Important Objectives of Career Development

Efficient career planning has assumed great importance in today's competitive job market. In order to excel in our chosen field, we need to be completely focused, have the basic knowledge and skills, and possess a genuine interest for the field.

These days employers make an effort to launch career development programs for their employees in order to increase their productivity and help them achieve their organizational goals. Before we learn about its objectives, let us understand this concept first.

Career development refers to the process of continuously managing your professional work. This process assists people in defining their career goals and aspirations clearly. Education is the first step towards developing a career as without access to education, people will not be able to deliver their best at their place of work.

Education received in various institutions such as elementary school, high school, and university helps in increasing the depth of a student's knowledge. Career enhancement and development is also concerned with personality development as a person needs to present himself in the best possible way in his workplace to make a mark for himself.

Along with quality of education, career planning also emphasizes on the vital aspects of training and employment. Knowledge and facts learned in classrooms need to be applied smartly to do the work assigned in a satisfactory way.

For this, good deal of training needs to be provided to the employees by their employers. Also, the result of the training should be monitored by consistently evaluating the performance of trained employees on various projects.

By delivering a good performance and meeting targets in set deadlines, employees can climb the corporate ladder faster and obtain promotions with increased compensation.

Identifying our strengths and weaknesses is a major objective of career enhancing. Our career can move in the right direction only if we make a concentrated effort of utilizing our strength fully and working on our weaknesses. A person understands his worth and gets a feeling of self-awareness by having a plan for his career growth.

Career development programs aid in increasing flexibility of employees. Because of globalization and international expansion policies of companies, employees may have to work in different places across the world. So, adapting to the changing conditions and expectations is really a big challenge before employees. In the absence of career development programs, employees may witness a reduced productivity which will affect their career growth and advancement.

Career planning programs help workers to work with people belonging to different nationalities and religions. So, indirectly, they are responsible for the efficient working of teams in a workplace.

Information is another objective of career enhancement and development. Employees and students must have the right information about career planning and the various opportunities available to them at the right time to capitalize on opportunities and achieve their goals. They need to be aware of the skills and qualities which are essential in a modern business environment.

Career planning is helpful for employees as well as employers. It helps in raising employee productivity and commitment of employees towards their organization. Career initiatives taken by senior management officers help a lot in retaining talented employees who can be an asset for the organization in the long term.

Career planning also helps in cost saving as training existing people and making them job ready is cheaper than hiring new talent continuously. It guarantees an employees job security and provides chances of further advancement in the company. Employees can contribute greatly if they get maximum job satisfaction at their workplace.

In short, career development means improving the quality of life by achieving our dreams and aspirations through planned efforts. Though people often talk about the words 'career' and 'goals' in school, the real career enhancement process begins in childhood itself under the able guidance of parents.

The good values taught in childhood help in developing a positive and optimistic attitude in children which helps them in dealing with bigger challenges in the future.

Career enhancement efforts taken by employers and teachers can succeed only if the person has a strong willingness or desire to make progress. So, youngsters need to have a positive frame of mind to succeed in life.