Engage and Retain: How Great Leaders Foster Career Development

Today, employees are a lot more likely to stay true to themselves than blindly loyal to a company.? It is no surprise then that according to LinkedIn’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report, helping employees develop their careers has moved up 5 places on the L&D? priority list from last year.

In this month's issue of Leading Behaviour Change, we explore the link between career development and employee engagement, where organisations are failing to deliver, plus the practical ways leaders can get better at advocating for (and retaining) their talent.

Plus, don't miss an exclusive first look at our Autumn event tour , and the exciting updates (did someone say FranklinCovey mobile app?) coming to our clients this summer!

The Link Between Engagement and Career Development

Whilst salary (a lure to another job for 48% of workers) may attract people to new roles, it doesn’t necessarily keep them in their jobs. Opportunity for progression does.

According to a survey conducted by Adecco, 44% of respondents who expressed a desire to stay with their current company stated that they would only do so if they were provided with reskilling and progression opportunities in their role. Studies also show that employees in organisations with opportunities for both horizontal and vertical mobility stick around almost twice as long as those in organisations without. When you focus on just the younger cohort, the majority (74%) of Gen Z and Millennials have considered quitting due to a lack of development opportunities.

Of course people leave roles for many inevitable reasons, but deep down we all need to feel that who we are, what we do and how we’re growing, matters to our employers. According to LinkedIn, 7 in 10 people say learning improves their sense of connection to their organisation . The modern workforce seeks meaning and impact in their everyday, which means organisations need to recognise and fully utilise current skills, whilst investing in new ones and aligning with individual aspirations.

The Role of Leadership in Career Development

Leaders are essential in guiding their team members towards career success, but research suggests managers aren’t equipped with the coaching skills or empowered with the relevant knowledge to create the personalised growth opportunities employees are after.? According to the How the Workforce Learns 2023 report, nearly 70% of employees feel that their managers care about them as a person, yet over a quarter of employees globally (26%) felt their manager hadn’t meaningfully supported their professional growth over the past 12 months.

You just need to look at the stigma around ‘Quiet Hiring’ for a sense of the workforce mood towards their treatment and development. Quiet hiring, as defined by Gartner in their 2023 WorkTrends report, refers to the practice of acquiring new skills and capabilities without increasing the number of full-time employees. This may require reskilling or upskilling current employees so they can accomplish what’s most important. Many argue that quiet hiring is simply a new term organisations are using to add to their team’s workload and hold them to the directive: “Do more with less.”

In truth, the idea is to realign priorities among people in order to prevent burnout. You want workers to feel excited about increased opportunities and confident that any changes are benefiting them, not pressured, coerced or taken advantage of. However, that is how employees feel if leaders aren’t intentional about how they show up.?

Developing Leadership Skills for Career Growth

For leaders to effectively support career development, they must also focus on enhancing their own leadership skills . Here are some ways leaders can improve their ability to foster career growth within their teams:

1. Emotional Intelligence: Developing emotional intelligence enables leaders to connect with their team on a deeper level, understanding their career needs and aspirations. This involves empathy, active listening, and effective communication.
2. Strategic Thinking: Leaders with strong strategic thinking skills can better align individual career goals with organisational objectives, creating a win-win situation for both the employee and the company.
3. Adaptability: In a dynamic work environment, leaders must be adaptable and open to change. This flexibility allows them to support their team through various career stages and industry shifts, whilst inspiring them through the learning curves.
4. Visionary Leadership: Leaders with a clear vision can inspire their team to strive for excellence and align their career objectives with the broader goals of the organisation.

These four skills are the backbone of leaders who engage, retain and grow talent. However, even leaders who are equipped with the above mindsets and skillsets, frequently fail to have the desired influence on their direct reports because of one persistent inefficiency: unintentional 1-2-1s.

"Leadership happens one conversation at a time, so be mindful of each one."

Grow and Engage Employees with Better 1-2-1s

Some direct reports may have a career path fully mapped out, down to desired promotion dates. Others may have no clue what they want to do next, and some may not yet fully understand how they contribute now.

According to Gartner, only 1 in 4 employees feel confident about their career at their organisation.

Frequent, meaningful career conversations are one of the most overlooked engagement levers- 23% of workers have never had one. Yet, when learners are given the opportunity to set career goals, they engage with learning 4x more than those who don’t set goals. And when individual career development aligns with a company’s priorities, people and organisations build the critical, future-facing skills to navigate constant change. So where do you or your leaders start?

10 Questions Leaders Can Use to Address Career Development

1. What are some of the work projects you’re most proud of, and what do you think you might want to do next??
2. ?What are two to three new skills you’d like to learn on the job? What about those skills interests you??
3. ?What other roles here could you see yourself in down the line? Or what areas would you like to explore??
4. If you were to create your ideal position, how would it differ from what you are currently doing??
5. How is your current work helping or hurting your professional development?
6. Which career or development goals do you feel like you’re not able to focus on right now?
7. What else can I be doing to help you grow/ advance in your career?
8. ?Imagine it’s two years from now, and things have gone well: What has been your role in that? What does your role look like?
9. What professional goals would you like to accomplish in the next six to twelve months, and what makes you say that?
10. What about this goal is important to you and what will be different when you achieve the goal?

In the words of Todd Davis, author of Get Better, Everyone Deserves a Great Manager, Talent Unleashed, and former chief people officer of FranklinCovey: “Leadership happens one conversation at a time, so be mindful of each one”.?

Download the full guide to 100+ Questions For Better 1-on-1s with Your Direct Reports >

Engaged Employees Feel Invested In

Putting employees’ development needs at the top of the priority list sends a powerful message. To ensure that message isn’t muted, organisations must equip leaders to consistently create a safe space for people to voice their aspirations, aligning them with the best results, and paving the way for their achievement. This is where you’ll see a major shift in how your business operates. If your organisation isn’t focusing on creating a learning culture, you’re going to find it very difficult to maintain strong employee engagement.

In other words, if you don’t open doors for your employees, they’ll find different ones to walk through.

[Pre-Promotion Invitation] Retention Is the New Recruitment

According to recent research, two-thirds of Gen Z believe that proactively changing organisations is the key to building their career. Faced with this transient mindset, plus ever evolving skills gaps, the reality is that recruitment is only a short-term solution.

The pressing question today is: How do you create an employee experience which modern workers grow with, give their best to, and can’t be lured away from?

To discover the answer, join us for our latest in person event Retention Is the New Recruitment, for senior leaders in HR, L&D and C-Suite. Coming to cities across the UK and Ireland in September and October, FranklinCovey experts Paul Coates , Gareth Otton and Peter Nolan will share the latest research and field-tested frameworks to demystify how leaders can practically retain, engage and develop scarce talent.

Learn more and register today to secure your complimentary seat >

What's New at FranklinCovey this Summer?

We could not execute our mission to transform organisations through behaviour change without constantly investing in technology. Watch our update below to discover new features that will make measuring, reinforcing and embracing a culture of learning even easier for our clients, and their people.

Visit our website to learn more about what's new in the All Access Pass >

How are these trends and employee expectations showing up in your organisation? Are there any topics or challenges you'd like to see us address next month? Leave us a comment and let us know!

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