Recent research by the Cranet Survey on International Strategic HR Management has compared the career development methods used across a number of European countries and has found some marked differences.
UK organisations most commonly use project teamwork, special tasks to facilitate learning, or cross-functional tasks to develop their managers’ careers.
In comparison, Swedish and French companies are much more likely to use high-flier schemes than the UK. Also, French organisations are more likely to use planned job rotation and German firms more commonly use succession planning.
These differences in managerial development are particularly interesting given recent trends for recruiting managers from overseas, as it suggests that the experience of managers from certain countries may be very different from home-grown managers.
With regard to non-managerial career development, UK firms most commonly use project teamwork. These organisations are much less likely to use experience schemes, networking, cross-functional/organisational tasks or special tasks to stimulate learning. However, Swedish, French and German organisations commonly use all of these methods.
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It would appear that UK organisations generally use fewer methods overall than those in other European countries when developing non-managerial careers.
www.cranet.org, 01234 751122