Why Businesses Should Assist All Employees in Choosing a Career

Why Employees Stay

 

Many businesses devote a lot of effort and resources into determining the reasons behind employee attrition, such as through exit interviewing programs. The goal of this research is typically to determine why people depart, with the rationale being that if a business can pinpoint the causes of layoffs, it may take steps to reduce both those numbers. (Flowers, V.S. and Hughers, C. L. 1973)

Nowadays, HR work is "primarily portrayed as a commercial issue."
The focus is on strategic fit and business alignment. These are significant requirements, but focusing on them may cause HR practitioners to give employee needs and motivations less consideration when creating new or modifying arrangements. (Daniel, D. and Brush, K. 2020)

Overview –

There are two conventional ways for a person to advance inside an organization: career paths and career ladders. The progression of employment within a company's distinct occupational fields, ordered from top to bottom according to responsibility and salary levels, is known as a career ladder. The term "career routes" refers to a variety of professional advancement methods, such as the conventional vertical career ladder, dual career ladder, horizontal career lattice, career advancement outside the business, and encore careers.

In order to improve organizational competence, employees in a company might offer their knowledge, skills, and abilities. 

Background –

Early in the 20th century, tradition, socioeconomic standing, family, and gender all played a role in determining profession choice and advancement. The majority of men base their decision on what their dads and other male family members did before them, as well as their rank within those careers. Because of tradition and societal mores, the alternatives for women's careers were considerably more constrained. Career ladders and advancement opportunities were few.

 

But as the 20th century came to an end, the conventional career path of a worker at one employer was abandoned. As the U.S. economy went through numerous boom-and-bust cycles starting in the late 1970s, many businesses were forced to restructure and lay off large numbers of employees. They were also reluctant to hire again at pre-bubble levels, even when business was booming. In addition, at this time, union membership fell as a result of the transition from a manufacturing to a knowledge economy, thus weakening the previously implicit promise of employee loyalty for lifelong employment. Middle management layers were significantly reduced or removed, flattening the organizational structure. Employees frequently have to turn elsewhere to advance their careers or increase their income.

Enterprise Case

The necessity of official career pathways and career ladders in a company is influenced by a variety of factors, including

·       Inability to identify, attract, and employ the right candidates for open positions

·       disengagement of workers.

·       Employee requests for more freedom at work

·       lack of diversity in the highest positions.

·       A workforce that spans generations

·       less opportunities for advancement exist in organizations that are more flat or smaller

·       Change in organizational culture

Creating a development and priority for employee

Most businesses stand to gain by intensifying their efforts to develop precise plans for how talent will be developed internally. The use of career ladders and paths can be a successful strategy for obtaining desired organizational results. They could be a way to make sure that an organization keeps expanding and producing. (Timmes, 2021) 

    

Advantages for the Organization

The following are just a few of the ways that matching an employee's career aspirations with the organization's strategic objectives benefits both parties.

·       Establish distinctions with rivals on the labor market

·       Keep important employees

·       Retain younger employees

·       With an economic downturn, turnover declines

HR's Role

Employees who could control their ascent up the corporate ladder are no longer a captive audience for HR experts. HR is also no longer able to guarantee a position on the ladder or an ascent to the summit. HR should encourage employees to take charge of their own ladders in light of the fact that the 21st century has a new paradigm for career advancement. Although an organization can give its staff members access to resources and tools to help them advance their skills and abilities, this is no longer the only choice they have

·       Putting in place fair, practical, and consistently applied promotion policies and procedures. Establishing guidelines for advertising or not advertising open positions, as well as the details and timing of promotion announcements, are part of this.

 

·       Facilitating promotions inside their firms by offering career mentoring to staff, assisting managers in creating precise selection criteria, and easing the disappointment of individuals who aren't chosen for promotion.

 

·       Assisting personnel who have received promotions to adjust easily.

 

·       Supporting non-selected candidates as they continue to develop their abilities in preparation for potential future employment possibilities.

