At times the real problem is when employees stay, not when they leave

Organizations habitually concentrate all of their efforts on coming up with new, sound solutions to improve the effectiveness of their employee retention practices. From this point of view, it could be argued that organizations treat their employees as their customers. Since competition in every market has become increasingly harsh, expanding the current clientele has proved to be an extremely tricky feat to perform in practice so that employers have found out that a great part of their efforts should be devoted to the retention of their current customers, too. Similarly, in addition to the struggle aimed at attracting new talents from the external environment, employers have realized that a considerable amount of resources should be used for and directed at retaining the talented individuals the organization already employees.

Inasmuch as not all of the customers are good customers, nonetheless, not all of the employees are good employees. Customers who do not timely meet payments on their orders, for instance, are not good customers, never mind those who do not pay for the goods or services they order at all. Likewise, individuals who do not behave as expected by their employer or do not perform at the standard desired by this are not good employees. Businesses should hence devote close, careful attention to the employees who stay with the organization. At times, especially in those organizations in which reward is based on individual length of service, that is, on the mere circumstance of employees “being still there”, the fact an employee remains with his/her organization might indeed not necessarily represent a good event for the employer.

Irrespective of the circumstances which have accounted for an individual having decided to leave his/her employer, whether this leave is because this is active, determined, focused and, most of all, because this considers his/her competencies and skills valuable and thus marketable. After all, it actually hardly happens that an individual leaves his current organization whether this has not already received a similar or even better offer from a different employer, which provides an evidence of its own accord that the individual really has some qualities. With the exception of those cases in which individuals are very good at selling themselves, it could be hence argued that people who leave a business are habitually individuals who perform at appreciable levels or have the skills and capabilities to potentially perform at significant standards. By contrast, some individuals stay and are by no means supposed to leave their employer because these are well-aware that no other organization in the market would offer them the same reward package as that offered by the present employer.

People who perform any given job since a decade or longer and receive automatic salary increases based on length of service, but have not developed any skills or capabilities over time, would find it particularly difficult to change their employer whilst continuing to receive the same level of pay. In essence, organizations whose reward system is based on length of service ensure to individuals regular pay increases irrespective of their real contribution to the business results. This entails that in such instances individuals attain over time appreciable levels of pay irrespective of their contribution, performance and capabilities. By reason of their relatively considerable income, these people would find it sorely difficult to find a new job enabling these to receive from the outset the same current level of pay elsewhere, unless these have not gained substantial, remarkable abilities, competencies and expertise over time.

The circumstance an individual remains with his/her employer for decades or even till retirement, notwithstanding, has not clearly be seen and perceived as a negative event. On the contrary, this occurrence should be hailed as somewhat of an achievement by the employer, but only and only whether the employee is satisfactorily contributing to the organizational results. Individuals who receive a valuable reward package and regular pay increases from their employer regardless of their efforts and contribution to the organizational output might tend to create somewhat of a comfort zone and would clearly eventually resist any attempt to alter the favourable state of play. The existence of such circumstance can indeed produce remarkable downsides and prove to be counterproductive.

Employees who with the passing of the years have completely lost interest and enthusiasm for their job and pay lip service to the way they perform their daily activities are very unlikely to develop new skills and capabilities; let alone can these help managers to redesign the way the job is done. By contrast, the lack of interest and the insufficiency used when performing their job may potentially account for these individuals losing part of their abilities. It is hardly believable that, once this vicious circle has been triggered, the level of performance and the results yielded by these individuals might be considered as significant by the employer and fulfilling by themselves.

More often than not, in order to prevent conflicts to openly emerge managers tend to avert dealing with this type of employee behaviour. Conflicts, whether evident, should eventually be managed and since it is objectively difficult to tackle such types of problems, managers habitually prefer to overlook such situations. This clearly represents the worst approach: firstly because, openly emerged or not, the conflict is essentially already existing, secondly in that such occurrences can negatively impact the other employees performance and the overall Unit climate.

Inasmuch as these circumstances are undesirable and difficult to manage, adopting the right approach can definitely help managers to effectually deal with these. It is indeed crucially important that managers take appropriate action in that such situations can just risk degenerating and are unlikely to ameliorate with the simple passing of the time. The activities not performed by these people should be otherwise permanently carried out by the other colleagues, with the obvious consequences this will produce for their workload and the overall Unit climate. Yet, other employees efforts notwithstanding, the Unit concerned may risk not yielding the desired result, fact which according to the reward system run within the business may in turn make an impact on the income of all the employees of the Unit.
  

