Your support for career development is important because:
- Current information about the organization and future trends helps employees create more realistic career development goals
- Focus on skill development contributes to learning opportunities
- Opportunities for promotion and/or lateral moves contribute to the employee's career satisfaction
- A greater sense of responsibility for managing one's own career contributes to self-confidence
- Career planning and development clarifies the match between organizational and individual employee goals
- It's cost-effective to use your own staff talent to provide career development opportunities within your department
- Career development increases employee motivation and productivity
- Attention to career development helps you attract top staff and retain valued employees
- Supporting career development and growth of employees is mandated by the Philosophy of Human Resources Management
How to Support Career Development
- Annually, conduct an individual development plan and career discussion with employees and require other supervisors in your department to do the same.
- Hold supervisors in your department accountable for supporting employee development efforts.
- Create programs and activities to provide skill development, such as job rotation, cross-training, mentoring, internships, coaching, and career strategy groups.
- Recognize that your role includes providing support and/or release time for staff members' development beyond their current jobs.
- Support requests for flexible work arrangements from staff members.
- Serve as a role model by participating in career and professional development opportunities yourself.
- See staff members' applications for other positions as a healthy sign of a dynamic workplace.
- Support lateral moves within your organization.
- Create job vacancy listings that allow for the most diverse applicant pool while honoring transferable skills.
Roles You Can Play
COACH: Helps employees identify strengths, weaknesses, interests, and values by maintaining open, effective communication and ongoing encouragement. You can improve your coaching by:
- Encouraging two-way dialogue
- Showing employees how to identify their skills, interests, and values
- Scheduling uninterrupted career development discussions
ADVISOR: Provides organizational information, realities, and resources to employees. You can improve your advising by:
- Helping employees develop realistic career goals based on your department's needs and their individual development plans
- Helping employees understand the current opportunities and limitations on the campus
- Advising employees on the feasibility of various career options
APPRAISER: Evaluates employees' performance in an open, candid way and relates this to potential opportunities. You can improve your appraisal skills by:
- Providing frequent feedback in a way that fosters development
- Conducting performance appraisals that define strengths, weaknesses, and career development needs
- Relating current performance to future potential in realistic ways
- Using an individual development plan as a tool for continual feedback and development
REFERRAL AGENT: Helps employees meet their goals through contacts with people and resources. You can improve your referral agent skills by:
- Helping employees formulate development plans and consulting on strategies
- Providing opportunities for experience, exposure, and visibility, such as committees and task forces)
- Using personal resources who you know and what you know to create opportunities
- Assisting in seeking employees' placement lateral or vertical