5 steps to effective career planning in 2023
When I first started my career, I remember people asking me where you want to be in the next 5, 10 or 15 years in my career, and I would stutter since I did not have any ready answer. I wish that if I had a career plan in place, those answers wouldn’t have been far-fetched. In the past few years, career planning and development has seen a major shift in the way it is approached by the modern workforce. The traditional way for organizations to ensure employees have the right skills is no longer the case.
Today’s modern workforce have realized and advocate that they are and should be responsible for their own career development. Career development is now seen as a partnership between both employees and employers. Not only have many organizations realized how this is an important component to their talent attraction and retention strategy, employees also have started considering employment only with those organizations that cater to their career development needs.
With career changes being so frequent in today’s ever-evolving workplace landscape, it’s now more important than ever to have a strong career development plan. In today’s article, I shall discuss the top five components of the career planning process to achieve success in developing your career.
1. Self-Assessment :
The first step in career development is self-evaluation, which requires the individual to evaluate their current talents and interests as well as the type of profession and growth they would like to pursue. It is extremely important to understand your preferences, weaknesses, and strengths to identify the right career options for you.
Self-assessments don’t have to be confusing and tiresome. We at Naman provide Psychometric Assessments like 16PF, Critical Thinking, High-Performance Orientation, Strengths Finder and many more to help one identify their strengths and development areas on personality traits and competencies, which can help them empower their career growth.
2. Career Awareness :
In this phase, a person investigates potential career choices that fit with the results of the initial self-evaluation. Ensure to make a list of careers as a backup plan in case your first choice doesn’t work out as planned. Once you have the list, you can then investigate various fields and sorts of work available by developing career awareness.
Remember to make choices thinking about your long-term needs and aspirations, especially keeping in mind how today’s world of work is ever evolving with newer career opportunities all the time.
3. Goal Setting :
This is the most crucial stage in career development since it is here that one establishes specific short- and long-term objectives to achieve the career they desire. The first step here is to define your goals, both short and long term. Short-term team goals would be easier to achieve, but long-term goals may be adjusted to account for growth.
Ensure that your goals are relevant to today’s time and are worth your time, effort, and energy. Create a timeline regardless of whether you are working on short term or long-term goals. This will help you in creating the right framework as to what to do first.
4. Skill Training :
After deciding on a career and setting goals, one must have the necessary abilities to advance. You can develop your skills by self-studying or by enrolling in a formal training course, either online or in person. With newer technologies changing the landscape of job requirements every year, one will have to be flexible and adaptable.
Upskilling and reskilling are important to maintaining your career stability. At Naman we offer virtual/in-person programs like BOLT®Lite for leadership skill advancement, MIDAS for Strength-based development, POSE – Power of Self Expression for enhancing communication and various other behavior programs for individuals to upskill themselves in this rapidly changing workplace landscape
5. Performing :
The key to progressing along the career path with the necessary knowledge and abilities is to successfully complete the required tasks. The five steps constitute a continuous process. To attain the correct professional advancement, a person would need to go back through the cycle numerous times over their career.
Most businesses today offer unique professional development programs to their employees and promote a culture of continuous learning that encourages their developmental journey from start till finish. Even if your workplace does not provide significant career development programs, you can still take a number of independent actions, such as hiring a career coach, consulting a mentor, and scheduling a meeting with your manager.
Naman’s holistic approach to career development has primed individuals to empower their organizations with pace, strategy, and meaning. “My Development is My Responsibility”, as we rightly say here at Naman. Ready to take your career potential to the next level?