The first step managers should invariably take is hence that to frankly talk to the individuals concerned, try to find out which the roots of such behaviour are and agree with these the initiatives and actions necessary to let them feel back at ease in the workplace. Apathy amongst employees can be sometimes caused by their discontent with the management decisions, which these may perceive as unfair and biased. In other cases, individuals might (also inadvertently) decide to give up doing their best at work by reason of considering their job monotonous and repetitive or because they have never been offered opportunities for growth. At times, such behaviour can be triggered by the employee perception of the existence of a simultaneous combination of two or more of this type of circumstances.

Openly discussing the reasons behind the employee behaviour can definitely help managers to find out which the origins of such behaviour are and to identify the most appropriate solutions to address the problem. This is not clearly a straightforward objective to attain. Sometimes employees perform below an acceptable standard just because these do not consider it worth making any effort to attain what they receive as a matter of course and take as axiomatic, that is to say their pay. In other cases, the managers’ task is particularly tricky in that, for apparently mundane an activity might be considered to be by the employees concerned, this is absolutely necessary for the Unit to yield the final results. Since the task performed by these employees is truly significant for the business and the attainment of its overall objectives, in this particular instance job design and the employees’ firm and stable involvement should help managers to effectually resolve the issue.

Definitely not an easy task for managers, but turning a blind eye to employee misbehaviour and poor performance will never ever enable these to identify and overcome the problem.

How can reward practises help

In the case of employees deliberately underperforming and misbehaving, despite the management attempt and manifested willingness to mend relations with the individuals concerned and find appropriate solutions, the benefits produced in this sense by the sorting effect can definitely help. Usually used to attract and retain quality individuals from the exogenous context, the sorting effect can be also used to offer more generous reward packages to the company best performers in order to encourage worst and bad performers to either raise their level of contribution or leave the organization. This strategy is indeed likely to work properly when managers have been devolved a considerable degree of latitude to administer the reward budget and a variable pay scheme is in place. By contrast, whether the business reward system is length-of-service-based some individuals may find it pointless to make extra efforts to increase the value of their reward package: the efforts necessary to attain the additional benefit may in fact not be proportionate to its worth. In these instances and according to the circumstances, employers may attempt to reach with the employees concerned an agreement on a severance package.

 

Reward practices may also prove to be useful to engage employees when these are performing repetitive tasks. Gain-sharing programmes, for instance, may show to be effective to make these individuals perceive the significance of their contribution to the overall organizational outcome. Notwithstanding, every financial reward manoeuvre should preferably be implemented in combination with some other initiatives; clearly explaining to each individual how his/her work fits into the overall business process, for example, should invariably be part of the identified bundle in that of paramount importance.

Constantly involving individuals with the aim of coming up with new and more effective ways of designing and performing their job can definitely help, too. Yet, offering employees, according to their attitudes and behaviour, opportunities for horizontal and vertical growth should be placed high at the top of the line managers’ agenda.

Employers should also seriously consider offering individuals the opportunity to expand their knowledge and continue their education. Such initiatives, even whether employees are performing repetitive tasks, will make individuals understand that their employer really cares about them. The psychological contract has changed over time and for employees the opportunity to extended their education and gain new capabilities and expertise, contributing to make their skills more marketable, really matters and counts.

The managers’ and employers’ task is unquestionably daunting, but whether these should identify the most suitable tools and initiatives, which they can realistically implement to support their quest possibly by bundling them where practicable, the task would show to be easier and the final result definitely a win-win for employers, managers and employees as well.

Longo, R., (2014), At times the real problem is when employees stay, not when they leave; HR Professionals, Milan [online].

How to develop career planning programmes

People development and growth is as important for individuals as it is for businesses. Some individuals have an inborn talent, whereas some others do not. Notwithstanding, also innate talent to be transformed in expertise, competence and professionalism, needs to be nurtured and further developed.

The harsh competition nowadays characterizing every market and the frequency employers are confronted with financial downturn and slowdown periods have given employers to understand that the qualities of their human capital are crucial in order for these to gain competitive edge. To meet their ambitions and expectations on the other hand individuals look for jobs enabling them to fully express and use their capabilities, qualities and skills.

