Today more than ever, it is important to take ownership for our own development and to direct our career with purpose and intention. Organizations have fewer hierarchical level and, therefore, our career movement and learning may be gained less through moving ‘up’ to new roles and more through; delivering varying projects, taking on shorter-term opportunities and changing experiences, in order to positively influence our engagement, value proposition and earning potential.
Career Management is about navigating your career development through a proactive and continuous process. It begins with a goal, objective or vision. Secondly, a strategy to accomplish the objective is created. Next, specific tactics are developed in order to meet the strategy. A systematic approach to evaluating and tracking progress against objectives follows. It is critical to be flexible and to allow for course adjustments along the way.
The choices we make and the opportunities we pursue depend on a variety of factors, including:
- External market
- Business trends
- Global trends
- Organization and consumer needs
- People complexities
- Technical capabilities
Career Management enables our path toward mutual benefits for ourselves and our organization. It allows us to examine what comes naturally (i.e. our traits, personal attributes, technical capabilities) and what we like to do in our careers. It creates options for lateral moves, more senior roles, portfolio careers, specialist roles and generalist opportunities.
