FEATURE ARTICLE
July 2003

Business and Industry
By Ron Elsdon

The major highlight since the last report was the successful convening of an evening meeting and panel discussion on May 14 in San Francisco exploring the subject of career development needs in organizations. This session was attended by an enthusiastic audience of about 50 people who first listened to four panelists:

Mickey Lukoff, General Manager, KGO Radio
Mike Normant, Director, Learning and Development, eBay
Karen Nickel, Director of Technical Recruiting, Charles Schwab
Bill Huffaker, Director of Human Resources, Cerus Corporation

These panelists addressed the following three questions:

• What is needed in organizations today to ensure that development of individual and workforce capabilities are well aligned to achieve organizational objectives?
  
• What skills, systems and processes are required to address these issues?
  
• What contributions do organizations seek from career development professionals to meet these needs?
  

This was followed by small group discussions addressing the following topics:

• What competencies, skills and experience of career development professionals best satisfy/address the organizational needs expressed by the panelists?
• How can career development professionals bridge the gap between organizational need and their service offerings?
• What would be your organizational career development dream job?
  

There was lively discussion about the need to frame career development competencies in the language of business, addressing not only the impact on individuals but also the organization. This session was intended to be the first in an ongoing discussion about how career development professionals can most effectively make a contribution in an organizational setting. Follow up is planned at the John F. Kennedy Summer Institute, and hopefully at ICDC (the International Career Development Conference, to be held in Oakland this November, www.careerccc.com).