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Chapter

EXCEL BOOKS

11

CAREER AND SUCCESSION PLANNING

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ANNOTATED OUTLINE
The concept of career
A career comprises of a series of work related activities, that offer continuity, order and meaning to a persons life. The underlying idea behind a career is that a person can shape his destiny through a number of well planned and well timed, positive steps. The success of ones career, therefore, depends on the individual more than anything else.

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Career: Important features

A career develops over time The success of one's career depends, most often, on one's own careful planning and timely steps taken at a right time The important element in one's career is experiencing psychological success.

The typical career of a person today would probably include many positions and transitions.

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Career stages
A career includes many positions, stages and transitions just as a persons life does.
High Exploration Establishment Mid career Late career Decline

Performance

From college to work

First job and being accepted

Will performance increase or begin to decline?

The elder statesperson

Preparing for retirement

Low

25

35 Age

50

60

70

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Career stages
Exploration: the transition that occurs in mid-twenties as one looks at work after college education, seeking answer to various questions about careers from teachers, friends etc. Establishment: this is the stage where one begins the search for work,picks up the first job, commits mistakes and learns thereafter. Mid-career: Between 35 and 50 one is typically confronted with a plateaued career, where your maturity and experience are still valued but there is the nagging feeling of having lost the initial fire in the belly Late career: This is the stage where one relaxes a bit and plays an elderly role, offering advice to younger ones as to how to avoid career mistakes and grow continually. Decline: This is the stage where one is constantly reminded of retirement, after a series of hits and misses.

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Golden rules to be kept in mind while searching for a job

1. List all your wins and achievements, then draw a second list from it highlighting different aspects of your personality. Do not underplay your achievements.

2.
3.

Seek help from all your contacts. Asking for help during job hunt is like asking for directions when you are lost. It is better to ask for directions than to stay lost.
Your resume should not be a condensed biographical sketch (nor a razzle- dazzle document) of your life and work. It must reveal your experiences, diverse skills and vast knowledge in an appropriate manner.

4.

Be ready to respond positively (I can do that) to tricky questions probing your knowledge and experience in a different area. Having a can do attitude can sometimes be more important than the actual experience. This way, one is sure to get at least interesting work where one can learn and get ahead.
Be it a war or an interview, before actually going full throttle, one needs to plan and prepare well and at the same time watch out for the unexpected. The best way out is to arm oneself with answers for all the possible questions.

5.

Cont

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Golden rules to be kept in mind while searching for a job

6. Try not to be everything in an interview. Most candidates try too hard in an interview and are very accommodating. Dont be. The most commonly asked question during an interviews is what could you contribute to this organisation? The usual answer given is whatever you need. This just shows your desperation. Guard against this. Negotiate salary, benefits and working conditions clearly, keeping realistic picture of your own fair market value and the current economic climate in mind. Most experts believe that a candidate should guard against winning a salary tug-of-war at the expense of losing the goodwill of his interviewer. Lost out on a job, no problem. It is always a good idea to call your interviewer and ask him for feedback on the reasons why you were not hired.

7.

8.

(P. Dalmia CEO, JobsAhead.com; Collectors Series, Business World, 21.1.2002)

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How to get off to a flying start in your new job?

According to William Ellis, the following strategies help a person get off to a flying start in a new position.
Make yourself visible early: Try a novel tactic, use a stunningly different strategy or follow a route thats generally avoided by most others. Try anything so as to get noticed.

Overkill that first assignment: In your first assignment, set impossible targets for yourself which others cant even think of in their wildest dreams and deliver results faster than others.
Get the lay of the land: Get as much information as possible about people, processes and activities in your work spot at an amazing speed and become a quick and authoritative information source. Say sure and figure out how later: Management values the new employee who grabs a challenge and runs with it. Try to get over the hurdles somehow through a painful process of trial and error and come back with winning solutions
Cont

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How to get off to a flying start in your new job?

Accelerate your enthusiasm: An enthusiastic newcomer can spark a whole department. Yet some days your enthusiasm will run low. There is a remedy, however; if you want to be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic. Inner enthusiasm follows, and it will have an echo effect on colleagues and bosses. Even cynical old hands want to help an enthusiastic new person. Dare to Change the Entrenched Method: Try to challenge the traditional old ways of doing things. Stretch yourself to find those creative ways that save lot of organisational time, energies and resources.

The greatest advantage of the fast start on a new job is the early creation of a winning mystique. Even if you were a little slow in the beginning, nothing says, you cant go to work tomorrow morning and act as if it was your first day on a new job. Better late than never?
Source: W. Ellis, Get off to a fast start in your new Job, Readers Digest, Win@Work, 2001.

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Career anchors
These are distinct patterns of self-perceived talents, attitudes, motives and values that guide and stabilise a persons career after several years of real world experiences.

More about eight career anchors

Managerial competence

Technical competence
Security Creativity Autonomy

Dedication to a cause
Pure challenge Life style

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Career planning
Career planning is the process by which one selects career goals and the path to achieve those goals. Career planning, it should be noted here, is a prerequisite to effective human resource planning.

