Managing future career paths

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• managing future advancement paths of members of an organization, wherein
• the managing is performed using a competency management server,
• the competency management server comprises
• a central processing unit (CPU),
• an administrative definition component,
• a career path manager component, and
• an employee competency manager component,
• the organization has multiple position types that each have defined requirements,
• at least some of the position types comprise a position type network that specifies one or more next possible position types for each of at least some of the position types of the organization, and
• wherein the managing comprises:
• receiving an indication of a target position type for a member, the target position type distinct from a current position type for the member, wherein the receiving is performed using the employee competency manager component,
• automatically identifying at least one possible advancement path from the current position type to the target position type based at least in part on the position type network, each identified advancement path including a series of one or more position types distinct from the current position type such that each position type in each series is one of the specified next possible position types for a previous position type in that series and/or for the current position type, wherein the identifying the at least one possible advancement path is performed using the career path management component, and
• for each of at least one of the identified possible advancement paths,
• for each position type along the included series for the identified possible advancement path other than a first of those position types, automatically determining one or more requirements for moving to that position type from a previous position type in that series,
• for each of the determined requirements, automatically determining one or more options for future actions of the member such that performance of any of the future action options would satisfy the determined requirement, and
• automatically providing indications of the determined future action options for use in assisting the member in moving along the identified possible advancement path to the target position type.

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing device to manage a future career for an individual, by performing a method comprising:

• receiving an indication of a target work position for an individual that is distinct from a current work position for the individual;
• automatically managing a future career for the individual by determining one or more future actions that when performed by the individual would satisfy criteria for moving along a possible career path from the current work position to the target work position;
• and
• providing indications of the determined future actions for use by the individual in moving along the possible career path to the target work position, wherein each of one or more intermediate work positions along the possible career path represents one of multiple work positions of an indicated work position type, wherein
• the individual is a member of an organization, and including identifying the possible career path from the current work position to the target work position based at least in part on a work position network for the organization that specifies one or more next possible work positions for each of multiple work positions of the organization.

A computer system comprising:

• means for assisting in career path management comprising:
• means for managing future advancement paths of members of an organization, wherein
• the organization has multiple position types,
• each of the multiple position types has defined requirements,
• at least some of the position types comprise a position type network that specifies one or more next possible position types for each of at least some of the position types of the organization, and
• the means for managing comprising:
• means for receiving an indication of a target position type of said position types for a member of an organization that is distinct from a current position type of said position types for the member,
• means for identifying a possible career path from the current position type to the target position type that consists of a series of one or more position types distinct from the current position type such that each position type in the series other than a first of the position types is a next possible position type for a previous position type in the series,
• means for automatically determining one or more requirements for moving to each of the position types along the series from the previous position type in the series, and
• means for automatically determining one or more future actions a performance of which by the member would satisfy the determined requirements, and
• means for automatically providing indications of the determined future actions to the member for use in moving along the identified possible career path.