Everyone has their own agenda when it comes to their
career. Why should organizations care about this?
Career development is a complex issue that affects the long-term
growth and succession plans of any company. High performance organizations
require productivity and innovation from their employees, and managers
need insight to know when to use the 'right' skills at the 'right'
time. This requires the ability to balance individual needs with
organizational needs - getting people where they want to be and
where their organization needs them to be.
Essentially, employees need to be confident in knowing what their
employers have in mind for them. And employers need to know what
their employees want.
BlessingWhite, a global consulting firm based in Princeton, recently
released "State of the Career Report 2007," a study designed
to investigate the following issues:
What are organizations doing about career
development?
How is it helping employees?
What has been the business impact?
Nearly 1000 people from 33 different countries were interviewed
for the survey, representing industries ranging from Human Resources
to Sales, Marketing, IT, Customer Service, Finance, R&D, and
Manufacturing/Production.
In conclusion, "State of the Career" found that "at
least half of employees today are actively managing their own careers."
"After two decades of corporate cutbacks, downsizings and
restructurings, the employer-employee contract has been redefined,” said
BlessingWhite CEO Christopher Rice. “Our study confirms that
more employees fully realize their own career is their own responsibility."
Among the study’s findings:
Over half of the participants responded that they don’t
expect their current employer to provide a clear path or direction
for them; 52% agreed that when they make job changes, they look
for work that is satisfying; half of respondents believe they have
decent career opportunities with their current employer; while
more than one-third expect their next career move to take them
elsewhere.
Although 51% of respondents indicated that they manage their career
based on "clear, personal career goals," less than half
of the participants felt that they knew what they wanted their
next job to be. Moreover, when asked whether they were aware of
what their employer wanted their next job to be, less
than a quarter of respondents said that they knew.
As authors of the study remark, this shows that much of today’s
workforce is "drifting, not driven.”
One participant, the CLO of a Global Investment Bank, put it best:
"When we looked at the unacceptable turnover of high-potentials,
we found we had 'renters' not 'owners.' We also discovered it was
easier for them to leave than to negotiate a career internally."
What do Employees
Expect?
Possessing "career ownership" is a sentiment that seems to increase
with age. Within the study, 67% percent of the baby boomers surveyed were not
looking to their employers for direction about their careers. Compare
this to 40% in the Generation Y age group (29 and under) and 48% within Generation
X
(29-41).
Across all generations, however, "interesting work, meaningful work,
and work/life balance" were identified as the most important criteria
for future jobs. Personal growth was important, too, and most employees didn’t
think there was anything wrong with staying in the same job if they were given
the opportunity to try new things or develop their skills.
As one participant, a manager for an Australian telecommunications firm, said, "There
are two underlying factors to success – a passion for the area you are
working in and the ability to grow beyond where you are to something new."
In terms of how to get to that "something new," an overwhelming
number of employees indicated that they value advice and development over "mere
information."
Career coaches and consultants; career coaching training for managers; training/workshops
(for employees); and temporary assignments received the highest ratings out
of a wide range of options for career development initiatives.
Growth assignments and special projects were also mentioned as ways to acquire
new skill sets and to develop broader networks. As one IT specialist from a
US federal agency responded, "Temporary stints are very valuable. They
help you broaden your skill set, and you make a lot of lasting contacts."
The career development initiatives least helpful to employees
were those that merely gave information, such as brochures or printed guides,
online networking communities, career centres, online information, and online
planning tools.
Despite evidence that many organizations have implemented some type of career
development plan for their employees, a large majority of respondents believe
that they are not personally benefiting from it.
Why is this gap occurring?
From the executive standpoint, career development is often tied to larger
workforce initiatives. It is one critical piece contained within a more complex
management strategy that include successions planning, performance management,
and redeployment.
PART II of this article will address this issue
in more depth: What
are organizations doing to communicate career development's role in larger
workforce initiatives? And to what extent does it matter whether employees
are aware of the link?
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