What are the Key Benefits of Organizational Career Development?
Organizations can increase their effectiveness by implementing career and team development programs. These strategic objectives are reached by facilitating:
- Individuals’ engagement in self-initiating professional development
- Aligning individual and team goals
- The development of leadership dialogue
The vehicles for this delivery typically include the following components:
- E-Communications
- Workshop Mini-series
- Leader as “Career Coach”
- Team development sessions
- Peer networks & support
- Individual coaching
The material provided in organizational programs is designed to help individuals engage in the process of selecting meaningful goals for their lives and to determine and accomplish their next career development actions.
The process of thinking and planning in these activities can help an organization’s employees to:
- Identify things that can be controlled in life.
- Identify what is needed to do to manage these controllable things.
- Reduce the anxiety of not knowing what one wants or needs to do.
It is important to remember that development planning does not necessarily mean planning to “climb a ladder”. Our society has traditionally looked at “success” as “moving up” through the hierarchy. However, more people today are interested in the overall quality of their lives and in the assurance that their work will contribute to that quality. How that is defined differs for each individual. This project is designed to help individuals arrive at their own definitions of “success” or “quality” and to support organizations to mobilize this energy into increased effectiveness.
Case Study:
Over a three year period I delivered a career development program to the Information Technology department for a financial services corporation. This department included 950 IT professionals across three geographical locations.
The vehicles for utilized for this delivery included:
- In Touch Communications
- IT Learning Centre
- Self-directed work via the corporate Intranet
- The delivery of a series of workshops
- Team development sessions
- Leadership development sessions including behaviour-based performance coaching
- Facilitating peer networks & support
- Individual career coaching
This project was implemented under the sponsorship of the IT Organizational Capability Consultant. Measurements of career satisfaction are maintained through department questionnaires. Over the lifespan of this project, the career satisfaction of the IT membership has increased 10%!
Career and Team Development Services Have Been Delivered To:
- Clarica/SunLife Financial
- Bundy of Canada Limited
- Canada Packers Company Limited
- Maremont Exhaust Products Limited
- NOVA Petrochemicals Incorporated
- Rockwell International Incorporated
- Sheaffer Pen Canada Incorporated
- Sifto Canada Incorporated
- Wingham & District General Hospital