Why We Still Can’t Get Career Development Right
Julie Winkle Giulioni
Tap your most valuable competitive advantage: YOUR TALENT. Bestselling Author. Among Inc.'s Top 100 Leadership Speakers.
Updated September 2021
Work Institute’s 2021?Retention Report ?reprises a familiar refrain:
“Career development continues to be the leading cause of employee turnover in the US.”
Yet again, organizations, talent professionals, and leaders have to face the hard data and hard reality that we’ve still not cracked the code on what matters most to employees: career opportunities. It’s not for lack of effort. Companies are investing extraordinary resources in skills training, portals, online systems, and processes designed to make this happen. And it all falls short. Here’s why.
Dated Definitions
We continue to hold tightly to?and perpetuate the illusion that career development operates via the?old career ladder , which (in days gone by) allowed for the regular, progressive and consistent movement upward toward increasingly desirable positions. Unfortunately, the ladder no longer exists. It’s been replaced by any number of alternatives that are more organic, flexible, and a lot less linear — webs, jungle gyms, and the climbing wall. We have to update our definitions and pictures because as long as we confuse promotions with career opportunities, satisfaction and engagement will suffer.
Problematic Probes
Beginning at a young age, children are asked by well-meaning adults, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” So, from youth, we are conditioned to think in terms of specific roles, titles, and jobs. Then, in the workplace, managers inadvertently?reinforce this thinking .
Despite organizational realities that limit movement and promotions, managers still routinely ask, “Where do you see yourself in two years?” The alternative to focusing on what people want to “be” is helping them reframe their objectives around what they want to “do” with questions like:
Reframing the conversation can reframe expectations. These questions open up a world of possibilities that allow leaders to offer career opportunities. In the process, they drive the satisfaction and engagement that serves the individual and the business.
Lateral Limitations
Silo-based organizations struggle with the one area of career movement that’s available despite leaner hierarchical structures and the delaying of the management ranks. Lateral transfers are a natural vehicle for allowing employees to continue to learn, grow and contribute in new ways. Seeing the organization, customers, and work through a?different lens ?offers powerful development that can be energizing and instructive. But, too frequently, managers report that they don’t know about opportunities outside of their departments.
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Stymied Stretch Assignments
When promotions or moves aren’t available, career opportunities are still possible through assignments, projects, and other activities that expand capacity and offer the chance to engage in different, interesting experiences. But, given how time- and priority-stretched most organizations and individuals are, it’s frequently impossible to take on such challenges without “real work” suffering.
“Organizations must come to terms with the reality that development is?real work.”
Leaders must master a new competency: the ability to identify and package essential tasks and projects as career opportunities. They must then offer support and coaching to ensure both individual learning and appropriate business results.
Transparency Trap
When employees (and their managers) can’t explain why one person is promoted while another is not, it fuels frustration, speculation, and resentment. Under these circumstances, opportunities seem scarce and unattainable, and putting forth continued effort can feel futile. And when this happens, satisfaction and engagement suffer.
Money Matters
The motivation for promotions and moving up doesn’t revolve exclusively around development, or even titles, stature, and responsibility (all of which are significant). It’s also about compensation. Until we find ways to reward learning, the development of new competencies, and expanded in-role contributions, employees will naturally associate career opportunities with income-enhancing promotions — and satisfaction and engagement will continue to suffer.
Satisfaction with career development has been a key driver of engagement for years and will likely continue to be. As a result, it’s time for leaders and organizations to finally confront the challenging realities and systemic limitations, and figure out how to offer meaningful career opportunities to employees.
Originally published in?SmartBrief .
There’s little doubt that career development has been forever altered by the rapid pace of change in the workplace. Leaders who understand and take advantage of this dynamic will set their employees and themselves up for long-term success.
If you’re ready to help those around you enjoy better, nimbler, and more effective development, download?VUCA Career Development for a VUCA World: A Leadership Playbook for Career Development that’s Fast, Frequent and Flexible ?for an updated framework and 20 questions to drive more dynamic and effective growth.
Browse more articles on leadership and career development at?JulieWinkleGiulioni.com .
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3 年Thanks for writing and sharing this Julie Winkle Giulioni! I feel like what I’ve learned over the years - and especially the last year and a half - is that career development is complex, unique for each individual, and happens best when leaders actually care about, listen to and desire the success of each of their team members.
CEO || MD, @MAURICUGO INTERNATIONAL LTD || GOSTUDY CONSULT LTD Philosopher || Businessman || Mentor
3 年Thanks for posting Julie Winkle Giulioni
Guiding extraordinary people onto the narrow path. Catalyst for the Good News. Men of the Kingdom Mentor. Life change & fulfillment specialist. Advisor. Speaker. Author. Friend.
3 年Excellent Julie Winkle Giulioni !! With the vast, compelling evidence and laughable clinging to ancient ideas, it appears to be the controllers of such things, universities, HR Orgs (SHRM, CIPD) and certification systems, big consultancies and tech/software sellers. These are the groups that benefit the most. Certainly not employees and now we see the challenge and harm to companies, so the best place to look for the root cause is where the benefit lies. And behold, as you brilliantly point out, it’s in the teachings ????
Head of Delivery at The Expert Project
3 年Well articulated, well researched - thanks for sharing it Julie.
Executive Coach | Facilitator | Writer | Voice Amplifier and Change Catalyst
3 年Oh how I wish the "Problematic Probes" had been reframed on my last job. Luckily I addressed reframed objectives with my personal coach at the time. I found the performance review process to be disengaging, to put it nicely. Lateral moves were my salvation and kept me engaged, but I always felt like I was going against the grain, even at a start-up. What will it take for companies to loosen their grip on ye olde career ladder? Progress isn't always linear.