Some association publications include analyses of future work environments and organizational structures which have a bearing on the career plans of individuals. For example, instead of the traditional job description, an individual may need to work across functional units such as marketing and engineering to accomplish a work assignment. Changing work environments involve increasing interpersonal skills such as a quicker adaptation to change and greater flexibility. For career counselors, a challenge is to prepare individuals to enter some workplaces which have radically changed in the last decade to an information age of technology. The Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists emphasizes that career planning is a partnership between the individual employee and the organization.
Organizations can facilitate the career planning of their employees.
Obtaining both objectives in a complementary fashion is an illusive goal whose attainment may facilitate retention of the organization's best employees, especially in high demand fields such as computer technology. They suggest changing some organizations' concepts of career planning from periodic or emergency training programs to a lifetime of new learning experiences for employees. Some other resources in career planning for students are educational research organizations such as Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory. They specialize in research applications for special populations of students. Other information includes career counseling of students in rural areas and how to better connect academic learning with community and work opportunities.