Business case for supporting career discussions
An interesting statistic was revealed by MORI conducted surveys of 250 blue chip organizations in the UK in 2005.
In response to the question "How satisfied are you with career development in your organization?", only 42% of employees replied positively. This rather confirms the CIPD Managing Employee Careers Survey (2003) showing that HR practitioners wanted to improve career development for all employees, but:
- Only a third felt that senior managers were firmly committed to career management activities.
- Only five per cent trained all their line managers to support the career development of their staff, although the vast majority expected line managers to deliver this support.
- There was a desire to support all staff in their careers, but in practice most effort goes into relatively small groups of very senior or high-potential employees.
Supporting the varied career development needs of all employees is a huge and complex challenge.
If you talk to employees about their careers, one of the most common complaints is that they donŐt get access to really honest advice, tailored to their own needs and situations. They often say either they have no discussions about their careers or that the discussions they have are not very honest or informative.
Ideas have been validated and developed through a NICEC research project based on the real-life experiences of many employees (Hirsh, Jackson and Kidd, NICEC).
- Most individuals can manage their own careers better if they have some support in doing this from other people in the workplace.
- Most of this help is given in discussions or conversations, often in informal settings.
- If we could help more people have more frequent or more effective discussions about their careers, it would make a positive contribution to career development.
What is the business case for supporting positive career development discussions? The CIPD report in their "Career discussions at work: Practical tips for HR, managers and employees" six main strands in the business case:.
Details of these six strands are given in the report.
Career Horizons supports the employee in preparing for and following up on courses/career discussions with their line manager, HR adviser or career coach.
Examples of comments by employees and organisations using Career Horizons:
"I think the more tools the employees have at their fingertips to realize their own aspirations and take responsibility for their own development the better, and the software is a refreshing and innovative approach!"
HR Manager, GlaxoSmithKline
"Great learning about myself my skills, preferences and learning styles, how to develop these and recognize them in others."
Team Leader, Allianz Cornhill
"Good to know that the company takes an interest in its staff and offers such training/development workshops. Course tackled relevant practical issues head on, brilliant!"
Manager, LloydsTSB
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