really means
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Posted in Candidates, Employers on Jan 25, 2012 by Richard Hayden
Inflating costs of living have undoubtedly added to a climate of uncertainty within the workforce. Perhaps unsurprisingly organisations are seeking to baluster employee’s morale to avoid dips in productivity. How to go about it however is a topic of much debate. Some organisations feel that in such circumstances employee retention is not an issue; this is not the case.
Whilst it can be said that some employees are willing to keep their heads down; the best and brightest are more cautious and will continue to look for career progression. If an organisation is failing to offer this they will inevitably loose these employees most likely to a competitor.
The CIPD recently released a research paper into “managing careers for organisational capability” i.e. having the correct resources at the right time will allow an organisation to develop sustainability. In terms of HR this translates to helping employees manage their careers will help an organisation to prosper.
Career management can be overlooked and chalked up as the employee’s responsibility. However this would be a grave oversight on the organisations part. Almost all research conducted into employee needs shows that in order for an employee to be more productive they must feel that they are developing, growing their expertise and subsequently their employability. As the CIPD paper puts it “Good career management drives engagement, poor career management breeds dissatisfaction”. In 2006 the Corporate Leadership Council went as far as to claim a business case for improving the quality of job experiences, and in turn career development for the individual because, they argue, the demand for monetary compensation can be reduced by up to 50% when employees are satisfied in their jobs.
So as an integral part of managing your employees how can we reconcile the employee’s needs with that of the organisation?
The key lays in how you view career management. It is not so much about career paths or hand holding but rather the need to build capability in order to exploit the market. In turn the employee in order to ensure continued employability needs to acquire new knowledge and skills, which are now demanded by the marketplace.
Career management therefore creates an engaged workforce, and a profitable and sustainable organisation; a win-win situation for employee and organisation alike.
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Whilst it can be said that some employees are willing to keep their heads down; the best and brightest are more cautious and will continue to look for career progression. If an organisation is failing to offer this they will inevitably loose these employees most likely to a competitor.
The CIPD recently released a research paper into “managing careers for organisational capability” i.e. having the correct resources at the right time will allow an organisation to develop sustainability. In terms of HR this translates to helping employees manage their careers will help an organisation to prosper.
Career management can be overlooked and chalked up as the employee’s responsibility. However this would be a grave oversight on the organisations part. Almost all research conducted into employee needs shows that in order for an employee to be more productive they must feel that they are developing, growing their expertise and subsequently their employability. As the CIPD paper puts it “Good career management drives engagement, poor career management breeds dissatisfaction”. In 2006 the Corporate Leadership Council went as far as to claim a business case for improving the quality of job experiences, and in turn career development for the individual because, they argue, the demand for monetary compensation can be reduced by up to 50% when employees are satisfied in their jobs.
So as an integral part of managing your employees how can we reconcile the employee’s needs with that of the organisation?
The key lays in how you view career management. It is not so much about career paths or hand holding but rather the need to build capability in order to exploit the market. In turn the employee in order to ensure continued employability needs to acquire new knowledge and skills, which are now demanded by the marketplace.
Career management therefore creates an engaged workforce, and a profitable and sustainable organisation; a win-win situation for employee and organisation alike.
We would like to hear your views on this points raised in this article, please feel free to leave a comment or email us directly at info@key-appointments.co.uk
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