Career Development Planning: Muhammad Saleem Raza

GOVERNMENT POSTGRADUATE COLLEGE 0
JHANG
Department of Computer Science
CAREER
DEVELOPMENT
PLANNING
ABSTRACT
Here we will discuss the various aspects of career development planning
such as:
 Career Development Planning – Introduction
 Career Development Planning ─ Stages
 Impact of Technology on Career Planning
 Giving Career an Organic Growth
 Organizational Needs for Career Growth
 Mentoring as an Effective Tool
 Downsizing and Lay-Offs
 Managing Workforce Diversity
 Succession Planning
 Careers in a Global Environment
 Retirement Planning
Muhammad Saleem Raza

Department of Computer Sciences
Government Postgraduate College, Jhang
0345-4707500
CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

AREEHA_ABU-TALIB
smsmeesam@gmail.com
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CAREER DEVELOPMENT
PLANNING
INTRODUCTION
All organizations like to improve constantly. One of the biggest channels
to introduce improvements in any organization is through change. There can be
no improvements without change. The same thing goes for the employee too.
There can be no improvement in an employee’s career if he isn’t open to change.
Nowadays, if someone expects all good things

to happen to him without he doing any value
addition, then he is living in a fool’s paradise. This
is the reason why most of the organizations have
self-development plans to help their employees
improve their skill sets and become at par with the
best talent globally.
This acquisition of new skills helps them in

gaining personal growth and successful long-term
careers. The secret to career success has been encapsulated in the simple words,
be the person with the right skills in the right place at the right time.
WHAT IS CAREER DEVELOPMENT?
Career development is one of those rare steps that addresses the needs of
both employers and employees. Every organization wants its employees to grow
in their professional life, so that they can mold themselves to face the future.
This is the main reason why organizations implement training sessions and
introduce many learning curves to integrate
their vision with the employee’s personal
goals. While this process might sound quite
seamless, it does offer a lot of challenges
during the implementation. The biggest
reason is the communication barrier that
exists between the management and
employees in organizations.
STAGES:-
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Here , we will discuss regarding the elements which are involved in the
career development and the planning process. In general, career building
involves two acts:
ü Building one’s own career through available career opportunities.

ü Realizing the career goals that the organization expects that the employee will
perform and vindicate the trust that the recruiters showed in him during his
selection.
Career planning can also be defined as

the process in which an employee can use the
available opportunities within the organization
to further their own personal benefits. But at
the same time, it should be well within the
limits of organizational compliance. In that
sense, career planning should ideally start
before joining the company.
Five Stages of Career Development Planning Career planning involves five

important stages. They are:
ü Assessing self and identifying areas of strength and aptitude.
ü Finding career opportunities that suit your strengths.
ü Setting goals in personal and professional life
ü Planning the actions of how to attain goals.
ü Periodic evaluation of performance.
Let us now discuss the above-mentioned stages in detail.
ASSESSING SELF
Assessing oneself is the act of reviewing one’s priorities, personal
interests, strengths and weaknesses, along with appropriate skill sets. These
reviews help the employee to get a realistic idea of his chances at career growth
in the organization. Assessing will also give him a transparent picture of the skill
sets required for specific job descriptions and promotions.
While this is a great tool for exploring growth opportunities in one’s own
organization, job seekers can use it to look for opportunities among friends and
family, and in job fairs. This reality checking also helps in finalizing goals and
setting aims for the future.
FINDING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
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After the self-assessment is done, the next step is to get a reality check on
what skills the person has and how they can serve him. In this step, the candidate
is supposed outline all the steps that he
needs to follow to reach a specific career.
This involves taking stock of technical
knowledge and whether it is sufficient to
guarantee a job opportunity.
The next significant objective is

networking. The candidate should search,
if he has anyone in his contact who can
offer an opportunity to him, or facilitate the
same. A working professional can utilize
this step in making a realistic assessment of his goals, if they are still achievable,
and all the changes that happened in the work place to influence his outlook.
Most of the organizations conduct annual appraisals that have many such
self-assessment questionnaires. This is where candidates can give themselves a
fair score and prove to the management, where all they have contributed in the
growth of the organization.
SETTING GOALS IN PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL
LIFE
In this phase, the candidate checks a range of career opportunities
available to him and determines which of his skillsets and knowledge levels will
be needed in the job of his
choice. In this step, the
candidate does research and
information-gathering from
multiple sources like friends,
colleagues, co-workers, etc. and
tries to find the best way that works for him.
In this stage, many potential job-seekers also post their profiles in job
placement centers, who in turn, provide them with a list of qualifications that
employers seek in a candidate’s profile. A similar situation is found inside the
organization as well, where possible options for a position are asked to brush up
their skills.
GOAL SETTING
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The third step in the process of career planning is that of goal setting,
where a person undergoes a period of self-assessment and investigates his career
opportunities to decide his long-term prospects in an organization. It is important
for the candidate to keep checking all his options for a viable future.
It is also imperative that he

looks for opportunities tailored for
his personal interests, abilities and
skills. In short, his goals should be
specific, measured, set and
reachable, so that he can gauge his
success in pursuing it.
ACTION PLANNING
Action planning involves the
steps required to achieve goals such as additional training or getting a specific set
of managerial skills either for his current position or for the one that he is
aspiring to get. This step usually involves a lot of communication with the senior
employees working in different roles in the organization. As these seniors are the
individuals who can share information with the rest of the people and inform
them about the various dynamics in the working spheres.
PERIODIC EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE
The final step is evaluation of the progress made in inching towards the
career goals. Evaluating one’s success helps people keep a track of their progress
and identify strengths and weaknesses in a career plan.
This habit of self-assessment helps people keep their priorities in check and keep
evolving their skills as a continuous process, not an isolated, one-time effort.
Also, self-assessment helps in getting knowledge on different functionalities in
the working sphere.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF CAREERS

