Career guidance is an essential part of employee development.
Investing in the employees career development and job competence increases job enrichment and satisfaction, reduces staff turnover and helps organisations achieve their goals.
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Career Development Activities For Employers
Career development for employees helps people identify their skills and interests, learn how to use those skills in different situations, and develop new ones.
Despite the many benefits of career development activities for employers, many people are still confused about how to approach potential employers.
What career development activities are right for them? Luckily, there are many ways to get started.
These include stretch assignments, internship programs, skills inventory and Cross-Departmental Collaboration, etc.
The post explores some career development activities that employers should consider for the benefit of their employees and their organisations.
Stretch Assignments
In career development, stretch assignments are the best opportunities for employees to stretch themselves and grow.
They offer employees an opportunity to develop beyond their comfort zones and challenge their talents without creating too much stress.
Employers should look for assignments that are aligned with their employees’ career goals and development needs.
Instead of always choosing the most qualified candidate for a stretch assignment, employers can choose focus on enhancing the skills of employees with potential.
A stretch assignment is a perfect way to develop their careers of your employees as an employer.
The best way to get the most out of stretch assignments is to create a coaching culture that encourages employees to be comfortable applying for them.
By cultivating a coaching culture that supports employee success, employers can increase their chances of landing a stretch assignment.
This includes sharing information about authority, influence, and resources that can help employees succeed.
Creating a supportive coaching culture can also help remove barriers to success.
Another benefit of stretch assignments for employers is that they help employees grow while providing a rich context for career development.
In addition to fostering growth, they can help employees get their hands dirty.
A good stretch assignment can even help an employer reshape an outdated product and launch it with new capabilities.
Many high-performing employees are motivated by the opportunity to learn new skills, which can lead to a more lucrative job in the future.
Internship Program
An internship program should be designed to create a mutual learning environment where an intern can experience a variety of workplace activities and learn how to work in a team.
The internship should last a month to a year and be either paid or unpaid. It can also be part-time.
The sponsoring organization must create an orientation program that emphasizes the organization’s partnership role.
Undergraduate students also expect clear direction and regular feedback.
They also need to feel that their internship will have a practical impact on the sponsoring organization.
Orientation for interns can take many forms, including a traditional orientation program or simply a tour of the office.
In the workplace, interns will spend a significant amount of time.
Some companies give overviews of their history and vision, while others hand out information about the intern’s job duties.
In addition, companies may introduce the intern to co-workers.
Orientation can also include a tour of the company’s facilities and a meeting with a manager or executive.
An evaluation should be conducted during the midpoint of the internship.
It should assess the quality of work performed and the interns’ work habits.
This will provide information for the final evaluation and serve as a benchmark for subsequent performance. Interns are your company’s walking advertisement.
A good internship will spread word about the company, while a bad one will hurt your chances of hiring good candidates in the following year.
Depending on the type of resources an organization has, it may be more productive to evaluate the program as a whole.
Skill Inventories
In today’s digital age, skills gaps have become a big problem. The skills required for any given job have become increasingly specialized and hard to find.
Organizations must adapt to meet the unique learning needs of each employee.
Skill inventories can help companies track employee development and ensure business continuity.
By tracking employee skills, skill inventories can help identify candidates who are a good fit for specific roles and provide opportunities to improve the experience of current employees.
One of the benefits of skills inventories is that they can help companies develop succession plans, which ensure the continuity of the company even in the case of a critical employee’s departure.
They can also help employers find potential high performers and match them with future openings.
By regularly updating the skills catalogues, companies can make necessary preparations for future succession.
By identifying potential employees, they can also plan for future training and develop them.
An effective skills inventory can make a huge difference for employers and employees.
Skill inventories can be simple and easy to use, and they can be a powerful tool for managers and human resource managers.
Skill inventories are useful for a number of reasons, including identifying the gaps in the skills of the workforce.
They also provide valuable data for decision making and help companies reach their goals.
This article provides general information and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all available resources.
Cross-Departmental Collaboration
Fostering cross-departmental collaboration is not easy, but this is high impact career development activity for employees.
Building a cross-functional environment is not an overnight process, but it can be made easier by encouraging employee participation.
