Step 1: Define career aspiration or vision
This is the employee’s ultimate long-term career goal or dream. This process is often the most difficult, as individuals tend to focus on a specific job or struggle to focus beyond two to five years.
Example
Sam is undecided whether he would like to establish his own marketing consultancy in seven years or be a marketing executive in an FMCG environment.
Step 2: Reflect to gain greater self-insight
The employee should reflect on her likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, ideal work environment and what she values in life as a person. The employee must also reflect on what he doesn’t like about his current or past work environments. Reflection should lead to greater self-insight.
Example
Sam is becoming restless with his current role. He has been in his role for two years. What he dislikes most is the bureaucracy of the organisation and the organisational politics. His ideal work environment is one where he has more control over decisions that affect him and where he can influence the direction of his portfolio/business/department. His key attributes are influencing skills and strategic thinking ability. He lacks and dislikes financial planning and reporting. The job that he liked most in his career was the job he had with a smaller marketing company, because it allowed him to autonomously plan and implement his ideas and strategies.
Note: Sam is relatively senior and has a certain level of maturity so he may well be able to identify his key attributes, skills gaps etc. However, at lower levels this may not be the case and employees may require assistance to guide them as to what the manager has observed in respect of their strengths and attributes as well as gaps. Assessments may even be appropriate in some cases.
Step 3: Scan the environment
The employee must scan the environment in terms of career, job and industry trends and opportunities. It’s important for the employee to look beyond his current situation towards future scenarios, trends and opportunities.
It’s also important for the employee to have sufficient and accurate information. You can help in this process by being explicit and transparent about what you have to offer, what is happening in the market, and by offering mentorship or career guidance to employees.
Example
Sam doesn’t think there are a lot of opportunities for him in South Africa as a marketing executive. From his networks, he has learnt that a number of companies are outsourcing their marketing because they lack the knowledge and skills in-house.
Step 4: Review career aspirations
The employee must review his career aspiration defined in Step 1.
During this process, it might be necessary to challenge the employee’s thinking processes, or ability to make the links between the results of Step 2 and Step 3, and the career aspiration.
Depending on the outcome of the matching between Steps 1, 2 and 3, the individual might need to redefine his career aspiration.
Example
Sam’s skills and ideal work environment (Step 2) and the opportunities that present themselves in the environment (Step 3), are most suited for his career aspiration of starting his own consultancy.
Step 5: Brainstorm and explore alternatives
The employee should brainstorm and explore appropriate and alternative ideas, routes and objectives to reach his career aspiration. This should be a creative process, where the employee should open himself up to new and alternative possibilities.
Example
Sam thinks he should:
à Be in the position of marketing manager for at least three years before starting his own business
à Work for at least one more industry ( preferably two)
à Network more
à Obtain an MBA
à Work in new business development for a year
Step 6: Analyse the options identified
The employee should then analyse the merits and implications of each of the various options defined in Step 4. He can then drop any objective that will not positively assist in reaching his aspiration.
Example
A transfer to a new business development department will not help Sam (directly or indirectly) with his career aspiration.
Step 7: Develop a career map
The employee should develop a career map defining the medium- to long-term milestones/checkpoints in helping him to get from point A to point B.
Example
1. Move into a marketing manager position at his current employer or any FMCG environment by 2010.
2. Move into another marketing manager position in another FMCG or chemical company by 2014.
3. Start own business in 2017.
Step 8: Define the gaps
The employee should determine the gaps between where he is and where he needs to be, specifically focusing on the short- to medium-term career milestones. This will be the input into the development plan for the employee.
Example
à Get more exposure to advertising, financial management and running a small business
à Build up/accumulate more contacts
à Understand more about marketing challenges in different industries
Step 9: Plan for training and development opportunities
The employee can scan and plan for training and development opportunities to prepare him for his career goal(s).
Example
How to improve knowledge on running a small business:
à Obtain Leigh as a mentor
à Read XYZ’s book on running a consultancy
Step 10: Develop, present and discuss personal development plan
The employee must develop, present and discuss his personal development plan with his line manager. At this stage, the development plan for meeting the individual’s career aspiration and the company’s development plan to improve the employee’s performance and contribution to the company should merge.
Example
Sam’s manager also wants Sam to improve his financial management skills as this will help him to improve his performance. This will be done by sending Sam on a financial management course and assigning Paul to him as an in-house financial coach.
As a career plan, the manager thinks Sam has the ability to be the marketing manager (given that he addresses x, y and z development areas), and has indicated Sam as one of two possible successors for this position should it become vacant. Sam would also be allowed more opportunity to act in this role when the manager is on leave.