In today’s competitive recruitment climate, it is becoming increasingly
difficult for organizations to retain their best talent in a lifetime career with them.
This restructuring and merging of organizations have provided employees with a
golden opportunity to make changes in their career goals and achieve them.
PROTEAN CAREERS
Nowadays, organizations have ceased seeing themselves as a one-stop
solution provider to their employees. They have evolved into a business house
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that provides learning opportunities to motivated people which makes them more
marketable.
These careers have been termed as Protean Careers because the candidates
are now seen to change their career
from time to time to fit their personal
needs. The major characteristics of
these protean careers are Portable
Skills, Multi-Cultural Working
Experience, Learning on the Job, and
Constant Networking.
Protean Careers consider the

interpersonal learning and changes in
an organizational structure as the main factors for a career change.
Gradually, people have slowly gravitated towards a more personal

approach when it comes to career building. This needs usage of subjective fields
such as Designation, Salary and Longevity. These factors entered the
professional life for the need of a better work-life balance in the lives of the
employees. They now desire greater balance in their professional lives and want
it to serve their personal needs. They have understood the value of spending time
with their families.
SPIRAL CAREERS
Today, the careers of employees are changing due to many individual and
environmental parameters. Differing attitudes
and career goals are the main reasons of career
changes. For example, a person who is highly
creative will always seek to develop his
personal skills, so they will be more inclined
to look for cross-functional career options.
Similarly, people who are motivated by

power and achievement will look forward to
getting hierarchical promotions. This was a
dominant model of career growth till recent years. But now, the changes in the
external business environment have triggered the changes in the internal working
structure of the organizations as well.
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This is the reason people are no longer exhibiting linear career changes that
were observed with a stable and highly-structured working environment, but
more organic and adaptive, spiral career patterns.
WHAT INDUSTRY EXPERTS SAY?

Industry experts like Allred, Snow, and Miles have long observed and
mentioned the link between individual growth and career changes. They say that
organizations have now started opting for a more network-oriented way of
working, as compared to the silo-like functioning of individual departments
earlier.
This is the result of a greater need to have a strong connection between

different departments to coordinate tasks better and meet the intense pressure of
global business competition.
These scholars emphatically stress that the skill-set that a person needs to
be successful in his career depends on the organization’s structure. If the
organizational structure promotes venturing into new markets, then he will
certainly find success in learning new things.
TRANSITORY CAREERS
Organizations expect their employees to possess the technical skills needed
to compete with the rest of the competition. But at the same time, the changes
that have come in today’s workforce
don’t allow the employees to be
satisfied with just possessing technical
skills. Those employees who possess
strong interpersonal skills and have a
collaborative mindset will be able to
survive in an increasingly inter-
departmental style of working.
While technical skills maybe

sufficient in a functionally structured
organization, those who are to succeed in tomorrow’s cellular firms must have
the competency in Commercial, Collaborative, and Self-Governance skills as
well. Career planners are flexible in adapting the new working models in
organizations, so that they can learn from different platforms and bring in an
overall career improvement.
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The idea of pursuing personal growth while working for organizational

growth are not fundamentally at odds with one another. They are completely
consistent and can be pursued together. Earlier, employers used to feel insecure
if their employees start learning new things because that used to make them
apprehensive that the person might quit.
But in today’s business scenario, companies endorse that their employees

keep working on new skills and be prepared to face any sudden change. This has
brought a lot of difference in the way people manage their careers nowadays.
Earlier, they used to be happy trying to develop their capacities in a

particular skill area, but now they have started going for a more peripheral
growth structure which encompasses also those skills that complement their
primary skill.
IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON CAREER PLANNING

People tend to restrict the impact of technology on career planning to only
those candidates searching for jobs on the internet. While that is a crucial change
in career planning, it is by no means the only change that technology has brought
in an employee’s life. Thanks to the advances in technology, employees can now
undertake a self-assessment of their skill-sets through various online platforms
and portals.
The employees can now get a clearer idea of the areas they need to focus
on to get a wellrounded profile. It reduces their dependence on employers and
immediate supervisors to get a feedback on their performance in the form of
performance reviews. These employees also don’t need to rely upon counsellors
or on the human resources department to get their suggestions and to get their
questions answered.
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This is all possible due to the wide interconnectivity that Internet provides,
using which these employees can sign up for new programs and learning courses
through which they can add new skills to their resume. In addition to these, many
organizations have started giving internal training through online modules for
employees to improve their efficiency during their convenient hours.
Connectivity also helps people from different departments to be connected,

which increases overall efficiency and time utilization. The employees can now
easily get the response to their queries over mails and instant messengers, as
opposed to the earlier method of walking to the desk and getting questions asked.
Instead of just one mentor, now there are several ones who can help you out
when you are in a fix.
GIVING CAREER AN ORGANIC GROWTH

The technological progress has definitely helped numerous organizations
to manage time properly. But, the downside is that just by making the technology
available without any instructor to moderate the training sessions will lead to
chaos and confusion.
The fully-automated or doit-yourself exercises available online haven’t

made any mark. This is because with the machines, there is always the option to
skip the evaluation stage. Whereas a live instructor will keep checking up with
you to gauge your progress and improvement.
Earlier, the organizations used to be responsible for an individual’s career

growth, but now the onus lies with the employee himself. In such an
environment, the linear growth of careers is extremely difficult to achieve.
Hence, industry experts now advice a more Organic, Personal, and Preference-
Driven approach to work. Job satisfaction is the new mantra for success.
MANTRA OF CAREER GROWTH
The following points outline the mantra of career growth:
ü Transform yourself using strengths to be a better employee and performer.

