Understanding the Essence of Career Development as a Function of Human Resources - Term Paper Example

Understanding the Essence of Career Development as a Function of Human Resources Introduction Strategic talent management in most companies serves as a powerful business tool. In this regard, the proper recruiting, honing, and developing of employees are all aligned towards creating a superior workforce (Heathfield, n.d.). Strategic talent management, therefore, starts with a clear understanding of the company’s culture, which is essentially shaped by its corporate mission and vision. This is important as it provides a snapshot of what the company is and goals it has. In this paper, we aim to take a close look at career development as a function of the human resources department of any company or organization. Specifically, this paper shall be divided into three parts: firstly, a discussion on the essence of organizational and employee management as defined and explained by National Career Development Organization or NCDO; secondly, an in-depth analysis of the contents of career development and its role in attaining business objectives; and lastly, a conclusion that will synthesize all the key learning points gleaned. The Essence of Organizational and Employee Management (OEM) The National Career Development Organization (2012) claimed that the organizational and employee management had emerged as a discipline that involved “the overall arrangement of the organization and its functions, including both the long-term and short-tem identification and development of its human resources”. In this regard, all of its plans, processes, and models are in line with providing the necessary skills that its employees need to meet the current and future job demands. Thus, it could be stated that organizational and employee management is similar to strategic talent management, which aims at creating job functions that help the company realize its maximum potential. From a historical point of view, it could be said that the inception of organizational and employee management has been heavily influenced by factors such as “Increased competition for promotion, constant innovation in technology, pressures for equal employment opportunities, corporate rightsizing and restructuring, globalization of our economy, and employees’ desire to get the most out of their careers” (Powell, 2003). From a workforce perspective, it could be claimed that strategic talent management was also a product of the employer’s desire to harness their employees’ knowledge and skills, and keep those that are most valuable to the company. At this point, National Career Development Organization (2012) also wanted to emphasize the difference between career management and career development. Career management deals with the organization-focused staffing and talent needs while career development entails the participation of the employee in aligning his/her personal goals with the company’s organizational structure and job design (National Career Development Organization, 2012). Although there are various ways to critically view and analyze the contribution of proper organizational and employee development in the attainment of business objectives, it could essentially be summarized into five main groups (National Career Development Organization, 2012): Equipping the organization for present and future talent needs Organizational effectiveness Organizational structure and job design Ongoing performance and productivity initiatives Organizational learning Let us take a closer look at the definition and contents of each group in order to reinforce the thesis that the effectiveness of organizational and employee management necessitates the commitment and cooperation between the employer and the employee. 1. Equipping the Organization for Present and Future Talent Needs While there are stark differences between career management and career development, the key to attaining joint satisfaction lies on widening the overlap between their interests (National Career Development Organization, 2012). Such overlap is called ‘shared talent objectives’. Exhibit A: Shared Talent Objectives from National Career Development Organization (2012) The widening of shared talent objectives could be attained by making sure that the human resource management in cooperation with the company’s top management would draw the business essentials. This means ensuring that all job functions in the company help it attain its business objectives. Success at this step could be attained if there is clear explanation of job functions, competencies needed, and performance standards and metrics. Through this step, developing and building the existing staff through performance management program, mentoring programs, and succession planning could be more easily facilitated (National Career Development Organization, 2012) 2. Organizational Effectiveness Effectiveness in the context of organizational and employee management, as National Career Development Organization (2012) further underscored, means improving the processes through which leader-member relations are established and nourished. Since relations in a corporate set-up are dynamic, there has to be a system that would guide in assessing specific issues and providing appropriate remedy to them. In this regard, organizational assessment means being able to pinpoint the performance or productivity dysfunctions of the member which usually fall under five categories: Behavioral. Verbal and non-verbal actions. Cognitive. Knowledge and skills. Technological. Equipment, materials, and information necessary in maintaining effective workflow. Process-related. Systems, processes, and practices that identify how work is done. Cultural. The workplace atmosphere or environment. Through this categorical understanding of issues, leaders or mentors in a company will be able to provide apt solutions if such problems begin to exist. 3. Organizational Structure and Job Design Organizational structures could be viewed in three types. Firstly, functional structure pertains to the design in which “employees report directly to managers within their functional area who in turn report to a chief officer of the organization” (National Career Development Organization, 2012). The primary benefit of having this type of structure is centered on being able to confine the generation of solution/s for business issues to pertinent stakeholders. Secondly, divisional structure is a “flexible construct that arranges the organization by product, market or region” (National Career Development Organization, 2012). This usually creates collaboration among employees to provide customized and relevant solutions to individual issues. Lastly, Matrix structure is hybrid between functional and divisional structure. On the other hand, job design gives a thorough discussion of the tasks contained in a specific job function, what competencies are needed to be honed and developed, and what sort of contribution it provides to attaining short-term and long-term objectives for the company (Heathfield, n.d.). 