Trying to climb the corporate ladder but getting nowhere?

Every day I get the opportunity to meet some incredible people that have scaled the corporate ladder and those aspiring to do so. In recent times though, I’m seeing more and more people willing to move sideways as opposed to continuing to pursue the next job above them in the organisational structure and people even more willing to move out of their current field of expertise to try something new.

In Australia, you are seen to be progressing if you get a new job title every two or three years via a promotion. This has represented career growth and many of us have been conditioned to think this way. This approach is considered “vertical career growth” and "climbing the corporate ladder". Some people are able to do this within their current organisation whilst others need to move out to move up.

A growing trend that I’m seeing in my recruitment markets is the idea of horizontal career growth. In this scenario, people expand their current knowledge base and experience through opportunities at the level they are currently operating and in our society, it isn’t seen as a “promotion” per se, but rather a “new job”.

So which one is the better option to take in your next career move?

The answer to this is very individualised. For some people, getting that job title and becoming a part of the management/leadership group is really important. For others, it’s more important to expand their value and impact in their current context or to move into a new area to get new stimuli that’s going to spawn knowledge growth and increase their value over time.

When I reflect on my own journey, I was very focused on “advancing” and climbing the ladder earlier in my career. Being an ambitious person, I naturally wanted to progress my career and enhance the outcomes I was achieving and to me (at that time) it meant getting a “promotion” and a new job title.

I recall having a conversation with a mentor of mine about the frustration I was having about “not advancing” and feeling that my value wasn’t recognised or appreciated. I also felt at that time that the only learning and new knowledge that I was getting was coming from the self-directed learning that I did in my own time.

Now this mentor is one of the best I have had and he tells it to me straight, challenges my own thinking and often throws things back on me to make up my own mind on what we are discussing.

On this occasion instead of saying everything I wanted to hear, he turned to me and said “do you feel you aren’t advancing? Because what I have seen from the outside is that you have expanded your results, expanded your value you bring to your organisation and you continue to push yourself to expand your own knowledge and approach”.

He then said, “do you really need a new job title to grow?”.

This really challenged my own thinking and perspective that I had followed since I first entered the workforce. As you can imagine, it was also very liberating once I had reflected on the perspective.

After considering this, I came back to the mentor and asked the question, “what about from an external perspective, if I have had the same job title for five years, is that going to be seen negatively by other organisations? Will they think “same job title for five years, he obviously isn’t that good as he hasn’t been promoted?”.

Again this mentor blew me away with his response.

“In that five years, what have you seen? What have you contributed to achieving? What have you achieved personally? Are you the same person that you were now as you were at the start of those five years?”.

“If you list your achievements in your Resume, the job title you have had isn’t going to matter and let’s be honest, are you really going to be relying on a Resume for your next job or is that going to come through your network?”.

Again, a perspective that I hadn’t considered.

After this experience and in moving forward and looking at the candidates I work with, this personal experience has really opened my eyes to alternative paths for growth.

As an Executive Recruiter and in partnering with organisations across the local government, state government and community sector to find them great talent for their vacancies, it is becoming more apparent that the longer-term value is going to sit with horizontal career growth (in my opinion).

When a new CEO commences or there is a change in management structure (in all sectors), it is not uncommon to hear “the management structure is top heavy”. Those that have climbed the ladder in this scenario are suddenly at a much higher risk than those that have expanded sideways.

In an era where being a specialist generalist is becoming more and more valuable to organisations as they move to leaner operating structures, my advice to anyone that’s been trying to climb the corporate ladder without getting the result they were chasing is to consider the alternative approach.

Just like my mentor advised me, “do you really need a new job title to grow?”.

I would love to get some other perspectives on “career growth” from those in my network so please leave a comment, like the article and share with your network.

Cameron Norton

Davidson Executive & Boards

 Cameron specialises in recruiting senior level roles from Manager level to CEO across organisations that have a social purpose (local government, state government, NFP and Social Enterprise).

From his university studies in both Human Resource Management & Marketing and combined with broad experience in both public and private sectors, he brings a unique approach to recruitment in positioning career opportunities, organisations and individuals.

With over 300 executives appointed from processes he has managed, Cameron has a strong track record of delivering outcomes for clients and bringing value to the candidate experience through a focus on quality from start to finish. 

Having well-known brands and people as advocates to his approach, Cameron brings an authentic style with a strong focus on partnering with people and helping them to succeed.

Possessing a strong understanding of technology and how to leverage it for maximum impact, Cameron embraces new approaches to enhance results in sectors that are seeking change to overcome the challenges that stand before them in the future world of work landscape.

To get in touch with Cameron Norton email [email protected] or call +613 9929 9522.