Managing Career Development in the Not for Profit Sector

This paper provides a report on a pilot study that was conducted to inform a DBA research project. It will investigate employee perceptions of their career development in the not-for-profit (NFP) sector. Theoretical and empirically based literature searches were conducted on career development for this study. Some researchers argue that the old career model (which involves an employee working for an organisation and committed to the organisation and in turn, the organisation offers the employee job security and career progression) has been changing towards a new career concept.1 This suggests that individual employees rather than the organisation are taking responsibility for their own career development. Others authors have maintained that this new career concept is not universally conclusive.2 Despite the growing debate about the changing nature of career and career development, empirical qualitative studies seeking to ascertain employee perceptions of career development in the not-for-profit sector are still very limited. This preliminary research of employee perception of their career development in the NFP sector shows that the presence of employee training and career management systems positively enhances employee career development and their commitment to the organisation. From a social exchange perspective, employees generally favour an organisation that provides something valuable to them.3 As a result, an organisation that provides support for employee career development creates a positive and supportive image of the organisation to the employees. Work performance also improves and staff turnover is reduced. There are several areas that management can turn their attention to in order to support employee career development within their organisation: • Offer training in new skills and knowledge to all staff, so that employees can become ‘fit for new jobs’ laterally as well as vertically. • Develop and implement learning that takes place throughout the employment period of employees. • Develop cross-team and boundary learning with other organisations and professions to support employee career development. • Share visions of the organisation’s future plans and development with employees. • Introduce career planning systems to include succession planning. • Provide positive career development within an organisation to help management to address issues such as affirmative action, productivity, management selection and equal opportunity. The advantages for the individuals are an increased sense of self-fulfilment, confidence, and a higher degree of ‘marketability’ both within the organisation and the external labour market.