ü Increase professional network to include people outside your department.
ü Assessing skills and see their relevance and value in the current job scene.
ü Learn new skills that improve your primary skills and complement them.
ü Be resilient to changes in job scenario and be adaptive to the job scenario.
The last point, particularly is an important one. Employees often make the
mistake of assuming that their strengths are the absolute ones. However, even a
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little change in the working environment could change their strengths into
unrequired or irrelevant skills. So, it is very important to keep a reality-check on
what new skills can be learnt, in tandem with the ones that an employee already
uses at work, so that the employee can be prepared for the future changes in the
market.
ORGANIZATIONAL CAREER MANAGEMENT

Even as employees are being held responsible to develop their careers,
many organizations still want to be involved in encouraging individual efforts.
This is especially in the fields of higher learning, creative thinking, innovative
approaches and being resilient to changes in business environment.
Many organizations have gone a step

further and provided career programs like
mentoring, facilitating organizational
intercommunication, explaining corporate
responsibility and other such options. These
programs have resulted in more
commitment and a greater sense of
satisfaction among the employees.
HOW ORGANIZATIONS
HANDLE THEIR WORKFORCE
Organizations also understand when they recruit highly-motivated and
creative people to work with them. Once they become employees, they will not
only use the organization as a place of learning but also to pursue personal
development. These people won’t find it difficult to locate alternative sources of
employment if they perceive their current company to be not focused towards
development or growth.
To prevent this exodus of talent from

their workforce, organizations have now
started paying acute attention to the ways
in which people are looking for motivation
now. With this information coming thick
and fast from all circles of business,
organizations have stopped prescribing a –
one size fits all formula for all its
employees.
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The organizations have understood that employees are more interested in

working in careers that give them a self-serving, psychological success, instead
of a linear hierarchical growth prospect. This is because no organization can any
longer claim to have a homogenous working environment that can ensure the
candidates the same job responsibilities for a long period of time.
ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS FOR CAREER GROWTH

Individual growth has now replaced career growth as the driving force in
employee motivation. The way individuals think about their careers brings into
consideration these following important points:
ü Finding ways of showcasing strengths.

ü Work that provides them challenges.
ü Work matches with temperament.
ü Addressing developmental needs.
ü Work matches with interest.
ü Work matches with values.
ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS
An important shift in career management has taken place in the recent
years. where a person gets all his instructions from the immediate supervisor.
Organizations now depend on their board only for the vision and mission of the
organization.
All the remaining crucial structures, like employee management, have been
given to the supervisors. This is done as such diverse cases can only be handled
by someone who has a history of working with these employees.
In today’s dynamic work environment, employees get growth opportunities

through their working
relationship with people and
interpersonal skills. This is
in contrast to the traditional
setting where a group of
people from the higher
management used to take a
central decision, and growth
opportunities were given to
a promotion-worthy
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candidate after making him attend long meetings and management-related

classes.
PRESSING ISSUES THAT SUPERVISORS FACE

With the supervisors increasingly being expected to take managerial
decisions, the role of a career management counsellor in the organization has
become redundant. However, the supervisors themselves need to get trained on
how to motivate employees and learn interpersonal skills.
Once the supervisors become the People’s Person that their company wants
them to be, they will be able to address some of the most pressing issues that
organizations predict they will face in the immediate future. Some of these issues
are:
ü The numerous strategic issues that organizations face over the next three years.
ü The organization’s most pressing needs and challenges within next three years.
ü The critical skills and knowledge needed to address these challenges.
ü The ideal staff capacity and qualification needed for this.
ü The capability of management to address the issues.
MENTORING AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL

Mentoring is one of the most effective methods of bringing consistent
improvement in an employee. It uses the method of providing informal guidance
and encouragement to promising talented people who themselves are not
motivated enough to realize their true potential.
HOW MENTORS HELP INDIVIDUAL

EMPLOYEES
Mentors generally are people who come from a higher hierarchy than the
immediate supervisor. These mentors nurture these candidates under their
observation and provide them with timely advice. This one to one personal
relationship builds trust and
respect in the mind of the
employees and gives them
confidence.
These protégés achieve

a lot of success in their
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careers because of all the guidance they got from the mentors. They develop a
sense of insight and understand the company’s vision and goals. They also
become aware of the different networks inside the organization. They feel like
getting new opportunities under the leadership of these veterans.
HOW MENTORS HELP ORGANIZATIONS

Organizations also benefit from this mentor-mentee relationship as they
don’t have to pay for the on-job training. They can also claim that they are
focused on career growth of their employees. Mentors benefit from their
interpersonal skills and technical knowledge improving from their interactions
with the protégés.
In general, people confuse mentoring with a one-way communication

based model of information delivery. However, the truth is that individuals who
have gotten mentors at early stages of their employment are the most receptive in
their feedback sessions. They even have much more patience while dealing with
new talent. This is all because of the constant to-and-fro communication they had
with their mentors through the queries and opinion-sharing.
DOWNSIZING AND LAY-OFFS

