CAREER PLANNING AS A MECHANISM OF HRD

AUTHOR DR.R.UMARANI.,M.B.A.,M.PHIL.,PH.D, Associate Professor, Department of Management Sciences, SNR Institute of Management Studies, SNR Sons College(Autonomous), Affiliated to Bharathiar University, Nava India, Coimbatore-641006. E-MAIL ID: umasusi@gmail.com ; PH:09894021265 CO-AUTHOR T.SUBHA, M.Phil Research Scholar, Department of Management Sciences, SNR Institute of Management Studies. E-MAIL ID: subhathilakan@gmail.com; PH: 09994669540.

Career Planning as a Mechanism of HRD The current economic context, marked by increased competition, integration in the world and especially the need to maintain competitive advantage in an increasingly uncertain business environment, have led to the introduction and the deployment of human resources activities until recently neglected. Thus, more companies in world have started to develop and implement organized planning and career development systems of employees. Introduction: A career is a perceived sequence of attitudes and behaviours associated with work-related experiences and activities over a persons life span. Dictionary meaning of career is an individual's "course or progress through entire life (or a distinct portion of life)"A career means being engaged in a satisfying and productive activity, whereas a job is what a person does at work to bring home a pay of cheque. Thus, career involves a long term view of a series of jobs and work experiences. Organisational Career Planning Career planning is the process of planning ones work life and involves evaluating abilities and interests, considering alternative career opportunities, establishing career goals and planning practical development activities. It is one of the mechanisms of human resource development that needs special attention of the decision makers-irrespective of the nature of organisation. Objectives of Career Planning Build commitment in the individual Develop long-range perspective Reduce personal turnover expenses Lessen employee obsolescence Ensure organizational effectiveness Allow individual to achieve personal and work related goals

Purposes of Career Planning Identify qualified people and leaders for the future Improve job satisfaction and other attitudes. Increase involvement of key employees

Improve the vital match between individual and organisational wants and needs

The purpose of career planning, then, involves ensuring that enhanced individual and organizational performance occurs. Organizational career planning is a complex process involving many conflicting concerns that involve employees, the organisation and social issues. Types of Career Planning Organisational Career Planning programs fit into five categories: Career Pathing is the identification of career tracks, or sequences of jobs that represents a coherent progression vertically and laterally through the organisation. Career Counselling occurs informally as part of the day-to-day supervisor-subordinate relationship and often during employment interviews and performance evaluation sessions as well. More formally, career counselling often is provided by the human resources department and is available to all personnel, especially those who are being moved up,down,or out of the organisation. Career Information System evolves when internal job markets are combined with formal career counselling to establish a career information centre for organisation members. Internal job markets exist when job openings within the organisation are announced first to the organisation members. Human Resource Planning involves forecasting the organisations human resource needs, developing replacement charts for all levels of the organisation, preparing inventories of the skills and abilities individuals need for mobility within the organisation. Career Management is the process by which organizational career planning is implemented. Each supervisor and manager in the organization plays a key role in making the organizations career planning program work to the benefit of the organisation and its employees. Models of Career Planning Chance and Luck Model: This model is that employee, to get the desired position, is based only on luck. He must be persevering and always be in place at the right time. Organization Knows Best Model: The model is based on the fact that the employee is moved from one job to another according to the needs. This model is supported mainly by young employees, who are dependent on adults for all the views, and less than adults employees. Self Oriented Model: This model provides importance to the individuals; the employees are establishing their own development during their career, while having assistance too. Advantages of Career Planning

A well-structured career plan in an organization helps it to retain those employees whom the company wants and to motivate them fully to use their potentials, talents and capabilities in the best possible ways.

A good career planning system sends out a message that the organization believes in providing fairness and equal opportunities to all its employees with transparency.

Since training and development of employees is an integral aspect of career planning, it prepares more competent professionals in the organization on an on-going basis. This is advantageous to the organization as well as the employees.

Challenges in Introducing Effective Career Planning Structure

Competent human resource is scarce and all the organizations compete for it. Hence attracting, satisfying, motivating and retaining the competent people are a huge challenge. On top of it, in situations when the growth opportunities for the employees are less in the organization, meeting the expectations of all the talented and capable persons is an additional challenge.

Yet another challenge in career planning is how to provide support to the marginal or average performers and how to facilitate the separation of the poor performers from the organization in a dignified manner.

