Prepare the pulse of 2014 with what Executives felt in 2013

“How is your career and job this year?” has been the trigger to get a sense of what executive managers actually feel about their jobs. We gathered some interesting trends and forecasts for the year 2013 which spelt out the pulse of career planning and intent of top managers towards career succession. Over 1300 executives across India have contributed to these findings. 

Measuring the emotional quotient

In March 2013, career seekers who were looking for a change in job shared their pulse of for the year ahead. 34% of these senior level managers felt that “their jobs could have been better” and only 7% of them were “extremely happy with their jobs.” 43% of them have also expressed that they would tend to walk out of their current organizations if they do not have promising compensation and benefits to them. Ability to grow and work satisfaction were other two prime motivators for them quit their jobs. When it came to making a decision to stick on with the current job, respondents weighed work satisfaction, work and family culture almost equally as a reason to stay back.

Career building and succession planning

For 2013, respondents defined career growth as ‘moving to other roles/functions/positions within an organization’ and shied away from including pay hike in this new definition. This year also saw a shift in methods used to enhance one’s career within their organization. Managers started to focus on achieving KRAs to promote their career. 

Over half of these managers of also provided track record of being self-managers in climbing up the ladder. They have used little external assistance and secondary information to boost their career plans. These managers believe that people need to spend considerable amount of time and energy to plan their road ahead in building their career. However the gloomy side to this is that alumni networks have remained dormant while these groups are filled with great potential to help their clan towards career growth.

65% of these respondents welcomed continuous professional development (CPD) in the form of resume updates, training and career counseling. This number can be justified to learn that over 70% of them were either shifting their jobs or were going move into a new job very soon.

Road Ahead

In 2013, executives wanted to have a strong presence on job sites like Naukri, Monster and Head Honchos and also were keen on networking with HR consultants. The surprise element that remains unanswered for this year is how these managers are adopting the trending social tools to be hired and identified by top recruiters.

We would love to hear your opinion and predictions for the year 2014 and trends you may want to site out of your experience. To be a part of this year's survey tweet @optionsindia with a line '#2014HRsurvey by Options Executive Search'.