Effective Career management as a mechanism for personal and organizational Development and Growth
By Agaba Herbert
Introduction
According to wikipedia the career management process begins with setting goals/objectives. A relatively specific goal/objective must be formulated. This task may be quite difficult when the individual lacks knowledge of career opportunities and/or is not fully aware of their talents and abilities. However, the entire career management process is based on the establishment of defined goals/objectives whether specific or general in nature. Utilizing career assessments may be a critical step in identifying opportunities and career paths that most resonate with someone.
Ball (1997) notes that making career choices and decisions are the traditional focus of careers and interventions. The changed nature of work means that individuals may have to revisit this process more frequently now and in the future than in the past. Managing one’s organizational career concerns the career management tasks of individuals within the workplace such as decision making, life stage transitions, dealing with stress and so forth.Raddon (2005) (ed) notes that the changes in the drivers, form, content and structure of work have been evolving since the first exchange of goods and labor existed, but within the last century the pace of this evolution has accelerated, and information professions have been among some of the most rapidly changing areas. These changes have been taking place in a context of social, economic and technological flux…organizations have responded through the responding need of technologies, changing formal structures, decentralization, improved flexibility, structural alterations in the workforce, and different responses to issues of race and gender.
Career management at a Personal level
Sustainable career management starts when one is a child. It involves parenting styles and roles in a family. This means that both parents of a child should ensure that they closely monitor their child development in terms of the likes and dislikes, their thinking patterns; the way they socialize with others in terms of group activities with their friends. This stage is crucial because at that time the brain is growing so what the children do and like is deeply ingrained. It is the role of their parents to try and understand these patterns so that they can guide their children well. The challenge is that some parents seem to think that what worked for them will necessarily work for their children something which may not be the case. This has affected the careers of many people who have gone on to do “famous” courses something which is regretted at the latter years of their careers. At this level, career management involves setting personal goals and devising strategies to achieve these goals. It should be noted that career management is a an on-going process that involves self evaluation to find out if one is still on the same path s/he chose to take years back.
Organizational Development
Goodyear et.al (2006) note that the concept of organizational development (OD) is often used to represent the ability of an organization to continuously improve. French and Bell provided an academic and comprehensive definition of OD as “a long-term effort, led and supported by top management, to improve an organization’s visioning, empowerment, learning, and problem-solving processes, through an ongoing, collaborative management of organization culture…using the consultant/facilitator role and the theory and technology of applied behavioral science…. On a day-to-day level, a shorthand definition of OD is “an ongoing, thoughtfully planned effort by all members of an organization to improve how that organization operates, serves its stakeholders, fulfills its mission, and approaches its vision.
Career management is both an individual and organization concept. Organizational development enhances career management through visioning, empowerment and learning. This means that if these components of organizational development are well taken into account by both the employers and employees the individual will grow within the organizational framework and the long-term learning will help the individual even if s/he decides to join another organization.
Components of Effective Career Management both at Personal and Organizational level
Learning
Career management thus is primarily an individual responsibility. Career planning and pursuing the desired career is a life long process for an individual, where he continuously learns about his purpose, personality, skills and interests. The process of career management by an individual involves rigor and focus at each step. See (alagse.com)
]]>
Since individuals are looking for a favorable and competitive career paths continuous learning to improve their skills, change their perceptions and attitudes about work is paramount. The individual learns a lot through life experiences and is able to share the skills and knowledge to those who are willing to learn and apply them for the betterment of society and human kind.
Personal and Organizational Change
In the current career environment, individuals with alternatives obtain more challenging and growth-oriented opportunities. Individuals with alternatives need not accept consequences; rather they create opportunities for themselves…Given the organizational changes that have occurred in recent years (downsizing, de-layering, decentralization, reorganization, cost-reduction, IT innovation, competency measurement, and performance related measurement), and their potential negative psychological impacts (anxiety, lowered self-esteem, competitive behaviors, frustration, stress, lowered self-efficacy, and low trust behaviors), a positive framework is required for approaching the future. see (Career Management Guide; career resources).
With a volatile work environment as it is today many changes are happening and so managers, employers, employees, and other stakeholders should do all what they can in order to fit in this ever-changing environment. If this is not done then both the new and old companies will lose their footing. These changes do not only affect the structures and the ways of doing business but they also affect people’s careers. In order to embrace these changes both the employers and employees should learn new skills, empower themselves in order to find their rightful place in this volatile work environment.
