In the human resource world, we all seek the same goals.
We want to help our organizations to sustain and thrive in an era where labor markets are more fluid and diverse than ever before. The economies in which we work are being transformed by technology, emerging industries and new forms of work. This has created a relentless demand for new skills and capacities, some of which did not even exist a few years ago.
The challenge is as important as it is immense: how can we help business organizations find the right people with the right skills and – perhaps most importantly – the capacity to embrace change and evolve with future, as-yet-unseen demands for even newer skills and capabilities?
If the question is how to do that in an efficient and effective manner, then the answer has to be career management.
Career management services can be external (career transition), or internal (re-/upskilling, redeployment and mobility support). Put simply, career management helps promote smoother, more dynamic labor markets and help workers and employers navigate their increasing complexity.
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For companies, career management helps to reveal a long-term perspective for employment and recruiting. It allows an employer to engage in truly strategic workforce planning that will help secure and retain employees that have the skills to be competitive. In other words, it helps employers adapt to change. Career management leads to sustainable, effective restructuring by emphasizing redeployment and reskilling over layoffs.
A focus on redeployment and re-/upskilling helps companies control the costs associated with change and hence remain competitive. It also enables organizations to act in a socially responsible manner at times when their reputation is challenged. This strengthens employer brand and engagement from remaining employees, who see that they are working for an organization that cares about its people.
Right now, far too many organizations ignore the importance of career management, choosing instead to embrace a costly and destructive cycle of firing and hiring that really does not serve the interests of employer or employee.
Career management not only helps companies. It also adds value at every stage of an individual’s work-life journey.
Early on, it provides people with a clear understanding of the job market and the skills needed to secure work now and in the future. As people work longer and follow less linear careers, these insights can help enjoy a more exciting and fulfilling career. Career management services provide people with a bundle of competences that offers them choice as they move from job to job. It can also allow them to move jobs more easily within companies, sectors and supply chains, thereby giving them the best chance to remain employed and avoid the stress and strain of a layoff.
In those instances where a transition is unavoidable, workers with access to career management services following layoffs are better able to seize new opportunities and enter new employment more swiftly. They are offered guidance and training to equip them with the skills they need to secure their long-term relevance in the workplace and hence change becomes an opportunity, not a threat.
By delivering added value throughout the work experience, Career management services equip people and organizations to weather the storm of change rather than fleeing its wrath. It will help us build a more resilient, socially responsible world of work where individuals are fulfilled, companies perform sustainably, and society flourishes. The pace of change right now is so severe, unless we work together to make career management a staple of the employer-employee relationship, we will be left behind.
