Every professional needs to formulate a good strategy that would facilitate career development and growth in one’s industry. Here are FIVE factors that a good career development strategy should consider:
An individual’s aspirations: An individual’s aspirations must be taken into consideration when developing a good career development strategy. This answers the question as to where does the individual what to see themselves in subsequent years. It also answers the question what does it take to reach a certain level. This will then determine how an individual is able to formulate his or her career development strategy.
Training Needs: A good career development strategy takes into consideration the training needs of the individual worker. Training and capacity development plays an important role in one’s career development as it equips individuals with the requisite skills necessary for effective career progression.
Requirements under the scheme of service: planning a good career development strategy must take into consideration the requirements stipulated in the organization’s scheme of service. Other entities like the Teachers Service Commission have career progression guidelines instead of a scheme of service. It is therefore prudent for one to limit his or her scope to qualifications that are recognized under the applicable scheme of service or career progression guidelines.
Experience: It is a major factor to consider in career development. Experience may refer to the familiarity with a given work. It also denotes the longevity of service. It takes a lot of years of experience to transition from a position of a first level manager to top management. It is therefore important to take experience into consideration when formulating a career development strategy.
Resources: At the organizational level resources play an important role in the implementation of career development strategies. Management development for example requires the organization to invest a considerable amount of resources in capacity building. It is therefore important to consider resources available to support an employee’s career development goals.
