What is Career Pathing?
The process of connecting opportunities for employee career progression with organisational talent priorities is known as career pathing. This may entail charting their professional path based on vertical, lateral, and cross functional positions. The talents, hobbies, and career goals of an individual guide career pathing.
It also acts as a motivator for employees to participate in learning and development programmes that meet the organization's current and future needs.
Who is responsible for Career Pathing?
Both the employee and the manager are responsible for career development; it must be a team effort because it cannot be accomplished alone. The employee is ultimately responsible for career management and development, and reading The Start-up of You is a great starting point. The manager, on the other hand, bears equal responsibility.
How to map a career path for your employees?
1. Begin by creating an organisational chart
Create an organisational chart to solidify your company's general workforce structure. The hierarchy of the departments, as well as each position within each department, should be included in your organisational chart. After you've finished your chart, think about how adding new roles or merging teams could help you save time and money.
2. Assess current employees and their roles
Conduct a company-wide employee engagement survey, often known as a pulse survey, in which employees can self-assess their work and discuss their career ambitions. Meet with employees one-on-one if feasible to discuss their survey responses:
- How have they done in their current position?
- Where have they excelled and where have they struggled?
- What are their specific career objectives?
- Do they have the necessary talents for a leadership or management position?
3. Define each role's progression
Employees should understand what roles they could have in the future, their responsibilities, and what they need to accomplish to advance, regardless of where they are in their career – intern, junior role, or manager. Define the following for each role in your company:
- The job title
- The tasks at hand
- The roles and duties
- The goals
Further, lay out what someone in that capacity would need to accomplish to advance to the next level, such as:
- Education at a given level
- A list of soft skills that are required
- A list of hard talents that are required
- A certain amount of years in the position, industry, or with the company is required.
- Short-term objectives to be me
- To attain long-term objectives
4. Put training and development programs in place
An employee may require mentorship, coaching, or access to learning and development courses in order to advance in the organisation or build experience. Thus, take a look at your company's learning and development resources and budget to see what you can do to help each individual or department flourish.
5. Take into account lateral movements
In the case where some employees don't wish to become managers or supervisors: instead of vertical career transitions, they may want to undertake horizontal career shifts. How would this affect their advancement inside the company? Rather than forcing employees into people-management positions, each career advancement framework should provide two options:
- One that leads to a management position.
- One that leads to a promotion in their existing position (or a similar role)
They will let one choose which path is best for them when the time comes.
6. Revise, review and adopt
Following the establishment of an employee's career advancement framework, the manager and employee should meet to iron out any issues, answer any queries, and amend the career pathing framework as appropriate.
What are the benefits of career pathing?
For motivated employees, effectively career pathing framework has obvious advantages. They can advance their careers, earn more money, and remain relevant in an ever-changing workplace. There are numerous advantages for employers that warrant the investment:
1. Employee retention
One of the most prevalent reasons employees leave organisations is a lack of career advancement. Create a career pathing plan for each of your employees to show them what their future potentially hold at your organisation. Then, to assist them in getting there, give an employee development plan.
Employees will value your investment in their futures and be more likely to stay with you. By providing appropriate career options as they become available, you can keep your valuable staff on board for the long haul.
2. Candidate attraction
Just as career mapping is an incentive for people to join your organisation, it is also an incentive for them to stay with it. Employer branding assets, such as your career site and social networks, should include professional growth stories. Inquire about employees' development experiences in Glassdoor reviews.
During the recruitment process, learn about your candidates' professional goals and give them a sneak peek at what a career pathing plan might look like for them. If you tell candidates how essential career mapping is to your firm, the most motivated individuals will be more interested in joining your team.
3. A higher-quality workforce
When you combine a career pathing with an employee development plan, your employees are gaining new skills that will help your company prosper. Even if your employees don't stay for a long time, they'll be able to do a better job in their current position. This could have a significant influence on productivity and profit.
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