Individual Responsibility on Career Planning According to the theory and practice of management, the career planning process focuses particularly on individual skills, abilities, needs or aspirations. Given all this, the individual will create basic information necessary to ensure preparedness for a possible promotion. Individual career planning can be defined as all actions of self-assessment, exploration of opportunities, establishing goals etc., designed to help the individual to make informed choices and changes about career. It is a complex action that requires systematic and careful thinking in formulating short and long term objectives. Career planning is based, therefore, on the evaluation of individual skills, interests and motivation, on the analysis of organizational opportunities, setting goals for their careers and develops a strategy to achieve those goals. Individual career planning can browse through five steps: Self-assessment is the collection of information about yourself (values, interests, skills), continuous assessment and reporting to others; Exploring opportunities involves gathering information about existing opportunities within but also outside organizations (training and other development methods);

Making decisions and setting goals on short and long term for training requirements, change of job / department etc.

Planning consists of determining ways and means of achieving goals, ordering their actions to achieve them, considering its consequences, setting deadlines and resource requirements

Pursuit of achievement goals, action by the individual accounts for his successes and failures and make decisions to retain or change career course.

Career Planning within Organizations

Every individual on his job in an organization will start planning out his career growth path and crossing the mile stones along the path to finally reach his goals, organization where he works is also responsible to support or to proactively carve his career progression.

Therefore, the organizations should keep a track on the performance and progress of all the professionals working in the organization.

Organizations should enable their people with the knowledge of the existing and future opportunities and growth avenues that can be pursued and achieved within.

Organizations should also let their people know about what kind of systems and interventions the organizations have to support the attainment of these growth possibilities.

While organizations at the corporate level will be concerned about the career planning of their professionals even as a corporate strategy, it may finally be human resources departments' responsibility to execute this function.

It is considered an important function of HRM but it is true also that it is one of the most the most neglected and least developed functions in large number of organizations.

HR departments should chalk out well-structured system of career planning in their organizations.

The Roles of the Employees, Managers and Organization in Career Planning The Employees Role Regardless of the operating organization, the individuals must be actively involved in managing their careers, motivated of its beneficial effects on welfare (the economic and psychological standpoint) The economic standpoint at a basic level, the work provides an income to the individuals to ensure their existence and their families and to satisfy other interests, hobbies and recreation; career opportunities are a source of extrinsic motivation (external) for employees.

The psychological standpoint as a source of spiritual comfort, the work provides a sense of accomplishment and gives a meaning to the individual existence. Psychologically, career opportunities are an important source of intrinsic motivation (internal) for employees. The Managers Role Regardless of the career planning system type in the organization, managers have a key role in its planning process.

The managers need to form a complete picture of the employees work-related purposes and goals; The manager and the employee agree on the next steps for development; The employee understands the manager's perception of his performance, development needs and career options; The manager and the employee agree on how the employee needs are satisfied with the current job; The manager identifies the resources to help the employee to achieve the committed objectives set out in their discussion.

The Organizations Role The organizations are responsible for providing the necessary resources to be successful in the employees career planning.

Career workshops: seminars on various topics (how does the system of career planning, self-assessment or setting goals); Career centres or information systems (or databases places where / from where the employees can learn about job openings or training programs); Career planning guides (printed matter for guidance the staff witch contain exercises, discussion and advice on career planning); Career counselling (advice by a specialized professional counsellor in assisting the employees interested in career planning); Career paths (directions) (planning job stages, identifying the skills needed to advance within the same family of channels such as wireless promoting a technical professional position in a managerial position).

Conclusion Employees develop more realistic expectation of what is expected of them on the job and what their future with the organisation will entail. The key to keep employee expectations realistic is to provide factual information about the job and the true prospects for an employee. Career planning is effective when the organizations use fully the skills and knowledge of their employees and they are motivated to achieve maximum performance and be satisfied with their work, which helps the organization to achieve its objectives. The frequent manifestation of layoffs, especially in the current crisis, requires that employees demonstrate certain skills and competencies that prove indispensable to the actual or potential employers.

Bibliography: References:

Otte, F.L.; Hutcheson, P.G. (1992) Helping Employees Manage Careers, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, pp.57-58 Popescu Neveanu, A. (2003) Planning and career management in organizations, Journal of Organizational Psychology, 3(4) Bhasakar Dainik, Career Vision-2005, 45 Zeus, P.; Skiffington, S. (2008) Coaching in organizations - A complete Guide, Codecs Publishing House, Bucarest, pp.101-103

Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Career_management http://www.scribd.com/doc/37629972/47/Objectives-of-Career-Planning