What is holistic career development

Change is good, right? Sometimes, and other times… not so much. In the world of work, being flexible and open to different circumstances is the norm nowadays. The workplace is not what it was 10… even five years ago. And nor are employees.

There’s no job for life now and Gen Z workers expect different things from their career, not necessarily spending their entire working life with the same company or even in the same career. It’s time for a shake up and time to embrace a holistic career development approach.

A Personnel Today report found that “49% of UK employees are keen to change their career but don’t know which path to take, with one in five spending time each week considering their career plans.”

For businesses and HR departments this presents a challenge, but also an opportunity. How do organisations support their employees’ career growth so it aligns individual potential with salient business needs?

That’s where holistic career development comes in, as it takes a more human-centred, strategic approach. 

The word “holistic”, as defined by the Cambridge dictionary, is, “dealing with or treating the whole of something or someone and not just a part.”

In the world of career development, this translates as organisations supporting the employee and their career trajectory from every angle. This includes:

• Skills and professional development – covering technical skills, leadership attributes, and soft skills, also known as transferable skills.
• Employee wellbeing – including a sense of purpose, mental health, physical health, and the achievement of a work-life balance.
• Personal autonomy – where each individual within an organisation gets the chance to shape their own path.
• Supportive work culture – providing career guidance, an environment that values growth, and a manager that has employees’ backs.
• Remaining flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances – so there is the opportunity for internal change and promotions, while having the foresight to predict outside shifts, such as the surge in AI or the switch to jobs in the ever-expanding sustainable and tech industries.
• Providing structure and clarity – meaning there is a clear career framework in place, alongside mentoring, feedback, and positive career conversations.

It’s clear that holistic career development is not just about promotions or obligatory training – it’s so much more comprehensive than that.

Looking after staff in a holistic way is never going to be an approach that is shunned or dismissed out of hand. Helping employees on their way, either within the company or externally, cannot be under-estimated.

Upskilling employees is already a priority for HR departments, with 61% of professionals upskilling or reskilling within the last year, according to a survey carried out by CIPD and Workday. Upskilling ensures that each profession is fit for future change, while remaining responsive to challenges faced by employers and staff. Over a third of those surveyed (34%) had upskilled due to immediate business needs, while 22% were more forward-thinking and developing their skills for a longer-term gain.

Pursuing holistic career development is also a wise move for a business. It decreases the cost of recruitment and training, because if you retain your staff then there is no need to hire others, thus ensuring that these valuable skills are kept within the company. It additionally reduces the chance of employee burnout, with a report from Grid showing that almost half of employers (47%) report that supporting staff wellbeing boosts productivity.

The benefits of looking after staff in a complete way are fourfold:

• Increased satisfaction
• Lower stress levels
• Improved staff engagement
• Better sense of purpose

For businesses, it gives a boost as well due to:

1. Improved employer brand – with the company being seen as a place of work that dedicates itself to developing staff and offering clarity on career development.
2. Better return on investment (ROI) – due to lower recruitment costs and reduced downtime, which leads to higher productivity.
3. Strategic agility – ensuring the company is well prepared for technology changes and a potential shift in skill requirements
4. Greater productivity – research from October 2024 states that, “improving employee wellbeing and commitment could boost productivity among workers in the UK by £34 billion,” and highlights that employees with low levels of commitment and wellbeing contribute to losses of “up to £10,500 per year, which is 2.5 times higher than employees with high wellbeing and commitment, whose losses are estimated at £4,200 per year.”
5. Increased retention – providing a supportive work environment, where employees flourish, reduces the frustration and attrition that leads to workers leaving for other roles.

The key elements of a framework that encourages holistic career development are as follows:

• Increasing the frequency of conversations and 1-2-1s with employees about their career and where they see it taking them, instead of just an annual catch-up.
• Providing transparency around internal mobility with job ladders and career frameworks that are user-friendly.
• Establishing clear performance expectations.

• Connecting this with the needs of the business by identifying skills gaps and what constitutes a future strategy.
• Delivering continuous and customised training, learning programmes, workshops, and digital skills.

• Providing flexible policies such as remote working, hybrid working, and mental health support.
• Ensuring that career development is focused on having a sustainable career and is not just performance focused.

• Making sure there is always clear information provided on what opportunities are available, such as promotions and internal job criteria.
• Concentrating on clear onboarding and detailed support for those staff at the beginning of their career.

• Using valid data and statistics to track progress through employee surveys, retention rates, promotions, and turnover figures.

• Modelling career development, with leaders being heavily involved and accountability at the top level.
• Embedding a framework for talent management and retention.

Challenges:

• The cost of programmes and budget constraints.
• Time issues and the capability of managers, who may lack the training required for extensive career coaching.
• Company inactivity, where the existing hierarchy or promotional structures aren’t flexible enough to incorporate any changes.
• Unpredictability externally, for example due to an AI influx or economic downturns.

Combat these challenges by:

• Starting off small or with a pilot scheme, to see how it pans out initially, then scaling up once it’s seen to work.
• Applying data to show ROI and cost savings.
• Giving managers the tools to embrace career coaching.
• Using external experts, such as outplacement providers, for guidance and support.

It’s clear that embedding a holistic career development approach is central to improving retention, performance, and workplace adaptability.

Now is the time to audit how this is done currently within an organisation, actively listen to what employees are saying, set up comprehensive frameworks, invest in line manager training, and integrate all of this with the wellbeing of the workforce.

All of this can be done with the help of outplacement services, such as Careerminds.

If your organisation is considering outplacement services, contact us at the earliest opportunity to find out more.