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- Discover how growth paths give your employees perspective
Discover how growth paths give your employees perspective
We already know that employees leave due to a lack of growth perspective. But how do you provide concrete perspective? With growth paths, of course!
Top 3 reasons why
People are leaving an organization
1. The role falls short of expectations
When this happens, many employees feel their talents go underutilized on a daily basis. If expectations aren't met and an employee decides to explore new opportunities, the organization loses both the talent invested in and the resources spent on hiring and onboarding.
2. Insufficient growth and career opportunities
Employees desire clear pathways for development, career progression, and necessary competencies. Understanding an employee's priorities and providing ample challenges is crucial.
3. Lack of appreciation and recognition
In many organisations, compliments, pats on the back and rewards for good work remain scarce. While not every manager excels in people management, acknowledging and rewarding achievements significantly impact employee morale. It's crucial to recognize that employees feel valued when their contributions matter, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and rewarding successes.
What does work
For sustainable perspective, growth paths are the best choice! Setting up a growth path is actually quite simple and resembles something you might know from games. You offer an employee a glimpse of new skills just outside their comfort zone. And the crucial point is: you limit it to a maximum of 3. Because, in this case, less is truly more.
With growth paths, employees can see where they are heading. It also clarifies what they can actually achieve at the end of the journey and what changes once they have completed it.
A brief guide with five tips:
- Integrate horizontal growth paths alongside traditional vertical career development. This enables employees to cultivate a diverse skill set and become experts.
- Define your end goal on the growth journey. Then, outline the steps to reach that future point, starting from the end.
- Look for skills that evolve, keeping your growth path flexible for future challenges and opportunities.
- Monitor progress by regularly checking how far individuals are on their growth path.
- Empower managers to become ambassadors for opportunities within your organization.
Start with the end
When developing growth paths, you begin with the end. It may sound contradictory, but it's actually quite logical. Otherwise, you might end up with far too many options for each employee. By determining your end goal on the growth journey, you can establish the steps to get there.
First, identify the top 5 roles and skills that are most important in your organization. Then, using growth profiles, specify the competencies, skills, knowledge, and behavior that an employee needs to successfully navigate the growth path.
Delightfully concrete and measurable
Growth paths provide insights for employees and you as an L&D Manager. The knowledge and skills acquired by an employee are easily visible on the growth platform. This not only makes agreements between the employee and manager delightfully concrete but also measurable. It directly resolves the issue of agreements that are often not formulated in a SMART manner. Now, employees can truly be held accountable for their goals.
Let's talk about
Horizontal growth paths and your onboarding strategy
Vertical versus horizontal growth
While vertical growth remains an option, growth paths offer an intriguing perspective for broader development. Vertical growth isn't suitable for everyone, and it might not always be feasible for every organization. With horizontal growth, you cultivate robust generalists equipped with the right skill set for your organization. It's a win-win!
Growth paths also prove valuable when the work is no longer sufficiently challenging. By introducing additional tasks through growth paths, an employee can further develop and potentially evolve into an expert in the field or create new opportunities for an internal career move. Thus, the growth path remains a dynamic guide for continuous growth and change.
Growth paths in your onboarding strategy
By incorporating growth paths directly into your onboarding strategy, you enhance the overall employee experience. Those who benefit from an effective onboarding process achieve their full competency level in their role more quickly than their peers. This increases the likelihood of their continued engagement with the organization and strengthens their connection right from the very beginning.
Involve managers in this strategy as well. Clearly articulate the organization's goals and identify the personnel required to achieve them. Managers can identify and align opportunities within the organization with employees and their ambitions.
Long story short...
People want to contribute meaningfully to the team they work in and to your organization. Growth paths boost the engagement and dedication of all employees. Due to the clear structure, employees can see how they can develop within your organization over the coming years. Providing growth opportunities ultimately has a positive impact not only on retention but also on your growth.
If you ensure that each step is just outside someone's comfort zone, you consistently challenge your employees to look a little further. Have a conversation with Job today and ask him everything you want to know about growth paths for your organization!