Every year, November is nationally recognized as Career Month. Created by the Canadian Career Development Foundation (CCDF), the month-long awareness campaign encourages employees to focus on the important aspects of their career development. 

For many employees, particularly younger ones, career progression and skills development are top priorities. A recent survey from Ten Thousand Coffees found that over 80% of US enterprise employees said that opportunities to grow and develop their skills in the next 6-12 months were very important to them. 

The survey also revealed that many employees feel their career progression is unsupported by their employers. Over a third of respondents said that they were not satisfied with their career growth opportunities, nor did they feel their employers were dedicated to their professional development. These are perceptions that HR and business leaders need to address because they can decrease employee engagement, retention and productivity; which are top concerns during The Great Resignation. 

Positive Perceptions of One’s Career Progression Creates A Better Culture

Workplaces where employees feel their career development is supported often report positive cultures which leads to better employee engagement, revenues as well as greater overall productivity. These workplaces offer access to career planning tools, and development programs aimed at upskilling, as well as formal and informal mentoring opportunities. 

A recent global study found that employees in positive workplace environments were 53% more likely to upskill to improve their performance in their current roles. This is in contrast to what’s observed in negative workplace environments, which report that 68% of respondents are only motivated to learn or upskill to meet employer requirements. Employees in positive work environments also feel like they have more control over their career and were 189% more likely to work with a mentor or coach.

Career Month is an opportunity for HR and business leaders to launch new career development programs or remind their employees about the existing ones that are already in place to support their employees’ growth and development. 

Creating Effective Career Development Programs

Career development is multi-faceted, and should involve both formal and informal learning programs that cater to remote, hybrid and in-person work environments. Employers can make programs more accessible to employees by offering them in different formats and designing them to meet the needs of underrepresented groups. These can include mentoring or coaching programs, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), early career and leadership programs. 

Mentoring and Coaching

Mentorships are an important tool in helping employees, particularly younger ones, make better decisions for their career development. Through a variety of development programs, employers can offer unique mentoring and coaching experiences for diverse employee groups like women, and those early in their careers. 

Women in Leadership Programs (WiL)

Female representation at the C-Level remains low. In fact, men outnumber women 7:1 at the executive level. A major reason why is the lack of sponsors from executive leadership. 

WiL programs create opportunities for female employees to make connections with sponsors, who are senior people that are involved in the selection of candidates for promotion and special projects. WiL programs promote active participation from both men and women in leadership, encouraging both to work collaboratively in identifying and developing high-potential women. 

WiL programs also provide a structured way for women to access mentors that understand the unique challenges they face in their career progression. Female employees gain a support system they can lean on to remove the barriers that may be blocking their career advancement.

For HR and business leaders, WiL programs ensure high-potential women are not overlooked and are afforded the same opportunities to advance their careers as men. 

Early Career Programs

Mentorships are important for younger employees that are looking for career guidance. When surveyed, more than 60% of younger US enterprise employees said they wanted more access to mentoring. 

Early Career programs help younger employees build their networks, and identify goals to advance their career development. They gain confidence, and are better equipped to overcome the career challenges in front of them. For HR and business leaders, Early Career programs can solidify core values in younger employees which can be key to career growth at an organization. 

Leadership Programs

Being an effective leader is becoming more complex. Managers have to lead in times of constant change and social unrest, manage remote or distributed teams, all while remaining adaptable and resilient. Yet, 59% of managers report that they have received no leadership training at all. Unsurprisingly, many managers feel they haven’t been prepared for these challenges.  

Leadership programs build competencies that managers and leaders need to succeed in their current roles and as their careers progress. Popular programs can cover several key development areas including: 

1. Leading during times of change - How can managers keep their team composed and focused?
2. Managing remote or distributed teams - How can managers optimize their team’s productivity?
3. Resilience and adaptability - How can managers prepare their team for all scenarios? 
4. Emotional intelligence - How can managers read their teams’ emotional state and know how to motivate them? 
5. Change management - What is the most effective, systematic way of implementing change?
6. Mindfulness and managing stress - How can managers deal with the pressures of leading a team? 
   

For HR and Business leaders, leadership programs ensure that managers perform to business results while preparing them to seamlessly transition into their next role at the organization.

Build More Impactful Career Development Programs

Career development is an important piece of any people strategy. Implemented effectively, it can drive business goals and promote employee engagement and retention.

If you’re an HR or business leader looking to launch a new career development program or reinvigorate your existing one in 2022, schedule a demo with us today.