Career development is the cornerstone of organizational success. Without it, your organization cannot adapt to change, improve performance, or maintain a talented and committed workforce.

Career development is the cornerstone of organizational success. Without it, your organization cannot adapt to change, improve performance, or maintain a talented and committed workforce.

Did you know, according to the 2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends study, nearly 60% of those surveyed rated their organizations as only somewhat effective or not effective in empowering people to manage their own careers?

For career development to succeed, organizations need to fulfill several qualities:

1. Organizations need to make sure employees know the key information about available jobs.
2. Organizations need to provide tools to help find the best fit job for employees.
3. Organizations need to provide access to self-directed learning.
4. Organizations need to move from a hierarchical model to a lattice model where employees can make vertical and lateral career moves.

The talent landscape is continuously evolving, and organizations are beginning to see the importance in investing in building their employees’ skill sets. By moving to a lattice career model, you can ensure that your people gain new experiences, skills, and feel committed to growing within your organization.

Individuals have long career journeys ahead of them, and by using competencies and career paths you can help them align to evolving jobs and industries.

Competencies do this by providing a summary of an employee’s knowledge, skills, and abilities. When these competencies are compared with the competencies required for a job, employees can see where their skills gaps lie and begin a targeted path to reaching their goals.

A shocking 54% of Deloitte survey respondents said they had “no programs in place to build the skills of the future, and internal mobility is still often driven by tenure, title, and internal politics.”

To be successful, organizations need to provide solutions that give individuals the ability to reinvent their career paths without seeking opportunities elsewhere. More organizations than ever are using competencies to define what is needed for jobs and organizational culture fit, creating a continuous learning environment.

Post last updated: June 20, 2019.