In one HOUR

Career Development Plan

Introduction

Technology continues to change how organizations conduct business and interact with their team members. Despite bringing about significant benefits to the business sectors, technology has presented some challenges well that need to be addressed. Some employees, for instance, need to be retrained to fit into the new systems that are being developed through technology. And there are those who need to be trained to use new technologies effectively. Technology has caused the layoff 5,000 employees. In several cases, for instance, many workers who traveled as part of their jobs no longer have to because of technology.

Building a career development plan will help grow and bring about the success of an organization through its employees (team members). Once complete, the plan should integrate the value statements and mission statements of the company to reap the desired plans. This study is primarily aimed at developing career development plans that aim at maintaining its good reputation amongst stakeholders and also the right return on investments based on the proper training over the years.

In a bid to achieve this, this study will identify the needed information to develop master templates by career path. An individual development plan, which will address employee’s learning will follow soon. To complete the assessment of the company’s needs, one will need to know what information is required. The study will further elucidate how the information can be used to help the development of individual plans for the employees of the organization and culminate with an analysis of final product (proposed plan).

Learning Plans

The first section of the individual employee learning plan will contain a career plan. It will detail employee's long-term and short-term goals as they relate to both professional and personal desires. It will also coordinate the individual employee's plans and the assessment requirements of the business into a concrete development plan.

Employees will be required to highlight areas of interest and different levels of competencies that will be needed for their desired goals that should ultimately tie into their profession. Employees should be able to address areas of interest and the skills or knowledge they will need (Hall, 2006). This is also an opportunity for employees to highlight their strengths. Short-term goals should be set to range from six months to two years. Creating long-term goals will allow employees to start projecting where they see themselves in the next three to five years. In crafting the plan this way, it will allow employees to start focusing on their goals and doing what is necessary to achieve them.

At the end of the template, there will be an area for the manager to annotate any comments regarding the individual learning plan. The individual education or development plan should follow the “SMART model whereby goals are specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and also time-bound” (Morrison & Adams, 2013).

Needs Assessment for Companies

The company needs assessment, differs depending on the organization or business. There are, however, critical aspects of the business that are important when conducting a needs assessment. The assessment will be comprised of different sections, which will address different needs.

Section one of the assessment will consider the business education and issues that are prevalent in the company. The assessment will first consider the financial management areas of the business. In doing so, the sources that directly affect the capital will be easily identified for the assessment. Its cash flow management and financial statements will also be evaluated for the company. Evaluation of the company’s access to capital, budgeting and cost control will be an intricate part of the assessment (Knowdell, 2006).

What is the marketing state of the company? In this area, the assessment will highlight the marketing overview of the organization. Conducting market research on the company and assessing the state of networking within the company. Different marketing strategies within the company will also be assessed to unravel whether or not they are sufficient for scaling up the career development of the employees and further enable the company to maintain its reputations and returns on investments (Hall, 2006).

As the continuation of the company needs assessment, the information management structure will also be analyzed. The company will need to conduct an assessment or overview of all the computers and the information management within as well as analyses of software packages to ensure they are functioning within the capacity the company desires. Database analyses will also determine if the information is accurate and available as it should be. Reviewing the company’s websites and the information on them will also show if there is a need to update or improve what is shared with the public. Analyses of intranet sites within the company will ensure that both the information sharing and the storage capacities for them are adequate (Morrison & Adams, 2013).

The state of the general and personnel management within the company needs to be assessed as well. Employee satisfaction through climate surveys as well the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) program, Sexual Harassment Assault Response, and Prevention (SHARP) program, and counseling/evaluation packets will be assessed to determine the general nature of management within the company and whether there are any areas that need to be improved. Conduct strategic planning of the organization and further assess management planning of all the facilities within the company. Security will also be assessed to ensure that there is adequate protection in all the facilities and for their workers. A disaster contingency plan will also be incorporated into the needs assessment plan to ensure that the company has the capability to avert and circumvent failures. This assesses whether or not there are any conflicts within the company that requires conflict management mechanisms to effectively curtail conflicts from within (Knowdell, 2006).

Assessing additional ways of motivating the employees and the awards recognition program throughout. This will go a long way in ensuring that the company maintains its tradition of a good reputation amongst the employees and further foster a culture of motivated, happy employees. The company will assess the training needs of the company to ensure that it continues with its profound culture of generating good returns through proper training. Finally, it will also be critical to analyze the nature of regulatory compliance within the company to detect the regulatory needs that may inhibit its objectives and goals and provide solutions to any needs that may be detected (Morrison & Adams, 2013).

Creating Comprehensive Plans

One way of integrating the individual plans with the company's plan is to ensure that the employees are motivated based on their mission statements, their goals and also their strengths while integrating the individual goals with the company's goals. The companies should also harmonize the areas where the company has strengths with the different strength areas of the customers. It will also be crucial to ensure that the development of the employees is tailored towards the mission and values of the company. There are however gaps as to how the marketing needs of the company will be merged with the employee needs (Knowdell, 2006).

All this information can be used in the creation of the development plans, which will target different career paths for the employees of the company. This information will be used in mentoring the employees. It will further ensure that the employees can develop their weak points and further foster their knowledge and skills. The company will work concurrently with the employees to achieve their goals. Other factors that can be considered in the development of the plans include the feedback and support from others to shape the development priorities and transfer the learning to master specific areas that can foster career growth (Hall, 2006).

Managers and development plans

The proposed plan is crucial since the managers will be able to guide the staff and help them develop. One of the most effective ways to which the plan will benefit the staff is by ensuring that the managers are aware of their needs and thereby providing solutions to the identified needs. Managers will be able to identify the goals of the staff and consequently harmonize them with those of the organization to foster a speedy realization. This will consequently go a long way in supporting the values, and the mission of the organization since all staff within the company will work towards the objectives and goals of the company and thereby enabling it to realize its mission and values (Morrison & Adams, 2013).

References

Hall, D. T., (2006). Career development in organizations. New York: Jossey-Bass Inc Publishing.

Knowdell, R. L. (2006). Building a career development program: Nine steps for effective implementation. In Tichy, N. M. (Ed.) Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black Publishing.

Morrison, R. F., & Adams, J. (2013). Contemporary career development issues. New York, NY: Routledge.