In the quest to find and keep the best talent for your company’s goals, providing employees with development opportunities and career paths can be one of the most compelling pieces of the employee value proposition your company offers. Research consistently demonstrates that employees are more likely to stay with organizations supporting employee growth and providing development opportunities and internal mobility.
But all too often, organizations approach career development and internal mobility in a haphazard, unplanned way. When companies aren’t proactive about professional development and career mobility, employees may be largely left to figure out career development and progression on their own, which may result in them leaving the company when better opportunities arise. How can organizations better meet the career needs of their people to improve retention and engagement?
As companies continue to grapple with the effects of the Great Resignation and Great Reshuffle, leaders and Human Resources professionals should look at how to improve career management opportunities for team members within the organization. Yet knowing exactly what to offer employees can be a complicated question.
Where should companies focus—career progression, career development, or a combination of the two?
PROGRESSION OR DEVELOPMENT: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Before you decide whether you need an internal career progression plan or a career development plan, it’s important to know the difference between the two concepts.
A career progression plan focuses on helping employees move around within the company. Career progression focuses on internal mobility. Improving employee career progression within the organization could mean revamping human resources systems, educating managers and leaders on how to post and hire from within, offering internal job fairs, or all of the above. Career progression planning can also be a key piece of succession planning for the upper levels of the organization.
In contrast, a career development plan focuses on training and development to help employees acquire the skills they need or want to further their own career goals. Career development planning could be part of internal mobility. Still, depending on the organization's needs, it may be offered without an expectation that employees who take advantage of development opportunities will stay with the company.
These two kinds of planning do not have to exist in isolation; it’s possible to mix and match a variety of talent strategies. If organizations invest heavily in developing their people, there will be an incentive to keep those people and move them around and upward in the company along a career path.
Similarly, a career progression plan and clear career paths can be part of a career development plan for some employees who see themselves meeting long-term goals within the company.
Of course, resources are always limited, and while many companies may know they need to offer more career growth opportunities, it might be tough to know where to focus. Here are four considerations as you implement career progression or career development plans.
SUCCESSION PLANNING
Does the organization have a robust succession plan? Is that plan dependent on external hires? Suppose the company is counting on going outside the organization to find the right talent to meet strategic goals. In that case, it may be more important to look at career progression planning rather than career development. The right talent might exist within the company already. Leaders and HR should create a career progression pathway to encourage that talent to stay and progress toward senior leadership.
If the company doesn’t have internal candidates with the right skills to move into positions of greater authority, it may be more important to focus on development. Focus on people with the right potential, and offer them development opportunities that prepare them to move into leadership roles.
RETENTION
If your company has high turnover rates, especially among managers and leaders, offering more obvious employee progression opportunities. Talented people may be leaving the company for better opportunities elsewhere. Be sure the opportunities for internal mobility are evident across the organization.
High employee turnover at other levels or functions could indicate a lack of development opportunities. If you are constantly refilling positions or training new people, it may be time to invest in a career development program. Even if these opportunities prepare people for jobs outside your organization, they will likely stay longer and provide more stability if they have support for growing their careers.
EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK
It may seem obvious, but remember to ask employees what they would like. What’s keeping them from applying for internal positions? Do they want more internal mobility? Do they feel it’s easy to navigate internal systems and grow their careers internally? Are they likely to leave the organization soon for other opportunities? Answers to those questions could indicate a need for a better career progression plan.
If, however, employees feel they would like more opportunities for learning or professional development, it may be time to increase development opportunities. Remember that not all development opportunities need to be expensive or an additional benefit; many development opportunities don’t have to cost the company anything.
STRATEGIC AND BUSINESS NEEDS
If your company rarely needs to look outside for the skills and talents necessary to fill positions, it may be better to focus on internal mobility rather than development. When the organization already has the talent required to meet the needs of the business, focus on providing a clear career progression to give those talented people a reason to stay with the organization.
However, suppose there is a persistent need to look externally for the right skills and talents to meet business goals. In that case, offering robust development opportunities might be more important. Once you start developing the necessary skills for long-term needs, you can focus on providing a career progression path for those team members.
There is no single way to ensure you always have a full staff of talented people who will stay with your company for the long term. However, providing both a career development program and a career progression path for the people already on staff can be a big step in the right direction.
Contact us if you need help developing a career progression plan or career development plan. We’ll assess your needs and help you create the right solution to meet your business and people goals.
Self-check:
- What is one way I could improve internal mobility in my organization?
- What is one development opportunity I could offer my team?
- Would we meet our business goals more quickly if we had better internal career progression and development plans?