Growth is expected. We are born and grown to what we are now naturally by going through several processes. That’s the first growth cycle we experience.
Our In-born mentality pushes us to grow in every direction. Knowledge growth, muscle growth, maturity, and at some point career growth.
Having a career naturally triggers an expectation for that career to grow. We expect that we will not remain in the same place as our career starting point and that we will be somewhere different in the future.
We expect that we will be at a higher position or a different company or holding a different role. We expect that attaining these goals will give us a sense of achievement. These sets of achievements are what we can then associate as growth in our careers.
Somehow, we normally spend at least twenty years in our formal education and, in developed countries, hundreds of thousands of money. We carefully choose our places of employment and invest significant time and effort in training within them.
However, some of us commit ourselves in a deliberate, determined search for those wise individuals who, through their inspiration and advice, can literally make us new.
Organizations can participate and should actively be part of defining their staff’s career plans. Successful organizations are those who have an alignment between their growth plans and those of their staff.
The more an organization dedicates towards creating clear career paths for its staff the more it can actually envision its own growth. These are some difference between their perspectives towards growth.
- Corporates plans and follows development programs via Training
- Individuals tend to develop their skills in order to stay ahead in the competitive world
| Basis for comparison | Training | Development |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Training is a process of learning in which people get an opportunity to develop skill, competency, and knowledge as per the job requirement. | Development is a process of education, which is concerned with the overall growth of the individual. |
| Term | Short term | Long-term |
| Focus on | Present | Future |
| Orientation | Job oriented | Career-oriented |
| Motivation | Trainer | Self |
| Objective | To improve the work performances of the employees. | To prepare employees for future challenges. |
| Number of Individuals | Many | Only one |
However, the career plan and its success is still ultimately the responsibility of the employee. Each person should be proactive in planning and executing his or her career plan.
Well! Having a plan with us , it’s not enough. Individuals must be prepared to ask what they need to do to achieve their goals and they must actually go ahead and do it.
The main takeaway here is that each person must take full ownership of his or her career. They must acknowledge that they are the ultimate driver, not the circumstances and not the organization they work for (or wish they worked for…). Once that is acknowledged, constant proactivity can be realized.
Mantras for self-growth:
- Be consistent
- Be patient
- Write a personal brand statement
- Share your knowledge
- Be authentic
- Compete with yourself not others
- Don’t be afraid to chase.
