This is the ninth in an eleven part series that looks at:
Determine the infrastructure and systems required to Support Career Development- Making the Case for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
- Facts, Figures & Findings
- Career Planning & Development Defined
- Key Definitions of Career Planning & Development
- Framework for Competency-based Career Planning & Development
- Best Practice Tools & Processes
- Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 1
- Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 2
- Implementing Career Planning & Development – Part 3
- Key Considerations for Software, Part 1
- Key Considerations for Software, Part 2
Career Development is a complex process that typically involves multiple elements that are best supported through on an online system. As noted in our previous blog, best practice organizations most often have a talent management software system that stores and reports information on employee competencies. These systems enable some or all parts of the Career Development process, for example:
- Employee / superior / multi-source competency assessment
- Learning plan development and management
- Catalogued learning resources categorized by competency and proficiency level
- On-line registration for courses / programs
- Job / role matching that compares employee competencies against targeted role / job requirements, and provides job best match list for employees based on their inventory of skills and competencies
- Various reporting capabilities that support developmental programs and succession (e.g., lists of employees ready for targeted positions / role) as well as broader HR Planning, as well as
- Guides and manuals to support employees and managers as they undertake Career Planning and Development (e.g., self-help guides and tips on coaching for career development)
Having defined your Career Development principles and philosophy as well as the fundamental tools and processes you wish to support through Career Development, it then becomes possible to evaluate and implement on-line systems and tools consistent with your requirements.
Build and incorporate basic competency-based elements to address broad organizational needs
No matter what system you choose, you will either need to configure it to meet your requirements (i.e., implement system settings that address your organization’s needs) and / or develop material to support employees and managers in undertaking effective career planning and development (e.g., Career Guidebooks; Coaching / Mentoring Guides; Learning Resources organized by competency; etc.).
Talent Management systems typically include elements that will support Career Development as noted above. It is just a matter of configuring them to meet your specific organization’s needs
Generally, organizations can implement tools and processes that will support most Job Group / Family needs; however, there are often high need / high risk groups that need extra attention. It may be that programs have to be put in place to accelerate the development of employees in groups where there is, or will be a high turnover rate, such as might be the case with an aging workforce (e.g., baby boomer exodus). In this case, organizations will often develop and implement special programs to address these challenges, which build on the basic tools and processes that are in place for the whole organization (e.g., competency assessment tools; career and job ladder information; etc.) as well as incorporate special elements to accelerate or focus development (e.g., target learning programs; planned and progressive developmental job moves; on-job assignments; specialized coaching / mentoring). This is often the case for leadership levels within the organization, and I have also seen this approach employed when there is a significant challenge in ensuring that there is enough talent available to carry out a key function within an organization. I have seen it used, for example, in a situation where Procurement Officers were in short supply within a governmental organization and the procurement processes could not tolerate any delays.
To summarize, Career Development is a complex process that builds on and integrates with a number of other talent management processes such as competency assessment, learning planning and needs analysis, performance feedback and management, promotional processes, to name just a few. Because of its complexity and links to other Talent Management processes, it can be facilitated greatly by having well-defined and integrated online Talent Management software.
The next blog in this series reviews the links between Career Planning and Development and other important Talent Management processes, as well as some of the things that you should be looking for in software to support Career Development. . Sign up to our blog’s mailing list through the form on the right-hand side to receive the rest of the series in your inbox.
HRSG is a leader in Competency-based Career Planning and Development solutions. Contact us today to find out how we can help you.
Nice Post. However risk management attempts to plan for and handle events that are uncertain in that they may or may actually occur. These are surprises. Some surprises are pleasant. We may plan an event for the public and it is so successful that twice as many people attend as we expected. A good turn-out is positive. However, if we have not planned for this possibility, we will not have resources available to meet the needs of these additional people in a timely manner and the positive can quickly turn into a negative
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