Career progression in today's environment

During the last ten or fifteen years, there have been intense alterations in the manner in which people talk, connect, cooperate and perform operations. But when it comes to career advancement, they seem to get entwined in a fallacy that it implies moving up in organisational hierarchy to occupy a coveted chair in a plush office.  The fact is that career progression does not necessarily imply moving up. Even moving sideways and also occasionally down also helps in career advancement and attaining career objectives. Therefore, it is no surprise that career progression is a monumental trial of strength and capacity as also a cause for disenchantment to a large number of people. 

You need to admit various new parameters of the working environment. The concept of striking a balance between work requirements and personal obligations is no more valid. The wide space that divided the two hitherto fore has reduced drastically due to technological advancements and foolproof means of communications.  With resource crunches, there has been a diminution of pecking orders. The pyramid has become steeper than ever before and more or less rendered to a sheer flake. So where is the ladder that one aspires to climb? Also, the foreseeable advancement from one instituted point to another has resulted in new-fangled career configurations. These are more adaptable and less rigid with a marked approachability as far as organizational and individual requirements are concerned. Taking a note of this, one cannot subscribe to restrictive career planning.

Men and women have come to realize that they cannot eat and have the cake too. Hence, they are more than willing to forfeit significant aspects of their personal life for a job. They are progressively agreeing that it is their work that has to be kept going. And for that, it is essential that you develop yourself by understanding how careers come to pass. Career progression is no longer about being regarded as a senior with a larger strength of people to administer, having more responsibilities and drawing greater remunerations. Today, it is not about moving vertically but is all about moving ‘to the fore’ and ‘on the way to’.

Since there is no career ladder resting against the wall in the true sense of the word, career progression can be achieved by moving up, laterally and even downwards. In actuality, the entire process of career progression has become like a fence-negotiating exercise; the fence is spread-out and with gaps that can be traveled around by following many routes and relished as one approaches his or her visualization of triumph.

It is therefore, inescapable for you to be clear about your perception of success, the type of work that you ought to be doing, the objectives that you wish to attain and the skills that you have or are willing to acquire. In case, you can arrive at your answers with ease, the organization with which you are associated with is indeed good.

You need to understand what career progression means to you and how it can enunciate success for you; it is only then that you will be able to discern if you are ‘moving to the fore’ or ‘on the way to’. You should introspect to discern what precisely you seek since there is no specific and off-the-shelf readily available technique or recipe for your career advancement. In addition, you should also have a clear perception of where you envision yourself in the years to come and the method you intend adopting for reaching there to include the organization that will facilitate the same.

The above notwithstanding, a vertical growth is also necessary for career progression. And from the viewpoint of all employers, growth is possible only if there is a bank of people available to take on higher responsibilities. But given the environment that exists in most organisations, this may not be possible for everyone to achieve. Hence a lateral side-stepping is also a ‘move forward’ and should not be seen as being relegated. It is the knowledge expansion that is important and which should be seen in the correct spirit; and hence even if it entails a downward move, there is no harm in it sine the long-term advantages could be immense.

The career path today is like a busy road. You will have to take turns left or right, change lanes and even take a pause to be safe so that you are able to reach your destination. You should not forget that the road to career success entails taking resolute actions; any obduracy to remain on a specific path should be shed and instead, obduracy in the pursuit of your objectives be maintained.