Page 205 - DCOM102_DMGT101_PRINCIPLES_AND_PRACTICES_OF_MANAGEMENT
P. 205
Unit 11: Performance Appraisal and Career Strategy
Developing Career Paths Notes
Career paths are logical mapping out of jobs, which represent a potential progression tract that
an employee may follow over time. Such mapping of job progressions is done in the form of
career ladders by clubbing together similar lines of occupations in job families. Job families are
groups of homogenous jobs, i.e., jobs with similar characteristics. An illustrative model of
career paths for marketing jobs is presented in figure, which shows a simple job ladder:
General Manager (Sales)
Sales Manager Sales Manager
Domestic Sales Institutional Sales
Officer Officer
Domestic Sales Institutional Sales
Executive
Domestic Sales or
Institutional Sales
However, in all cases, career paths are not so simple. For example, in manufacturing jobs having
multiple feeder posts down the level, career paths are more complex than the earlier one.
In above figure, an illustrative model of career paths for production department of a
manufacturing unit is presented. For successful mapping out of career paths, at the outset, it is
essential to identify the job families. After such identification, requisite skills for all the positions
along these paths need to be determined. This helps in developing such skills in employees
where these are deficient and selecting the person with such skills for different positions in the
organisation. However, the most distinguishing feature of career paths is that it need not always
be linear or straight. Similarly, it also does not always indicate upward movement in the
organisation’s hierarchy. Some organisations often redesignate employees down he level only
to prepare them for future promotion.
Example: Highly skilled workmen may be redesignated as master craftsmen in a
manufacturing organisation without any effect on their pay packets only to elevate them gradually
to supervisory positions later. Thus, lateral movement within the levels is also a distinguishing
feature of the career paths.
LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 197
