The Career Management and Development in the Light of Issues - Essay Example

Rittie Jacob Career Management and Development 14th April, 2009 Managing Career INTRODUCTION Today's workplace demands much more than college degrees, skill sets or talents. This calls for preparation, especially on the part of new entrants setting foot into the present day workplace. The kind of environment and the challenges related to it varies from industry to industry and organisation to organisation. Every individual graduate who enters an organization for the first time will face situations that are unique to themselves. Though it is impossible to equip for every single situation and challenge, it is possible to a large extent to educate and thus prepare them for the workplace culture. This paper attempts to understand and discuss various facets of career management and development in close focus with graduate careers. The discussion also aims to create an awareness of the present workplace scenario, its issues, challenges and methods to overcome it. Career theories and its relevance and the implications of the broader social forces on career are also looked at. For our purpose of understanding let us view the discussion using the banking segment in the UK as an illustration. Given below is an outline of the banking industry and its practices with excerpts taken from Job description: a) Establishing and nurturing healthy customer relationships. b) Planning and implementing effective sales strategies. c) Evaluating the effectiveness of new and existing financial products. d) Offer operational support as part of daily routine. e) Being a part of the team achieve targets. f)Processing data to produce accurate facts, figures and reports. Work Conditions And Benefits: 'Range of typical salaries for entrants on graduate management trainee programmes: 23,000 - 32,000 (usually part of a package including a 'signing on' bonus of 3,000 - 5,000). Working hours are generally nine to five but extra hours are required from time to time. Part-time, flexible working and career break opportunities do exist. The demands of fulfilling annual targets, meeting corporate objectives, and continued professional development training may sometimes give rise to stress,' says a website called prospect. Requirements For New Entrants: Although the banking sector is open to all, some functions may requires specialisation in disciplines such as mathematics; finance; business studies; economics; law; accounting. A good honours degree, usually a 2.1 or above, is required. However, entry at other levels is possible for graduates with less than a 2.1 or with an HND, especially if applicants have relevant work experience. Pre-entry work experience in the form vacation work, sandwich placements (paid or unpaid), internships and temporary or permanent work experience in a financial, customer-led environment, such as sales is desirable. In addition to an excellent academic record, graduates also need to have excellent interpersonal skills; leadership qualities; exemplary written and oral communication skills; analytical skills; willingness to relocate; flexibility and adaptability in responding to change; creative thinking and an enquiring mind; enthusiasm and a commitment to further training. With banks going global and expanding their product and service portfolio, IT skills have become advantageous, in depth knowledge of the national and international industry along with sound business acumen are essential. Training Programs and Methods: There are a variety of training options provided for new entrants joining graduate training programmes. On-the-job training, Specialised technical training, or entry to a specific functional area such as human resources, accountancy or computing, or to comply with regulatory requirements are just a few to name. Internal and external training provided in various forms like work-shadowing experienced colleagues, evening classes, a limited number of day-release courses, distance learning packages and workshops. In-house training is becoming increasingly popular. Some banks also provide training through interactive training resources the intranet or multimedia packages. New graduate trainees are often assigned a 'buddy' and a mentor, a senior level employee to offer the right sort of guidance. This method of training generally has quality and hence has clearly defined performance review procedures.. Career Development:Graduate trainees can progress rapidly to senior management positions through 'fast track' route. Career advancement is related to high levels of performance. Graduates could further their career prospects by applying for and attaining the Graduate Accelerated Associate status of the School of Finance (IFS) , or the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland (CIOBS) . What is a career A career is a series of work related position paid or unpaid, that help a person grow in job skills, success and fulfillment. From the above definition it is understood that career is no longer just a means to earn bread and butter, but it enjoys a much more higher status - it something that a person is defined by. A career has evolved to represent an individual's dreams, goals and ambitions. This explains why organisations lay much emphasis on managing and developing the career of their employees. Career management comprises of the process planning and developing an appropriate career path that will result in fulfilling an individual's personal goals and ambitions. Career development is a lifelong series of activities that contributes to a person's exploration, establishment, success and fulfillment. Career planning is the deliberate process through which someone becomes aware of personal skills, interests, knowledge, motivations and other characteristics; acquires information about opportunities and choices; identifies career related goals; and establishes action plans to attain specific goals. Roles In Career Development The discussion on career management and development rises questions like whose responsibility is it anyway. Although it is the primary role of the individual in developing and progressing in a specific career path, the manager and the organisation have a part to play as well. The role of the individual includes taking responsibility for one's career, assessing interests, skills and values, updating one's self with career information and resources, making use of developmental opportunities and diligently following a realistic career path. The role of the manager includes providing regular feedbacks, create and inform