 

 

 

Especially when the labour market circumstances are particularly adverse, individuals in general and young generations in particular to dramatically increase their chances to find a job enabling them to express their personal capabilities and meet their ambitions should seriously consider expanding their knowledge and competency.

All in all, it can be argued that talent, expertise, skills, capabilities and excellence are and should indeed nowadays be regarded as extremely important qualities by both individuals and employers; albeit more often than not the latter seem to be more genuinely sensitive to the development of people filling management and executive positions, rather than to the growth of the individuals filling other types of roles.

What career planning is

The idea of career can effectively be expressed by means of the metaphor of career as a ladder. The concept can be associated with the process of progressively and constantly enhance and improve personal and professional abilities, skills and capabilities in order to attain a pre-identified objective, which can be broadly identified with self-advancement. Career planning can be defined as the systematic and structured approach enabling individuals to accurately and craftily plan, by their own initiative or by mutual agreement with their employer, their professional progression, development and growth.

 

 

 

Individuals who have identified clear personal career objectives, regardless of their current role but preferably in line with it, are in a position to develop a specific plan of action enabling them to attain or facilitate the attainment of their purpose. These initiatives clearly need to be both consistent with and supportive of the career path an individual aims at pursuing. A person aiming at embracing the HR profession, for instance, should in the first instance try to gain the relevant qualification and join the local accredited professional body.

In some instances, this choice can prove to be rather challenging, but needs to be invariably far-sighted. A doctor of medicine, for example, might aim at becoming a paediatrician or an orthopaedic, a dentist or a cardiologist; whereas a lawyer may orientate towards a specialization, for instance, in criminal, civil, international, tax or employment law. Yet, a doctor of medicine still needs to decide whether s/he wants to be a surgeon or a generalist, whereas a lawyer needs to decide whether to point towards a barrister or a solicitor career. An attorney in the US does not need to make such a decision, but still needs to determine whether s/he wants to become, for instance, a judge or a district attorney.

Individuals who have decided to pursue a career in HR may aim at specializing, for example, in reward, learning and development, employee relations, talent management or change management. In the event these should also aim at filling a management or business partner role, these should also seriously consider investing in, for instance, project or risk management and gaining a relevant qualification. Negotiations and communication abilities and the art of being persuasive can be nowadays regarded as particularly important qualities of modern managers and HR specialists; gaining or enhancing these personal qualities may hence prove to be extremely significant. Regrettably, not many people are approaching their career planning in such a structured fashion, but doing it may prove to be particularly productive.

 

When making such decisions, notwithstanding, individuals should not only consider their ambitions and preferences, but should also try to objectively pinpoint whether they genuinely have the potential, strength and features necessary to attain their desired career objectives.

In those cases in which career planning is activated on an employer initiative, this should be developed so as to balance individual aspirations and career objectives with organizational needs. This clearly entails an employer investment so that organizations should take extra care when assessing and identifying the people on which focusing their resources and efforts. To assess individual potential and aptitudes employers habitually seek external professional advice; internal managers’ and colleagues’ feedback, however, may also help them to make accurate predictions as to the likeliness that an individual may succeed.

Individuals usually aim at filling management or highly specialized positions; notwithstanding, people are genuinely satisfied when performing compelling jobs giving them the opportunity to express their ability and the required latitude to make decisions.

Career planning developed within organizations is not necessarily, and let alone exclusively, intended to develop individuals already holding management positions. It is, more in general, aiming at identifying, according to individuals aptitudes, aspirations and disposition, the most suitable initiatives enabling them to meet their desired career objectives.

Individuals are no more longing for just a job, but rather for compelling, absorbing and interesting roles, whereas employers are growingly interested in accomplished and assertive people capable to properly and effectively fill a whole range of positions considered of paramount importance for the success of their business. Career planning essentially enable both employers and employees to fulfil their expectations. Irrespective of the circumstance that plans may lead or otherwise to a management position, career planning unquestionably is a process providing individuals practical opportunities to higher levels of responsibility.

