Career management for physicians and healthcare providers

In human resource management, people at work, career planning aims to identify the needs, the aspirations and the opportunities for individuals' career and the implementation of developing human resources programs to support that career.

It is a continuous process of discovery in which an individual slow develops his own occupational concept as a result of skills or abilities, needs, motivations and aspirations of his own value system.

Career planning is seen as a very systematic and comprehensive process of targeting career development and implementation of strategies, self-assessment and analysis of opportunities.

It must link individual needs and aspirations with organisational needs and opportunities. It has to evaluate, advise and inform its staff on career planning and should ensure individual development efforts with training and development programs.

The career planning process involves both the organisation and the individual responsibility.

The individuals must identify their aspirations and abilities, and through assessment and counselling to understand their needs of training and development.

The organisation needs to identify its needs and opportunities, to plan its employees and to ensure its staff the necessary information and appropriate training for career development into account the performance potential employees.

Faced with financial restrictions and limited resources, hospital organisation would benefit from the implementation of a comprehensive career development program for physicians and employees (career ladders, career paths, and management development) as part of a hospital's recruitment and retention strategic plan.

A dedicated career development plan has to meet strategic goals of the organisation. Hospitals who provide an opportunity for horizontal and vertical promotion and have clear development policies will be more successful in attracting and guiding high potential employees for providing high quality of care. Investments in career support programs and employee development programs are obligatory to meet the mission of the organisation and fit human capital to the organisational need and to contribute to the hospital organisation and its role for the community.

Empowered human resource management for their physicians as core-actors and their dedicated employees will provide the vital link between the organisation and its human capital as they search for ways to enhance its potentials and to create goals and opportunities and more over the best quality of care for the community.