about developmental opportunities and encourage the employee's developmental plan. The role an organisation can play includes communicating mission, policies and procedures, offer career information and programs and create scope for growth by offering a variety of career options. KEY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACING GRADUATES AS THEY ENTER THE WORKPLACE A young graduate enters the workplace with a lot of dreams, hopes, expectations and excitement. But once they enter the workplace we quite often find these new entrants loosing their morale and well on their way to depression. This only proves that there is always a gap in some aspect or the other between the expectations of the employee and the real world practices of the organisation. Sometimes the gap could be because of unrealistic expectation from the employees side and sometimes the disappointment could have a legitimate reason. Whatever be the cause, the new entrant is disillusioned. This calls for career training programs or orientation sessions to educate the employee to have the right perspective while facing the real world workplace culture. Discussed below are some of the issues and challenges that graduates confront as new workplace entrants: 1. Reality Shock The discrepancy between a new entrant's expectations and the actual realities is called reality. While most of the organisations have an orientation program that gets the young employee prepared for its workplace culture, there are others who fail to do so. Employee orientation program gives basic company information, other information such as work hours, performance reviews, employee benefits, personnel policies, employee's daily routine and the like. The program also includes introduction to colleagues and familiarizing the new employee with the workplace. Example: A new entrant would enter a bank and get carried away by the physical environment, but get put off by the challenges of meeting work objectives. 2. Lack Of An Appropriate Training There is often a world of difference between theory and practice. Each individual graduate entering the workplace has his or her unique professional skill sets and talents. Sometimes training programs that are designed for a group of new entrants may have failed to cater to the training needs of a particular individual. Example: A training module for graduates would not have adequately met the needs of an individual high on quantitative skills but low on interpersonal skills. 3. Role Conflict And Ambiguity As a new entrant, graduates may sometimes end up doing tasks that were not originally theirs, sometimes causing work overload. This can lead to frustration and low morale. Another problem could be lack of clarity of daily routine, this could be especially true if the new employee has to coordinate between two departments, both of which expect him or her to play a certain role in their department. Example: A graduate in a customer relationship management team may not have his role clearly assigned, there could be an overlap with a fellow team member. 4. Fear Change always brings fear in human beings. That is why people resist changing. In this scenario the graduate as voluntarily entered a new situation but that does not bring any difference in the way the basic human nature responds. Fear could be due to different factors such as lack of experience, knowledge, lack of confidence in one's performance level. New graduates could also go through fear of failure, of letting oneself and others down. Example: A young employee may not efficiently equipped to meet one of the premium target customers. 5. Stress Employee stress is a challenge to organisations. Most organisations try to keep at the optimum level so that the performance levels of their employees are at the best. But stress could also be negative. This could be true in the case of new entrants when they are faced with stressors like unrealistic performance goals. Appropriate steps such as employee counseling and established approaches to reduce, eliminate or cope with stress may be used to overcome this condition. Example: A new graduate in the sales team has an unattainable sales target figure. 6. Lack Of Motivation Employee motivation is an important aspect in boosting the performance of an organisation. Motivation programs in organisations come in the form of appreciation, recognitions, awards, promotions or even monetary benefits. New graduates require appreciation and recognition to know that they are on the right track. Work environments which fail to accomplish this will witness low employee morale among new entrants. Example: A new entrant working in a department is which comprises of senior staff who are critical and have high expectations. THE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS BROADER SOCIAL FORCES HAVE ON CAREER The job market is constantly evolving. What was yesterday considered the hottest industry for job seekers looses its luster today. The cause of this can be traced to the social, economic and political changes that happen in the environment. The prevailing social, economic and political conditions have a deep impact on the society and almost every area related to it. The job market is no exception, it is in fact one area which can have serious impacts. For example an article on Jobs Scenario In London says, 'The job market like the economy is in sorry state. The continuous deterioration of the economy pushed unemployment at its highest level since 1997. Employment in the financial as well as the housing sectors exhibited the sharpest decline as a result of the retrenchment in the financial sector services and the slack in housing building. One good news, though, is the upsurge in demand for manpower in sectors such as tourism and catering, nursing/medical and healthcare providers as well as the agriculture.' In the above example, the crisis in the financial sector due to the economic slowdown has in turn affected the employment opportunities in its realm. This indicates how the trend in career opportunities can be affected by social factors. A good career management plan should take into consideration all factors including unforeseen crisis. This will equip an individual and help cause minimum negative impact on the individual, organisation and the society at large. CAREER THEORY Each career theory contributes important perspectives for understanding how careers develop and how career choices are made. However it impossible to point out a single theory that comprehensively addresses all possible factors influencing career development and all client career concerns. These theories enable us broaden our thought process on career management and development process. 