Companies’ performance significantly depends on the satisfaction of employees. The increased staff turnover can be discussed as a sign of the managerial problem within the company because employees are inclined to choose the other perspectives for their careers. Thus, a significant factor in reducing the general workforce performance and in causing staff turnover is a lack of upward mobility.
To avoid the negative consequences of this situation, it is necessary to focus on the career planning systems oriented to both the individuals and organizations to satisfy their needs. Career planning systems are important for both parties because employees receive the opportunity to respond to their needs and aspirations when employers can retain talented staff and increase productivity.
Today, a lot of industries are highly competitive; that is why talented human resources have many opportunities to find companies where their needs will be satisfied (Sims, 2007). As a result, to retain the talents in the firm, it is important to focus on the advantages of career planning systems.
Effective career planning systems with the focus on succession planning, job rotation strategies, and education and development assistance can be considered as strategic human resources tools designed to contribute to the talents and company’s progress.
Career planning is the complex program developed by the human resources manager to meet the interests and needs of employees about their professional growth and development and to create advantageous conditions for the talented staff. Employees have definite professional goals and plans regarding their careers. If the company cannot provide opportunities for realizing these objectives, persons choose to change the job with the focus on further career perspectives.
In this case, the task of the human resources manager is to identify talented employees, evaluate their skills and potentials, and to correlate the abilities with the taken positions to conclude about the career planning about the individual (Cartwright, 2005). However, such assessments and evaluations along with provisions of opportunities to develop the potential should be regular and workable for all the employees. From this point, the effective and balanced career planning system is necessary.
Career planning is based on such stages as the employees’ self-assessment in relation to which they receive the opportunity to focus on their objectives, values, skills, and perspectives, the development of programs and methods in order to improve employees’ skills and knowledge, the concentration on multiple tasks strategy to develop the employees’ abilities (Deb, 2006).
As a result, employees focus on their potential and receive the necessary knowledge to take a higher position with the company and satisfy their needs regarding career development.
The career planning systems can depend on such approaches as succession planning when the employees are prepared by managers to take the vacant positions because of the employees’ turnover within the company, job rotation when the positions of employees and their duties are exchanged in order to improve and expand the staff’s knowledge and abilities, the self-assessment and interviews in order to focus on the employees’ potential and goals, seminars and workshops to develop employees’ practical skills and prepare them for the higher positions (George & Jones, 2007).
Having no opportunities for the career development with references to the effective career planning, employees do not see perspectives for their professional growth because their competence is not appropriate for taking the higher position within this concrete company. Many firms focused on opportunities for career planning to avoid such problems and retain talented staff. However, the approaches to career planning can be different.
According to Noe, “in Coca-Cola USA’s career planning system, employees and managers have a separate meeting after the annual performance review to discuss the employee’s career interests, strengths, and possible development activities” (Noe, 2013). Similar approaches are utilized in many other companies globally.
Such career planning systems as succession planning and educational programs for employees are used in many companies, including General Electric, Dell, and Home Depot. The human resources managers in these companies pay much attention to evaluating the potentials of the talented workers and to developing the possible career paths for them to attract the professionals to work at their productivity and aspects of performance with references to the proposed career planning programs (Noe, 2013).
Furthermore, General Electric and Coca-Cola focus on the advantages of the automated career management systems to discuss and analyze the career paths and opportunities for all the company’s workers basing on their experience, knowledge, background, demonstrated skills and abilities as well as potentials.
Career planning is an important part of the strategic human resources management because implementing the associated programs, the company focuses on increasing productivity, identifying the employees’ needs and goals, developing the talented employees’ potential, contributing to the work quality, and providing the necessary guidance for the staff in relation to their perspectives, and advantageous career paths.
References
Cartwright, S. (2005). Human resource management. USA: Mittal Publications.
Deb, T. (2006). Strategic approach to human resource management. USA: Atlantic Publishers & Dist.
George, M. J., & Jones, R. G. (2007). Understanding and managing organizational behavior. USA: Prentice Hall/Pearson Publishing House.
Noe, R. (2013). Careers and career management. Retrieved from http://answers.mheducation.com/business/management/employee-training-and-development/careers-and-career-management
Sims, R. R. (2007). Human resource management: Contemporary issues, challenges and opportunities. USA: IAP.
