The process of organisational career development is very
important for both employees and employers. Managing career development is a
matter of growing challenge for organizations as it needs to be mindful and
align individual employee aspirations with business objectives of the
organization. Developing a career development strategy will help employees to
take one’s job serious and see it more as a career as it's linked to his or her
long-term aspirations.
Job-hopping mindset has become more common around the globe,
smart organisations have identified this trend and have implemented strategies to
have an atmosphere of growth where employees are able to identify the
opportunities for career advancements that exist within the organisation. These
organizations help employees to plan a path that may carry them through the whole of their working life, as finding a good employee is much more
challenging than retaining an existing one.
The Importance of seeing a Career
as Steps of Development
This idea of observing an employee’s career as a whole and
designing diverse sets of recognized training, developmental activities, and
relationships at each phase is recognized as career development (Noe, 2010).
Traditional training programs emphasize educating specific competencies related
to the employee’s present job, employee development programs target skills,
knowledge, and behaviors that better prepare the employee for future positions;
career development includes both training and development.
The combination of precise job training, employee
development, and linking career development set up to the process needs a high
level of strategic thinking and planning; such a plan cannot be based purely on
an expected future return from the employee. It takes robust direction and
broad views to be able to acknowledge what training and developmental
experiences are necessary for employees to grow in their positions so that they
are positioned correctly in the organisational hierarchy and support the
organizational vision. Whereas this may need some level of investment on the
part of the organisation, understanding and supporting career development,
impacts the organization’s ability to draw in and retain high-performance
employees, a combination that may lead to a long-term organisation-wide
competitive advantage.
Why is Career Development So Important for Organizations?
- Attracting top talent: Although recently the globe has been faced with a tight job market, in competitive fields employers must focus their efforts on attracting the top talent. Competitive employment packages that go beyond traditional compensation and benefits can be key to their accomplishment.
- Job satisfaction: It is often said that “A happy employee is a productive employee.” Job satisfaction is very vital since most of the people devote a major share of their life to their working place. Furthermore, job satisfaction has its effect on the general life of the employees also, since a satisfied employee is satisfied and happy human being. An extremely satisfied worker has healthier physical and mental well-being (Janardhanan & George 2011).
- Retaining employees/reducing turnover: Through organizational commitment, career development opportunities help to retain employees and thus prevents turnover.
- Productivity and Financial Returns: Employers can also increase efficiency and financial revenues by capitalizing on their employees via career development.
Because organizations have to stay current in technology,
business practices, and advances in their industry, an organization that
embraces career development processes can keep employees up-to-date on advancements
in the industry while, keep staff motivated and retain the knowledge pool within
the organization ensuring its competitive edge in the market.
Reference
- Janardhanan & George (2011). A Study on Job Satisfaction of Employees in BPCL – Kochi Refinery Limited, Ambalamugal. Available from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281857611_A_STUDY_ON_JOB_SATISFACTION_OF_EMPLOYEES_IN_BPCL_-_KOCHI_REFINERY_LIMITED_AMBALAMUGAL [Accessed on 16 April 2021].








