CAREER PLANNING

In human resource management, career planning aims to identify needs, aspirations and
opportunities for individuals career and the implementation of developing human
resources programs to support that career. According to Edgar Schein career planning
(Manolescu, 200! is a continuous process of discovery in "hich an individual slo"
develops his o"n occupational concept as a result of s#ills or a$ilities, needs, motivations
and aspirations of his o"n value system . %areer planning is seen as a very systematic
and comprehensive process of targeting career development and implementation of
strategies, self assessment and analysis of opportunities and evaluate the results. &he
career planning process involves $oth the organi'ation and the individual responsi$ility.
&hus, the individuals must identify their aspirations and a$ilities, and through assessment
and counseling to understand their needs of training and development( the organi'ation
needs to identify its needs and opportunities, to plan its employees and to ensure its staff
the necessary information and appropriate training for career development. &herefore,
career planning must lin# individual needs and aspirations "ith organi'ational needs and
opportunities, evaluating, advising and informing its staff on career planning, individual
development efforts "ith training and development programs. Most often this match is
not done, the organi'ations paying a differential attention to its employees, planning
career of the high performance individuals "ith greater opportunities for promotion and
not ta#ing into account the performance potential employees .
&he issues to $e considered in the planning of career are)
organi'ation mem$ers should $e recogni'ed and treated as individuals "ith needs,
desires and uni*ue s#ills
individuals are more motivated in an organi'ation that meci their aspirations
individuals may develop, change and discover ne" courses of action if they are
sho"n e+actly the opportunities or if they are encouraged and guided.
EMPLOYEES CAREER PLANNING RESPONSIBILITY
According to the theory and practice of management, the career planning process focuses
particularly on individual s#ills, a$ilities, needs or aspirations. ,iven all this, the
individual "ill create a $asic information necessary to ensure preparedness for a possi$le
promotion.
Individual career planning (-late, 200.! can $e defined as all actions of self assessment,
e+ploration of opportunities, esta$lishing goals etc., designed to help the individual to
ma#e informed choices and changes a$out career. It is a comple+ action that re*uires
systematic and careful thin#ing in formulating short and long term o$/ectives.
%areer planning is $ased, therefore, on the evaluation of individual s#ills, interests and
motivation, on the analysis of organi'ational opportunities, setting goals for their careers
and develops a strategy to achieve those goals.
Individual career planning can $ro"se through five steps)
0. Self assessment is the collection of information a$out yourself (values, interests,
s#ills!, continuous assessment and reporting to others
2. E+ploring opportunities involves gathering information a$out e+isting opportunities
"ithin $ut also outside organi'ations (training and other development methods!
. Ma#ing decisions and setting goals on short and long term for training re*uirements,
change of /o$ 1 department etc.
.. 2lanning consists of determining "ays and means of achieving goals, ordering their
actions to achieve them, considering its conse*uences, setting deadlines and resource
re*uirements
3. 2ursuit of achievement goals, action $y the individual accounts for his successes and
failures and ma#e decisions to retain or change career course.
ORGANISATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY ON CAREER PLANNING
&o $e via$le, on short4term, or to maintain competitive advantage, in the long term,
organi'ations must match employees "ith appropriate s#ills in the right positions. &he
type and s#ills of the employees are different, depending on the scope of the firm,
economic sector, specific technology, consumer characteristics, etc.. 2eculiarities of
organi'ation affects the /o$s structure, the types of recruited employees for each /o$ and
the development "ays on the /o$. Many employers offer numerous promote opportunities
to certain types of positions (especially those involving uni*ue s#ills to give value to the
organi'ation! and limited opportunities for others.
5rgani'ational career planning has a critical role in attracting, developing and
maintaining the staff. 6ithout organi'ations involvement in esta$lishing, supporting and
strengthening the careers of its employees it can not achieve the e+pected results at $oth
organi'ational and individual level.
THE MAIN COMPONENTS OF CAREER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
0. Self assessment) assists employees in setting goals, values, s#ills and $ehavioral trends.
2sychological tests are used as 7Inventory goals Strong 8 %amp$ell9 (it helps employees
to identify occupational and professional goals! and 7self *uest9 (it identify the
employee preferences for different "or#ing environments 4 sales, consulting, etc.! "hich
contri$utes to
identify the level of emphasis on "or# and leisure. %areer counselors are often used to
assist employees in self4evaluation process and in interpreting test results.
2. :eality chec#) the employees are informed on ho" the company assess their s#ills and
#no"ledge and "hat place they too# on company plans (eg opportunities for promotion,
lateral moves!. ;sually, this information is provided $y the direct managers in the
performance evaluation process( the discussion on career development can ta#e place
separately.
. Setting goals) Employees esta$lish the short and long term career o$/ectives that are
related to concerned professional positions, the necessary level of competence, setting
steps for"ard, learning ne" s#ills. &hese o$/ectives are discussed "ith the manager and
recorded in the individual development plan.
.. 2lanning activities) during this phase, the employees determine ho" to achieve short
and long term career goals. &hese plans may include attending lectures and seminars,
applications to fill vacancies "ithin the company or participating in intervie"s.
JOB ANALYSIS
<o$ Analysis is the procedure through "hich you determine the duties of the positions to
$e staffed and the characteristics of people "ho should $e hired for them. &he analysis
produces information on /o$ re*uirements( this information is then used for developing
/o$ descriptions and /o$ specifications (i.e. /o$s human re*uirements, or "hat #ind of
people to hire for the /o$!.
A supervisor or =uman :esource (=:! specialist normally aims to collect one or more of
the follo"ing types of information via the /o$ analysis.
6or# activities) information a$out actual "or# activities performed
=uman $ehavior) information a$out human $ehavior li#e sensing,
communicating, deciding, etc>
Machines, tools, e*uipment, and "or# aids used) information a$out
performance standards (in terms of *uantity or *uality levels for each /o$ duty!.
&hese standards "ill $e the $asis on "hich the employee "ill $e evaluated.
<o$ conte+t) information a$out physical "or#ing conditions, "or# schedules, and
the organi'ational and social conte+t (e.g. information regarding incentives,
etc>!
=uman re*uirements) /o$4related #no"ledge or s#ills, and re*uired personal
attri$utes.
<o$ analysis information is the $asis for several interrelated =uman :esource
Management activities, as follo"s)
:ecruitment and Selection) <o$ analysis provides information a$out "hat the /o$
entails
and "hat human characteristics are re*uired to carry out these activities. &his description
and /o$ specification information is then used to decide "hat sort of people to recruit and
hire .
%ompensation) <o$ analysis information is also essential for estimating the value
of and appropriate compensation for each /o$. %ompensation usually depends on
such things as the /o$s re*uired s#ill and education level, safety ha'ards, and
degree of responsi$ility. <o$ analysis provides the information for determining the
relative "orth of each /o$ so that each /o$ can $e accurately classified.
2erformance Appraisal) %ompares each employees actual performance "ith his
or her performance standards. It is often through /o$ analysis that e+perts
determine the standards to $e achieved and the specific activities to $e performed.
&raining) <o$ analysis information is also used for designing training and
development programs, $ecause the analysis and resulting /o$ description sho"
the s#ills and therefore the training that are re*uired.
Ensure %omplete Assignment of ?uties) <o$ analysis can also help discover
unassigned duties.