Why career planning?

Career planning seeks to meet the following objectives Attract and retain talent Use human resources properly and achieve greater productivity Reduce employee turnover Improve employee morale and motivation Meet the current and future human resource needs of the organisation

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The process of career planning

Identify individual needs and aspirations Analyse career opportunities Align employee needs with available career opportunities Develop action plans Carry out periodic review

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Career Development
Career development consists of the personal actions one undertakes to achieve a career plan. The actions for career development may be initiated by the individual himself or by the organisation Individual career development: Some of the important steps that could help employees achieve their career goals could be listed thus;

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Individual career development

Performance Exposure Networking Leveraging Loyalty Mentors and sponsors Key subordinates Expanding capabilities over time

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How to avoid big career mistakes while getting ahead?

After interviewing more than 2000 executives, E.D. Betaf has identified the following career mistakes-which would come in the way of someone who wants to get ahead.

Having no plan: Conflict is an inescapable path of organisational life. So if you are in conflict with someone who could derail your career-think twice before getting into the soup. Instead work out the details of a plan that would help you move closer to those who matter in your workspot.
Lacking expectations: People who dont understand what their employer would expect them to deliver are bound to miss the bus. Always better to read your job description, identify important tasks to be carried out, seek clarifications from your boss and deliver things in tune with your bosss instructions. Being a loner: The golden rule of work is relationships, relationships and relationships. Friendly relationships help you move closer to your colleagues, make you an important member of a team and build longlasting bonds with people in other departments as well. Its far too risky to be a loner and expect your work to speak for itself. Having allies who speak well of your has an added benefit in that it increases your visibility to top management.
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How to avoid big career mistakes while getting ahead?

Waffling: Business respects those who are willing to take tough decisions and deliver things-right or wrong. People who continually waffle decisions, however, stand out for the wrong reasons. Focusing too Narrowly: Inability to develop and adapt is one of the important reasons for career failures at many levels. By making sure you develop a variety of widely applicable skills, you can better market yourself to your current employer or, if need be, to a new one.

Covering up: When you commit a blunder the best thing to do is to own up to it and fix it as soon as possible. Handle it right, and you may even come out ahead of the game.

Source: D.B. Hogarthy, 6 Big career mistakes and How to avoid them, Readers Digest: Wim@Work, Mumbai, 2001.

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Career self assessment instrument

Name ..................................................................................... Part A Values and Experiences 1. Describe the roles in your life that are important to you (work life, family life, religious life, community life etc.). Explain why these roles are important to you. Indicate how these roles impact your total life satisfaction. Assign a per cent to each role (0 to 100 per cent) so that the total adds upto 100 per cent. 2. Describe your educational background, including the degrees earned, academic strengths and weaknesses, extra curricular activities etc. Degrees/Diplomas Academic Strengths Academic W ea k ne s s es 1 2 3 your experience in each position Degree of specialisation What I Linked What I Disliked Extra curricular Activities 1 2 3 Why I Left Age ......................................... Department .............................

1 1 2 2 3 3 3. List any jobs you held and Occupation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Job

4. Describe any skills (rank 1 to 5 (lowest to highest) that you possess a. b. c. d. e. f. Communication Leadership Interpersonal Team building Creativity Technical 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5

(Tick the most appropriate one) 5. Summarise any recognition/awards that you have received in relation to your education, work experience, skills or extra curricular activities. Part B. Career Goals, Work Attitudes and Preferences 1. The most important needs I want to satisfy in my career are a b c 2. These needs can be fulfilled in the following: Areas Skills/Assistance needed a: a: b: b:

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Career self assessment instrument

c: c: 3. How important are these values to you in your work (I most important : 10 least important) Values Rank 1. Independence or autonomy 2. Financial rewards 3. Sense of achievement 4. Helping others 5. Creating something 6. Job security 7. Good working conditions 8. Friendships at work 9. Variety of tasks 10. Equality and fairness 4. Whatever job I handle, I do not wish to compromise on the following 1: 4: 2: 5: 3: 6: 5. What internal and external constraints might you encounter along the way toward achievement of your career goals? 6. List the specific jobs that might be in line with the above requirements a b c 7. Finally, rate yourself on each of the following personal qualities or work characteristics. Write one response for each characteristic (using the following scale: 1. very low, 2. low, 3. average, 4. high, 5. very high) a. Emotional maturity f . Dependability in completing work b. Initiative/Independence g. Flexibility and open mindedness c. Punctuality h. Perseverance/willingness to work d. Ability to handle conflict I. Ability to set and achieve goals e. Ability to plan, organise and determine work priorities

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Career Development
Organisational career development: organisations could help promote individual careers through a series of well planned moves. These include:

Organisational career development

1 of 2. 3. Self assessment tools such as holding a career planning workshop, a career work book in advance etc. Individual counselling Information services job posting system skills inventory circulation

career ladders and career paths

career resource centre
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Career Development
4. Employee assessment programmes Assessment centres

5.

Psychological tests
Promotability forecasts Succession planning

Employee developmental programmes

6.

Career programmes for special groups

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Career Development Strategies Of Indian Companies

Career development strategies followed by three Indian companies
At the organisation level, let us examine the career development strategies adopted by three leading companies in India. Ernst & Young (India) The global consulting firm uses the same career development methodology in India that it uses elsewhere. Primarily, it seeks to align individual aspirations with organisational, business and functional goals, using the formal assessment system to check for skill gaps and career potential. While designing training tools, things that are given serious attention are past performance, future potential, the individual skill sets and competencies of each manager, and the need of the company. However, the firm often takes the assistance of professional trainers brought in from E&Y offices worldwide, or relevant institutions to design specific training programmes for different categories and levels of managers.
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Career development strategies followed by three Indian companies

Hyundai Motor (India) Most executives working for this South Korean car-maker, which started operations in India relatively recently, are middle-level recruits from different industries who have been chosen on the basis of their track recorda factor whose influence pervades the companys career development system. The company aims to convert these managers into achievers for Hyundai, with attributes like mental toughness, professional competence, and an ambition to advance. The HR department devises interventions keeping these goals in mind. The HR functionaries are expected to look at the development process holistically. The company also conducts a three-day process lab where the system is discussed using case studies. Seagram (India) The Canadian liquor major has a career development system that hinges on speedy induction. Among the inputs given during the induction programme, fitting in with the organisational culture is critical. The aim is to enable the new entrant to hit the ground running in terms of performance. The programmes also includes sessions on the history of the organisation, product portfolio, and operations. The programme includes visits to markets and bottling units and sessions with each functional head.

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Career Management
Career management includes both organisational actions and individual efforts aimed at setting career goals, formulating and implementing strategies and monitoring the results.

The career management model

Individual Career Planning Assess needs Analyse career opportunities Set career goals Develop action plans Organisational Career Planning Assess human resource requirements Career paths for each person Integrate career goals and organisational needs Initiate career development efforts Care er Development How individuals can reach the top? How organisations can help? Self-assessment tools Individual counselling Information services Assessment programmes Development programmes Programmes for special groups

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Advantages And Career Planning

Limitations

Of

Career planning offers significant benefits to both the individual and the organisation. The employee has advance knowledge of available career opportunities. He or she can set appropriate career goals and plan to achieve them over a period of time. Organisations, too, can separate the stars from the mediocre and reward the efforts of those who are hard working and talented. This would, in turn, improve employer-employee relations. On the negative side, for small scale units, career planning may prove to be a difficult and costly exercise. Sometimes, local laws, union pressures could upset career planning efforts. Not every company would be able to resolve all career related issues successfully.

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Effective Career Planning

Effective career planning depends on a number of factors such as

Effective career planning

Ensuring top management support Setting appropriate corporate goals for human resources Offering rewards for good performance Placing employees depending on their talents, career aspirations etc Laying down suitable career paths for all employees Monitoring continuously to find where the organisation stands Giving publicity to career related issues and actions

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Succession Planning
The basic purpose of succession planning is to identify and develop people to replace current job holders in key positions. Through succession planning organisations ensure a steady flow of internal talent to fill important vacancies. Succession planning encourages hiring from within and creates a healthy environment where employees have careers and not merely jobs. It should be noted here that career planning (which covers executives at all levels), by its very nature, includes succession planning (which covers key positions at higher levels)

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Replacement Chart
A replacement chart is a visual representation of who will replace whom if there is a job opening
Department Prepared By : : Finance Date:

Replacement Summary for Senior Equity Analyst

Senior Equity Analyst Raja Ram (59) A1 Rajat Gupta (44) B1 Shyam Lal (38) Job holder : Raja Ram Opening : In 3 Years Salary Grade : 25,000-35,000 Candidate 1 Name Designation Performance Grade : : : : Rajat Equity Analyst Outstanding 18,000-25,000 Age : 59 Reason : Retirement Experience : 12 Years Age Experience Reason Promotability : : : : 44 Years 6 Years Star in the dept. Ready now for promotion

Chart for 2 positions

Bond Specialist Nirmala (31) A1 Balraj Singh (26) B1 Neelam (28)

Candidate 2 Name : Shyam Lal Designation : Equity Analyst Performance : Outstanding Grade : 13,000-18,000

Age : 38 Years Experience : 3 Years Reason : Needs more experience Promot: Can wait for ability 2 Years

Explanations: A. B. C. Ready for promotion Needs more experience Not suitable for job 1. 2. 3. Outstanding performance Acceptable performance Poor performance

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Succession Management
Succession management focuses attention on creating and stocking pools of candidates with high leadership potential. It assures that key people are not just identified but also nurtured and developed into future leadership roles

Steps in succession management

Identifying the shortage of leadership skills and defining the requirements

Identifying potential successors for critical positions

Coaching and grooming the 'star performers'

The interesting case of BAJAJ AUTO

Arm your successor

Begin at the edges Start succession early Prepare the organisation.

Career And Succession Planning