MGT2HRX: Should Managers Invest in Employee Career Management? Essay

This essay delves into the critical question of whether managers should invest in the career management of their employees. It explores the core concepts of human resource management, emphasizing the significance of employee development programs for both individual employees and organizations. The essay discusses the reluctance of employers to invest in employees who may leave, while also highlighting the benefits of employee retention, attracting top talent, and fostering engagement. It examines various HR practices, including employment security and selective hiring, and reviews relevant HR theories such as Organizational Lifecycle Theory and Strategic Contingency Theory. The essay also considers the importance of employee training, rewards, and compensation in maintaining employee motivation and satisfaction. Ultimately, the essay concludes that investing in employee career development is a strategic advantage, benefiting both the company and the individual employees by contributing to the success of the organization.

Table of Contents
INTRDOUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is considered to be one of the major practice of deploying,
recruiting, managing and hiring employees of the company. The present essay is bases upon the
topic “Should managers keep investing in career management of employees or not, and why?.
The essay involves the major HR concepts and theories in relevance to the examples.
MAIN BODY
Should managers keep investing in career management of employees or not,
and why?
Career Management is basically defined as the life-long process which comprises of
investing resources for the purpose to achieve and accomplish the future career goals. When it
comes to employers, they are understandably reluctant for the purpose to make big investment in
workers who do not want to stay for a longer time. The major issue is that organizations won’t
train workers because they might and in context to workers they leave the company because they
don’t get training. When it comes to employees, they can benefit from a solid employee
development program (Greenhaus, Callanan and Godshalk, 2018). For employers, the employee
retention is considered to be one of the huge barrier and also it becomes very difficult when it
comes to hiring process. With the support of solid employee development program, it helps in
keeping and attracting the best employees. With the help of employee development, it is
basically considered to be a method which can keep the employees engaged at work. When it
comes to investing in the employees, it is considered to be a good morale for their colleagues and
the selected person through rewarding hard work. For organizations, it is very important to invest
in the skills of the employees which will not only boost their efficiency or morale but will
prepare them for becoming more responsible positions within the organization (De Oliveira,
Cavazotte and Alan Dunzer, 2019).
HR practices generally comprises of the various strategic decisions of the HR. These practices
really helps the organization and the company in forming the guidance and foundation in order to
manage the employees of the company and also coordinating with the executive business plan. In
reference to HR practices, it comprises of the aims of the HR department and setting up of goals
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and mission. There are various HR practices which need to be carried out by the employers for
the purpose to improve the retention of employees. The first Human Resource Best practice is
employment security. For the individual, it is very important to have a stable factor in work.
With the help of HR practice like employment security, it supports in retaining their individuals.
Another HR best practice is selective hiring which allows an organization to bring in the
individuals or employees who adds value to the company. Teamwork plays very crucial role in
achievement of the objectives and high performance teams are considered to be very important
for the purpose to achieve success. According to Kurt Lewin, there is nothing much practical as
compared to the good theory (Chang, Busser and Liu, 2020). In reference to Human Resource
Theories, it is basically defined as the general term for the objectives, tactics and strategies which
are used for the managers and business owners to procedures and administer policies related to
employees. With the help of human resource theories, it helps in explaining how the structures
and management practices could result in impacting the behaviour of employees in a bad or good
manner(6 Reasons You Need to Invest in Employee Development Now, 2020). In reference to HR
theories, it basically comprises of a total of 4 theories including Organizational Lifecycle theory,
Strategic Contingency theory, General Systems Theory and Transaction Cost Theory.
Organizational Lifecycle Theory is considered to be one of the first human resource management
theory. The companies who are at any stage of the life cycle are highly influenced by the external
environment as well as internal factors. The second theory among the human resource
management practice is strategic Contingency theory which involves the two concepts
“Contingency” and “Strategic” aspect of Contingency. General Systems Theory is one of the
most widely applied theories. The last theory is Transaction cost theory which is basically a part
of the agency theory and corporate governance. All these theories applied in a effective and
efficient manner could help the employers to contribute in offering training to the employees
(Safavi and Bouzari, 2019).
Managing for employee retention basically comprises of the different strategic actions for the
purpose to keep the employees focused and motivated in order to keep them full productive and
employed in order to offer benefit to the company. A well established employee retention
program plays a very important role in retaining and attracting the key employees and also
contributing towards reducing turnover. When it comes to employees leaving the organization, it
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can be due to various reasons which involves retirement, looking for a different job and due to
some issues related to work. An employee will stay within the company only when they are
offered good training, better pay and healthy work conditions (Pandita and Ray, 2018).
