Supporting your employees’ career journeys: how to improve career development in an organization

When employees feel valued, it leads to increased job satisfaction and productivity. In a nutshell, career development is a process companies take to help their employees develop their skills, learning, and on-the-job experience to meet their career goals. It is a wide-ranging strategy that includes training, mentoring, and promotion opportunities. But how do you get there? What’s the best way to accelerate employee development? Improving career development in an organization won’t happen overnight, but taking the steps necessary to foster employee development and create an individualized career development plan will pay off in the long run. 

In this article, we’ll discuss:

• What is the employer’s role in the career development process?

• How to promote career development in an organization.

• What are the 5 areas of career development?

• Does Human Resources play a role in employee development?

• How do you create a career progression framework?

What is the employer's role in the career development process?

Employee development means more than just a company providing the occasional seminar or workshop. It's a planned, deliberate practice that companies can integrate to support their employee's skill development, learning, and on-the-job experience to reach their defined career goals. It includes regular training and mentoring and provides a clear career path and opportunities to move up in the organization. It should be an active process for both the employee and employer, with the company taking the time to determine each employee’s goals, strengths, and areas for improvement, usually via regular performance evaluations and meetings. The employer can facilitate its employee’s career development through things like job shadowing, professional development training, or leadership development opportunities.

How to promote career development within an organization

Career development isn’t a one-time occurrence. Through the use of ongoing evaluations, conversations, and assessments, companies can pinpoint an employee's goals, strengths, and skill gaps, leading to a development plan that will support the employee's career development during their tenure at that company. This plan should go beyond simply developing technical skills but also foster soft skills like critical thinking, leadership, and teamwork. There are several ways that companies can promote career development within their organizations.

1. Provide employee recognition

Recognizing employees for progressing in their training, and meeting their goals can have positive effects on their productivity, motivation, and job performance. When employees are given positive recognition, they are more likely to feel valued, and respected for their work. This also increases an employee's visibility, which improves their reputation and chances for promotion. And it works, too, as 40 percent of employed U.S. workers say they’d “put more energy into their work” if they received regular recognition.

2. Provide employee mentors and coaching services 

Both of these approaches to employee development utilize one-on-one discussions to identify strengths, weaknesses, and feedback on job performance. Coaching and mentoring can also help employees make the transition to management, teaching time management, professional relationships, and delegating workload. Coaches and mentors can examine where the employee is in their career, and help them set goals, overcome career roadblocks, and develop new skills and work habits, with the end result of career progression and promotion.

3. Establish a workplace culture that supports continuous learning and development

Continuous learning in an organization means that the company places value on continued growth and professional learning opportunities. Examples of continuous learning include online or in-person courses, job shadowing, training workshops, group coaching, and even informal interaction between different teams. Studies have shown that 76 percent of employees are more likely to remain with an organization that offers continuous learning, training, and professional development opportunities.

4. Ensure that pathways to promotion and growth opportunities are made clear to employees

It’s important to ensure that professional development opportunities are made clear to employees regularly. Most companies have a job board, but potential opportunities should also be mentioned during new employee onboarding and during regular evaluations. Providing employees with a clear picture of career progression within the company will help them envision their future goals and take advantage of the training and development programs offered.

5. Create programs and opportunities for skill development

Activities such as job shadowing, cross-training, and workshops, as well as providing in-house skill training increase the knowledge and skills of employees without the employee having to locate courses on their own (and pay for them). Companies can also offer tuition reimbursement for training programs or professionally-relevant college courses. Programs should cater to all skill levels and job experience and should aim to address skill gaps in the employee population as well as offer feedback.

6. Have managers and C-suite executives model positive career development

Career development should be the responsibility of all levels of employees, from entry-level workers to upper-level executives. Management can model positive career development by participating in training, evaluations, and courses. This also helps with employee morale, because when management models the behavior they wish to support, employees are more likely to believe that the company cares about their career and professional development.

7. Provide employees a roadmap for career advancement

Organizations should provide the transparency employees need to access current openings and job descriptions, get updates on company and industry news, and obtain a clear picture of the company structure and job title flowchart, which will allow them to get a better picture of how they can move up in the company. By providing both career ladder and career lattice options, employees can envision where they want to move, both upward and laterally. 

What are the 5 areas of career development?

