How To Support Career Development
- Annually, conduct an individual development plan and career discussion with employees and require other supervisors in your department to do the same.
- Hold supervisors in your department accountable for supporting employee development efforts.
- Create programs and activities to provide skill development, such as job rotation, cross-training, mentoring, internships, coaching, and career strategy groups.
- Recognize that your role includes providing support and/or release time for staff members’ development beyond their current jobs.
- Support requests for flexible work arrangements from staff members.
- Serve as a role model by participating in career and professional development opportunities yourself.
- See staff members’ applications for other positions as a healthy sign of a dynamic workplace.
- Support lateral moves within your organization.
- Create job vacancy listings that allow for the most diverse applicant pool while honoring transferable skills.
Development: Design & Consider
This is without a doubt the most intensive section and the one youll spend the most time on. This is also the stage where HR managers and upper leadership get more hands-on involvement.
Using the assessment, youll document what the employee already knows and what opportunities there are for them to develop further. Coincidentally, this is where those variables I mentioned earlier come in.
As you can see in the screenshot above, answers from the employees self-evaluation have already been pre-populated into the text box. This is a huge timesaver since once you enter data into a form field within the workflow, you can pull that data into any other task without having to enter the same thing over and over again.
Its incredibly useful in situations like this, where youd like to refer back to previous information without flicking through different tasks to find it.
Approvals and stop tasks also come into play here. Approvals allow you to streamline hand-offs so the person given authorization can quickly review the details and give their thumbs up or not. If they decide to not approve the task, theres also a comment field where they can enter their reasons and what theyd like changed.
Check out the following video to get a quick overview:
What Career Pathing Is
A career path is a sequence of jobs an employee aims to hold throughout their time at an organization. It maps out potential roles and the skills, knowledge, competencies, experience, and personal characteristics required for each job level as an employee moves up the corporate ladder.While career paths traditionally go from entry-level roles to C-suite roles within a department, not all career growth is vertical. Career paths can be flexible and allow employees to move laterally or cross-functionally as well. Having a detailed framework in place makes it easy for employees to understand which of their skills are transferable to other departments and roles within an organization, and encourages internal career changes.
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Career Path: How To Find Yours And Why It Matters
Imagine this youre thinking about your career goals and how fulfilled youd be in your dream job. Think about what success looks like for you and how youll feel on the first day of your ideal job.
Have you ever mapped out the steps you need to take to prepare yourself for that job? What qualifications will you need before applying for that position? What types of companies need that position?
You might need to meet certain requirements for your dream job. Knowing these requirements ahead of time will help you prepare for that job. This may include a college degree, a special certification, or on-the-job experience. One of the best ways to prepare for your dream job is to create and follow a career path.
This is where a career path comes in. A career path is a specific set of jobs that prepare you for upward growth in your industry. In this article, were going to discuss different career paths, along with the skills you need to create your own career path.
Developing Employee Career Pathing And Ladders
- Checkster Staff
One of the top reasons good employees leave jobs is because they have few or no opportunities to advance within a company. But this particular pain point can be mitigated by identifying potential avenues through which an employee can grow and integrate as a member of a business. They want to know how their careers fit in with your long-term business plans: the extension and development of employee career pathing and ladders is a crucial factor in retention, engagement, and ultimately business growth.
In this article, well define career pathing, discuss why it matters, and fill you in on some steps you can take to implement it successfully at your company.
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How Do You Choose A Career Path
Mentors and organizational charts are helpful tools and resources when you are working to choose a career path. A mentor in your company, or elsewhere, can offer guidance and advice from their own career path and experience, such as skills they learned that helped them get a promotion. An organizational chart will also help you see the different roles and how they work together so you can decide which direction you want to move in.
Take A Personal Interest In Employee Career Goals
If youre managing a remote team, you know how important it is to communicate frequently with your workers. That interaction should include meeting regularly with team members one-on-one so you can stay attuned to their career aspirations and expectations. This kind of manager support can help your staff feel valued and lead to greater productivity and loyalty.
Help your employees outline a potential career path within the organization, so they can better visualize their future at the company. Identify specific milestones for achievement and the supporting resources employees will likely need to tap along their journey. Clear, direct and consistent communication from the boss about career advancement steps can help workers feel more engaged.