1. Trait-Factor Theory This theory was proposed by vocational theorists Frank Parsons and E.G. Williamson in the early parts of the twentieth century. This theory takes into consideration attributes such as traits and factors. Traits are unique identifiable characteristics of a person such as interests, values, abilities and personality characteristics. Factors are the characteristics required by an individual for successfully performing his or her job. With the help of scientifically proved testing methods it is possible to find a match between traits and job factors. The extent of match between the traits and factors is directly proportional to the level of job performance and satisfaction. 2. Holland's Career Typology Theory or Theory of Types John Holland's Theory of Types, like the trait-factor approach, pays attention to individual characteristics and occupational task. He went ahead to expand the concept of personality types and put them into six broad categories: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional (often referred to as RIASEC). Different personalities are attracted to different jobs. There is one personality type which is dominant among the rest. Although each individual is made up of all six types, one type is usually dominant. This theory also believes that the closer the match of personality to job, the greater the job satisfaction 3. Super's Life-Span/ Life-Space Theory: The Life Span Theory proposed by Donald Super believes that humans are anything but static and that personal change is continuous. Super's theory is a very comprehensive developmental model. It tries to explain the significant factors that influence an individual as they pass through different life roles and various life stages. According to this theory people equip themselves with skills and talents from different life roles that enable them to perform a number of tasks and occupations. An individual expresses his or her understanding of self through the vocational choice being made. Super also states that career development is a life long process that takes place in five major life stages: Growth, Exploration, Establishment, Maintenance and Disengagement. 4. Krumboltz's Social Learning Theory of Career Choice This theory was developed by John D. Krumboltz based on social learning. It is a theory of career decision making and development. According to Dr. Krumboltz, 'career decisions are the product of an uncountable number of learning experiences made possible by encounters with the people, institutions and events in a person's particular environment.' Simply put people choose their careers based on their learning experience. This theory proposes that there are four main factors that influencing career choice such as genetics, environmental conditions and events, learning experiences and task approach skills. 5. Constructivist Theory/Models of Career Development Closely associated with existential theory this theory is more of a philosophical framework which can be used for career counseling. Two thinkers associated with this approach are. The constructivist career development was proposed by M.L. Savickas and Vance Peavy. It is based on the concepts of "constructivism" that believes in the following: 'There are no fixed meanings or realities in the world, there are multiple meanings and multiple realities. Individuals create or construct their own meaning/reality of the world through the experiences they have. People "construct" themselves and the world around them through the interpretations they make and the actions they take. These "constructs" or perceptions of events may be useful or may be misleading. Individuals differ from each other in their construction of events. Two people may participate in the same or similar event and have very different perceptions of the experience. People are self-organizing and meaning-makers. Their lives are ever evolving stories that are under constant revision. An individual may choose to develop "new constructs" or write new "stories" in their life. To be an empowered or fulfilled person requires critical reflection of the assumptions that account for our daily decisions and actions.' This approach is generally about life planning. It believes that to 'have meaningful careers, individuals need to reflect on their life experiences and the resulting "constructs" they may hold about life/work/self.' 6. Lent, Brown and Hackett's Social Cognitive Career Theory - 1987 This theory has its roots in Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory. The Social Cognition Career Theory (SCCT) tries to explain 'issues of culture, gender, genetic endowment, social context and unexpected life events that may interact with and supersede the effects of career-related choices.' According to SCCT career choice is influenced by the beliefs developed and refined by an individual through four major sources such as 1) personal performance accomplishments, 2) vicarious learning, 3) social persuasion and 4) physiological states and reactions. The manner in which these sources function in the process of an individual's career development will determine the process in which an individual will develop the skills sets required to successfully perform a given set of tasks. The process narrowing the scope to successful endeavors to focus on and form a career choice begins in early childhood. The extent to which one views the endeavor/activity as successful is critical to the success of the process. The theories that were discussed above have all been used at one point or the other for different career development needs. For example the trait factor theory enables a person to choose an occupation based on the traits identified. If you score high on 'investigative' you could look forward to being a biologist, chemist, psychologist, research and development manager and the like. CONCLUSION This paper has attempted to explore the career management and development in the light of issues, challenges and theories taking the banking industry as an example. It has also thrown light on areas that graduates need to be equipped so that they become better performers and thus an asset to the organisation. Gary Dessler, Human Resource Management, Managing Careers, Chapter 11 Udai Pareek and T. Venkateswara Rao, Designing And Managing Human Resource Systems Second Edition, Preparing For Advancement : Career Planning and Development, Chapter 9 John W. 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