Career Development Community of Practice

I had a long discussion with Aileen, a colleague and classmate, about a committee and community of practice she is involved in revolving around career development. It's a group of folks all working in career development and she is leading several efforts in that community such as organizing their national conference and leading several committees.

I wish I had read this post ten years ago. Back then I was a Dir. of Recruiting and Career Development and was involved with not only bringing in new folks to our organization but also helping those folks I brought in, and all of our existing employees, into a career development track appropriate for their work life. I made a lot of this up from scratch. 

I created all sorts of career tracks and training and tried to institute the program myself. Sadly it all fell apart when our organization merged with a larger organization, but there is definitely a need for better career development solutions in the industry I support and it would have been great to have a community of practice, online or not, that I could have leaned on to get help, advice, or trade ideas!

I'm also impressed with how you have taken a leading role in the community you mention. Stepping up to organize and lead different efforts shows that you have not only embraced the group, but you're taking an active leadership role. You ask about other communities, and I'm a part of several committees that could be considered communities of practice. 

Sadly, I've also found that I'm much more active in projects where I work alone rather than in groups, so being a part of communities or committees, is never my first option. Still, it's nice to have others around and to have support and ideas from similar and like-minded people. 

What I find interesting about your question is one committee I am a part of and Industrial Cleaning Committee. In this committee, we try to push out training, promote our craft, develop more effective ways to develop workers, and promote the industry. This is a committee of like-minded folks and could definitely be called a community of practice. 

What's funny is that during Covid we had to go to a zoom monthly call, so we started going "digital." Now, this group is trying to claw back our membership by reversing the digital trend. It's a tough task. I find it interesting that in this community of practice we are seeing a reversal of the digital trend that was highlighted in our module's readings and seeing instead a need for working together in person.