According to Forbes, there are various reasons such a planned change, employee dissatisfaction
and better alternatives. For employers, it is very important for them to contribute to the retention
which arises in all the HR areas and also the roles within the company for the purpose to work
together to implement and develop multifaceted retention strategies. For the purpose to keep the
employees stay in the company, it is very important to implement effective practices such as
recruitment practices which could strongly impact the turnover, socialization which generally
involves individualized and shared learning experiences which helps an individual to know each
other very well. The major and the most important practice involves development and training
because if the employees are not given right opportunities to update their skills it could lead to
more chances of them leaving the organization. It is very important to offer rewards and
compensation in order to keep the employee motivated. As per the several studies, it has been
determined that, engaged employees are satisfied with their jobs and also enjoy the working
environment (Rana and Sharma, 2019). According to the viewpoint of Parth Misra, Investing in
the employees is considered to be the smartest business decision. In reference to various
organizations, they do not take the training of the employees very seriously. According to IBM
study, it has been revealed that employees who do not have a feel that they are developing in the
organization are more likely to leave the company. Organizations have a thought that the training
of employees is a expense rather than an investment. According to AL Dea, the concept of
Career Development may have taken a back seat due to various emergencies and demands facing
organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic (Wiernik and Wille, 2018). In context to
organizations, a manager’s goal should be to get their team to achieve business outcomes with
the individual that they have. When it comes to career development, it is considered to be one of
the strategic weapon for the objective to tie the individual’s aspirations, goals and strengths for
their work to what needs to be done (Why Employers Need To Invest In Professional
Development In, 2019). As per the perspectives of the employees, career development is what
you expect and want from the employers and the organization. It is very important for the
manager to get their team to achieve business outcomes with the individuals they have. It is very
important to carry out steps in order to develop the career of employees. The first and the
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foremost step to schedule a quarterly meeting with the employee in relation to the career
development and carrying out effective decisions. In addition to that, it is very important to be
well clear about the expectations and the roles and making it clear to the employees. The most
common mistake done by the managers and employees is that they align the conversations of
career development with the performance evaluations. As a managers it is important to share
experiences and probably think about the career development (Stone, Cox and Gavin, 2020).
CONCLUSION
From the above essay, it can be concluded that investing the time in employee’s career
development could be highly beneficial for both the company and individual employee.
When it comes to Talented Employees, it is considered to be one of the most important and
the essential factor in the ability of the business to operate in a effective manner. With the
help of positive change it can result in proactively engaging with the employees in their
career development. Therefore, it is very important for the managers to realise that career
management of employees is an investment not an expense for the company. It is important
for the organizations to make big investment in workers and offer best training to their
employees. It is very important for the company’s managers to keep investing in the career
management of the employees as the talent employees are the assets and important factor for
the success of the organization and smooth operations.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Greenhaus, J.H., Callanan, G.A. and Godshalk, V.M., 2018. Career management for life.
Routledge.
De Oliveira, L.B., Cavazotte, F. and Alan Dunzer, R., 2019. The interactive effects of
organizational and leadership career management support on job satisfaction and turnover
intention. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 30(10), pp.1583-1603.
Chang, W., Busser, J. and Liu, A., 2020. Authentic leadership and career satisfaction: the
meditating role of thriving and conditional effect of psychological contract
fulfillment. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(6), pp.2117-
2136.
Safavi, H.P. and Bouzari, M., 2019. The association of psychological capital, career adaptability
and career competency among hotel frontline employees. Tourism management perspectives, 30,
pp.65-74.
Pandita, D. and Ray, S., 2018. Talent management and employee engagement–a meta-analysis of
their impact on talent retention. Industrial and Commercial Training.
Rana, G. and Sharma, R., 2019. Emerging human resource management practices in Industry
4.0. Strategic HR Review.
Wiernik, B.M. and Wille, B., 2018. Careers, career development and career management. The
SAGE handbook of industrial, work and organizational psychology: Managerial psychology and
organizational approaches, pp.547-585.
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Stone, R.J., Cox, A. and Gavin, M., 2020. Human resource management. John Wiley & Sons.
Online
6 Reasons You Need to Invest in Employee Development Now, 2020. [Online] Available Through
< https://post.edu/blog/heres-investing-employee-development/>
Why Employers Need To Invest In Professional Development In , 2019. [Online] Available
Through <https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2019/05/09/why-
employers-need-to-invest-in-professional-development-in-2019/?sh=30cfb2a86d12
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