Career Development Challenges for the 21st Century

Every organization is essentially a combination of physical and human resources. Human resources refer to the knowledge, education, skills, training and proficiency of the members of the organization. All organizational resources are important for achieving the objectives of an organization. In fact, the effectiveness of an organization lies in the judicious blending of the two resources to achieve optimum competency. Organizations are managed by people and through people. Human resources are the collection of people and their characteristics at work. Human competency development has become an essential prerequisite for long run growth and development of the organization. For organizational survival, growth and excellence, competent and motivated employees are essential. HRD oriented performance appraisal is used as a mechanism by supervisors for various activities which are necessary for development. Employees generally are trained on the job or through special In-house training programmes. Rewarding employee performance and behavior is an important part of HRD. Many organizations have either started new HRD departments or have appointed HRD Managers or at least have strengthened their personnel departments to look after the HRD function. Career planning enables it to say who on the basis of performance and potentials appraised and evaluated, could be groomed for or fitted in higher level assignments, and where, when and how. A properly conceived and executed programme of career development serves the good of individuals, the organization, and society. A well-designed career development effort will assist employees in determining their own career needs, develop and publicize available career opportunities in the organization, and match employee needs and goals with the organization.