Whether you call it the Great Resignation, the Great Reset, or the Great Reshuffle, there’s no avoiding the fact that employers currently face a struggle to not only recruit skilled talent but also retain that talent. One key factor in persuading employees to stay with the company is to provide regular opportunities for career progression. Check out these thoughts from our partners at JobLookup.
What is career progression?
Career progression is the process of taking that next step on a chosen employment path. It might be:
- moving sideways to a more satisfying but separate role
- taking a training course
- developing new skills and areas of work experience
- promotion to a leadership role
Career progression is a personal and varied journey. It is important that employers have a flexible approach that supports their entire workforce, not simply those individuals who are looking for an immediate move to a more senior position.
The importance of career progression to employers
It might seem that career progression only benefits employees but there are many ways that it can prove important to employers too.
Employee engagement
Employee engagement plays an active role in increasing productivity and reducing staff turnover. When an employee feels valued by their employer, they are more likely to be enthusiastic about their role and the business, and therefore more productive in that role. Offering career progression opportunities is one way that an employer can demonstrate how much they value their workforce.
By promoting a clear path to career progression, employers reduce the threat of developing a stale workforce who are tempted to take their career path elsewhere.
Employer to employee communication
When an employer opens a one-to-one dialogue with their employees, this provides an excellent opportunity to:
- get to know their employees better
- become familiar with the dynamic of each team
- understand how the career progression of each employee can benefit the company now and in the future
From the employee’s point of view, knowing that their employer is open to discussing their career progression increases their feeling of inclusion at work and their willingness to talk to their employer about other areas of the business.
Employee retention
Employees who can see a clear route for their personal career progression with the company they work for are less likely to look for a job elsewhere. This saves on the cost and time involved in recruiting and training a replacement.
Identify hidden talent
One-to-one career progression talks can often uncover hidden talent. It may not be obvious that an employee wants to move to a more senior role or that their aspirations lie in a different area of the business. Alternatively, they may have experience, qualifications, and skills that aren’t fully utilised in their current role but could be of real value to the company.
Recruitment of top talent
When a company develops a reputation for providing a clear path to career progression, one positive consequence is that it becomes a more desirable place to work. It stands out from its competitors and attracts both a higher level of top talent and individuals whose values and career plans are in line with the business.
Succession planning
Succession planning is the process of identifying and developing employees to step into more senior roles when they become vacant. Regular career progression talks enable an employer to identify the right candidates for supervisory and leadership roles ahead of time.
Return on investment
Return on investment (ROI) in an employment context ensures that the employer gets the best return on their investment in their workforce.
Career progression improves ROI by:
- helping employees to feel more valued by and a part of the business
- creating more efficient and productive workers
- retaining valuable talent
How can companies support employee career progression?
Supporting career progression takes more than simply setting aside a little time for a chat. Instead, it requires a commitment from the employer to put in place a clear system that all employees can access.
Here are the five elements of that system:
Arrange regular career progression meetings with employees
Instead of waiting for their employees to raise the issue, employers should proactively arrange regular career progression meetings. Ideally, these should happen once or twice a year at a pre-arranged date to talk about how the employee can be supported in advancing their career.
Both the employer and employee should prepare for the career progression meeting. For the employee, this might be:
- to investigate training or other ways they would like to develop their skills and experience
- to identify jobs in the business that they would like to move to
- to create a one, three or five year career plan
It may be useful to provide a list of questions or discussion topics for the employee to consider before the meeting.
The employer can prepare by looking over the employee’s work record, deciding which of their skills or experience require further development to enable progression, identifying internal job opportunities that are or may become available, and examining training and mentoring opportunities. This preparation will help the employer to answer many of the employee’s questions and suggest a way forward.
A record of the discussion should be kept for future reference. This document should be updated as the employee achieves their goals, takes part in training or other forms of development, and progresses to different roles within the company.
Create career progression procedures
Company policy and procedure documents exist to make it clear how issues that affect employees will be handled. They should be always available to the entire workforce.
Employers can promote internal mobility and career growth as a key factor of their company culture by creating career progression procedures. These procedures should outline:
- options for career progression, for instance, sideways mobility or promotion
- how often career progression meetings will be held
- how to prepare for a career progression meeting
- how career progression goals will be set
- what a career plan is and how to create one
- the support the employee can expect from the employer
Advertise vacancies internally first
There is no legal requirement for employers to advertise job vacancies internally first, but there are benefits to doing so.
First, advertising internally is often less costly than advertising externally. Second, internal candidates already know the company and its practices. Third, the company is familiar with internal candidates, their skills and experience, and their work record. Finally, it makes clear to employees that there are opportunities for career progression with the company.
Provide upskilling opportunities for employees
If there is a shortage of skills or experience in your workforce, one option to take instead of recruiting new workers is to upskill your existing employees. This may be done through training, mentoring, or peer coaching. This is also an excellent way to develop the company’s future leaders.
Set in place a career progression path
Create a career progression path that makes it clear what an employee must achieve before they can progress through different roles or levels of seniority. This might include length of service, qualifications and training, work experience, or development of a skillset.
Final Thoughts
The success and effectiveness of any business is reliant on its workforce. It makes sense to ensure that employees are engaged and invested in their employer. Offering career progression help and opportunities is a clear route to a happy workforce.
Author biography:
Fi Phillips, Freelance Copywriter working with JobLookup. Fi specialises in blog posts and web articles about the world of work and business. She is especially interested in how the pandemic has changed our attitudes to work-life balance and career development.