Skills Development
According toNoe (1996) in the study entitled “Is career management related to employee development and performance?”, career management process involves career exploration, development of career goals, and use of career strategies to obtain career goals. The relationship between different aspects of the career management process and employee development behavior and performance was examined in this study. Employees provided information concerning their personal characteristics, career management strategies, their manager’s support for career development, and willingness to participate in development activities. Managers provided ratings of each employee’s job performance and developmental behavior. Position, manager’s support for development, environmental exploration, and distance from career goal explained significant variance in employees’ willingness to participate in development activities and developmental behavior. Career management was not significantly related to performance ratings.
This is crucial in the sense that different individuals need skills to improve on their work and enhance their careers. That is why serious organizations throughout the world spend a lot of money in training both the old and new staff. Training can be in from of on-job but the knowledge acquired could also be used in future projects and some times in other organizations since the individual may not stay in one workplace for life.
Organizational culture
According to Morris (1992) Organizational culture is the shared values or common perceptions that are held by each member of an organization. This may be a small team, an operating department, plant site or a large multinational organization. A value system has evolved (or perhaps formally defined and implemented) within the organization or group. Through corporate history, in-house training, speeches, tradition and informal story telling, these values are passed from senior members of a firm to new employees.
Organizational culture is a very important component of effective career management in that it helps in shaping one’s core values, common goals and teamwork. Values help in shaping a person’s character and different employees learn to work together and achieve their targets through teams. Individuals learn a lot through teams whose foundation is the organization through its culture and values. It should be noted that different organizations have different cultures something, which means that career management is not static it is dynamic. Development of one’s work ethic though is something that all serious organizations are expected to impart to their employees.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge management touches upon everything every person does at your firm. Since knowledge management is not a discrete function, the knowledge management organization cannot be viewed as an isolated administrative function. It must be able to implement initiatives across all functions and practice groups. It needs to establish strong relationship with key administrative functions to implement firm-wide knowledge management initiatives. Gretta (2003)
All departments within an organization should take information gathering and knowledge management seriously. Employees must be availed this knowledge in order to enhance their career prospects. This will be useful for the individual and the organization. The organization should be a learning one that is abreast with the changes that are taking place both in the internal and external environments. The organization should make sure that individuals are given the freedom to learn and adapt new ways of thinking in order improve their skills and worldviews.
Coaching and Mentoring
Coaching is a way to give employees instruction on how they can better use the skills and expertise they already have more effectively Bentley (1996). Mentoring is a process of aiding another with transitions; it is about one person helping another Megginson (1995). It involves one person, the mentor, helping another person or mentee to reach his or her goals, through coaching, counseling, guidance, sponsoring, and the parlaying of knowledge Stueart (1993) Mentoring is usually “a three-way beneficial process,” which helps the mentor, the mentee, and the organization. The primary function of a mentoring relationship is to further the career of the mentee, but the person being mentored is not the only one who benefits from the relationship.
Coaching and mentoring are crucial in developing one’s career and cement the relationship between the employees and the organization. This also reinforces organizational strategy, and a more sustainable decision-making and problem solving mechanism.
Conclusion
A well-managed career helps the individual and the organization at large to realize goals and devise strategies for achieving them, development of leadership skills and builds a focused, determined and visionary employers and employees. It helps the organization to manage change for the betterment not for the detriment of its employees. It also helps individuals manage and grow up in better-organized environments at their homes, communities and workplace.
References
Ball, B (1997) Career Management Competencies: The individual Perspective. Career Development International 2 (2). 74-79
Bentley, Trevor J. 1996. Bridging the Performance Gap. Gower, England.
Gretta, Rusanow (2003) Knowledge management and the smarter lawyer ALM publishing New York.
Goodyear, Kathleen et. al (2006) Organizational Strategies for Fostering a Culture of Learning, Marilu. University of Kansas
Megginson, David, and David Clutterbuck. 1995. Mentoring in Action. Kogan page, London.
Morris, Richard M., III (1992) Effective Organizational Culture is key to a company’s long-term success, Industrial Management
Noe, R. A. (1996), Is career management related to employee development and performance?. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 17: 119–133. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1379(199603)17:2<119::AID-JOB736>3.0.CO;2-O
Raddon Rosemary (2005) (Ed) Your career, your life: career management for the information profession. Ashgate Publishing, Burlington
Stueart, Robert D., and Barbara B. Moran. 1993. Library and Information Center Management. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Career_management.
Retrieved on 16.09.2010
www.cma-canada.org/…/Attachments/CareerGuide.pdf.
Retrieved on 16.09.2010
http://www.alagse.com/hr/hr4.php.
Retrieved on 16.09.2010
Great stuff from you, man. Ive read your stuff before and youre just too awesome. I love what youve got here, love what youre saying and the way you say it. You make it entertaining and you still manage to keep it smart. I cant wait to read more from you. This is really a great blog.