Career Management Communication

Over on LinkedIn, Jason Alba asked a good question: how does the importance of career management get communicated to people?

Ignoring the tactical aspects of career management, I think the importance of career management is communicated all of the time. What isn’t working is people seeing the success of their career management planning and implementation.

But communication happens:

• Our performance reviews should involve a discussion on the next steps within the company and/or our career.
• Many companies and HR departments facilitate career development through tools provided to employees.

Yet, those discussions often yield little in terms of benefits to Cubicle Warriors.

• The next step is outside the department and your manager wants to hold you just a bit more.
• Times are tough and there is a job freeze and you can’t move within your company.
• You evaluate what you want next in your career and you see that move being outsourced in your company within the next two years.
• Your department was just reorganized and you have a new manager who knows little about you and you need to start over again.
• Your department reorganized and you are not doing what you liked doing before the reorganization, much less getting you to your career aspirations.
• Even when all of the sponsored career tasks have been completed, few talk about them in a way that moves you forward to the right area of work.

All of these things make “career management” a difficult proposition for people. “Planning a career” becomes an oxymoron. Engaging in career management becomes a waste of time because nothing ever comes of it.

Translating career management planning and work into tangible success in Corporate Earth is a tough nut to crack.

Of course, Cube Rules is all about cracking the tough nuts of career management for Cubicle Warriors. More to come.

Scot

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