As a young professional, it’s a unique time to grow your career

As a young professional having set off on your career during a global pandemic, you are part of a special generation. You have launched into the work world in a period of adversity that older generations of workers haven’t experienced — and you have demonstrated remarkable levels of resilience.

You may also find that this may be one of the fastest periods of growth in your careers, with some of the greatest opportunities to develop skills and interact directly with clients. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for personal and professional growth.

Where you work has so much more meaning now

The pandemic has also helped to reposition where, when and how you want to work. Emerging from the pandemic, leading executives understand that you want to work for companies that let you work in ways that are best for you.

EY research has also highlighted the importance of empathy and support in the workplace. Almost half (46%) of those surveyed feel that their company's efforts to be empathetic toward employees are dishonest. Similarly, two in five (42%) employees say that their company doesn't follow through when it makes promises. Not finding the empathy they seek, many employees have left their job, contributing to the “Big Quit” of 2021. Nearly half of employees (48%) report leaving their job because they didn’t feel like they belonged.

To get the most out of your career in a hybrid workplace, it’s important that you seek and receive the right support from your organization and leadership in an environment that no longer provides the face-to-face interactions that helped you to feel included, engaged and part of something bigger than yourself.

Three ways leaders can support you in achieving your ambitions

If you are a leader reading this for ways to better support your direct reports, here are three ideas.

1.?????Demonstrate empathy and engage in more targeted outreach to more junior professionals. Hybrid work environments have their benefits — shorter commute, better work-life balance, etc. — but for younger workers, the lack of in-person interactions can lead to feelings of isolation and disengagement. An overwhelming majority (89%) of employees agree that empathy leads to better leadership. As a leader, you need to do more to reach out to your more junior people. Commit to putting time in the calendar for regular catch ups so that employees can feel more connected and engaged. Young professionals also need mentors. Be that mentor for them or put them in touch with another leader who may be more suitable based on their career aspirations.

2.?????Promote career mobility across geographies and roles. Organizations, including EY, want to keep their people. Sometimes this means supporting their desire to move into new roles or around the world. Keeping them on the team because you don’t want to lose them may work in the short term, but you’ll likely lose them in the longer term, not only from the team, but from the organization. Instead, be empathetic and supportive of change and career development within your teams. It will better serve you, your teams and the organization.

3.?????Develop and communicate the availability of wellness programs. At EY, this is one of the most prominent offerings we have to support our employees. Our wellness programs include relationships with independent third parties so that our people can have deeper conversations about how they’re feeling and the state of their mental health. Yet, we realized that we weren’t doing enough to publish what we are doing for our people. We recognize that our programs are only valuable if our people are aware and make use of them. That’s why we’ve placed a renewed focus on communicating to our people the resources that are available to them and the value they can provide. As a leader, you also need to make sure that you are creating positive reinforcement around wellness programs rather than stigmatizing them.

Four ways young professionals can take charge of their own career path

As a young professional, here are four ways to take charge of your own career path.

1.?????Maximize your skills development. Organizations, including EY, have both formal and self-directed learning programs. For example, EY offers the EY Tech MBA in association with the Hunt International Business School. It’s the first fully accredited corporate MBA available to our people, regardless of role or position. The MBA allows our people to develop the technology, leadership and business skills they need from anywhere in the world, in a way that truly suits them. Another program, EY Badges, enables our people to earn digital badges for future-focused skills, such as data science and AI. Learn what programs are available within your organization and take advantage of them to maximize your skills development.

2.?????Be deliberate about making time to connect with colleagues. ?Make sure you are meaningfully carving out time to connect with team members and managers on an informal basis. In pre-pandemic times, employees had opportunities to run into each other in the office. In remote and hybrid work environments, you have to be much more deliberate about staying connected.

3.?????Look within the organization before contemplating the Big Quit. Large organizations offer so many opportunities for career mobility, whether it’s into a new role, across business units or across the world. Look at the job postings within the organization. If you’re thinking about moving service lines or locations, find someone within the service line, sector or project team to connect with. If you don’t have immediate access to someone, ask a friend in your desired area to make an introduction.

4.?????Push for what you want. As a young professional, if you feel you aren’t being adequately supported, that you aren’t growing fast enough in your career or you just want a change, speak up. Have conversations with your managers and mentors. Find the leaders that are open, supportive and recognize your need to grow. Organizations, and especially EY teams, would much rather support you than lose you.

The last two years have been an unusual and challenging time to start a career. By seizing the enormous opportunities available to you, and with empathetic leadership that inspires trust and positive change within the workplace, we hope that when you look back later in your career, you’ll see the last two years as the best of your professional lives. ?

The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organization or its member firms.