Downsizing refers to permanent layoffs or a reduction in workforces. The
decade of 1980’s witnessed job losses of approximately 600,000 managers
because of –
ü Organizational restructuring
ü Reengineering
ü Delayering
ü Economic downtrends
Sometimes divestitures and mergers also lead to job loss. Generally,

companies help the employees to cope up with these involuntary jobs by
providing outplacement counseling service. These services include job search
training, skills assessment, resume writing, and even salary negotiation services.
The most important thing which mostly companies neglect while

downsizing is, lack of clear and frequent interaction with their employees with
whom the company wish to work in the future. It is important to give these
people timely and precise information related to their ongoing career prospects
with leaner organization.
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PITFALLS OF LAY-OFFS
Layoffs were used as a way of increasing profits, but downsizing
employees alone itself does not yield profit. As per Wayne Casio’s Research,
companies which produce new revenue by expanding staff and other assets earn
more profit than those who follow the layoff strategy.
But, going for temporary workers makes us question what is the best way
to manage these employees' career in this 21st century. There are different
benefits given by the companies like lower labor costs or increase in staffing
flexibility might be tricky if the temporary employees are not skilled enough or
are less devoted towards their work.
In addition to this, benefits for skilled individuals like job variety and
personal growth might make the company run into losses, if the temporary
workers become wandering underclass in the labor pool.
USE OF TEAMS FOR WORK PRODUCTION

Another important point for the core employees to consider here is,
merging workforces leads to more of –
ü Conflicts
ü Social Exclusion and
ü Job Mobility
When people start to work as a team, it becomes difficult to judge an

individual's work. When the skills to be used are not defined properly, it
becomes difficult for an employee to set personal development objectives for the
desired skill acquisition. Researchers Clanni and Wnuck proposed that the
solution to this issue is to concentrate on generic-but-important comparative
skills that working as a team may provide.
WHY DO COMPANIES DOWNSIZE?
A company opts for downsizing because of competitive pressure, but in the
late 1990s this was used as a strategy for all times. During this decade,
companies began to cut-down permanent or to say core employees and replace
them with temporary or part-time employees.
This was the result of sustained global pressure because of the additional
Outsourcing and Off-shoring. Things have changed now, today companies opt
for sticking back with their core employees and limiting the recruitment of
people for some specific functions only. So, basically it means there are fewer
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career choices in small companies and inter-company mobility is widely being

accepted as a form of career development.
MANAGING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

By the year 2014 approximately 58% of all the new entrants to the labor
force were minorities and women, males comprised 44% of the workforce. If we
peek into history, we can see how some protected groups managed to ensure
equal employment opportunities and affirmative action legislation that led to
speed the hiring and development.
Presently labor market has become the new workforce majority; issues of
equality and fair treatment have increased the responsibility of managing
diversity. However, some old stereotypes continue tagging “appropriate” work
roles for women and minorities, even among group members themselves,
because of which they have not been able to speed their movement into
management.
Very often it is seen how women and minorities can move upward, just so
high in the management, plateauing before they reach the senior levels. Even
though the reason behind this glass ceiling phenomenon is not completely
understood, but what we do get is, proper training and development for these
individuals should take their special needs into account.
GLASS CEILING INITIATIVES
Glass ceiling may occur due to highly subjective behavior of the top-level
management. As all the candidates are well qualified, selection is often based on
interpersonal skills and comfort, especially with people at the top not willing to
let others take hold of important responsibilities.
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Another reason proposed is women and minorities are given lesser

challenging or to say easy going assignments on their way to top. They are
generally given tasks related to public relations or human resources instead of
positions in line production startups and entrepreneurial ventures.
Alternative Arguments for Workplace Diversity Another argument that is

often quoted on Workplace Diversity is that some people are not comfortable in
groups or have the latest office news, because of which they lag. While those
who show a little bit of interest in office politics and chit chatting are always
updated regarding the upcoming promotion opportunities, which are not
generally known till the employees have been selected.
Also, there are a few people who make certain groups or people feel
excluded and never truly accepted by the rest. The positive part here is, in every
organization people try to change or compromise with the existing organization's
culture, which will make them feel supported and encouraged. Companies which
accept these types of behavior yields the most profit.
Different companies have come up with different solutions to overcome

the glass ceiling issues. Mostly they try to increase the pace of promotion from
within through cultural sensitivity training for all the managers, including
qualified affirmative action’s, which lead to the following:
ü Supervisors' Performance Objectives

ü Organizing Formal Mentoring Programs
ü Motivating Support Networks within Groups
ü Helping with Career Planning for some Employees.
However, the results of these ways are yet to be discovered.
SUCCESSION PLANNING
The firms interested in career development programs depend on the ups
and downs in the business cycle and the labor market. When there is a shortage
of manpower, skills etc., firms include career development programs to their
retention and recruitment strategies. But, when the business goes in a loss, there
is no recruitment. Large companies are the first ones to avail the latest
technology to internal staffing and career development.
As the companies are now becoming more data centric, they check their
own databases first, mining internal HR data for potentials, before looking
outside.
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Finally, the firm should do cost cutting, so it starts questioning the purpose
of these career development programs for now. Lot of convincing business care
is required to maintain these programs during these times. But even in the bad
phase, the high potentials group receive career development attention, the
exciting part is the method to select the high potentials have been changed.
SUCCESSION PLANNING PROCESS

