Chapter 15

Chapter 15 provided an overview of how career development programs are initiated and carried out in business environments. In this type of corporate setting, career development seems to fall under the umbrella of industrial psychology, which focuses more on situational variables and adjustment as opposed to the development of the individual which is the focus of vocational psychology. It seems this individual approach that would be more effective; however, businesses often rely on models and generic approaches to ease the implementation process and to ensure their message is heard by many people. The chapter also listed methods for collecting relevant data and evaluating the effectiveness of these programs.

Businesses, understandably, are about money and increasing the bottom line; however, I do not think that this requires managers and CEOs to always make “business” decisions. Too often, company leaders implement programs that their employees cannot relate to or respect because the end goal seems to be about profits instead of the people doing the work. Brown mentions that due to their demanding schedule, sales staff would be unable to attend career development workshops, and instead could still receive the lessons through workbooks and DVDs. If salesmen and women are so busy that they cannot attend a workshop, then it seems unlikely that they will be motivated to watch work-related DVDs in their spare time. Through personal experience at various jobs I can say that corporate videos are not entertaining and usually unpleasant to watch. This is such a typical corporate solution to a problem and illustrates the often impractical nature of certain policies and procedures. The whole idea of corporate culture does not seem to be beneficial to personal growth and development, which from a clinical psychology perspective is disappointing. From what I have witnessed first-hand and heard from others, employees in a typical office setting are intimidated by their superiors, constantly jockeying for position for future promotions, and generally unhappy with their work situation. Based on this statement, it seems that career development programs would be very beneficial to employees; however, in my opinion, the programs need to be client-centered, and run by an external organization. An internal career development program, even if it is designed well, will still be influenced by the company leaders which could compromise the effectiveness of the program. Having an outside company provide career development services, with guaranteed confidentiality, would be the best case scenario. That way, the employees can be more honest with the counselor which should lead to better results.

References

Brown, D. (2012).  Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.).  New York: Pearson Education, Inc.