Tag Archives: career development
Diagnosis: Career Path(ology)
March 28, 2018 | | Leave a comment
An epidemic is sweeping many organizations. How will you know if yours might be infected? Symptoms include: Increased expectations for roles and moves that may not exist Difficulty engaging disillusioned employees Painful exchanges about promotions that aren’t happening Sore feelings and skepticism Decreased trust Swelling in the number of employees who feel stuck or misrouted The disease is career path(ology) and here’s how it begins. An organization, in an effort to address the needs of individuals to grow and develop, create elegant career paths that outline how one can go from one point on the organization chart to another. These …
Posted in Career Matters, Leadership Matters
Tagged career development, career paths
Career Development: A 5-Year Retrospective
October 3, 2017 | | 2 Comments
Five years have passed since I wrote Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want with Beverly Kaye. It’s been a transformative time for me both personally and professionally as I’ve had the opportunity to travel the world, talking with business leaders from all walks of life about their commitment to the development of their people. From China to Lithuania, from Brazil to Russia, from Muscatine to Washington DC, I’ve connected with thousands of managers who are working tirelessly to support the growth of their people—and those who want to learn to do it better. And I’ve …
Posted in Career Matters
Tagged career development, Conversation, engagement
Creativity: It’s What’s Missing from Career Development
July 19, 2017 | | Leave a comment
A significant investment is made each year on studies, training, portals and programs related to career development; yet, the return on this investment continues to disappoint organizations, leaders and employees alike. And it’s unfortunate, because what’s needed doesn’t cost even a dollar. What’s needed to ensure healthy, sustainable career development is creativity. “Creativity” and “career development” rarely come up in the same sentence. In fact, many organizations have inadvertently wrung a lot of creativity out of career development through the creation of complicated systems, processes, step-wise tools and forms. Yet what they’re discovering is, the more sophisticated the individual development …
Posted in Career Matters, Leadership Matters
Tagged career development, creativity, employee training
Battling the Bulge: Handling the Expectations of Too Many Employees for Too Few Promotions
May 17, 2017 | | Leave a comment
Many organizations today are fighting the battle of the bulge. No, it has nothing to do with wellness programs, insurance premiums or weight loss competitions. But it is a huge health hazard for business. Over the past decade, many companies and institutions have suffered downsizing, right sizing, outsourcing, rationalizing and a whole lot of other ‘zings’ that have dramatically changed the organizational landscape. Structures are meaner and leaner. Baby boomers are waiting longer to retire. The old corporate ladder has toppled. Yet many organizations have continued to hire and set expectations with employees that, if they perform well, they’ll enjoy …
Posted in Leadership Matters
Tagged career development, climbing wall, expand, grow, ladder, lateral moves
Career Development: The Swiss Army Knife of Leadership
April 25, 2017 | | Leave a comment
Given today’s hyper-competitive business landscape, career development is quickly being re-branded. Rather than the ‘nice-to-do’ activity of the past, it’s now getting the respect and attention it deserves as the mission-critical business priority that it is. Of all the tools available to leaders, career development just might be the most flexible, effective and far-reaching—with the ability to positively influence the individual and the organization. In fact, it’s so agile and multi-purposed that career development really is the Swiss Army knife that every leader should have and use. While the Swiss Army knife opens bottles, cuts seat belts, and strips wire, …
Posted in Leadership Matters
Tagged career development, discretionary effort, engagement, expectations, performance, reputation, revenue, satisfaction, tools, top talent, turnover
When the Growing Gets Tough
Think about the learning that contributed most powerfully to your development and who you are today. Consider the experiences that built the expertise you use and value most every day. Reflect on what you’re most proud of mastering during the course of your career or life. This memorable learning that has made a significant difference to you (and to the organizations you’ve served) likely didn’t come easily. The kind of learning that sticks with people, helping them achieve lifelong results, generally: Challenges them to change how they think, act, or perform in new ways. Takes significant energy and attention. Involves …
Posted in Career Matters, Leadership Matters, Learning Matters
Tagged career development, careers, engagement, goals, growth, leadership, leadership development, mindfulness
How Local Attention Can Solve The Global Retention Problem
January 24, 2017 | | Leave a comment
I am willing to make a prediction. One of the items generating the lowest satisfaction scores on your company’s employee engagement survey is something like ‘greater opportunities for advancement.’ How many surveys and how much lost talent will it take for leaders to recognize the seriousness of this situation? Think about the time and resources dedicated to other dimensions of the business—processes, finances, operations, etc.—none of which are possible without people. And yet every day, we let skilled, capable workers walk out the door, taking their knowledge and talents to the competition. If equipment disappeared at this rate, there would …
Posted in Leadership Matters
Tagged career development, Conversation, expectation, global, growth in role, local action, retention, satisfaction
Want to Institutionalize Career Development? Look for (or Cultivate) these Cultural Markers
January 7, 2017 | | Leave a comment
Global field research over the past decade consistently leads to the same conclusion: The simple human act of helping people grow has become very complicated. Processes overshadow people. Deadlines trump genuine development. And a checklist mentality competes with creating authentic connections. But interviews with and input from thousands of leaders worldwide offer a different view of what’s needed to support genuine and sustainable career development. When asked specifically what helped them develop most powerfully, 8500+ leaders offered these observations. At its core, career development is all about conversation, commitment, opportunities, and culture. And organizations that understand this enjoy a range …
Posted in Career Matters
Tagged career development, collaborate, commitment, Conversation, culture, curiosity, growth, learning, opportunities, patience, results, transparency
Which Comes First?
July 26, 2016 | | Leave a comment
In preparation for an upcoming executive education session, I conducted a quick pulse survey earlier this month. I wanted to understand whether the leaders attending my training believe that there is a difference in the importance of career development to their employees based upon their current level of performance. And they do. A Picture of Perceptions The leaders polled perceive that career development is a pressing priority for their top performers. Nearly 75% indicate that it’s ‘very important’ to these exceptional employees and more than 20% rate it ‘somewhat important.’ They experience a high level of interest, attention, and motivation …
Posted in Career Matters, Leadership Matters
Tagged business, career development, coaching, feedback, Golem effect, growth, leadership, learning, performance, Pygmalion effect, skills, strengths
Redefine Results by Redefining Career Development
Given repeated rounds of downsizing, reorganizing, right sizing, and all of the other ‘zings’ that have befallen organizations, it’s easy to scan the landscape and come to the conclusion that career development options have shrunk… that they are few and far between for most employees. After all: Delayering has left already lean organizations with fewer stops along the food chain. Organizations continue to pursue outsourcing in the eternal quest for cost reduction. Baby boomers are not only having the audacity to live longer… but they’re also working longer and occupying chairs that in the past would have be vacated for …
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged business, career, career development, engagement, growth, leadership, learning, retention
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