Earlier an informal process or a rigorous formal evaluation center rating
was believed as an economical way to development on the few bets, soon enough
to blossom their careers within the next 20 years. The issues with this approach
became clearly visible in the highly competitive environment of 21st century.
When organization strategy which was followed for years’ changes

overnight, the perfectly groomed CEO for yesterday's strategy might not be the
first choice, for the new change thus, companies are now opting for succession
planning, they have expanded their definition of high potentials to organize
larger talent pool, from which the organization may choose at the right needed
time.
CAREERS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

This pool of highly talented potentials fills as soon as the vacancies are
announced. This is mainly because of the influence of HRIS Technology, which
states –
“For any vacancy, with large number of internal candidates, pool

programmed skills are mandatory, that should match the candidates to the
openings in the firms of any size.”
Earlier, when managers were sent overseas for some projects, it was as if
their career has been sent into exile, if not over completely, but today, this is like
a step towards the top.
This change is mainly due to the rising of a clearly Global Business

Environment. Large companies are the first ones to avail the latest technology to
internal staffing and career development. As the companies are now becoming
more data centric, they check their own databases first, mining internal HR data
for potentials, before looking outside.
The new demand of highly qualified multinational managers has resulted

in laying out several new principles of international career management. These
are as follows:
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ü Employees whose career will benefit and are willing to contribute the
knowledge gained to the organizations should be selected.
ü Selected employees should be groomed only for international assignments. Pre-
departure training should focus on the cross cultural differenced in social life,
political atmosphere, religion and language along with technical expertise
necessary.
ü Career planning is very important to direct how the overseas experience will
groom the potential of the employee. Having the big picture of where the
migration cycle will take you beyond the actual task is very important to success
and can help get over the feelings of abandonment.
ü It is very important for the employee to be updated about the country policies,
projects, plans and staffing changes via communication. This keeps the manager
in touch with the company and helps in re-entry.
ü The re-entry jobs should use the skills and experience the employee has gained
during the project. One way of doing this is by drafting recent migrants as
mentors or facilitating a forum for sharing their experience.
ü Training for home country managers should be an ongoing function. This
training will help to learn the value of international experience and the ways it
can be utilized within the organization.
However, these principles have not been executed yet. This often results in
migrant failures rate of up to 40% which have been reported, and 20%
employees leave their company after their overseas assignment. It is suggested
that people willing to opt for international experience should go through many
self-evaluation and planning steps, to ensure that international assignments will
not have a negative impact on their overall career objectives.
WHAT TO CHECK BEFORE OPTING FOR A FOREIGN

ASSIGNMENT
Before opting for any foreign assignment, the main factors which you
need to go through are its:
ü Geographical Location
ü Culture
ü Customs and
ü Political Status of the place
This is to make sure if you can adjust to the new place. However, there are
some contradictions regarding the international careers. As the demand for
managers understanding business from more than one national perspective
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increases, there has been a hesitance in sending U.S Citizens abroad because of
the terrorist attacks of 2001.
Just like high costs and struggles are linked with the uncertainties about the
migrant's ability to perform effectively after arrival have also led many nations
with international operations to develop local managers in the foreign countries
where they function. This would eventually limit the overseas developmental
projects for the future global manager.
RETIREMENT PLANNING
Planning for retirement is not a one-day deal; it should be done from the
early career stages, though young people often do not acknowledge it. The
retirement package should offer various benefits like –
ü Investment Counseling
ü Profit Sharing and
ü Deferred Compensation Plans.
But earnings today are not enough to lend some for retirement.
LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT
After the abolition of compulsory retirement and limitation of certain
benefit pensions, it has become a necessity to make employees think about their
future expense, or Life After Retirement. People today, do not believe in the
concept of retirement at 65, it may vary from 50-75 or even more, giving you
little more time to plan for retirement.
Many companies, are now offering pre-retirement seminars that raises

questions regarding the Financial, Social, and Psychological status related to
career transition. It is better if companies offer a flexible work schedule to their
employees, which will give them some time to discover their interests and goals
while maintaining their bond with their work. This will help them get over the
transition stage.
Say, allowing longer vacation for dedicated employees, which will give the
employees enough time to establish connections with outside peers and
reconnect with their friends and relatives. Starting preretirement program from
an early stage can ensure a kind of satisfaction of retirement for employees and
can also inculcate the feelings of goodwill towards their employer/company.
ALTERNATIVE WORK ARRANGEMENTS
People age at different rates. It has been observed that many of the best
performances are delivered by people during later stages of their career. Just
because an employee has crossed a certain age limit, it does not make them
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eligible for retirement. Age limits a person's visual acuity, response time, or
stamina, but gifts abundant knowledge and experience.
It is wrong to assume older workers cannot learn new skills, or to be

precise, learning difficulties occurs because of lack of encouragement and not
from the lack of skills and talent. The problem arises because older workers have
not been offered proper training and development chances to keep them more
engaged in their careers.
Several companies like Pacific Telephone, Uniroyal and Chrysler are

offering a golden handshake or to say, accelerated voluntary retirement programs
to their employees. The objective behind establishing a pre-retirement program
may vary, it maybe to free-up the obstructed career channels for junior
employees or managing a projected labor surplus or manage labor cost savings. It
is all about effective planning.
SHORT QUESTIONS
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Describe Career planning.

