Career plan: what it is, how to design it and examples

Career planning is a technique that helps the retention and development of a company’s internal talent while providing an evolutionary roadmap for employees.

The advantages offered by this type of technique in the long term revert to both teams and organizations, fostering commitment and improving performance.

We invite you to make a difference in your company and to draw up a career plan that enhances human capital by explaining exactly what it is and how to design it.

What is a career plan?

A professional career plan is a continuous process through which a person establishes professional goals and identifies the means to achieve them.

In this dynamic, companies must accompany employees in developing plans to meet their objectives.

Thus, the Human Resources Department -HRR- will implement performance evaluations, psychological tests, and training plans following a specific calendar and adapted to the needs of the career plan.

What are the benefits of a career plan for your company?

The possibilities offered by a career plan translate into valuable and strategic advantages for your organization:

• Promotes employee motivation and satisfaction.
• Increases team performance.
• Allows employees to self-evaluate themselves.
• Develops talent retention strategies.
• Decreases employee turnover.
• Facilitates the long-term implementation of a business strategy with qualified and committed employees.
• Reduces external recruitment costs by enhancing human capital.

As can be seen, the possibility of professional promotion stimulates employees and improves your brand image to attract new talent.

How to make a career plan?

A professional career plan is built based on the following structure:

1. Analysis of the future needs of the company.
2. Study of the profiles.
3. Establishment of the career map.
4. Planning of the training calendar.
5. Evaluation and follow-up.

This planning is evolutionary and must have an organic behavior that adapts to the needs of each context over time, as we will see in more detail below.

Analysis of future needs

Considering the number of employees, their positions, the turnover rate, the drop-out rate, and retirements – among other factors – and starting from the current shortages, you can begin to detect the training needs of your teams to enhance the competencies you need in your business plan.

Study of profiles

A necessary task is to have a detailed description of each position to define the required competencies and identify the specific training needs.

This competency profile defines each role in the company and makes it easier to find the ideal person to fill it or to identify who can fill it internally.

Establishment of the career map

The career map marks the connections between different positions. Draw up the one for your company so that people know their potential to prosper and how they can reach their goals.

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Planning the training calendar

On the basis of a personalized career plan for each employee, you can begin to draw up a training plan that meets the needs of the individual in line with the requirements of the business strategy.

In this respect, respecting the training calendar is extremely important.

Evaluation and follow-up

Monitoring is key to achieving the objectives set out in the career plan. The evaluation of its progress must be continuous – an annual review can be established, for example – and flexible in case it is necessary to modify the training’s schedule or content to adapt it to the progress made or to eliminate the errors detected.

The success of a career plan lies in the achievement of the objectives set.

Career planning: examples

Generally, organizations that offer career plans and training schedules tend to be significant. However, SMEs are increasingly aware of the benefits of encouraging internal talent through different types of plans, such as those discussed in the following sections.

Self-knowledge-oriented career plan

This type of career plan seeks to reinforce employees’ decision-making or managerial skills by providing them with the necessary resources to develop them.

Growth career plan

In this case, efforts are focused on consolidating the employee in their position with a clear objective of mastering the performance of their functions.

Productivity-based career plan

This plan focuses on time management and achieving objectives by strengthening the competencies needed for successful assignments.

According to talent retention experts, a significant percentage of employees would stay with a company if it invested in their career plans.

The benefits they offer to companies and employees put training at the center of business life.

At Smowltech, we have developed innovative proctoring products for you to create safe environments to enhance your training plans.

Ask for a free demo so we can explain in a practical way how we can contribute to the success of your career plan.

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