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Career Development Approaches

The document discusses five approaches to career development: the Matrix approach, the Ladder approach, the entrepreneurial approach, the Network approach, and the Portfolio approach. It recommends adopting a combination of the Matrix, Ladder, Network, and Portfolio approaches. The Matrix approach involves developing diverse skills that are transferable across industries. The Ladder approach provides goals and benchmarks for professional growth within a role. The Network approach is important for making connections, gaining insights, and building skills and confidence. The Portfolio approach highlights accomplishments and skills through work samples and experiences. Together, these four approaches can lead to success, productivity, and ongoing development.

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Mayssa Ben Abd Allah
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30 views

Career Development Approaches

The document discusses five approaches to career development: the Matrix approach, the Ladder approach, the entrepreneurial approach, the Network approach, and the Portfolio approach. It recommends adopting a combination of the Matrix, Ladder, Network, and Portfolio approaches. The Matrix approach involves developing diverse skills that are transferable across industries. The Ladder approach provides goals and benchmarks for professional growth within a role. The Network approach is important for making connections, gaining insights, and building skills and confidence. The Portfolio approach highlights accomplishments and skills through work samples and experiences. Together, these four approaches can lead to success, productivity, and ongoing development.

Uploaded by

Mayssa Ben Abd Allah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Career Development Approaches

Nowadays, the context in which


career decisions are commonly
made is dynamic: occupations
are changing rapidly, society is
becoming increasingly complex and
multicultural and technology is thriving. Hence, employees need to plan
for diverging rather than converging career paths. That is why we should
be aware of the importance of the five career development approaches
when selecting our career path. These approaches are:
1. The Matrix approach
2. The Ladder approach
3. The entrepreneurial approach
4. The Network approach
5. The Portfolio approach

Personally speaking, I would choose four approaches, which are the Matrix,
the Ladder, the Network and the Portfolio because I believe that these
approaches complement each other and should be perceived as a harmonious
relationship that will lead to more success and productivity.
First of all, the Matrix approach which is identified as a combination of
different skills to serve multiple interests and hold various roles will not only
distinguish you from your colleagues but it will help you also to be in a state
of constant development and improvement since an important part of this
approach will be expanding your job skills especially when we realize that
new strategies and technologies relevant to every career are being introduced
regularly so it pushes the employee to stay up to date on industry
developments .This will lead us to adopt an ongoing learning process in
which the future employee is striving for continuous personal development
and staying motivated to explore new skills and discover his hidden talents.
For example, along with my communication and marketing skills, I would
like to have training sessions in digital
marketing, graphic design, community
management and photography since I
am talented in it.
What is more crucial about the Matrix
approach is that many skills are transferable i.e. they can be used across a wide
range of industries and functional areas. For instance, the skills mentioned above in
the previous example (communication, digital marketing...) are valued in all roles
making them highly transferable. Furthermore, the Matrix approach enhances
employee’s flexibility through the different departments and allows adaptability to a
wide variety of circumstances that can arise in a project's execution. Finally yet
importantly, it would be much more beneficial for a company to hire one employee
having a diversified set of skills than to recruit a whole team.
The future employee could also adopt the Ladder approach which is defined as
“A series of steps within a job classification, each with increasing responsibility
as expertise is developed, allowing for
recognition of professional growth. The
steps in the career ladder may require

competition for advancement”.


For an employee, the Ladder path helps
him set targets for himself throughout his
career; evaluate himself continually and develop new skills required at the time
of transition from one position to a higher. This career path carries the time line,
the intermediate goals and the skills, competencies and qualifications. It thus
serves as a guide map. This approach aims at encouraging, assisting staff to
further their development and rewarding them for their commitment to
professional growth and excellence without moving to a new career path. In my
opinion, the Ladder approach symbolizes the employee’s ongoing journey to
reach a precise destination.
Apart from these two approaches, we have the Network approach also, which is
defined as “All the activities in which employees engage to establish business-
related relationships with like-minded professionals. As we connect through
more comprehensive networking opportunities, it is timely to consider the vital
role networking plays in the success professionals experience in their careers.”
According to one global study from LinkedIn, 80 per cent of professionals
consider networking important to career success. The survey also found that 70
per cent of respondents had been hired by an organisation where they had an
existing connection. Expanding your contacts can open doors to new
opportunities for business, career advancement, and personal growth. In fact,
exchanging information, advice, and support on challenges, experiences, and
goals is a key benefit of networking because it allows you to gain new insights
that you may not have otherwise thought of. Moreover, discussing common
challenges and opportunities opens the door to valuable suggestions and
guidance. By continually putting yourself out there and meeting new people,
you are effectively stepping outside your comfort zone and building invaluable
social skills and self-confidence that you can take with you anywhere.
Eventually, future employees should take into consideration that we are living in
the era of the virtual and the visual where the image is a significant technique of
persuasion. This will pave the way for the last approach, which is Portfolio: “A
living and changing collection of records that reflect your accomplishments,
skills, experiences, and attributes. It highlights and displays samples of some of
your best work, along with life experiences, values and achievements. The
personal information that you incorporate into your portfolio can greatly reflect
on your abilities as an individual as well as become a useful tool in marketing
yourself to employers and corporations. A portfolio does not take the place of a
resume, but it can accentuate your abilities and what you can offer in the chosen
field.
Whichever approach the employee chooses, “Career development impacts his
engagement, retention and the strength of his value proposition. It also drives
key talent processes such as learning, development, performance management,
talent management and career pathing” according to Brandon Hall Group’s
2018 Career Development Study.
Written by Mayssa Ben Abdallah

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