Career planning is the process of establishing career objectives and
determining appropriate educational and developmental programs to further
develop the skills required to achieve short- or long-term career objectives.
Career planning is simply goal planning with the intention of setting goals for
jobs and career.
Career planning is defined as ―A goal that you desire to achieve in a

selected field or occupation with a well thought out plan to get you there. Career
planning is a lifelong process, which includes choosing an occupation, getting a
job, growing in our job, possibly changing careers, and eventually retiring. The
Career Planning Site offers coverage of all these areas. This article will focus on
career choice and the process one goes through in selecting an occupation. This
may happen once in our lifetimes, but it is more likely to happen several times as
we first define and then redefine ourselves and our goals.
Define Career Development.

Career development involves managing your career either within or
between organizations. It also includes learning new skills, and making
improvements to help you in your career. Career development is an ongoing,
lifelong process to help you learn and achieve more in your career.
Career development represents the entire sequence of activities and events

related to an individual's career. Career development encompasses acquiring of
educational qualifications and certifications, career path, self-actualization as an
individual, shifting of careers and career growth, learning curve, family life,
accomplishments and recognitions or felicitations
“The pathway to good decision making and successful life management

typically involves many stages”. Explain briefly.
The pathway to good decision making and successful life management

typically involves the following four stages-
 Access  Explore
 Set goald  Acts
Access
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Skills—what skills do I have? And which do I really enjoy using? Just

because you‘re good at something doesn‘t necessarily mean you like doing it.
Interests—what excites me?
What interests me enough that I don‘t
realize the passage of time while I am
engaged in it?
Values—what things do I
believe in? What motivates me to
work?
Personality—who am I? What
are my personal preferences?
Knowing the answers to these
questions and having a deep understanding of who we are helps us in our career
planning. We can use this information to evaluate possible careers or career
changes, look for opportunities, and find greater satisfaction in other areas of our
lives as well.
Explore
Once you have done some self-assessment, you can move to researching
and exploring the world of work. This exploration may include informational
interviews, online and library research, volunteering, or other activities that allow
you to learn about various occupations
Set goals
From your self-assessment and exploration you should have a clearer idea
of what you are looking for. Now is the time to set some goals. This includes
identifying specific action steps that will move you forward.
Act
Sometimes people get stuck looking for the ―perfect‖ action step.
Remember that any step forward is an accomplishment.
The roadmap to success begins with planning your career development

process. Justify this statement.
There is a step-by-step process designed to help to plan the career

development process now, and anytime in the future when we want to change
course.
Following things are necessary for successful planning:

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SELF-ASSESSMENT.
Discover your desires and passions. What would you do if money were no
object? You may know exactly what you want to do. If so, move on to the next
step. If you're struggling with this, there are some free and fee-based self-
assessment tests available to help you.
Career Skill Assessment.

This sounds similar to the self-assessment, but rather than focusing on your
personality and interests, career skill assessments focus on your core job
strengths and weaknesses. Again, there are free and fee-based career skill
assessment tests available to help you with this step.
Setting Your Career Objective

Now that you understand your personality, interests, skills and strengths,
it's time to make a decision! You may want to explore different career options to
discover your best choice.
Career Development Plan

The nuts and bolts of planning your career development process. Set goals
and timelines based on your career objective. Look at an example career
development plan, or use the career development plan template to help you work
through this step.
Implement Career Development Plan

It's action time! If your plan involves a career change, use the navigation
bar on the left to help you through your career search, resume, cover letter and
job interview questions.
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GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR CAREER.

To get the most out of your new career, planning strategies and learning
skills will help you get to the next level. We've also created a free e-course to
help you with this step of the process.
By planning your career development process, you're well on your way to

your perfect career. Knowing your strengths and skills, along with having a plan,
will give you the confidence and motivation you need to make a positive change.
Describe the stages of career anchors.

Trial stage
The trial stage begins with an individual's exploration of career- related
matters and ends usually at about age 25 with a commitment on the part of the
individual to a particular occupation. Until the decision is made to settle down,
the individual may try a number of jobs and a number of organizations.
Unfortunately for many organizations, this trial and exploration stage
results in high level of turnover among new employees. Employees in this stage
need opportunities for self- exploration and a variety of job activities or
assignments.
Establishment.
The establishment/advancement stage tends to occur between ages 25 and
44. In this stage, the individual has made his or her career choice and is
concerned with achievement, performance, and advancement.
This stage is marked by high employee productivity and career growth, as
the individual is motivated to succeed in the organization and in his or her
chosen occupation.
Opportunities for job challenge and use of special competencies are desired
in this stage. The employee strives for creativity and innovation through new job
assignments. Employees also need a certain degree of autonomy in this stage so
that they can experience feelings of individual achievement and personal success.
Mid Career Crisis Sub Stage.
The period occurring between the mid-thirties and mid-forties during
which people often make a major reassessment of their progress relative to their
original career ambitions and goals.
Maintenance stage.
The mid-career stage, which occurs roughly between the ages 45 and 64,
has also been referred to as the maintenance stage.This stage is typified by a
continuation of established patterns of work behavior.
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The person is no longer trying to establish a place for himself or herself in

the organization, but seeks to maintain his or her position. This stage is
viewed as a mid-career plateau in which little new ground is broken. The
individual in this stage may need some technical updating in his or her field. The
employee should be encouraged to develop new job skills in order to avoid
early stagnation and decline.
Late-career stage.
In this stage the career lessens in importance and the employee plans for
retirement and seeks to develop a sense of identity outside the work environment.
Explain HRM strategy.

