CAREER MANAGEMENT
Meaning and Definition of Career Management
Career management is the process of crafting , executing and observing employee's career path keeping in view . Lanagement's needs and goals . The two very important dimensions of career management are planning and development of career . The main aim here is to maintain a balance between the employee's interest and the organisation's needs . The practices and policies of career management depend on how well the manager understands the phases through which an employee's career progresses .
According to Arnold , " Career management is an attempt made to influence the career development of one of more people " .
According to Greenhaus , " Career management has been defined as the process by which individuals develop . implement and monitor career goals and strategies " .
According to Mayo , " Career management is the design and implementation of organisational processes which enables the careers of individuals to be planned and managed in a way that optimises both the needs of the organisation and the preferences and capabilities of individuals " .
Principles of Effective Career Management Following are the principles on which effective career management is based :
1 ) Consistency : A rational and clear image of the career strategy of the organisation must be displayed by career management .
2 ) Pro - Activity : To manage current potential of the employees and to ensure adaptability in future through prediction of the organisation's future course of action should be the concern of the career management .
3 ) Collaboration : A strong association between the employer and the employee is very important for effective career management .
4 ) Dynamism : Career management must be dynamic enough to respond to the vibrant needs and circumstances faced by the organisation and employees .
Approaches of Career Management Following are the different approaches of career management :
1 ) Career Audits : The process that undertakes an in - depth analysis of skills , interests , methods , objectives , and motivations is called career audit . This is not only an account of accomplishments and failures but also a process that carefully scrutinises the current position of the individual and his prospective position in the future . Several facts which might get unnoticed if not taken care of like other important activities can also be reviewed through a sincere career audit . The most significant experiences and skills that can be emphasised by an individual looking for a job in a new industry can also be revealed by the help of career audit . If the organisation is undergoing a crisis and a career audit is performed at that time , there are chances that the results will be biased and impacted by the sentiments of the moment . Thus , it is recommended to perform career audits on a regular basis .
2 ) Career Counselling and Interviews : In career counselling , details regarding the employee's career security , expectations , and his prospects are discussed by the counsellor . It enables the employees to pre - determine realistic targets for themselves and strive to achieve those targets . On the other hand , in a career interview , the managers make an effort to match the objectives and expectation of employee as well as the organisation and put both of them in line . Career counselling motivates and supports the employees as it understands their individual needs and insights . Moreover , it encourages all individuals to choose a career for which they are passionate about . In this way it helps individuals to recognise their strengths and also the fact that success lies within .
3 ) Job Shadowing and Mentoring : Job shadowing is a self - exploration approach structured to enhance the know - how of a specific job . In Job shadowing , the individual is tagged along with someone who is actually performing the task . The individual does not have to perform it by himself . All he needs to do is observe , listen , and understand the routine task done by the person at job .. The concept of mentoring has been intensely monitored in the recent years and attention has not only been paid to the impact that mentors have on the careers of the mentee but also on the specific aspects of the mentoring relations which are very crucial for success . It is a universal belief that mentoring contributes to career growth , but success cannot be attributed totally to mentoring as it might have been undertaken in the background or framework of some other crucial developmental activities . The central idea here is that in order to make mentoring productive , it should be managed well .
4 ) Executive Coaching : An interactive and personal approach in which a professional coach develops an association with one executive who is interested in enhancing and developing his career related knowledge and ability . This helps considerably in individual's development and enhances an individual's skills at the executive level . This benefits the organisation as a whole . This also enables the executive to implement the learned skills in order to increase productivity , enhance performance and grow personally to bring benefits for the company . The main motive of executive coaching is to enable change and uninterrupted growth . It involves channelising the strengths of the employee and identifying and overcoming his weaknesses.
5) Job Rotation : It is observed that the benefits of development to the organisation through job rotation are much more in proportion than the cost and time taken to adjust to the new job and losing the already gained experience of the older job . Job rotation motivates the employees to expand their knowledge and skills . However , the key elements of job rotation which assist development should be analysed .
6 ) Cross - Training : Training for diversified and unusual tasks or skills is known as cross training increases the capacity of an individual to do multitasking on an urgent requirement when an employee is absent from work . The plan is to increase the awareness of every team member about the roles and responsibilities of placed in the job situation of another employee from a diverse but linked job for some time so that he can the other members so that he can provisionally take up his role in his absence . In this training , the trainee is consists of clear goals , instructions , guidelines for evaluation , proper feedback framework , and a designated understand the important elements of the other job as well . The process of an effective cross - training trainer . This approach is different from job rotation and does not only mean working in place of an absentee . It is a well - structured training with all the essential instructions needed for conducting training .
7 ) Systematic Management of Relocation and / or Job Transition : Job transition stands for a modification in the roles and responsibilities in job , its specifications , location , or status . While switching functional areas like from human resource to technical , or while climbing the organisational ladder , or while taking up a job they have been accustomed to and where they have fixed behaviour and routine and placed in situations where they need to inculcate fresh skills . Hence , transitions are considered a challenge . In addition , when a in another organisation , job transition might be involved . Managers are also taken off from situations that manager moves to a new job , he is monitored closely and needs to prove himself in the same manner again This makes it essential for firms to ensure that employees and their families are adjusted suitably .
8 ) Provision of a Variety of Contracts and Systems : The individual needs of the employees must be addressed through provisions for paternity leave , food courts and cafeterias , phased retirement , VRS , job sharing , crèche , breaks in careers , secondment , etc.
9 ) Computer - Aided Career Management Information Systems : These systems consist of information about career development ( interests , expectations , behaviour , objective for need interpretation , etc. ) as well as job - related information ( jobs and vacancies ) . Several requirements of career management such as enumeration of vacancies , career related decisions , career topics , and analysing personality and skills are accomplished by these systems .
Importance of Career Management The following points highlight the importance of career management :
1 ) Develops Efficient Leadership and Management Skills : Career management clears the vision about the current position , suggests future course of action and also suggests how people in the organisation can understand each other's point of view .
2 ) Makes an Individual Confident : Once a person is sure about the path he needs to take and the results he would attain on taking that path , he is less likely to get confused in life and gains confidence .
3 ) Creates New Opportunities : Career management creates new opportunities through improved and new ideas . This makes the individual's career unique . Besides , if the ideas and opinions are life - changing , they may help the individual to extend his services to more number of people and meet their needs .
4 ) Showcasing Potential : An individual can display his potentials to complete tasks and meet deadlines .