By creating a cross-departmental environment, you’re creating a positive work environment that promotes teamwork and encourages individual contributions.
It is vital to recognize the value of teamwork in the workplace, and encourage it throughout your organization.
When employees collaborate across departments, they feel more empowered to come up with ideas and solve problems.
This can increase morale in the workplace and improve retention rates.
In a company that prioritizes employee satisfaction, cross-departmental collaboration can help them plan for change, improve processes, and cut costs.
The benefits of collaboration can trickle down to other aspects of the business. Here are some ways to foster cross-departmental collaboration in the workplace.
When inviting employees to participate in cross-departmental projects, make sure everyone has a common goal.
This is especially important if you plan to collaborate with other departments to implement an idea.
The diversity of expertise will strengthen your collaboration efforts and promote team ownership.
Cross-departmental collaboration helps you to identify new ideas and identify opportunities for revenue and efficiency improvement.
By encouraging teamwork, you’ll boost productivity and employee commitment to the entire organization.
Individual Career Counseling
Employers can invest in arranging for on-the-job individual career counselling their employees.
While the exact cost of individual career counselling varies widely, it can range from $75 to $500 per hour.
As with all types of counseling, fees vary from one counselor to the next.
It is important to know that the National Career Development Association has set specific guidelines and expectations for counselors.
You should be aware of these before choosing one. Ultimately, it is your decision whether you will hire a career counselor.
But if you do, here are some tips to make sure you get the most out of your time.
As the industrial era came to an end in the mid-20th century, an information-based economy took hold, reshaping the corporate landscape in North America.
The postindustrial economy brought greater attention to the mental health of workers and a growing appreciation for individual psychology and career choice.
Employment-career counselors became an important part of this new paradigm. But what should they look for in an employer? And how can they help their clients?
Before you seek professional career counselling for your employees, you should assess the abilities and interests for your workforce. It is also key that in relation to skills inventory you do that with a view to identify skills gaps and professional gaps.
This will enable you to be proactive as an employer in ensuring that you have competent employees.
You can work with a career counselor to identify what skills and experiences your employees need to climb up the ladder for career ad enhance their performance.
IQ tests can help you evaluate the capabilities and skills of your workers.
Depending on the type of job, you might want to take a specialized course to hone your existing skills.
The career counselor will help your employees identify the best course for upskilling and career development.
Workshops, courses, and various career development programs that are career and organisation specific will be suggested by the counsellor.
The aim is to align the employee goals with organisational goals.
How to Approach Career Development as an Employee
Whether you are employed within a particular organisation already, or you are pitching for a job, you need to be proactive about your career development.
The most important thing to in pursuing your place in the workplace is to let your employer or prospective employer know your skills and achievements.
Story Telling is Key to Advancing Your Career
Telling a story is one of the most effective ways to illustrate your skills and achievements to an employer. Stories can help you describe your expertise, skills, qualifications, and personal values.
“Storytelling is a powerful tool when it comes to influence and persuasion.” –
Harvard Business Review
The stories you share should be entertaining and colorful, yet convey your message effectively. They also highlight your unique strengths and abilities.
For instance, Washington suggests that you use stories to describe your achievements and how you coped with difficulties.
They also serve to illustrate personal characteristics and lessons learned from mistakes and failures.
Your personal story helps sell your job qualifications to an employer.
In addition, sharing your experience can show prospective employees that you’re a team player who can take initiative and resolve problems.
You may be a team leader who has had a career change, but you aren’t always the team leader.
A personal story about your career path can introduce new opportunities and new skills to employees.
As a career counselor, I’ve learned that a lot of the feedback an employee receives is from their manager.
To avoid this, every employee should be adept at delivering relevant feedback and practicing active listening.
The best way to prepare for such an interview is to begin writing down your accomplishments.
Create a story log of your experiences and write down what you’ve done.
A story log may consist of index cards, small notebooks, computer databases, or even a portable tape recorder.
Generally, people have trouble composing stories about their achievements because they don’t think they’ve done them.
However, it’s crucial to prepare yourself with stories of achievements that are beyond the day-to-day tasks.