Career Plan: What is it and how to develop it?

The strength of a company is in its employees, so if you have employees under your command, you need to make sure that they are motivated and committed to their work. In fact, financial rewards are not the only way to retain talented employees. Today's professionals value other benefits, such as a better work-life balance or the opportunity for long-term professional development. For this reason, a career development plan is a great tool to manage your business and motivate your employees, showing that you care about their learning and are interested in their professional growth.

What is a career plan?

A career plan is the process of setting career goals and identifying the steps that need to be taken and the resources that need to be allocated to achieve them. In small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a career plan is agreed upon with each employee based on their goals and interests, as well as their career development and professional competences. This roadmap takes into account not only the training needs of employees, but also the business goals of the company and the specifics of the industry in which it operates. In practice, creating a career plan will help you identify what development each employee in your company can receive and fulfil their professional aspirations, as well as help you manage your business more transparently and effectively.

Benefits of having a career plan

Aligning company strategies with employee goals. A career plan is an effective tool to help grow the business by training and developing employees, helping them advance in their careers and providing them with stability. It is a win-win strategy as increased professionalism has a positive impact on the company's bottom line. It increases employee motivation and commitment to the company. A career plan provides employees with new tasks and responsibilities that allow them to continue to grow professionally, which increases their motivation and strengthens their connection to the company, increasing their loyalty and sense of belonging.

A career plan helps retain talented employees and reduces employee turnover. A career plan provides a clear path for career advancement and provides some security in the company. If employees know they have opportunities for growth within the organisation, they won't have to look outside the organisation, so turnover is reduced and talent is retained, often saving the company cost, time and effort.

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How to make a career plan, step by step?

Identify your future business needs

To make a career plan, you need to plan your workforce by considering the number of current employees and their positions. Keep in mind details such as employee turnover, attrition, and retirement. For example, if you know that the person in charge of a certain area will retire in five years, you will need to fill his or her position, so you may want to train someone to take his or her place. Start by assessing the talent you already have in your company. It's important to know the strengths and weaknesses of your employees to determine what areas they need to improve in, as well as their aspirations within the company. This way, you will be able to identify the most capable and motivated professionals who can access more responsible positions to benefit the organisation.

Identify the competences required for each position

Each position in your company has a different competency profile. For example, a salesperson must have good communication skills, empathy, initiative, negotiation skills and the ability to reach agreements. Knowing the competencies of each position will allow you to find the best employee to fill it. You can start by creating a personalised profile for each employee with the following information:

• Employee's name;
• Age;
• Education;
• Position held;
• Length of service;
• Strengths and core competencies;
• Disadvantages that have a negative impact on your performance;
• Training needs;
• Performance appraisal;
• Possible positions to be filled.

Developing a possible career map

With an organisational chart in one hand and job descriptions in the other, you can design the links between the different positions in your company. The goal is to create a transparent career map that describes the requirements for each position and the path to it. In this way, your employees will clearly understand from the outset what their growth opportunities are in the company and what steps they need to take to advance in their careers and achieve the goals they have set for themselves. Such transparency speaks well for the organisation and motivates employees to work hard.

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Training Planning

At this stage, you need to determine what training each employee needs to advance their career in your company. You should start with performance appraisals, as they will help you understand what your employees' skills and potential are, as well as their weaknesses and areas that need to be strengthened. You should also make sure that training is challenging enough to motivate employees to learn new things and step out of their comfort zone. At the same time, don't lose sight of the company's needs, as they are crucial in determining the training goals that need to be achieved as part of the career plan. Of course, it is also important to keep in constant communication with employees and managers, as the entire company needs to be aware of training activities.

You can take advantage of subsidised training and coaching programmes, as well as the expertise of other employees who can train younger ones. You can even rotate jobs so that employees are exposed to different areas of the company and develop a more global view of how it works. Whatever training you choose, make sure it follows a well-structured plan, including opportunities for the employee to take intermediate positions.

Develop a timeline for implementation

It's important that you work with your employees to estimate a reasonable amount of time to achieve each of the goals. It is ideal to move in different time frames: short-term (3 to 6 months), medium-term (1 to 2 years) and long-term (more than 3 years), which should be adjusted to meet the needs of your company and employees. In any case, remember that employees must have enough time to master new knowledge without compromising their effectiveness in other areas, not only at work but also in the family sphere. For this reason, it is advisable to divide the career plan into smaller goals, each with reasonable deadlines.

Evaluate and update the career plan

The progress of a career plan should be measured and reviewed regularly, so it is important to include an evaluation timeline. This way, you will always know where you stand on your journey and whether adjustments need to be made. The process of evaluating and monitoring a career plan is usually easier if you set annual goals and review them at the end of each year, but you can also evaluate quarterly or biennially. It's useful to assess the competencies and skills that employees are acquiring by testing them in practice, if their role in the company allows them to do so as part of their job. Of course, it is also important to measure their level of satisfaction with their training in order to adjust the career plan to their needs and expectations. In any case, remember that a career plan is not a static document, but a constantly evolving project that needs to be constantly updated. In this way, employees will be able to advance in their careers and your company will be able to respond to the constant changes taking place in the market and in society.

Finally, remember that training is often most effective when it is structured and well thought out. Having a solid career plan in place will demonstrate to employees that the company is committed to supporting their growth, as well as give you insight into their progress and what you can expect from each of them over a period of time. This transparency will help you create a more positive work environment, plan more accurately for future projects, and develop better hiring strategies that will benefit both the company and its employees.