Career planning can indeed prove to also be a powerful means to an end, namely that of retaining and engaging individuals. In fact, in addition to its contribution to employer branding, by contributing to provide individual intrinsic benefits from the job itself it also proves to be an effective component of non-financial reward. The plan of action developed by employers and individuals, to ensure that the latter attains the desired objectives, should imply a series of practical activities, aiming at reinforcing individual sense of belonging, participation and ultimately loyalty.

Career planning can be in many respects regarded as a pre-stage of succession planning. Despite it is not necessarily intended to nurture managerial capabilities and help employer to fill future executive positions, its early implementation could reveal tremendously important also to this extent.

Organizational approach to career planning design and development

Career planning can and has to be essentially intended as a systematic and structured approach to people development. Without an accurate and meticulous preparation, it is highly unlikely that the intended objectives might be attained in practice. Yet, since the process typically unfolds over a great length of time, it can be said that career planning can be in many respects tantamount to business strategy.

Direction

The first stage of the process is in fact concerned with the direction the individual and the employer are expected to go to. Both organizations and individuals need to have crystal clear ideas as to their expectations and of how these will be met, whereas it is a precise employer responsibility to ensure that the identified final goal is consistent with the business aim and that the organizational context can actually enable the individual to develop and attain the objective agreed.

Timescale

Once the direction has been identified it is crucially important to determine the timescale, that is to say the different stages of the path and the deadline by which each stage of the programme should be completed.

Assessment and check

The assessment and check activity is basically concerned with ensuring that throughout the process the barriers eventually arising are timely removed. This activity is extremely significant in that it is aimed at averting later disappointment. In the event, for instance, some barriers should actually require additional efforts, resources and time to be removed, this may imply the initial schedule to be modified or the overall process to be reviewed and amended accordingly. This phase is also particularly beneficial in that it practically enables employers and individuals to regularly assess the technical and behavioural improvements made by the employees concerned.

Evaluation of final result

The final stage of the process is represented by the assessment of the final results achieved. Albeit the necessary adjustments have been timely introduced and implemented throughout the process, it might still be possible that the final result does not exactly coincide with that initially planned. This stage enables thus employers and individuals to identify what eventually went wrong and what should have been done to avert the identified problems to arise. A typical side-activity of the final stage is represented by the compilation of a lessons learned log and of a final report.

Assign each individual a mentor

Each development programme should be supervised by one or more individuals appointed by the employer. The individual identified to closely look after the employee should act as a mentor and coach and should hence be able, also from the technical viewpoint, to understand whether the employee actually points in the right direction. This role is particularly important to secure the successful outcome of the overall process. In addition to provide support throughout the programme and constantly assess individual achievements, the person in charge of coaching employees also needs to provide employees feedback and identify the most suitable opportunities available within the firm for the individuals’ development.

Does career planning pay off?

Carefully prepared career planning definitely enables employers to gain a whole range of advantages. One of them is definitely represented by the massive savings employers attain in terms of sourcing talents.

Once the need for some positions emerges, employers can post jobs internally and reach with the interested individuals, according to their personal aspirations, goals and interests, a win-win agreement enabling employees to pursue meaningful career objectives, whilst ensuring employers to properly fill key positions. Employers would also derive a considerable benefit sensibly enhancing their attraction and retention practices.

Leibowitz et al (1986) identified seven different categories of mutual benefits for employees and employers: improved skills in career management, retention of quality staff, enhancement of communication between managers and direct reports, increased effectiveness of performance appraisal meetings, deepened individual understanding of the business and enhanced employer branding.

Introducing these programmes within organizations can help employers to foster a culture based on excellence and self-advancement and to convey the message that employers identify and offer individuals opportunities for development and growth by virtue of their qualities, commitment and behaviour, that is to say whether and only whether these have showed to have what it takes to deserve the employer’ trust and confidence.

Employers should clearly get the message across that this opportunity can only be offered to individuals really keen to grow and ready to take responsibility. Developing and sustaining a corporate culture endorsing these values may also enable employers to establish an even clearer and more transparent psychological contract: we promote and favour personal and professional growth but you have to show that you deserve it, have what it takes and are ready to make the extra efforts this requires.

What employers need to do for the process to be flawless

The successful outcome of career planning is essentially based on the mutual efforts of employees and employers. Notwithstanding, there are a number of activities that employers can perform to favour the positive outcome of the process.