HRM strategy pertains to the means as to how to implement the specific
functions of Human Resource Management. An organization's HR function
may possess recruitment and selection policies, disciplinary procedures,
reward/recognition policies, an HR plan, or learning and development policies,
however all of these functional areas of HRM need to be aligned and correlated,
in order to correspond with the overall business strategy. An HRM strategy thus
is an overall plan, concerning the implementation of specific HRM functional
areas.
What factors are included in HRM Strategy.

HRM strategy typically consists of the following factors:-
 "Best fit" and "best practice" - meaning that there is correlation between the
HRM strategy and the overall corporate strategy. As HRM as a field seeks to
manage human resources in order to achieve properly organizational goals, an
organization's HRM strategy seeks to accomplish such management by applying
a firm's personnel needs with the goals/objectives of the organization. As an
example, a firm selling cars could have a corporate strategy of increasing car
sales by 10% over a five year period. Accordingly, the HRM strategy would
seek to facilitate how exactly to manage personnel in order to achieve the 10%
figure. Specific HRM functions, such as recruitment and selection,
reward/recognition, an HR plan, or learning and development policies, would be
tailored to achieve the corporate objectives.
 Close co-operation (at least in theory) between HR and the top/senior
management, in the development of the corporate strategy. Theoretically, a
senior HR representative should be present when an organization's corporate
objectives are devised. This is so, since it is a firm's personnel who actually
construct a good, or provide a service. The personnel's proper management is
vital in the firm being successful, or even existing as a going concern. Thus, HR
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can be seen as one of the critical departments within the functional area of an
organization.
The implementation of an HR strategy is not always required, and may

depend on a number of factors. Explain.
The implementation of an HR strategy is not always required, and may

depend on a number of factors namely the size of the firm, the organizational
culture within the firm or the industry that the firm operates in and also the
people in the firm.
An HRM strategy can be divided, in general, into two facets - the people
strategy and the HR functional strategy. The people strategy pertains to the point
listed in the first paragraph, namely the careful correlation of HRM
policies/actions to attain the goals laid down in the corporate strategy.
The HR functional strategy relates to the policies employed within the HR

functional area itself, regarding the management of persons internal to it, to
ensure its own departmental goals are met.
Define career anchor.

A career anchor may be a special skill that somebody wants to use, an
ambition somebody wants to achieve, or an ethical principle that is particularly
important to somebody, but it always something that is very important to that
person‘s sense of who they are.
A guiding force that influences people's career choices, based on self-

perception of their own skills, motivation, and values.
Explain Succession planning.

Succession Planning is a process whereby an organization ensures that
employees are recruited and developed to fill each key role within the company.
Through your succession planning process, you recruit superior employees,
develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities, and prepare them for advancement
or promotion into ever more challenging roles.
Succession Management is not replacement management. Explain.
Succession Management is not replacement management .Succession

Management is making provisions for the development, replacement and
strategic application of key people over time, and requires the identification of
the organization‘s values, mission, and strategic plans.
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It is a proactive approach that ensures continuing leadership by cultivating

talent from within the organization through planned development activities.
Define Succession.
Ans. Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. (It

is not to be confused with secession, the act of withdrawing from an
organization, union, or political entity.)
Why new interest in succession is developing?

The forces that have renewed interest in succession systems and have
changed them in dramatic ways are trends that have affected business in the new
global economy. Leadership is and has always been a relatively scarce
commodity within companies. To lose a strong, effective leader is a serious blow
to any organization.
Companies reward high performers with opportunities for development

and not necessarily extended, long-term employment. The internet has enhanced
the mobility of leadership talent, making it easy for employees to find
opportunities elsewhere and for those opportunities to come knocking on their
door. Executive recruiters and headhunters today possess greater clout and
sophistication.
No longer is it unfair game to recruit your competitor's best and brightest

workers. Non-stop, unpredictable organizational change has caused organizations
to quickly identify growing gaps in talent and emerging needs for new types of
talent.
Describe Best practice in succession management.
The best systems are developmentally oriented, rather than simply

replacement oriented. The system becomes a proactive vehicle for managers and
executives to reflect on the progress of their talent and the opportunities they
require for genuine development. Highly effective systems always
actively involve the very top players in the organization. Senior executives view
effective succession management as a critical strategic tool for attracting and
retaining talent.
Best practice succession systems are also effective at spotting gaps in talent
and identifying important lynchpin positions – the select set of jobs that are
critical to the overall success of the organization. Succession planning does the
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job of monitoring the succession process, enabling the company to ensure that
the right people are moving into the right jobs at the right time and that gaps are
being spotted early on.
What are barriers in Succession management?
The barriers in Succession management are-

 Organizational culture
 Low priority given by senior officials
 Insufficient resources
 Inadequate rewards for initiative/risk
 Limited mobility
 Lack of role models.
What are the requirement for building the managers for succession
management ?
Following are the requirement for building the managers for succession
management:
 The new and changing mindset about people.

 Developing a people strategy plan.
 Talent management as a strategic and holistic approach.
 Integrated solution approach to leadership development.
 Management change and restructuring issues.
 Dealing with cultural adaptation.
 Implementing training programs.
What are the requirements for an effective succession management

process?
Companies that create an effective succession management process:
 Quickly anticipate and fill succession gaps.

