Important Aspects Of A Career: Important Elements Of Career

Important Elements of Career

Analysing definitional context, it is clear that career has following important elements-

1. It is a proper sequence of job-related activities. Such job related activities vis-a-vis experience include role experiences at different hierarchical levels of an individual, which lead to an increasing level of responsibilities, status, power, achievements and rewards.

2. It may be individual-centred or organizational–centred, individual-centred career is an individually perceived sequence of career progression within an occupation.

3. It is better defined as an integrated pace of internal movement in an occupation of an individual over his employment span.

A career is the pattern of work-related experiences that span

The major focus of career planning is on assisting the employees achieve a better match between personal goals and the opportunities that are realistically available in the organization. Career programmers should not concentrate only on career growth opportunities. Practically speaking, there may not be enough high level positions to make upward mobility a reality for a large number of employees. Hence, career-planning efforts need to pin-point and highlight those areas that offer psychological success instead of vertical growth.

Career planning is not an event or end in itself, but a continuous process of developing human resources for achieving optimum results. It must, however, be noted that individual and organizational careers are not separate and distinct. A person who is not able to translate his career plan into action within the organization may probably quit the job, if he has a choice. Organizations, therefore, should help employees in career planning so that both can satisfy each other’s needs.

Career planning seeks to meet the following objectives:

i. Attract and retain talent by offering careers, not jobs. ii. Use human resources effectively and achieve greater productivity. iii. Reduce employee

It is also described as merit rating in which one individual is ranked as better or worse in comparison to others. The basic purpose in this merit rating is to determine an employee’s eligibility for promotion. However, performance appraisal is a broad term and it may be used to ascertain the need for training and development, salary increase, transfer, discharge, etc. besides promotion. It is the systematic assessment of an individual with respect to his or her performance on the job and his or her potential for development in that job.

Performance appraisals should be conducted on a frequent basis, and they need not be directly attached to promotion opportunities only. It is important because of several reasons such as: Personal Attention, Feedback, Career Path, Employee Accountability, Communicate Divisional and Company Goals. Thus, objectives into the appraisal system may draw attention to areas for improvement, new directions and