The workplace of today has never been more interesting!
There are multiple dynamics at play. On one hand, organizations are operating in a world that has been “VUCA-ised” multifold compared to the past. The speed of disruptions businesses are experiencing is at a never-before pace. On the other hand, the workforce has become multigenerational where employees’ motivations and drivers are beyond money and job security.
Keeping this context, Career Management as a concept has become as real and true as it can get. It is no more an esoteric thought that either employees or organizations can ignore.
Managing ones’ own career has to be owned by an individual. However, organizations are proactive in adopting Career Management as a concept as they see immense benefit in the same for themselves.
One needs to analyze Career Management from the viewpoint of both an organization and an individual, and appreciate the benefits they can derive from it.
Organization’s View Point
Ready Talent for Meeting the Organizational Vision
All surveys indicate the challenge organizations face to get the ready talent they need to meet the vision of the organization. A structured Career and Talent Management Framework will help an organization grow the skills and experience the business needs now and in the future. Also, structured career conversations help manage expectations of employees by ensuring they have a clear understanding what the true demands of a role are, and how ready they are to meet those demands.
Better Resource Management and Redeployment
In a world where the shelf life of a skill is shortening, an organization cannot always hope to ‘buy’ or ‘borrow’ talent from outside. Also, making talent redundant frequently is detrimental to an organizations employer brand. Hence, organizations need to think long-term in terms of helping employees upgrade themselves, making them more fungible.
Succession Planning
Every human being has an innate need to grow. They will aspire for larger and more challenging roles. A smart organization will make good of this aspiration to create a pipeline of talent for all its roles, especially the critical ones. Research has proven that an internally grown employee has healthier success compared to an externally hired one due to a better cultural fit. A transparent and well executed Career Management framework will help the organization address individual aspirations and create a good bench of successors for key roles.
Employee Engagement and Productivity
The linkage between employee engagement and productivity is proven. Engagement is higher when employees feel a job fulfills their intrinsic needs and life goals. By helping employees being proactive about their careers and by providing visibility of various opportunities available in the organization, one ensures better engagement and hence productivity of employees.
Managing Attrition
The “Game of Talent” is an ongoing one. A talented employee will always be sought after. One of the key drivers for an employee to stay is their feeling that the organization will help them meet their career aspirations. A supportive career framework will create the glue that will hold on the employee.
Individual View Point
Managing Career Growth
Employees today have realized that if they aspire to grow in their careers, they need to be more proactive and strategic. They appreciate the fact that in today’s world your personal brand gets impacted by the depth and width of the knowledge and skills you bring with you. They recognize that organizations reward the “talent-capital’ you have. Hence, individuals need to constantly reinvent themselves by focusing on aspects that will help them grow in their lives.
Upskilling to Stay Relevant
Digital Disruption is ubiquitous. With business models undergoing rapid transformation, the shelf-life of skill is shrinking. Gone are the days when what we learn in colleges or universities ensured life-long employment. A case in point is the redundancies we see in the information technology sector. Today, an individual needs to constantly acquire news skills just to stay relevant in the job market. Employees appreciate this, are in better control of their careers and destinies.
Sense of Fulfilment
Look around, and you will find so many individuals, trapped in roles that do not excite them. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to see people who have taken the leap of faith and rebooted their careers. An acquaintance of mine has shifted to freelancing consulting after sending fifteen years in the sales function of various leading corporates. Today, there are enough opportunities available for individuals, both in the traditional sense and also alternate careers. The social media also provides access to a world of resources to an individual who wishes to learn new skills in line with their areas of interest. It is up to an individual to seek out a career more in line with what one enjoys.
Career management is about the future of both, the organizations and individuals. If all stakeholders get it right, employees will feel connected to their work, will feel valued for their contributions, engaged with their organizations, and get motivated to contribute to the organization. It will lead to an ecosystem of more productive individuals and organizations.
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