Organisations, therefore, will do well to have strategies that will allow current and future employees navigate their career paths internally successfully.
With a plan in place, your company will have fewer difficulties retaining your workers and keeping them motivated, engaged, and performing at their peak levels.
Career Pathing
One of the strategies you can implement to help your employees map out their careers is career pathing.
Career pathing is a talent management and development tool that helps employees chart out their professional journey in your organisation.
Unlike a succession plan, career pathing is a more personalised process. Creating one for an employee involves factoring in his or her current educational background, skills, and training and assisting him or her broaden them and acquire more qualifications and relevant experience.
The process also takes into consideration the employee’s interests and preferences.
With the provided information and action steps, employees will have a custom plan that lets them know what they can do to reach key career milestones. The plan also includes details on how your company can help them.
Benefits of Career Pathing for Organisations
The entire career pathing process requires monetary and time investment and involves many steps. Most of the time, it is also an ongoing process that may stop only when the employee reaches the highest attainable position or leaves the company.
But even if career pathing requires some investment, the benefits your company can reap from this talent management strategy are valuable and worth all the additional investment.
These benefits include:
1. Improved employee retention
The lack of opportunities for career growth is one of the most common reasons why employees leave their job. If turnover rates are high in your company, including career pathing in your retention strategy may turn things around.
Giving your employees a tangible, feasible plan that gives them an idea of where they could be headed and what they should do to get there can give them the motivation they need to stay with your company.
Career pathing provides employees clear and valuable insights regarding the career advancement opportunities available to them and the different paths that will lead them to achieving these goals.
With a clear plan and attractive career advancement opportunities for your employees, you can reduce turnover rates in your company.
2. Better employee engagement
Poor employee engagement can cause several negative effects to a company that ignoring it can lead to bigger problems.
Organisations that rank low in employee engagement have workers that do not perform well, collaborate poorly with their co-workers, and leave their jobs faster than you expect them to.
Most of the time, this workplace issue arises when workers fail to visualize their future with the company or think that their employer is not willing to invest in them.
When you give your employees clear career advancement possibilities and a plan to achieve them, they will know that you value them and everything they do. They will be more inspired, productive, and work well with their colleagues.
And when your employees are motivated, they will show their engagement and satisfaction with your company even when they are outside the workplace.
They will become your brand ambassadors, telling others, including possible new hires, how great your organisation is and why they should consider working for you.
This type of branding strategy, which is free, will do wonders for your company in terms of marketing and recruitment.
3. Increased employee productivity
With a source of motivation and an incentive worth working hard for, you can expect your employees to do their jobs better.
Since your workers know that there is something better for them in the future, they will be excited to come to work to hone and demonstrate their skills. They will be motivated to learn new ones as well.
Because of these reasons, you can expect an improvement in your employees’ quality of work. You can also rely on them to maintain their performance. You can give them additional tasks and roles that they can use as stepping stones in their career progression.
All these translate to better employee and company performance.
4. Access to a diverse pool of talent
Having a diverse workplace offers organisations several advantages. Companies that score high on diversity and inclusion enjoy better value creation and profitability. Moreover, they find it easier to look for and groom leaders internally.
Organisations that have a diverse set of employees thrive in creativity and innovation as well.
Hiring and retaining your employees that come from different backgrounds allows you to experience the many benefits of having a diverse workplace.
An attractive career pathing strategy can help you find workers that you can include in the team you need to be successful in a competitive, ever-changing market.
Additionally, by building your talent base and promoting people internally, you will gain valuable perspectives from workers who may have begun in entry-level positions. Their varied backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives will help you improve and grow your business.
5. Ability to attract top talent
Competition is always tough if you’re looking for top talent to join your company. You will have to contend with well-known brands and businesses that you are at par with.
Highlighting your organisation’s clear career pathing strategy and support can give you the edge you need to attract the most qualified jobseekers.
Keep in mind that not many companies offer career pathing opportunities. If you have this talent development program, you will get the attention of qualified candidates.
Your chances of getting them onboard will be higher, as well.
Creating your first career pathing strategy can be tricky. Making a lot of errors throughout the planning and implementation stages is something that you don’t want to experience since they can cause you to waste money and time.
These errors can also lead to delays that will prevent you from experiencing the benefits this talent development method offers.
If you want to have a career pathing strategy that works for your organisation and employees, get help from career consultants in creating and executing it.
AUTHOR BIO:
Leila Rezaiguia is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Kompass Consultancy, an innovative global talent management consultancy headquartered in Dubai and with offices in Abu Dhabi and Sydney, that specialises in enabling individuals, organisations and educational institutions to achieve performance excellence and career success. Leila is a multi-lingual (English, Arabic and French) PCC Coach, Mentor Coach, Trainer, Facilitator and Business Mentor who is passionate about coaching, women in leadership, talent management and organisational development.