First and foremost, organizations should put individuals in a position to cover demanding jobs and experience different types of situations and challenges; to this extent job rotation can absolutely help. This will clearly contribute to expand, in a relatively short period of time, individuals experience and help them to develop a better understanding of how complex a role can prove to be and of how important is for people holding responsibility within an organization frequently and promptly trying to come up with different, new and sometime even original solutions.

The business management clearly also plays a particularly significant role. Individuals, especially in their first work experience, tend to model themselves on their managers so that the circumstance these need to have good leadership skills and abilities can be taken as axiomatic. Managers also need to have excellent communication skills and be able and willing to provide constant feedback, counsel and positively influence individuals’ career.

By contrast, employers should utterly avert making to employees promises they will not be able to keep. The downsides this irresponsible behaviour is likely to cause may prove to be severe and irreversible.

Posting jobs internally definitely represents a practice enabling individuals to pinpoint the types of roles, requirements and qualifications the employer is interested in.

Is career planning worth the efforts?

Career planning clearly represents for employers a demanding activity. The involvement of managers and specialists and, before that, ensuring that these have all of the skills and abilities necessary to effectively contribute to the growth of other individuals clearly represent a daunting feat for employers. Analysing the return obtained by the execution of such a process is hence particularly important.

The reporting activity carried out at the end of each process can actually enable employers to assess the value of the final results obtained, also against the direct and indirect costs incurred to implement it.

Individuals approach to career planning development

Individuals aiming at developing a career planning by themselves need a fortiori to scrupulously follow a methodical and systematic approach. To this extent, these can have recourse to a series of online services, self-assessment exercises and tools, or benefit of the careers advice service offered by local universities.

As suggested by Merrison (2012), the process of planning for self-development and advancement should be mainly based on three crucial tenets, which need to be considered throughout the process: informed, systematic and realistic. The approach proposed by the Open University to career planning is based on the DOTS model developed by Law and Watts (1977) and is composed of four stages: know yourself, explore opportunities, decide what to do and take action. All of these activities need to be carefully and accurately performed.

Know yourself

Once again, the metaphor of career planning as business strategy can help to explain the correct approach to it. The first stage consists in determining and hence comparing where you are now with where you would like to be. As for business strategy, everything starts with this type of gap analysis. This is clearly also the time when individuals have to define how to get where they would like to go.

This phase of the process is essentially concerned with the definition of what individuals like and enjoy, what skills these would like to use and what type of employer may be interested, insofar as paying them, in all of that. It is crucially important being both realistic and focused on the identified goal and objective.

At this stage, individuals also need to objectively take heed of the constraints which may prevent them attaining their desired goal, such as the impossibility to: relocate, travel too far or work during unsocial hours (Merrison, 2012).

Explore opportunities

This phase basically requires individuals to match their interests and wants with those of a potential employer. Safe in the knowledge that their skills and expectations should be regarded as useful by an employer and help this to achieve its intended objectives. Professional bodies, job centres and job sites can definitely help in the process.

Decide what to do

When deciding what really an individual would like to do, this should take into consideration that Rome was not built in a day. Should hence be adopted the jigsaw approach; before hopefully having the full picture every piece is added at a different time. This clearly requires efforts and sacrifices, such as working on a voluntary basis, filling entry level positions in different environments and under different circumstances.

 

Take action

This stage is directly linked to the previous one in that it aims at underscoring the importance of work experience, which in some cases is considered as a mandatory prerequisite, whereas in some others as a distinct advantage. Working experiences also enable individuals to find out whether they are comfortable in a given working environment and whether the real reality matches their plans on paper. Work experiences are indeed also important, for instance, to build up contacts and receive advice, reference letters and information about different opportunities.

Career planning developed on individual initiative is not that different in scope from that agreed between an employer and an employee. The main difference being that what an individual plans by him/herself may not necessarily meet employers demand. That is why individuals aiming at planning for their future career and development need to be focused and concentrated on their objective and gather as much information as they can.

 

Could not be more appropriate what Alessandro Manzoni (1806) wrote in the poem In morte di Carlo Imbonati: “from your final aim never turn your eyes.”

Longo, R., (2012), How to develop career planning programmes; Milan: HR Professionals [online].

Useful links for self-assessment

Windmills Life Fitness Check - http://www.windmillsonline.co.uk/interactive/

National Career Service - https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/tools/Pages/default.aspx

Prospects planner (for graduate) - http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplanner