WHAT IS CAREER……!!!!

The progress and actions taken by a person throughout a lifetime, especially related
to that person's occupations. A career is often composed of the jobs held, titles
earned and work accomplished over a long period of time, rather than just referring
to one position. While employees in some cultures and economies stay with one
job during their career, there is an increasing trend to employees changing jobs
more frequently. For example, an individual's career could involve being a lawyer,
though the individual could work for several different firms and in several different
areas of law over a lifetime.

“Career may also be defined as position occupied by a person during the

course of his life time.”
MEANING OF CAREER PLANNING

Career planning is the process by which one selects career goals and the
path to these goals. Career development is those personal improvements one
undertakes to achieve a personal career plan. Career management is the process of
designing and implementing goals, plans and strategies to enable the organization
to satisfy employee needs while allowing individuals to achieve their career goals.
So, due to this career planning and development is necessary to each and every
employee in an organization. The need of career planning and development is felt
in each and every organization of today’s global world.

NEED FOR CAREER PLANNING:

1. To attract competent persons and to retain them in the organization.

2. To provide suitable promotional opportunities.

3. To enable the employees to develop and take them ready to meet the future
challenges.

4. To increase the utilization of managerial reserves within an organization.

STEPS INVOLVED IN CAREER PLANNING SYSTEM

1. Needs: -Defining the present system i.e. this step involves in the conducting a
needs assessment as in a training programme.

2. Vision: -The needs of the career system must be linked with the interventions.
An ideal career development system known as the vision links the needs with the
interventions.

3. Action Plan: -An action plan should be formulated in order to achieve the
vision. The support of the top management should be obtained in this process.

4. Results:-Career development programme should be integrated with the

organization’s on-going employee training and management development
programmes. The programme should be evaluated from time to time in order to
revise the programme.

ADVANTAGES OF CAREER PLANNING

1. The process of career planning helps the individual to have the knowledge of
various career opportunities, his priorities etc.

2. This knowledge helps him select the career that is suitable to his life styles,
preferences, family environment, scope for self-development etc.

3. It helps the organization identify internal employees who can be promoted.

4. It satisfies employee esteem needs.

LIMITATIONS OF CAREER PLANNING

1. Dual Career Families: - With the increase in career orientation among women,
number of female employees in on increase. With this, the dual career families
have also been on increase. Consequently, one of those family members might face
the problem of transfer. This has become a complicated problem to organizations.
Consequently other employees may be at disadvantage.

2. Low ceiling careers: -Some careers do not have scope for much advancement.
Employees cannot get promotions despite their career plans and development in
such jobs.

3. Declining Career Opportunities: -Career opportunities for certain categories

reach the declining stage due to the influence of the technological or economic
factors. Solution for such problem is career shift.

4. Downsizing/Delayering and careers: - Business process reengineering,

technological changes and business environmental factors force the business firms
to restructure the organizations by delayering and downsizing. Downsizing
activities result in fixing some employees, and degrading some other employees.