Chapter 9: Career and Management Development

Question 1

Explain the strategic importance of career planning and development

Answer 1

Setting goals to grow in your career can help you reach more senior positions, learn new skills, plan for the future, earn more money, and enjoy your job.

Question 2

Discuss new approaches to career development and analyze the factors that affect career choices.

Answer 2

New approaches to career development are less focussed on the stage of life (which was historically large and age-based) and more involved in identifying occupational orientation: realistic, investigative, social, conventional, enterprising, and artistic.

In addition, skills and aptitudes can be identified, as can career anchors: technical/functional, managerial competence, creativity, autonomy, security, service/dedication, pure challenge, or lifestyle.

Question 3

Explain the roles in career development

Answer 3

The Individual: the individual must accept responsibility for their career. requires: self-motivation, independent learning (take charge and control), effective time and money management (personal management), and self-promotion (brand yourself and have a marketing plan). Networking is the foundation of effective career management.

The Manager: Should provide timely and objective performance feedback. Offer developmental assignments and support. Participate in career development discussions. Act as a coach, appraiser, advisor, and referral agent.

The Employer: Provide career-oriented training and development opportunities. Offer career information and programs. Offer a variety of career options. Create and support a learning organization. Don’t be resentful (let them go if needed).

Question 4

Recommend how to manage transfers and promotions more effectively

Answer 4

Employers need to address employee life cycle career management issues. Several decisions in any firm’s promotion process:
- is the seniority or competence the rule?
- how should we measure competence?
- is the process formal or informal?
- vertical, horizontal, or other?
- equity-seeking groups still experience relatively less career progress in organizations?

In general, the employer’s promotion processes must comply with all the same anti-discrimination laws as procedures for recruiting and selecting employees or any other HR actions.

Question 5

Explain what management development is and why it is important

Answer 5

Any attempt to improve current or future management performance by imparting knowledge, changing attitudes, or increasing skills.

It’s important because:
- Baby boomers entering retirement (a lot of managers retiring - they are 60+ yo)
- Increased demand for the next generation to assume senior management
- Management development attracts talent and helps organizations achieve employer-of-choice status (branding)

Question 6

Describe leadership development and its impact

Answer 6

It focuses on developing and honing a professional’s abilities to take on critical responsibilities in an organization, such as designing and executing business strategies, building alignment, and helping others with career growth. the development programs also help employees understand what not to do as a leader.

Question 7

List and briefly discuss the importance of the steps in leading organizational change.

Answer 7

Steps in an effective organizational change program include:
- establishing a sense of urgency
- mobilizing commitment
- creating a guiding coalition
- developing and communicating a shared vision
- helping employees make the change
- consolidating gains
- reinforcing new ways of doing things
- monitoring and assessing progress

Organizational development involves action research, which means collecting data about a group and feeding the information back to the employees to analyze it and develop hypotheses about the problems.

Question 8

List and briefly discuss four management or leadership development methods.

Answer 8

• Developmental job rotation (different jobs/functions/departments), moving trainees from department to department broadening their understanding of all parts of the business.
• Coaching/understudy approach, the trainee works directly with the person that they are to replace.
• Action learning releases managers to work on projects and perform tasks free from regular duties
• Outside seminars