One of the most important business lessons I've learned over the years is this: You can spend millions of dollars a year on marketing, advertising, publicity, and promotions but, if you have an unhappy staff or, worse, a revolving door in your employment office, you might as well toss that marketing money right out the window.

As a professional mentor and licensed career counselor, I've worked with scores of people who have been miserably unhappy in their jobs. It's unfortunate that workers are sometimes so terribly misplaced in positions that should provide an enjoyable career experience. It's also unfortunate for the employer who then must deal with the problems caused by frustrated, discontented, or unqualified employees. From a bottom line vantage point, an unhappy staff is absolute poison to a company. Nothing will chase away customers quicker than a surly receptionist or curmudgeonly sales associate.

Because of the current shortage of high-knowledge, high-skill workers, companies are faced with two options: 1) search out and hire only skilled and educated people (which can be time-consuming and expensive), or 2) hire quality, trainable people who can learn on the job and grow with the company.

Investing some time and resources in "career mapping" can save a lot of grief for both employer and employee. Career mapping allows both parties to map out a strategic career path within the company, providing the employee with long-term goals, as well as opportunities to learn a variety of new skills through training curricula, continuing education, in-house mentoring programs, and proficiency enhancement workshops. Benefits to the company include reduced turnover, higher morale, increased productivity, and a significant reduction in hiring costs.

Whether yours is a large corporation or a small business, the subject of career mapping should be of paramount importance. From your delivery person to your vice president of finance, every member of your team should receive continuing training and education to help them improve their skills in the areas of communication, conflict resolution, time management, efficiency, quality, customer relations, sales, professional image development, strategic planning, goal-setting, cost-cutting, creativity and listening.

Employees at all levels, from entry-level to senior executives, can benefit significantly from professional development and job task training. An entry-level worker might look at strategic planning differently from a CFO and their priorities might be markedly different, but stimulating strategic thinking - even at the most core level of staff - will positively impact your entire organization.

While ongoing learning and skills development are critical components of career mapping, strategic planning is the key element. Savvy employers must begin to take a long-term approach to their hiring strategies. As companies grow, employees must be given the opportunity to evolve and develop their career paths within the organization; employees tend to start looking elsewhere when opportunities for growth are stifled.

Career mapping should ideally begin during the hiring process. Prospective employees should be carefully interviewed to determine not only the skills they can bring to the table, but also their long-term career and professional development goals. Remember, your employees have their own aspirations, ambitions, and career agendas. Companies that make an effort to help their employees reach these objectives will be rewarded with a team of motivated, loyal people who won't jump ship when times get a little tough or a "better" offer comes along.

When working with organizations, I recommend that businesses utilize a mix of current assessment tools to really get to know their prospective employees. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator(tm) (MBTI) is an excellent instrument, as are the DiSC, COPS, COPES, and Spectrum CPI 260(tm). These assessments provide important data about an individual's career interests and values, their personality, work style preferences, attitudes, behaviors, and leadership potential. By understanding your employees, you can better address their long-term career mapping, training, and promotion issues. From a hiring perspective, it allows interviewers and human resources personnel to better place candidates in appropriate positions.

To give you an example of how career mapping works, let's talk about a fictitious employee, Bob, a first-time manager in a large technical services company. Bob has been laid off several times over the past five years and is looking to find a permanent home where he can grow with the company and, eventually, assume a senior leadership position. He is proficient in his technical skills, but lacks refinement in the areas of interpersonal communication, strategic planning, and senior-level management.

After thorough assessments, brainstorming, and planning, Bob and his supervisors can identify specific annual goals for his professional development. Bob's first year map might include enrolling in Toastmasters, attending various communication, strategy, and leadership courses, or perhaps commencing an MBA program.

As part of his five-year career map, Bob can benefit from the experience of working in a variety of different roles in various departments throughout the company. Specific assignments, learning objectives, and the mastering of various departmental responsibilities will enable him to hone his skills and become well-prepared to step into that senior position.

Utilizing career mapping methodologies ensures that both Bob and the company win. Bob can easily see a long and healthy career ahead of him, and the company can save time and resources by minimizing their personnel search efforts.

The first step in creating and implementing a career mapping protocol is to throw out antiquated thinking about the roles of employer and employee. You must regard every person on your staff as a member of your management team. Once you do, you'll begin to see the long-term value of each individual's potential contribution to your company.

Next, develop a comprehensive organizational development strategy designed with the company's life cycle in mind. As you bring new people into the organization, make sure your hiring decisions are compatible with this organizational strategy and that new talent is placed where it can be the most effective.

Finally, create a career mapping system that works with the nuances of your company. Smaller companies might create a simple system of identifying employee and employer goals and discussing mutually agreeable methods for achieving these goals. Large organizations might develop highly sophisticated systems that incorporate performance assessment, needs analysis, goal setting, core competencies, timelines, and cross-training.

Career mapping ensures that you'll have a company staffed with satisfied people who like what they do. And that means you're going to increase your sales, reduce turnover and its associated costs, see your employees blossom into powerful leaders, and significantly enhance your image in the community as a stellar organization. Sounds like a winning proposition to me.

Debra Davenport, PhD, is a Master Professional Mentor and the president of DavenportFolio, a licensed firm with offices in Los Angeles and Phoenix that mentors entrepreneurs and professionals. She is the creator of the Certified Professional Mentor® designation and certification program and the author of The Ten Commitments of Highly Successful People. debra@davenportfolio.com or (866) 232-6492.