Career Development is crucial to talent programs and practices as it benefits both individuals and organizations. Building a robust Career Development framework in your organization creates a successful interdependence between employees and the organization, leading to better performance and readiness for the future.
Here’s an example of how this works: As an early careerist, you want to know if you are making an impact and have a bright future in the organization. If your organization can help you feel safe, secure, and valued, you will be more inspired, motivated, and committed to your work. However, it takes programming, alignment, and leadership to connect all the dots. Effective career development aligns your needs and individual offer to the needs and available opportunities within your organization, ensuring both parties reap the benefits.
What Does Career Development at an Organizational Level Mean?
Organizational Career Development is a future-focused approach to growth and movement that aligns organizational and individual needs for better performance today and readiness for the future. By growing talent capability, your organization achieves success. Therefore, it is essential to ask fundamental questions such as, “Do you have the right people in the right roles for today and tomorrow?” and “How can we advance your readiness for future roles?”
What are the Steps to Achieving Effective Career Development Within my Organization?
1. Understand the current talent landscape i.e., identify the strengths and weaknesses of the talent and assess that against future business needs.
2. Align the Executive Team on future talent needs to ensure strategic growth ambitions.
3. Set a formal strategy for talent growth, development, and movement.
4. Align talent programs and practices to development goals and with each other.
5. Create learning experiences that facilitate career and personal development; create readiness for leaders and employees to have meaningful career conversations.
What Quick Wins Can I Use to Build Momentum Within my Organization?
1.Grow Development Planning Capability: Ensure that EVERYONE has a meaningful Development Plan. Develop leaders to help people identify their development focus, build a plan around it and get growing.
2.Apply a Development Lens to Current Talent Programs: Use your current Talent Practices to strengthen development. For example, make sure Performance Management has an individual growth and development focus separate and distinct from desired goals and working behaviors. Ensure Succession Planning/Talent Review has a development focus by ensuring people are identified and assessed for readiness, clarifying the growth opportunity and how to make it happen.