IDS HR Study 678, November 1999

Career management

• Considers the greater diversity in career paths as organisations increasingly adopt flatter structures.
• More responsibility is being devolved to individuals to manage their own career development, with employer support through training and networking and mentoring programmes.
• Detailed case studies of how career management is handled in five varied organisations.

In the context of flatter management structures, traditional promotion-based routes are only one aspect of career progression. Typical career paths may now also involve a number of lateral moves between different business units with the emphasis on employees obtaining wider experience and gaining personal development. Meanwhile, the onus is moving towards individuals taking greater responsibility for their own career development under a general framework of employer support. Network and mentoring programmes are key features of these processes.

In determining career strategies and the degree to which they intervene directly in their employees’ careers, companies are striving to balance overall business objectives with managing individual expectations. The organisations featured in this Study increasingly see mechanisms such as competency frameworks, performance review and training as providing a springboard for individual employees to develop their careers.

Drawing on five detailed case studies, this Study examines companies’ career management processes and considers the role of employee-led and company-instigated moves. The changing ‘psychological contract’ and the declining concept of a job for life are also discussed. The Study examines the growth of ‘professional communities’ – considering employees on a functional basis (eg marketing or HR) – and the increasing use of project work and secondments to enhance careers.