Session 9

Career Planning in BCS

Professor Momtaz Jahan

 What is Career?
• Career means a person’s progress through life.
• Career may be defined as a sequence of positions occupied by a
person during the course of a life time within an organization.
• Career development is an ongoing process of gaining knowledge and
improving skills that will help an individual to establish a career plan.
• Career planning is a process of identifying the needs and career
opportunities within an organization and the implementation of
human resources development programs to support the respective
career.
Career Planning
• Career planning is an interrelated and combined processes that
include three integrated components:
1. Induction (Recruitment and in-take system)
2. Professional development ( Training and competence development)
3. Progression (Promotion and mobility).
 Career Planning
• Career planning shapes the progression of individuals within
an organization in accordance with assessment of
organizational needs and the performance potential, and
preferences of individuals.
• Career planning is the deliberate process through which
someone becomes aware of his /her personal choices,
interests, knowledge, motivation, and other characteristics,
acquires information about career opportunities and choices,
identifies career related goals, and establishes action plan to
attain specific goal. (Gary Dessler)
Requisites of Proper Career Planning in BCS
• Identification of appropriate personnel for the career position.
• Determination of financial and other requirements of such personnel.
• Determination of line of upward movement of such personnel and
requisites of different positions in the vertical hierarchy.
• Pre determination of manner of the utilization of the employees in
different horizontal positions.
• Linking up training and other inputs for career advancement.
• Performance appraisal system.
An outline of career planning framework
• Nature of career planning • Orientation
1. Research and Need 1. Goal oriented
assessment, Staffing plan and
Recruitment.
2. Skill development (institutional
training, on the job training, 2. Policy oriented
higher studies).
3. Placement/Posting/Transfer/ 3. Rules and Regulations oriented
Performance evaluation
Contd.
• Job satisfaction/Confidence/ • Virtual stage and Service morale
Morale/Professionalism/
Leadership/ Creativity
• Enthusiasm to serve , Service
Ethics • Citizen oriented

Responsive/Accountable/Transpar • Result oriented

ent
Service delivery state
 How is career planning managed?
• Career planning in BCS is pre determined by the hierarchically ordered
structure of the career pyramid of various cadres up to a certain level.
• Each functional cadre has a career pyramid and entrants into the
cadre move from the lowest level to a certain level if not the topmost
level.
• The principal of mobility is both vertical and horizontal depending
upon the structure of the pyramid and the number of posts available
in the field and headquarters.
• The vertical mobility is caused by promotion.
Contd.
• The horizontal mobility is caused by deployment in equivalent positions
in the headquarter office or to another field office or from the head
office to a field office depending upon the needs of the organization.
• The three year formula influences such mobility.
• An important principle in career planning and management in all cadres
is to blend staff and field experiences. This happens in early stages of
the career.
• BCS (Admin) cadre follows a selection procedure for key field positions
like DC, UNO. The selection is done by a high level committee known as
“Fit List” committee.
Contd.
• Another unwritten principle which influences movement between
field and staff positions in a department relates to the personal
judgement of the departmental head.
• An inhibiting factor with regard to the need for uniting field with staff
experiences is the personal compulsions of most of the civil servants
to stay in the capital city.
Contd.
• One of the major function of CPT wing of MOPA is to rationalize the
training system, undertake training need assessment and make
placement plan for the locally and overseas trained civil servants.
• It was also assigned to prepare a report on the functional clustering of
ministries in the light of an integrated career planning of the public
servants.
• The wing is supposed to work hand in hand with APD wing of the MOPA.
• The CPT wing is supposed to help the APD to make a placement plan for
public officials based on their career records, training, track record of
competence, and ACR.
Contd.
• CPT is seriously handicapped to take any standard and professional
exercise on career planning, training need assessment, and human
resource planning.
• The most powerful wing is the APD which makes the vital decisions as
far as career development is concerned.
• The ACR unit only provides the numerical data to the APD.
• The decision is then taken by the APD in formal and informal
consultation of the PMO.
Challenges
• Promotion and career planning in the top echelon of the govt. has not
been based on a clearly spelled out and consistent policies and
principles. Promotion policies /rules have been changed for political
purpose.
• Different steps of principles have been followed at different times and
has been politically manipulated by the regime of the day.
• Training and development activities have never been a part of the
career management system.
• Due to inappropriate promotion policies and inappropriate career
planning, professionalism and competence in BCS have declined.
Challenges
• Random use of contractual appointments to top positions have a
negative and frustrating effect on the regular civil servants who find their
promotions blocked.
• One contractual appointment at the level of secretary effectively blocks
the onward progression of six other officers at other levels.
• The current ACR system is seriously flawed.
• It is not directly related to reward or punishment, promotion, postings or
transfers, training, or career management. It has no developmental and
motivational value.
• Training is neither career oriented nor based on a proper placement plan.
Challenges
• Recruitment and promotion of huge number of officers without proper planning
has drastically damaged the reputation of civil servants and their quality. Lack of
career planning or lack of national human resource planning has exacerbated the
situation.
• In most cases the civil servant’s academic background, academic excellence, or
professional expertise does not receive due importance for deployment. As a
result both the service provider and the service recipients suffer for poor service
quality.
• Decision making process of career planning and management does not lie with
one single agency. The MOPA’s role is largely vested to positions of AS to the rank
of DS. Above the rank the authority lies with the head of the govt.
• The direct and indirect role of the PMO should be reduced.