Discussion

Developing Personal Skills and Competencies In his book Good to Great, author Jim Collins offers us his “bus analogy.” In one sense, recruiting is “getting the right people on the bus” and career management is “getting them in the right seats.” Many employers do not follow the textbook’s perfect model of managing their employees’ careers. The reality is that many people must be very proactive in this area. Being passive about one’s career doesn’t usually produce good results. This chapter’s appendix, “Personal Career Development,” is a great source for helping you understand the kinds of things you need to do in order to have a successful career. Watch and listen to some of the messages on Jim Collins’ website: FIRST WHO, THEN WHAT For HR professionals to assist employees in achieving their career objectives, they should have an understanding of what one should do to prepare for a career. Knowledge, skills, and attitudes, as well as career aspirations, change as one matures. People appear to go through different career stages. Address the following questions:  In your opinion, what competencies are needed to succeed?  What characteristics of an applicant would you look for if you were a HR manager?  Do you personally exhibit these characteristics?  How will you have to work to hone these skills to get ahead in the business world?