Importance of Career Development

by agha raza agha

Employees are the most important resource a marketing agency or any organization can have. So, it becomes the prime responsibility of the particular ad agency or company to take care of their employees and give them an honest opportunity to grow especially to those who are career conscious and deliver their best. Careers in this century is measured by continuous learning of the employees and identity changes in due course of time rather than the usual practice that was, changes in age and life stages. Career Development is not just the responsibility of organizations, rather it is their obligation to address the ambitions of employees and create such job positions where they can accommodate their growing ambitions and also stay motivated for the progress of the company.

It should not be news that employees are career conscious and they will stick to an advertising agency or organization where they feel that they have an opportunity to use their talent, grow within their field and achieve their objectives. Growth can have different meanings to different people. Some might look at it as a fat package, some may want to climb up the ladder in the hierarchy and reach the highest position while some want to acquire higher skills and competencies along with their growth as human beings. Some may take it as an opportunity to avail of some exclusive perks and benefits. In short, everyone has different sets of goals and objectives they want to achieve in their life and in an organization.

Considering the present situations, if employees want their organization to give them an opportunity to grow and achieve their ambitions, they need to be prepared for future jobs. The main focus of organizations is on the employability of their people. Thus, individuals must make sure that they have the skills and competencies plus the willingness to perform the said task efficiently. Even though the organizations can hire employees from outside but they still require portable competencies in order to get the job done. For which, they need to train them and develop skills and competencies according to the particular job. But this is not exactly an easy process and takes a lot of time to prepare the employees for a specific job. To avoid this situation and to save time and resources, organizations take control of the careers of their already existing employees and indulge in succession planning to fill the topmost positions.

Employees need to develop new and better skills so that when the time comes, they are fit for promotion and reach a higher level in the organization. Organizations need to be efficient in designing and implementing career development programs for their employees as well. That is considered to be the best thing they can do to decrease employee turnover. Even though it is employees responsibility to plan their career but in today’s turbulent and ambiguous world of work it is the employers’ responsibility to provide them with opportunities to achieve their ambitions. They are supposed to create that environment and culture for continuous learning and must at all costs support their employees by motivating and rewarding them from time to time so they don’t lose focus.

Career Development does not happen overnight rather it’s a continuous process where both parties have to put the effort in order to create an encouraging environment so that they can achieve their objectives at the same time.