How Can Managers Assist Employees with Their Career Development - Research Paper Example

?How can managers assist employees with their career development? Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 2 Introduction 3 Analysis 3 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction The present business environment can be termed as highly fluctuating and very competitive in the form of increased market competition as well as pressure from the external environment. This has necessitated the aspect of organizational excellence that further calls for efficiency in the organization. The importance of human resource management and its management assumes a very vital analysis in this regard. This is because of the fact that human resources are the most vital and important assets for any organization and the success of the business firms are very largely dependent upon the nature of human resources available with an organization. It has also been stated that presence of a motivated workforce is very critical to the success of a firm in the market. It has been proved in various researches that job satisfaction is an essential aspect that leads to motivation among the employees. A motivated employee is known to provide the best shot at the workplace and is likely to view his or her tasks as responsibilities rather than routine work that can lead to organizational efficiency generating competitive advantage for the organization. The aspect of motivation is also directly linked to career development of the individual employees. The role of the manager or the supervisor becomes very important in this regard as their attitude can lead to considerable effects on the level of motivation and job satisfaction. The present paper would try to analyze the role of the managers in assisting employees towards their career development Analysis The concept of career development has been a matter of consistent research over the last few decades. During the era of the 80’s the focus was based on the ‘unitarist’ practices with employees extending their career options to multiple employers in an attempt to get the best of development of their personal careers. The present age has led to a situation in which employers are facing issues of high turnovers that has led to formulation of strategies that call for the need to ensure career development of the employees so as to ensure motivation and job satisfaction that can in turn help retain the best employees in the organization. The aspect of career development also calls on managers and supervisors to formulate practices that tend to encourage and improve their learning curves. The recent recession and downturn in the markets also had a very negative impact on the relationship with employees and their managers as well as on the careers of employees who were downsized in order to maintain costs. However, many organizations and managers have realized this as an opportunity to ensure a relationship based on partnerships and mutual benefits leading to a condition of greater shared responsibility that has led to generation of a positive sentiment even during times of severe crisis situations like the economic recession (Bratton & Gold, 2001, p.172-180). Figure 1: Career Development Model (Source: Bratton & Gold, 2001, p.182) The figure above shows a career development plan that combines the organizational needs along with the career development of an employee in the organization. The model proposes a session for career counseling that can be used to integrate organizational requirements with the career growth and competence of an individual employee. The model also shows a significant and important role for the manager in the entire process as the entire task of making a mutual integration with the career goals of an individual employee. The manager has a key role in making a decision about the type of training program that should be suitable for the employee so as to ensure organizational development as well as career development of an individual (Bratton & Gold, 2001, p.172-180). Numerous research conducted by academic and professional circles have stated the importance of the role of managers in shaping the career growth of their employees. A research report states that one of the most important roles of a manager involves analyzing the needs of the organization and designing training programs that can help increase the learning curve of the employees and improve their career prospects. Allocation of tasks is also another area in which a manager can effectively help in the career development and progression for an employee. A manager should have a proper knowledge of each employee’s strengths and weaknesses and should allocate tasks that are of specific interests to the employees. This helps in generating more interest towards the job and also helps promote the learning of the employee that leads to better performance in terms of greater motivation and high job satisfaction. A manager must ensure that the individual skill sets of the employees are linked to the strategic goals of the company. This would serve tow benefits of firstly generating more enthusiasm among the employees as well as generating more effective output from the employees that helps generate competitive advantage. Aspects like job rotations, on the job training as well as allocating more responsibilities can help generate considerable motivation while leading to an overall career development of an employee. Development of Individual Development Plan includes forming the career development plan of an individual employee that is tune with the organizational goals. The plan would try to formulate training and other career devllopment programs for individual employees that can help in their overall career development and organizational excellence in the long run (United States Department of Agriculture, n.d.). Another important area that can be used by managers to improve the career development of the employees should be the