Exploring employees' experiences of career guidance in the financial services sector in South Africa

Abstract

The current business environment is highly competitive and there is a need for employees to constantly develop their skills to keep up with the changes that arises. Therefore, to keep up with these changes employees often rely on career guidance methods offered by their organisations to improve or gain new skills and grow in their professions. Considering this, organisations tend to implement different career guidance methods for their employees in order to improve their skills and assist them in their career paths. However, the application of these methods tends to have various impacts towards employees and as such employees react differently to them. The objective of this study was to explore employees’ experiences of career guidance in the financial services sector in South Africa. The effectiveness of the career guidance interventions currently implemented in the financial services sector in South Africa was also explored. This research study made use of a qualitative research design based on the social constructivism paradigm. The researcher followed a phenomenological approach to reach the objectives of this research study. Participants involved in this research study (N=30) consisted of employees working in the financial services sector in South Africa within the Gauteng and North West Provinces. Data was gathered by means of semi-structured interviews using platforms such as Zoom/Skype. The thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Themes, sub-themes, and characteristics were extracted from the data and direct quotations of the participants’ responses. The results indicated that employees were aware of their positive and negative experiences regarding the career guidance methods offered by their organisations. As such, they were able to give an indication of these methods as well as the effectiveness and non-effectiveness of these methods. As such, they indicated the skills they acquired through the different career guidance methods implemented by their organisations. Furthermore, this study discusses the recommendations offered regarding career guidance as identified by the participants.