Career Planning and Guidance

CAREER PLANNING

• Career planning is an ongoing process through which individuals

set career goals and identifies the means to achieve them.

• The process by which individuals plan their life’s work is referred

to as career planning.

• Through career planning, a person evaluates his or her own

abilities and interests, considers alternative career
opportunities, establishes career goals, and plans practical
developmental activities.

• Career planning is the process by which one selects career goals

and the path to these goals.
• Career development is those personal improvements one
undertakes to achieve a personal career plan.

• Career management is the process of designing and implementing

goals, plans and strategies to enable the organization to satisfy
employee needs while allowing individuals to achieve their career
goals.

• Due to this career planning and development is necessary to each

and every employee in an organization.

• The need of career planning and development is felt in each and

every organization of today’s global world.
Career planning programs are expected to achieve foll objectives:

1. More effective development of available talent.

2. Self-appraisal opportunities for employees considering new or
non-traditional career paths.
3. More efficient development of human resources within and
among divisions and/or geographic locations.
4. A demonstration of a tangible commitment.
5. Satisfaction of employees’ personal development needs.
6. Improvement of performance through on-the-job training
experiences provided by horizontal and vertical career moves.
7. Increased employee loyalty and motivation, leading to decreased
turnover.
8. A method of determining training and development needs.
Need for Career Planning

Career Planning is necessary due to the following reasons:

• To attract competent persons and to retain them in the

organization.
• To provide suitable promotional opportunities.
• To enable the employees to develop and take them ready to
meet the future challenges.
• To increase the utilization of managerial reserves within an
organization.
• To correct employee placement.
• To reduce employee dissatisfaction and turnover.
• To improve motivation and morale.
Career Paths

• Career paths have historically focused on upward mobility within

a particular occupation. One of four types of career paths may
be used: traditional, network, lateral, and dual.

a. Traditional Career Path — an employee progresses vertically

upward in the organization from one specific job to the next.

b. Network Career Path — A method of career path that contains

both a vertical sequence of jobs and a series of horizontal
opportunities.
c. Lateral Skill Path — traditionally, a career path was viewed as
moving upward to higher levels of management in the
organization. The availability of the previous two options has
diminished considerably in recent years. But this does not mean
that an individual has to remain in the same job for life. There are
often lateral moves within the firm that can be taken to allow an
employee to become revitalized and find new challenges.

d. Dual-Career Path — A career-path method, that recognizes that

technical specialists can and should be allowed to continue to
contribute their expertise to a company without having to become
managers.
• Adding Value to Retain Present Job — Regardless of the career
path pursued, today’s workers need to develop a plan whereby
they are viewed as continually adding value to the organization.
If employees cannot add value, the company does not need them,
and much of the evolving work environments cannot use them
either.

• Workers must anticipate what tools will be needed for success in

the future and obtain these skills. These workers must look
across company lines to other organizations to determine what
skills are transferable, and then go and get them. Essentially,
today’s workers must manage their own careers as never before.

• Demotion—Demotions have long been associated with failure,

but limited promotional opportunities in the future and the fast
pace of technological change may make them more legitimate
career options.
• A formal approach taken by an organization to help its people
acquire the skills and experiences needed to perform current and
future jobs is termed as career development.

• Company’s policies especially policies regarding promotion,

counseling the employees, opportunities to excel in future help
employees to develop their career.

• Career development consists of skills, education and

experiences as well as behavioral modification and refinement
techniques that allow individuals to work better and add value.

• It differs from training in that it has a wider focus, longer

time frame, and broader scope.
Career-Impacted Life Stages

• Each person’s career goes through stages that influence an

individual’s knowledge of, and preference for, various
occupations. People change constantly and, thus, view their
careers differently at various stages of their lives. Some of these
changes result from the aging process and others from
opportunities for growth and status. The main stages of the
career cycle include the growth, exploration, establishment,
maintenance, and decline.

• Growth Stage: The growth stage is roughly from birth to age 14

and is a period during which an individual develops a self-
concept by identifying and interacting with other people.
Basically, during this stage an individual establishes his or her
identity.
• Exploration Stage: The exploration stage is the period roughly from ages
15 to 24, during which an individual seriously explores various
occupational alternatives. The person attempts to match these
occupational alternatives with his or her own interests and abilities
resulting from education, leisure activities, and work.
• Establishment Stage: The establishment stage is roughly from ages 25
to 44 and is the primary part of most people’s work lives. Hopefully,
during this period, a suitable occupation is found and the person
engages in those activities that help earn a permanent career. During this
period, the individual is continually testing personal capabilities and
ambitions against those of the initial occupational choice.
• Maintenance Stage: Between the ages of 45 to 65, many people move
from the stabilization sub stage into the maintenance stage. Here, the
individual has usually created a place in the work world, and most efforts
are directed at maintaining the career gains earned.
• Decline Stage: As retirement becomes an inevitable reality, in the decline
stage, there is frequently a period of adjustment, where many begin to
accept reduced levels of power and responsibility.
Career Planning and Development Methods

• Discussions with Knowledgeable Individuals — In a formal

discussion, the superior and subordinate may jointly agree on
what type of career planning and development activities are best.

• In other instances, psychologists and guidance counselors

provide this service.

• In an academic setting, colleges and universities often provide

career planning and development information to students.
Students often go to their professors for career advice.
• Company Material — Some firms provide material specifically
developed to assist their workers in career planning and
development. Such material is tailored to the firm’s special
needs. In addition, job descriptions provide valuable insight for
individuals to personally determine if a match exists with their
strengths and weaknesses and specific positions considered.

• Performance Appraisal System — The firm’s performance

appraisal system can also be a valuable tool in career planning
and development. Noting and discussing an employee’s
strengths and weaknesses with his or her supervisor can uncover
developmental needs.

• If overcoming a particular weakness seems difficult or even

impossible, an alternate career path may be the solution.
• Workshops — Some organizations conduct workshops lasting
two or three days for the purpose of helping workers develop
careers within the company. Employees define and match their
specific career objectives with the needs of the company. At
other times, workshops are available in the community that the
company may send the worker to or workers may initiate the
visit themselves.
• Personal Development Plans — Many employers encourage
employees to write their own personal development plans. This
is a summary of a person’s personal development needs and an
action plan to achieve them. Workers are encouraged to analyze
their strengths and weaknesses.
• Software Packages — Some software packages assist employees
in navigating their careers.
• Career Planning Web Sites — There are numerous Web sites
available that provide career planning and career counseling as
well as career testing and assessment.
Limitations of career planning

• Dual Career Families: With the increase in career orientation

among women, number of female employees in on increase.
With this, the dual career families have also been on increase.
Consequently, one of those family members might face the
problem of transfer. This has become a complicated problem to
organizations. Consequently other employees may be at
disadvantage.

• Low ceiling careers: Some careers do not have scope for much
advancement. Employees cannot get promotions despite their
career plans and development in such jobs.
• Declining Career Opportunities: Career opportunities for
certain categories reach the declining stage due to the influence
of the technological or economic factors. Solution for such
problem is career shift.

• Downsizing/Delayering and careers: Business process re-

engineering, technological changes and business environmental
factors force the business firms to restructure the organizations
by delayering and downsizing. Downsizing activities result in
fixing some employees, and degrading some other employees.