Career management: definition and impact
Definition
Human resources management, as implied by its name, is responsible for managing an organisation's employees, from their onboarding, to their departure and everything in between, including their career mobility.
This last point, career mobility, is a main focus for the human resources team as it relates to the employees' entire life within the organisation, their development, promotions and so on.
Traditionally, a career was seen as an employee's upward progression through the same, one organisation.
Nowadays, this vision is gradually being replaced by the development of new careers, where individual choice plays a major role. Whether moves are made cross-functionally or vertically, internally or externally, careers are evolving considerably, due to the huge amount of opportunities available to workers.
This is partly due to an increase in readily accessible information, made possible by social networks or job boards such as Linkedin, Welcome To The Jungle, Indeed and Hired, which offer a wide range of job listings, allowing candidates to have a clear idea of prospective careers based on their skills.
The lack of specialisation in certain sectors may also be related to these career developments. Some job positions want candidates that are considered 'jack-of-all-trades', and therefore employees are less inclined to specialise in a specific area, but instead acquire a broader range of skills. As a result, there are more opportunities that they qualify for and across a wide variety of sectors.
This increase in information, which is applicable to the entire job market, could motivate employees to try new experiences outside of their current company.
With the help of new digital platforms, employee mobility can be easily analysed. In this case we are referring more to internal mobility within the employees current company. Thanks to the employee skill sets displayed on these tools, you can gain insight into the employees aspirations and any potential opportunities that they could be keen to explore within the company.
An evolutionary trend within organisations
At a time when the whole world seems to be at our fingertips and where remote work is becoming common practice, more and more employees are tempted by the prospect of working abroad.
This new-found desire would allow employees to develop new skills, especially soft skills, through the discovery of new cultures and ways of working.
As a result, the scope of HR managers' work is becoming more global.
It's no longer about HR focussing on local sectors, but instead expanding their vision further afield. For example, an employee who started their contract in London, could find themselves moving to China or the US to work. Employees are also looking to progress quickly.
Whilst Censuswide reports that the longest a British person (across all socio-professional categories combined) has stayed with a single employer is 10.1 years on average, versus 15 years for those aged 55 and over. While 1 in 10 Brits has never stayed with the same employer for more than a year, this figure rises significantly to 1 in 5 for those in London. Almost a fifth of UK employees told Randstad that they changed employers in the previous six months to January 2024 - compared to 16% in January 2023, 15% in January 2022 and 12% in January 2021.
Employees, particularly the younger ones, constantly want new challenges and are looking for quick career progression which can impact their loyalty to one company.
Workers today greatly value their career choices, but not at the expense of their personal life - quite the opposite.
In fact, a healthy work life balance is increasingly sought after by employees who wish to spend more time with their children, exercising or doing leisure activities. Generation Z is even expected to prioritise this need for personal fulfilment (hobbies, family, sports, etc.) over work, despite their growing interest in entrepreneurship.
All of these changes combined make issues related to internal employee mobility more interesting, but also more complex, given the myriad of factors to consider. Internal mobility should not be neglected as failing to address it can be harmful to a company's reputation.
The direct impact on employees
While salaries remain a determining factor in an employee's career choices, with the arrival of the new generation to the job market, it is becoming less and less relevant. The new generation is putting more emphasis on the meaning and impact of their work rather than on the salary first and foremost.
Career management is therefore like a tool with several levers for employee retention. To retain employees, the company needs to consider their expectations, making career management a particularly powerful tool for supporting their growth. Employee satisfaction often goes hand in hand with performance, since a fulfilled employee is usually more motivated and more invested in the company's success.
It is therefore in a company's economic interest to ensure employee fulfilment. To achieve this, the company, starting with HR and managers, must listen to employees and take on board their feedback about their role, their career trajectory, aspirations etc. This is crucial to be able to accurately identify the organisation's development options.
This requires the HR director to have a two-pronged approach. On one hand they must take a business approach, which involves having a strategic vision for the company's development, and their ability to match employees aspirations with appropriate opportunities within the business. On the other hand they must take a human-oriented approach, where they act as a coach, advising employees on suitable potential upcoming opportunities.
Employee feedback is usually formalised during annual performance reviews or appraisals.
Klara understands this challenge and does everything to offer companies (and especially employees) long-term support, simplified communication and personalised onboarding and feedback for new recruits. Our mission is to build a tool that engages teams and gives employees visibility over their career development and mobility.
