What is career development?
At its core, career development is the journey an employee takes throughout his working life. It is the long-term process of learning new skills, finding a sense of purpose at work, and making leaps in a career. In short, career development is the path an employee takes on the way to his or her highest professional goals.
Why is good career development important?
Research shows that people who do not challenge themselves in the long term less happy are in their career. Setting yourself an achievable goal can make you happier. Career development usually provides employees with the following:
Financial well-being
Career growth will lead to salary increases, which can improve their financial well-being.
Utilize full potential
By growing, an employee reaches his or her full potential. By seizing new opportunities, not staying long in the same workplace, employees achieve more in their career.
In addition, every organization benefits from well-trained employees. From research According to IBM, there is a correlation between employees' knowledge and skills and the organization's performance. The research shows that the worst-performing companies do not offer employees the right training. Career development is therefore a way to get the best out of employees, which in turn produces benefits for employers.
The benefits of career development
What does career development concretely yield?
Employee benefits
Finding passion
It is important to find a job in which you feel comfortable. Career exploration is an important part of the process. Keep in mind that a career never has to be linear. You can always take a step sideways, as long as you move closer to your goal and do the work you really enjoy.
Developing skills
For every role you need certain skills to advance in your career. Suppose you are a marketing manager but you are interested in sales. You may know enough about your company's services, but you need to expand your sales knowledge. It is then wise to develop yourself and thus acquire the skills you need to succeed and earn a promotion.
To reach a higher level
By continuously working on your career development you will naturally reach a higher level. Think about your overall goals: what do you want to achieve in both the long and the short term? For example, consider voluntarily taking on larger projects or look for a mentor who is in the position where you ultimately want to be. You can also choose to work with a career coach. Many roads lead to Rome!
Employer benefits
Limit turnover
Pay attention to the career development of your employees. Turnover costs an enormous amount of money. Research by LinkedIn shows that organizations that push aside the development needs of their employees lose talent.
Lower recruitment & selection costs
Recruiting new employees costs time and money. By focusing on career development you can fill open vacancies with your current employees, and that's much cheaper than rolling out the recruitment process. According to research by The Intelligence Group, the average cost per hire is €3.818.
Discover hidden talent
When you have a conversation with your employees about their career development you find out what their wishes are. In this way they can express their ambitions or it may become apparent that they have certain knowledge or skills the organization could make good use of.