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Examples Of Career Paths
The key to having a solid career path is identifying the skills and experience needed for the positions in your career path. You wont be guaranteed a senior manager role just because youve been a manager for two years. You have to demonstrate specific skills that show that youre ready for the next step in your career.
Knowing what lies ahead in your career path can help you focus on the right skills.
Job responsibilities, qualifications, and a company’s needs change so much in today’s workforce. You can’t set a career path and expect your career to just run on autopilot. Keep an open mind and adapt to changes where necessary.
The current work climate requires employees to be flexible in their roles. An Executive Assistant may need the skills of a project manager to do their job. Upper management across industries needs to have a basic understanding of Human Resources.
It’s important to stay on top of your industry trends and adapt to these changes. Stay proactive. Talk to others in your field to learn about how your career path is evolving.
Here are some examples of career paths that you can explore.
Accounting: Staff Accountant > Senior Accountant > Accounting Manager > Senior Accounting Manager > Firm Partner
Administrative: Administrative Assistant > Executive Assistant > Office Manager > Event and Conference Planner > Event Manager > Director of Events
Customer Service: Associate > Team Lead > Manager > Senior Manager > Director > Chief Operating Officer
Technology:
Career Planning And Development: Meeting Business And Employee Needs
In recent decades, career development has seen a shift in the way it is approached. Traditionally, it was up to an organization to ensure that its employees had the skills to meet the companys long-term goals. Now, however, employees advocate that they areand should beresponsible for their own career development.
This shift has changed the way that organizations handle career development. Career development is viewed today as a kind of partnership with employees. It is also a key component of a companys attraction and retention strategy. Many candidates will not consider employment with an organization unless it offers career development as a basic component of its culture.
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How To Develop A Career Path For Your Employees
As adults, we spend most of our waking lives working. In fact, an average person invests more than 90,000 hours in their lifetime at work. For this, the majority of people are willing to bend over backwards to find a fulfilling job that aligns with their long-term goalsgiving them a sense of purpose rather than simply working for a paycheck alone.
Since we all know that employees are the backbone of every company, it is imperative for employers to keep up with the shifting trends not only in attracting top talent but retaining each one by keeping them motivated.
While employees needs and desires continue to evolve through the years, one thing will remain: more than competitive pay and benefits, one of the main drivers of continued productivity and motivation in the workplace is attractive career advancement opportunities. Like every competent HR professional, it is your responsibility to guide employees in their professional growth and give them an exciting career path.
If youre not quite sure how to achieve that, read on as this infographic should help you build a foolproof career development plan for your company.
Help Newly Promoted Employees Make A Smooth Transition
When an employee receives a promotion, they essentially start over in a brand new position. To promote further development, human resources and other executive staff can help the employee adjust to their new role. Training, one-on-one meetings or shadowing others with a similar role equips the newly promoted employee to transition more easily. By showing support for those in a new role, the company motivates others to continue striving for progress on their individual career paths.
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Creating Your Career Pathing Program
1. Create Career RoadmapsFor each of the key function areas of your organization, you should create a career roadmap. This is typically a graphic or diagram which represents the potential vertical and horizontal position changes with any given business function . This framework will be the cornerstone of your career pathing program, as it highlights the opportunities for vertical employee career progression.
2. Create Position ProfilesNext, you should create position profiles for each of the roles highlighted in your career roadmaps. For each role you should outline and document the core responsibilities, skills, and general requirements. To add clarity to your career pathing program, you can outline more detailed specifications for each role. These might include recommended or required education, technical trainings, licenses, and certifications necessary for success.
3. Define Performance StandardsNext, its important to document expected performance standards. To do this, you should document the behaviors and benchmarks that are typically shown by top performers at your company. These behavioral competences will translate across all horizontal and vertical role changes.
How Do You Plan Career Paths
2. As youre mapping paths, use your companys compensation policy in conjunction to keep your pathways as consistent and fair as possible.
3. Its a good idea to include your HR people in your career pathing exercises, to help you identify the training and support that each pathway may require.
4. Keep in mind that not all pathways will be vertical. There may be opportunities for someone to shift sideways in your organization.
What might that look like?
Consider a community health care system that needs to use data analytics to schedule staff efficiently and improve patient outcomes. Rather than draw only one career path, from junior IT staffer to analytics, the employer could also create a lateral path for nurses who want to get trained in informatics and analytics.
5. Finally, step back from your career paths to think about how employees progress along them will affect your whole organization.
For example, how does moving someone from IT into data science affect your companys infrastructure? If one of your nurses moves into an analytics role, what needs to happen to maintain patient care?
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How To Develop A Career Path
You can develop a career path by taking a look at your desired job/jobs within your organization. Then, chart a course through jobs and departments, with the help of your supervisor or manager and human resources staff, that is the most likely career path that will let you achieve your goal.
Recognize that obtaining the job you desire may require lateral moves, departmental transfers, and job promotions along the way if you are to achieve your goal. For example, if you would like to be a director, but your current department doesn’t have that role, you may want to switch teams laterally now so that you can work hard to earn promotions and grow into a director in the future.
Attaining your desired goal will also require that you develop skills, pursue employee development opportunities, and obtain certain experienceslike people management, presentations, strategy, and project managementas you progress along your career path through your organization.
Help Them Discover Their Skills Strengths And Weaknesses
Letting your employees know their strengths and weaknesses can help them unlock their full potential. Such awareness can not only help them be better at what they do but also help determine the right career path for them.
This knowledge can drive productivity and engagement and also allow you to make well-informed decisions when it comes to assigning tasks, tailoring training workshops and sessions, and expanding team capabilities.
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Identifying And Updating An Employees Career Plan
Each employee should have a career plan that has been discussed with their manager. Generally, this would take place during the performance review process.
The career plan includes an assessment of the gaps or training requirements. The career plan should be reviewed on an ongoing basis. This ensures that both the employees and the organizations needs and objectives are adjusted over time.
When Is Career Path Mapping Most Useful
Any organization can map career paths, but its especially useful for companies that need people with a specific or hard-to-find set of skills and experiences. Career pathing can also be helpful for supporting internal promotion from entry-level and junior positions.
For example, if your business needs people who are in short supply, like data scientists, or people with a particular set of certifications, like social workers, career pathing can help you build an internal pipeline for those careers.
With clear career maps in place, your organization may also have a recruiting advantage. When you can show candidates their options for vertical and lateral moves within your company over time, as well as cross-training options, theyre better able to envision a long-term career there.
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Family Member Employment Strategies
Family employees can be a double-edged sword for the family business. They often display profound commitment to the enterprise, but if their employment does not work out for one reason or another it can be enormously disruptive to both the business and the family.
Having family members enter the family business should not be done casually, because there are high expectations on all sides. The employment relationship is highly charged, because of the history and intermingling of family and business worlds. Businesses that fall short in planning and addressing the trickier aspects of family employment can damage both business and family relationships, not to mention the career potential of individuals. Good employment policy and review practices are crucial for successful career pathing of family employees and protection of the enterprise.
Ensuring Diversity In Career Progression
Look to the makeup of those who hold higher positions in your company. Are they representative of a diverse workforce? Are there obstacles that could prevent team members from advancing their career paths?
Statistics indicate that black Americans are not being promoted nor paid according to their proportional educational and experiential skillsets. Everyone needs to work to eliminate structural barriers that prevent people of colour, women, and LGBTQ employees from equitable career progression. So, how can HR do its part to encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace?
Everyone should be given the opportunity for advancement. But how can HR managers provide the framework for career progression? What do HR managers need to do to get started?
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It Will Boost Employee Retention
In a recent survey by CV-Library and Robert Walters, soft benefits like a clear progression plan and development/training courses were ranked highly as key ways to persuade employees to remain in their current roles.While the goal of a career progression framework is to help employees advance, offering a progression plan and development opportunities can help them stay within the company, too.
What Does Employee Progression Typically Look Like
Some, but not all, workers advance their careers by job-hopping. This entails working at a company for a short period of time, say six months to a year, then moving on to another company at a higher level.
While that might work out well for the individual, that kind of turnover isnt ideal for the companies theyre hopping to and from.
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Why Building A Career Path Matters
A sense of stagnation at a company is often what sends people out of the door, Chamberlain says. A clear career path tells a different story, particularly when employees can regularly move through job titles over time. Developing a career path for employees is more than just a strategy to increase employee retention. Implementing a career plan for your employees can also mean:
