Companies should be willing to see their employees excelling and improving in their careers because no employee stays with a company forever, employees evolve and grow personally. That is why companies should take a big role or even responsibility in helping their employees to grow and to pave their way to successful careers.

Benefits of participating in employees’ career development

For Esther Mbabazi, a Human Resources specialist based in Kigali says that 100 per cent of employees who are helped by their managers and bosses in their career development turn out to uncover hidden potential that they never knew they had.

"When a manager openly discusses with their employees, they may find out so many ambitions that the employees have, so many passions and that can even work in favor for the company also, and they can discover a new talent that may be useful in the workplace”.

She also adds that "For example in some workplaces it can be very hard to replace some positions or to fill in them but when managers openly discuss with their employees about their career they may even find out that they can fill that position”.

Mbabazi stresses that even though in some workplaces, and companies it can be hard to get employees to commit and to be engaged in their careers, listening to them can push them to start being engaged and committed, because they know they have support from their leaders and that they are listened to.

Helene Mbabazi, an employee at Right Venture Creative, a local creative company, says that when leaders are involved in the career development of an employee, they develop a greater sense of creating more realistic career development goals.

"An employee who has a goal in their career always wants development for themselves and for their company because they want to be successful in their careers they also want to see their company wining, as it is the way to their long-term success, so when they are given support in their career development they also get encouraged to even create on more realistic goals to achieve and to not sleep on them,” she says.

Mbabazi explains furthermore, that giving such support to employees makes them feel valued, hence increasing their productivity and morale to perform their daily tasks.

How to support career development

Cedric Ishimwe, a business owner in Kigali, says that to offer support as a leader, the leader should first be aware of which kind of employees are in the workplace or in the company.

"A manager should understand the people he or she is working with, listen to them, and have a full engagement in wanting to know them because if the leader does it for the sake of supporting, there will be no result or improvement,” he says.

Ishimwe also explains that a leader serves as a role model to employees, "When a leader gradually takes the initiative to always take the first step in participating in career development opportunities, it opens the employees’ minds and helps them understand that their leader is with them on the journey of career development,” she says.

Ishimwe also suggests that managers, create an annual individual plan that consists evaluation of each employee in the workplace, and make sure to attend to each and every employee in the workplace.

He also adds that managers should encourage other staff to do so.