The employee and employers should be partners in career development; no employee should be left to “go it alone.” According to a survey done by the American Psychological Association, only 47 percent of the respondents said that their employer offers educational opportunities. Lack of support and opportunities can lead to higher job turnover and lower job satisfaction among a company’s ranks. Career development, as we’ve mentioned, isn’t a one-time occurrence; it should be an ongoing, multifaceted approach to make sure each employee is learning, developing skills, and reaching goals. Five areas of career development need to be taken into account when putting together an employee plan:

1. Self-assessment. Helping employees perform self-assessments of their strengths, weaknesses, skills, interests, and values to determine the best fit for their future career plan.

2. Setting goals. Likewise, encouraging employees to set career goals, both long and short term. This will help identify any skill gaps, training needs, or career advancement goals.

3. Making a plan. Working with the employee to set reasonable, actionable steps to reach goals and determining a timeline to get there.

4. Putting the plan into action. This involves allowing the employee the time to focus on their goals by providing skill training, networking opportunities, or career research. The employee should also be encouraged to track their progress and make adjustments to their individual timelines as necessary. It’s also important to celebrate the employees’ accomplishments, such as getting a promotion, growing their network, or completing a course or degree.

5. Reassessing goals when needed. It's important to continuously check in with the employee to make sure they're meeting their goals and staying on track. This can involve providing opportunities for reflection, providing constructive feedback, adjusting goals and timelines, and being flexible when needed.

Does Human Resources play a role in employee development?

Yes, but they're not the "first line of defense," so to speak. But they are vital for setting the tone for a culture of learning and skill development and should be staying on top of industry trends and technology. They are also the ones who can implement the needed training programs to enhance employee development and work with managers and supervisors to determine the best options for those programs and ensure that they’re relevant to the employee’s growth needs and skill sets.

They can also play a role in identifying employees with potential, establishing career pathways, and suggesting advancement opportunities. They also have the tools to collect and analyze employee data to determine the effectiveness of different development plans, looking at different aspects such as performance and productivity, reported employee satisfaction, and turnover rates.

How do you create a career progression framework?

Have you ever asked an employee, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” The question aims at understanding the need to develop a career progression framework, i.e. how an employee plans to move up in their career through skill development, promotions, salary increase, or even lateral moves. Some workers achieve this through "job hopping," getting all they can out of one company or position and then moving on to the next. 

Since that isn't an ideal situation for most organizations, working with an employee to set up a career development framework will illustrate how that employee can reach their goals by staying with the organization. Before starting, however, a company needs to understand how roles and departments are structured so they're clear on the ways an employee can progress through the ranks. A career development framework, in essence, is a clearly defined plan that acts like a blueprint, with each goal moving them towards their desired endpoint.

• Establish an organizational flowchart, specifying hierarchies, departments, and positions.

• Have employees perform self-evaluations and provide career goals. Have team managers meet with them individually to discuss their performance, goals, strengths, and weaknesses.

• Provide each employee with an individualized career ladder, outlining the different levels of career progression as well as what the employee would need to do or achieve to get to that role. 

• Determine what development training is already in place and what needs to be added for each employee to meet their goals and progress in their careers.

• Provide each employee with options for advancement or lateral moves. 

• Once a plan has been established between management and employees, make sure it is approved by human resources to ensure it is aligned with the company's mission statements, goals, and best practices.

Having a solid career progression framework will help with employee engagement and retention because it allows them to get a clear picture of how their career can progress and removes any uncertainty about how to achieve it.

If your company doesn’t provide career development, Career.io can help. With our Pathway to Promotion service, you can access expert advice, video lessons, and practical, useful tools to help you land your next promotion and obtain the title, salary, and recognition you’ve worked for.

Key takeaways

1. Career development includes regular training and mentoring and provides a clear career path and opportunities to move up in the organization.

2. Career development also involves ongoing evaluations, conversations, and assessments, to pinpoint an employee's goals, strengths, and skill gaps.

3. A manager can be a helpful partner in the career development process by scheduling regular formal and informal evaluations, developing career roadmaps, and providing opportunities for learning and skill development. 

4. Human Resources is vital for setting the tone for a culture of learning and skill development and should be staying on top of industry trends and technology, and are the ones who can implement the needed training programs to enhance employee development.

5. The five areas of career development include self-assessment, setting goals, making a plan, putting the plan into action, and reassessing goals as needed.