An employer’s five steps to career development

A recent survey conducted by Lee Hecht Harrison found that the two greatest challenges to managing employees are retaining them and developing their talent (selected by 59 and 52 per cent of respondents, respectively).

A challenge, on the other hand, can be the key for an employer to distinguish him/herself and gain a competitive edge: providing opportunities for skill development (perhaps counter intuitively) does help to keep talented workforce within the company. In fact, fostering employees’ career skills will help them identify their own career goals and uncover exciting new opportunities.

“As a result, developing talents will help not only to retain employees, but also to allow the firm to mobilise talent to fill future roles and help achieve business goals,” the survey says.

However, nearly 400 human resources leaders from 20 industries reported in the survey that although managers are critical to retaining and developing talent, they often lack the competencies to fulfil such a role.

To help firms address this problem, Lee Hecht Harrison suggests five “building blocks” for a successful career development programme:

First, managers should be trained and held accountable for developing talent. They should be told of the importance of a career development programme and trained to be efficient coaches.

Second, firms ought to provide a framework to facilitate career discussions in a structured and organised way. Employees should be engaged in mock discussions in which managers transfer their training into practice and receive expert feedback.

Third, it is advisable to organise a mentoring programme to promote the exchange of career advice, skills, ideas and experience. Mentors also provide introductions and networking contacts, deliver constructive feedback and offer opportunities for internal networking.

Fourth, internal mobility should be encouraged. Employees should have opportunities to work on cross-functional teams, stretch assignments or join key projects.

Lastly, firms ought to support their employees with skill-building workshops, which are designed to help them take control of their own career development. The company should also offer access to online career development portals with tools for self-learning.

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