Effective career planning and performance development depends on a strong partnership between the employee and the organization. Employees must ‘own’ and be responsible for their own careers and performance. Organizations must provide the appropriate tools and infrastructure (e.g. career maps) to support employees in attaining their performance and career goals. Doing so, will ensure that there is an alignment of skills and abilities of employees with the needs of the organization.

At HRSG, we design career development programs and tools that empower employees to further their learning and careers. These include:

Self-assessment –typically consists of a competency-based questionnaire that is completed by the employee. Based on the results of the self-assessment, the employee develops a learning plan, usually in cooperation with the supervisor, to address areas for development / improvement. This process is a user-directed, confidential method for employees to evaluate their own performance and assess strengths and areas for development for the employee’s current job, or for another job or career field in which the employee would like to work. HRSG can develop a customized self-assessment tool (automated or paper-based) or offer a ready-to-use tool based on a generic competency dictionary.

Competency-based Performance Feedback – supports career development and management by guiding employees’ training and development to cater to the requirements of their current position as well as their career aspirations within the organization. HRSG has expertise in the development of performance management systems for organizations of all sizes.

Aptitude, Personality and Interest Assessments – are helpful in guiding individuals who are considering their aptitude and interests in pursuing different career options, or in determining how they may work more effectively within the organization. Examples include the Strong Vocational Assessment Inventory, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and assessments of Emotional Quotient (EQ).

Developmental Guides - provide employees with a valuable tool to assist in planning their learning and development. Structured guides help employees to evaluate their learning objectives and determine the best approach to achieving these objectives. They also provide a detailed process for planning the individual steps that will be involved in achieving development and measuring progress against the plan.

Competency Based Development Catalogues - detail learning and development tips and activities for all of the competencies used by an organization. A competency based development catalogue is an accompaniment to all forms of assessment and the developmental guide. It typically includes courses, lists of literature, links to on-line resources, multi-media learning resources and on-the-job developmental activities. By consulting a competency based development catalogue, employees can obtain tips and ideas for targeted development of a competency or specific behaviour that relates to their current position or other career options within the organization. Learning catalogues are often linked to on-line self-assessment results or multi-source assessment processes to assist employees in developing learning plans to address performance gaps or to further their careers.

Learning Profiles - define the study program an individual needs to pursue to work towards a particular role.

Career architecture – is a map that outlines the relationship between various careers within an organization (i.e. the progression between and among careers). It identifies both technical and non-technical career streams and is supported by competency profiles that identify the experience and competencies required for different roles. A Career Architecture also identifies the potential horizontal career paths that support the development of specific competencies within a career. This recognizes the importance of career development not only for the purpose of progression vertically (up the ladder) but also horizontally.