Managing the New Demands for Career Advancement

With the effects of the tech talent shortage and the Great Resignation still lingering throughout the industry, it is increasingly important for businesses to prioritize the career advancement of their employees. Ensuring the growth and success of your employees is key to an ideal work environment and something that candidates continue to seek out in their employers. As such, employees’ expectations have shifted over time and businesses must stay on top of these demands. In supporting the career goals of your employees, you are not only showing them that you truly care, but you are also helping them stay motivated on the job. 

Below, we outline three ways your organization can support career advancement.  

How to Best Support Career Advancement 

Take interest in your employees’ career goals, passions, and interests.

The first step to supporting your employees’ career advancement is by taking interest in their goals. The easiest way to ensure this is through reoccurring check-ins between managers and their team members from day one. With this time set aside, you can help them define a clear path and plan as they work towards their goal(s). After all, self-awareness is key to growth. These check-ins can also serve as progress points to manage milestones or measure achievements. Ultimately, it is nearly impossible to support your employees’ career growth without first understanding their goals, passions, and interests and keeping an open line of communication. 

Create an always-learning culture.

An always-learning culture is crucial in order to support career growth. Whether it be through training and development or upskilling and reskilling, employees should have access to opportunities to expand their skillsets and knowledge. After all, 87% of professionals reported career growth and developmental opportunities as important to them in a job. An effective internal mobility and career growth strategy shows that you value your employees’ professional goals with a concrete system, promoting overall loyalty and retention within your organization. 

Promote work-life balance.

Above all, supporting career advancement means supporting your employees and their needs. Hard work is required to advance your career, but work-life balance is more important. Especially after the pandemic shifted work to a remote environment, the line between work and home life began to blur for many. Consequently, recent data found that 72% of job seekers find work-life balance an important factor to consider when on the job hunt while 57% believe a poor work-life balance is a dealbreaker altogether. Encourage your team to work hard and efficiently, but also support much-needed time off and prioritize mental health.  

Conclusion 

The importance of supporting your employees’ career growth and internal mobility cannot be discounted as the benefits are plenty; it improves retention, increases engagement and loyalty, and even acts as a recruiting tool. Taking an interest in your employee’s career goals, creating an always-learning culture, and promoting work-life balance are only three of the many ways you can support career advancement. To learn more about managing the new demands for career advancement, reach out to the BCTG team.