 

The design and implementation of career routes and strategies for employees to grow and advance is one of the many tasks that HR

·       professionals have, but they must also get assistance in navigating and advancing their own careers.

(Nathani, undated) 

 

 

Creating Conventional Career Ladders and Pathways

Corporate-wide career planning programs can be as easy as managers role-playing how to talk about career interests or using career mapping with their staff. Creating explicit career paths for every role within the firm is one of the more difficult projects. Conventional career ladders are built on the premise that the employee wants to advance as far up the ladder as possible and that the employer will continue to offer opportunities. (Strikwerda, 2022)

Mapping a career

HR must create the tools required to make career mapping successful for managers and staff members.

·       Self-assessment

·       Customized career map

·       Investigating alternative possibilities.

Conventional career ladders and advancement tactics

Common issues with conventional ladders and pathways

·       Managing or not managing

·       No inclination to climb

·       Obstacles

(Lauby, 2020)

 

Alternative Techniques for Professional Advancement

·       New Job Design

·       Job Rotation

·       Due Carrey Leadership

(Burns, 2018) 

 

Career Paths External to the Organization

Global Issues

Many of the same talent management difficulties are faced by global HR professionals as they are by domestic HR practitioners, although often on a bigger scale. A worldwide study demonstrates that employees are more likely to stick with companies that are perceived as "talent-friendly" and forward-thinking, i.e., companies with cutting-edge work environments and people practices. See Rotational programs can help to develop future leaders.

 

Multinational firms can successfully implement personnel and compensation management across borders with the help of global leveling, the systematic process of determining the relative value of positions and their appropriate pay ranges globally. The main goals of job evaluation and the installation of a global grade system are to encourage employee growth and career trajectories and to make it easier to implement a global pay or incentive program.

Reference 

Flowers, V.S. and Hughers, C. L. (1973) Why Employees Stay [online]. Available at https://hbr.org/1973/07/why-employees-stay. Accessed 19 March 2023.

 

Daniel, D. and Brush, K. (2020) employee experience [online]. Available at https://www.techtarget.com/searchhrsoftware/definition/employee-experience. Accessed on 19th March 2023.

Timmes, M. (2021) Six Tips For Prioritizing Employee Development In 2021 [online]. Available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2021/02/11/six-tips-for-prioritizing-employee-development-in-2021/?sh=1ebbe777ffc0. Accessed on 21st March 2023.

Nathani, V. (undated) Key rolles and Presponsibilities of HR in organization [online]. Available at  https://www.startuphrtoolkit.com/roles-and-responsibilities-of-hr/. Accessed on 21st March 2023.

Strikwerda, L. (2022) Create a Career Path Program in 7 Steps [or Lose Your Best Employees] [online]. Available at https://www.workforcehub.com/blog/create-career-paths-in-7-steps-or-lose-your-best-employees/. Accessed 20th March 2023.

Lauby, S. (2020) Career ladder or career lattice? [online]. Available at https://workwell.unum.com/2020/03/career-ladder-or-career-lattice/#:~:text=A%20disadvantage%20might%20be%20missing,networked%20enough%20around%20the%20company.&text=Career%20lattices%20are%20a%20little%20trickier%20to%20navigate. Accessed on 21st March 2023.

Burns, M. (2018) Professional development alternatives to the workshop [online]. Available at https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/professional-development-alternatives-workshop. Accessed 20th March 2023.

Source - 

[1]. [1], [2] https://www.the-city-reader.com/current-politics-science/harvard-business-review

[2]. [3] https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/help-your-employees-find-purpose-or-watch-them-leave

[3]. [4] https://www.techtarget.com/searchhrsoftware/definition/employee-experience

[4]. [5] https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/what-is-job-satisfaction

[5]. [6] https://www.process.st/career-progression-plan

[6]. [7] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/developingemployeecareerpathsandladders.aspx

[7]. [8] https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/developingemployeecareerpathsandladders.aspx

[8]. [9] https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/chart-of-the-day/meet-them-in-the-middle