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Career Strategies - Career coaching
Career coaching frequently involves
helping individuals prepare for a career change or helping employees advance in
their existing jobs. By focusing on training and developing the skills of their
workers, firms can often build employee loyalty. While the career-coaching role
in organizations most often falls to the immediate supervisor, career coaching
and counseling has also become a career in itself.
- Evaluating interests,
- Values,
- Work styles, and
- Skills.
From the organization's view, it consists of:
- Matching employee talents with
organizational needs,
- Recruiting and retaining
talent in the company,
- Identifying training and
development needs, and
- Assisting employees in
specifying and locating new employment opportunities within the organization
For example, suppose you are a department manager, and
Raman, a supervisor comes to you inquiring about other opportunities in the
company. You know Raman to be a very conscientious and intelligent worker, and
want to make certain he does not look for opportunities elsewhere. Over the next
few weeks, you discuss with Raman his interests, education and skills, and how
they relate to various positions in your department and others within the
company. You identify a job area in a different department which Raman feels
better fits his interests and lifestyle, and together you make a plan for some
training Raman can pursue while waiting for a position to come open. While you
are reluctant to lose Raman, you know that you have helped him become a more
satisfied employee, as well as retaining him as a valued worker for your
organization.
Career path
Career path, also called career tracking, is a process of
outlining an individual career plan, usually within an organization. Career path
is most often used as a part of management training and development, although
individuals may develop their own career track, either alone, or in conjunction
with a career coach.
Employees follow pre-determined steps along the career path
to develop expertise in managing different types of organizational situations
(Solomon, 1995) and to reach their career goal. Periodic checks evaluate
progress, as well as determining what further training or experience is needed
to move to the next step. Career path often uses several other career
development interventions as part of the process. These include:
- Cross
training,
- Job
rotation,
- Job
enrichment or enlargement, and
- Temporary
assignments.
For example, Amit accepted a position as a manager trainee
at a well-established printing company immediately after graduation. The
printing company was planning to open a new division, and was also at a point
where several senior level managers would be retiring within the next five
years. As part of the career path program, Amit was to be rotated between
various departments in the company's six national locations, spending two months
at each location. During this period, Amit would be involved in the hands-on
work of the company, as well as being involved in managerial tasks and
decision-making. At the end of the first year, if progress was made as planned,
Amit would become one of the area managers of the new division. As other people
in the corporation moved into vacated positions, the plan was for Amit to move
up also.