4. Ongoing Performance and Productivity Initiatives This group stresses on the fact that the success in organizational development lies on the integration of the practices to the company’s daily operations. This is usually guided by the ADDIE Model: A Assess the difference between the present and desired performance levels and what’s causing it. D Design the intervention/solution: who is the end user/target audience; what are the objectives; how will we measure the outcomes? D Develop the intervention: who should be involved, who has credibility, and in what manner should the information be delivered? I Implement the intervention. E Evaluate the intervention: measure the outcomes against objectives. Exhibit B: ADDIE Model from National Career Development Organization (2012) 5. Organizational Learning The last group of proper organizational and employee development explains the significance of maintain a ‘learning’ culture within the company that allows both formal and informal learning to continuously occur among employees and top management. Personal development of all people involved in the company, therefore, becomes an utmost performance. Having discussed the five key groups or areas that determine the success of organizational and employee development strategies, it could be claimed that companies must view such tools not only within the context of business strategy, but also as a way of providing service to its employees by not only enhancing their intellectual competencies, but also their emotional and social strengths as well. Career Development as a Function OEM Having noted the essence of OEM, we will now zero in on career development as a function of organizational and employee management. As Powell (2003) pointed out, a career development program must be regarded as a dynamic process through which the needs of managers, their employees, and the company as a whole are met. This, as previously stated, are aligned with the business objectives of a company. From the point-of-view of the company as a business entity, it could be claimed that the effective development of career development programs needs the full support of top management. As Powell (2003) further commented, senior line managers and HR department managers must collaborate in order to design and execute career development programs. Through this combined effort, the HR department would be able to come up with a philosophy that outlines a clear set of expectations and directions for the employee’s career development. Deemed as a highly important phase of career planning for employees, the HR philosophy guides all employees in the “fundamentals of the job design, performance appraisal, career planning, and counseling” (Powell, 2003). Goal setting, therefore, must be clearly stated as both short-term and long-term. In line with this, Powell (2003) also noted that goals must serve as guidance in various Human Resource Management policies, especially those that concern transfers, promotions, relocations, and outplacements. Movements such as promotions and relocations must be regarded as key determinants of career growth. From the point-of-view of the managers and the employees, career development must be deemed as the integration of the employee’s needs and the manager’s expectations from the employee. Therefore, the employee must identify his own set of Key Performance Measures as well as his interests and values while the manager must clearly explain the company’s policies and plans as regards the training and development for the employee. In this regard, it is necessary for the manager to explain in full detail to the employee the job description, its required competencies, and the job progressions in a company. Through this, the employee is able to come up with his own career path that is in line with how the organization is structured. Since career path plan entails a holistic view of the employees’ professional and personal endeavors, for both long-term and short-term, it is crucial for the Human Resource Department to develop and implement various initiatives such as career planning workshops and career counseling so that employees are educated on how they should plan their professional life in the company (Powell, 2003). Career counseling, as noted by Powell (2003), pertains to the “process of discussing with employees their current job activities and performance, their personal job and career goals, their personal skills, and suitable career development objectives”. Thus, it could be claimed that through the specified job progressions, employees are able to concretize their career paths. Managers may help in the realization of the employee’s career plans by giving him coaching and mentoring sessions. In this regard, Powell (2003) reckoned that it is important for immediate supervisors to nominate and sponsor employees with promise. This could be assisted via the employment of assessment centers that determine managerial talent and recommend developmental exercises. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be stated that the emergence of strategic talent management or organizational and employee development (OED) program has been caused by various external and internal pressures. An important determinant of OED is the employee’s need to attain satisfaction in the company through specific job progressions which are aligned with the company’s business structure. In essence, the development of the employee in terms of the widening of his skills and competencies helps the company in having a strong workforce which will add value to business growth. Thus, it is importance for companies to invest heavily in career development programs as they provide steer for the future of business operations. Bibliography Heathfield, Susan. (n.d.). Best Talent Management Practices. Retrieved 1 December 2012 from http://humanresources.about.com/od/Strategic-HR-Management/qt/best-talent-management-practices.htm. Powell, Randall. (2003). Career Development. Retrieved 1 December 2012 from http://www.indiana.edu/~busx420/. National Career Development Association (2012). Introduction to the Human Resource Discipline of Organization and Employee Development. Retrieved 1 December 2012 from http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/orgempdev/Pages/OrgDevIntro.aspx. Read More