 Identify employees with high management potential and actively plan their careers
and development to build "bench strength".
 Align their "people strategy" with their "business strategy." As a company grows
and its strategy evolves, its leadership needs can change significantly. To meet
needs like these, companies must regularly discuss their talent recruitment and
development practices.
 When organizations meet these requirements, they create the kind of leadership and
management capacity that delivers sustainable business results. They also reduce
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the range in performance in key roles, minimize attrition among top performers,
and promote a high internal hiring rate.
 Many senior managers think their company is adept at succession planning, and
they may be right. The problem is that although succession planning is essential,
it's just the first step. It's equally important to develop the leaders and managers so
they can execute the business strategy and deliver results. That's why companies
that succeed at finding and nurturing leaders who can grow their business do more
than plan.
Define Management Development.
Management Development is best described as the process from which

managers learn and improve their skills not only to benefit themselves but also
their employing organizations.
Management Development has become very important in today‘s

competitive environment.
According to a survey, those
companies that align their
management development with
tactical planning are more
competitive than the companies
who are not. It has also been
indicated that 80% of the
companies report MDP,
compared with 90% that provide
executive leadership training. For most of the companies 37% of the training
budgets go to management development and learning programs. Therefore, it is
important to consider management development as an important part of
organizational competitiveness.
What are the reasons behind the management development programs?
The reasons behind the management development programs-
 It is managements‘ responsibility of ensuring the success of the organization

 It is the management who deal with people of different background, culture,
language, etc
 Mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, etc are all under management‘s control
 It is managements‘ responsibility to ensure that the employees obtain the
required KSAs to perform the tasks
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 It is managements‘ responsibility to ensure that right people is hired for the right
job, at the right time for the right place
Manager’s job is complex i.e. for the managers understanding the

training need is not easy. Explain.
Manager‘s job is complex i.e. for the managers understanding the training
need is not easy because his training need is determined by how well his
department is meeting its objective and goal.
 It is the management who makes decisions on the basis of judgment and

intuition
 It is the manager who performs several routine duties as well as handling the
exceptions in their own as well as subordinates‘routine.
 Managers are engaged in varied, discontinues, and brief activities
 It is the management that understand the organization, its vision, mission, ethics,
values, strategies, capabilities, and how his organization f its into the industry,
and how his behavior will influence people outside the organization
 Therefore, managers must be able to get the required knowledge, skills, and
attitudes (KSAs) to meet the challenges as soon as they arise.
Define Job Rotation.
Job rotation is a job design technique in which employees are moved

between two or more jobs in a planned manner. The objective is to expose the
employees to different experiences and wider variety of skills to enhance job
satisfaction and to cross-train them. The purposes of job rotation are :
1. To give employees experience with all organizational activities as a

training process
2. To offset boredom, which can occur when performing the same job over
an extended period of time.

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GOVERNMENT POSTGRADUATE COLLEGE 0

Muhammad Saleem Raza

CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLANNING

Nowadays, if someone expects all good things

This acquisition of new skills helps them in

ü Building one’s own career through available career opportunities.

Career planning can also be defined as

Five Stages of Career Development Planning Career planning involves five

The next significant objective is

It is also imperative that he

DIFFERENT TYPES OF CAREERS

Protean Careers consider the

Gradually, people have slowly gravitated towards a more personal

Similarly, people who are motivated by

WHAT INDUSTRY EXPERTS SAY?

This is the result of a greater need to have a strong connection between

While technical skills maybe

The idea of pursuing personal growth while working for organizational

But in today’s business scenario, companies endorse that their employees

Earlier, they used to be happy trying to develop their capacities in a

IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON CAREER PLANNING

Connectivity also helps people from different departments to be connected,

GIVING CAREER AN ORGANIC GROWTH

The fully-automated or doit-yourself exercises available online haven’t

Earlier, the organizations used to be responsible for an individual’s career

ü Transform yourself using strengths to be a better employee and performer.

ORGANIZATIONAL CAREER MANAGEMENT

Many organizations have gone a step

To prevent this exodus of talent from

The organizations have understood that employees are more interested in

ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS FOR CAREER GROWTH

ü Finding ways of showcasing strengths.

In today’s dynamic work environment, employees get growth opportunities

candidate after making him attend long meetings and management-related

PRESSING ISSUES THAT SUPERVISORS FACE

MENTORING AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL

HOW MENTORS HELP INDIVIDUAL

These protégés achieve

HOW MENTORS HELP ORGANIZATIONS

In general, people confuse mentoring with a one-way communication

DOWNSIZING AND LAY-OFFS

Sometimes divestitures and mergers also lead to job loss. Generally,

The most important thing which mostly companies neglect while

USE OF TEAMS FOR WORK PRODUCTION

When people start to work as a team, it becomes difficult to judge an

career choices in small companies and inter-company mobility is widely being

MANAGING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

Another reason proposed is women and minorities are given lesser

Alternative Arguments for Workplace Diversity Another argument that is

Different companies have come up with different solutions to overcome

ü Supervisors' Performance Objectives

However, the results of these ways are yet to be discovered.

SUCCESSION PLANNING PROCESS

When organization strategy which was followed for years’ changes

CAREERS IN A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

“For any vacancy, with large number of internal candidates, pool

This change is mainly due to the rising of a clearly Global Business

The new demand of highly qualified multinational managers has resulted

WHAT TO CHECK BEFORE OPTING FOR A FOREIGN

Many companies, are now offering pre-retirement seminars that raises

It is wrong to assume older workers cannot learn new skills, or to be

Several companies like Pacific Telephone, Uniroyal and Chrysler are