Answer to Question #158030 in Management for Qurban Ali

Question

Compare and Contrast career development and career management. Explain with examples the employee’s role in the career development process? The manager’s role? The employer’s role? (10 Marks- word limit 250 to 350)

Answer 1

Career Development

Career development aims at developing an employee's skills that are aligned to a business's goals and growth. It is course-based training that seeks to teach an employee the skills they require to stay current and advance in their employment industry. Employees can attend seminars, workshops, conferences, or webinars to gain or update their job-specific skills.

Career Management

Career development is a personalized plan for each employee to learn and develop new skills to advance their individual career paths. It entails setting career-related goals and plans to achieve the set goals. The goals under consideration include title, skills mastery, salary, and company affiliation, and managing the actions and knowledge needed to reach the set goals. It is more aligned to the personal efforts of the employee rather than talent developers in a company. It requires self-awareness of an employee's existing skills and knowledge of the skill gaps that are required or created through technological, cultural, or political changes in one's industry.

Employee's role

An employee should take a lead role in his/her career development by defining their career aspirations. For example, an employee should conduct a self-assessment by asking himself/herself where they want to be in 5 or 10 years. An employee should ask themselves if their present company can help them to fulfill their career development goals. The next step is for an individual to create a career plan with specific goals and share the plan with his immediate manager. Moreover, an employee should continuously share his/her development progress with HR representatives or managers to get feedback, evaluation, and guidance.

Manager's role

The main role of a manager is to act as a mentor which helps an employee to expand their knowledge and improve their performance. For example, a manager can mentor young employees by providing them with specific knowledge, skills, and contacts. A manager should also incorporate mentor-ship and coaching skills into his managerial duties and style. A manager can help his/her employees to understand the shifting demands for their skills and ensure that they are provided with relevant training. A manager should be motivational and supportive towards the efforts put by an employee in his/her career development objectives.

Employer's role

Their main role is creating training programs and providing career guidance. Training programs will help employees achieve their career goals and improve their job satisfaction which will benefit both the company and employees. The employer can organize community training and company events which enable the employer to evaluate the progress of their employees. An employer should create and support a work-life balance culture in their organization. An employer can create a succession plan for every key position in their organization. For example, an employee will be more motivated to work and develop new skills needed for advancement into leadership positions in an organization.