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Develop an Integrated Career Pathing Framework

Foster career growth and mobility through clearly defined career paths.

  • Career pathing initiatives frequently stall due to their resource-intensive nature and the challenge of securing sustained leadership support. This leads to difficulty in demonstrating a return on the investment of career pathing.
  • Organizations struggle with developing career paths that are clearly defined, relevant, and integrated across functions and job families.
  • Ensuring career paths remain flexible and adaptable is challenging as organizations continuously evolve. Roles transform, new roles emerge, and role mobility criteria shift rapidly.

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  • Get on-demand project support
  • Get advice, coaching, and insight at key project milestones
  • Go through a Guided Implementation to help you get through your project
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Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • A clear and transparent career pathing framework empowers employees to seek growth opportunities within their own organizations. When prioritizing internal development, organizations enable employees to achieve their career aspirations while maintaining a competitive advantage.

Impact and Result

  • Prioritizing a career pathing framework supports managers with conducting development conversations and matching employees with available career opportunities. This reduces turnover, increases retention, and enables internal mobility and critical role succession.
  • A transparent career pathing framework provides employees with insight into opportunities available at the organization to support their career growth and development, leading to a more engaged and motivated workforce.

Develop an Integrated Career Pathing Framework Research & Tools

2. Build the career pathing framework

Map the career paths visually for prioritized functions by defining levels and assigning role mobility criteria.

Create a Clearly Defined Promotion Process and Policy
Case Studies: Develop an Integrated Career Pathing Framework

3. Launch, monitor, and iterate the career pathing framework

Integrate the career pathing framework into supporting HR practices to plan, market, measure, and monitor success.

Support Employees in Crafting Their IDPs Learning Guide for First-Time Leaders
Training Deck: Equip Managers to Engage in Career Development Discussions
Microlearning: Goal Management Guide
Standard Focus Group Guide

Career Path

Please to access this McLean Academy course
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How to complete this course:

Use these videos, along with the Project Blueprint deck above, to gain an understanding of the subject. Start with the Introduction, then move through each of the Course Modules. At the end of each Module, you will be required to complete a short test to demonstrate your understanding. You will complete this course when you have completed all of the course tests.

  • Number of Course Modules: 5
  • Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hours

Learning Outcome

Define the following steps in career pathing: determine goals of a career path program, identify types of career moves to highlight and how to feature them, and set a plan to launch and maintain the program.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

  • Determine the career path landscape in their organization.
  • Understand the five types of career movements.
  • Explore collateral, tools, and programs that support career moves.
  • Develop a plan to launch and measure the career path program.

All of our McLean Academy courses have closed captioning available. To turn this function on, click on the C.C. in the bottom right corner of the video screen and click "English" on the options that pop up.

Course Modules

Now playing

Career Path - Introduction: Learn how to future-proof your workforce by enabling employees to drive their own careers

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Career Path - Module 1: Determine the career path landscape

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Career Path - Module 2: Understand the five types of career movements

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Career Path - Module 3: Career path program options

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Career Path - Module 4: Launch, measure, and maintain your career path program

Develop an Integrated Career Pathing Framework preview picture

About McLean & Company

McLean & Company is an HR research and advisory firm providing practical solutions to human resources challenges via executable research, tools, diagnostics, and advisory services that have a clear and measurable impact on your business.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your HR problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

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Get the help you need in this 3-phase advisory process. You'll receive 7 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.

Guided Implementation 1: Determine the scope
  • Call 1: Discuss scope and provide guidance on collecting and analyzing data to identify pain points and implications for career pathing.
  • Call 2: Determine functions to prioritize using analysis from pain points, establish a project team, and define objectives and metrics to measure the effectiveness of the framework.

Guided Implementation 2: Build the career pathing framework
  • Call 1: Review the key factors needed for an integrated career pathing framework and discuss job levels and role mobility criteria.
  • Call 2: Select role mobility criteria and assign levels to define career paths. Explore alternate paths through dual career ladders and lattices to map the career pathing framework.
  • Call 3: Review the mapped career pathing framework and validate it by obtaining feedback from key contributors to ensure its accuracy. Adjust the framework based on feedback.

Guided Implementation 3: Launch, monitor, and iterate the career pathing framework
  • Call 1: Integrate the framework with other HR programs, set a transparency level, and decide on action items and communications for launch.
  • Call 2: Determine the resources HR will be providing to managers to market the value of the career pathing framework and plan to measure and monitor the success.

Contributors

  • Chelsea C. Williams, Founder & CEO, Reimagine Talent Co.
  • Dejana Corovic, Senior Manager, Compensation, McMaster University
  • Jeremy Hannah, Founder, Career Coach & Global Talent Management Leader, Viante Talent Solutions
  • Jo Weech, Head of People Operations, Exemplary Consultants Global
  • Julie Landry, Deputy Director, Workforce Innovation and Development, City of Houston, Department of Aviation
  • Stephanie Licata, M.A., A.C.C., Leadership & Learning Consultant
  • Steven Ransone, VP of Organizational Capability, White Lodging

Related Content: Internal Talent Mobility

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