approach of the manager in handling an employee. A manager must provide regular feedbacks including positive and negatives ones in order to help improve the performance of the organizations. Steps should be taken by managers to improve upon the skill set of the employee rather than the performance as it would help in generating greater motivation of the employee in the organization. Rewarding talented and good employees is another important area that can be used by managers to help augment the career development of his/her subordinates in the company. A policy of equal opportunities must also be taken up by the company and the management that would help in making the best fit among the employees with regards to the skill set of the employees as well as the organizational requirements. Ensuring a good fit would automatically help motivate and generate interest that would help the employee to views tasks as responsibilities (University of Washington, 2007). There have been many instances in which active career development plan have led to organizational excellence. The United States National Park and its career development plans are aimed at improving the skill set and the knowledge base of the employees that in turn helps in efficiency. The organization believes that by improving the skill set of the employees it can actually help in generating greater motivation and would create the urge to succeed that in turn would lead to organizational improvement. The managers and supervisors have a very key role in the entire process with managers being the sole authority to select workshops as well as conduct forums and seminars and also decide on the topic of these forums. They play the role of the anchor and motivator in these cases that helps generate an improvement in the morale of the employees. The role of managers assumes significant importance in career development because they are the individuals who are in direct contact with the ground level employees and hence considering their opinions and giving them a wider role in the process of shaping the career development plan would have the best possible impact on the morale of an employee. This leads to lower turnovers as also generates a good positioning of the company in the minds of the prospective employees. Employees normally hold such organizations in high regard and such organizations can easily attract the best talents to their organizations helping generate considerable advantages for the organization (United States National Park Service, 2006, p.15-18). A manager’s role does not end up with formulating strategies and devising training program for the employees, but it also has a very comprehensive role in the entire process. A manager also has the role of motivating employees towards undertaking the benefits of a career development plan in the form of a training program or any other specifically designed programs. A manager has the ultimate and the most important role of identifying the underlying skills and talents of an individual as well as to know the aims and aspirations of the employees. Managers can help employees find their strong and weak points and give them constructive feedbacks on the areas of their strengths and improvements required. Tailor made training programs as well as job rotation can be used by managers to help employees move up in their career graph. Providing responsible tasks beyond the regular job responsibilities is one area where managers can help generate considerable for the employees and generate motivation. Managers can also help promote the culture of peer learning and on the job training modules can be designed to help employees get cross functional and inter departmental experience beyond their dedicated tasks and departments (Sheehan, 2003, p.4.29-4.34). These steps can not only help an employee in enhancing his/her knowledge levels but would also help in promoting a general positive atmosphere across the entire organization. This can help bring about a long term strategic edge for an organization that can help it to survive the worst possible effects of any phenomenon in the business markets. Conclusion The success and sustainability of a business organization is largely dependent upon the performance of its human resources that are very vital in the context of an organization’s quest for excellence. It is very necessary to have a pool of talented employees so as to help in generating organizational excellence that is very important for a firm’s sustainability in the market. The role of managers and supervisors play a key role in this regard. The present business dynamics has led to a situation where managers can no longer afford to just act as supervisors. Efficiency requires managers to play a comprehensive role in which they can act as facilitators and act as mentors with an aim towards concentrating on developing the skill set of the employees rather than the performance. Managers must realize that performance is a function of job satisfaction and motivation that can only be brought about with a holistic framework on the development of career growth of an employee that can help bring about long term sustainable competitive edge for an organization in the long run. References Bratton, J. & Gold, J. (2001). Human resource management: theory and practice. Routledge. Sheehan, J.J. (2003). Business and corporate aviation management: on demand air transportation. McGraw-Hill Professional. United States Department of Agriculture. (No date). How Do I Contribute to an Employee's Career Development? Retrieved December 19, 2011 from http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/hrdapp?area=home&subject=mgrs&topic=ccd. United States National Park Service. (2006). Management policies 2006. Government Printing Office. University of Washington. (2007). Employee Career Development Manager Resources. Retrieved December 19, 2011 from http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/pod/leaders/ee-careerdev/index.html. Read More