The secret to retaining your employees? Focus on career advancement

Leaders overlook internal promotions at their peril. In a Pew Research survey, 63% of respondents who left jobs in 2021 cited a lack of advancement opportunities as a reason. And a 2022 McKinsey study noted that a lack of career development and advancement was the most common reason given for quitting a job.

Employers need to nurture employees’ growth and help advance their careers, according to new research by MIT Sloan senior lecturer George Westerman and MIT Sloan Management Review Editor-in-Chief Abbie Lundberg. Their insights come from a survey of more than 1,000 workers and interviews with talent and learning leaders at more than 25 organisations.

Sixty-seven percent of the individual contributors surveyed said they want to advance their career, but 49% said a lack of good career advice has hurt their job trajectory. Too often, leaders ask employees to chart their own paths under the guise of empowerment, leaving them aimless. Other times, ill-prepared or badly motivated managers are responsible for mentorship.

A more systematic approach is essential for real growth, Westerman and Lundberg found, including helping employees find and prepare for new internal opportunities and delivering feedback and coaching. Companies are already doing this in programs for high-potential talent, Westerman said at the recent Work/23 event hosted by MIT Sloan Management Review. “The question is, why aren’t companies doing this for everybody?” he said.

Here are three ways organisations can help employees with career development:

Employees need to be alerted to internal growth opportunities. People in human resources, especially, need to consider whether roles could be filled by internal candidates across regions or lines of business instead of immediately looking externally.

Ideally, HR professionals, managers, and employees should understand which roles are a potential fit for current employees, given their specific sets of experiences and skills, so that they can successfully find new opportunities — without having to look outside the company.

Meanwhile, more detailed internal job postings could help foster career growth, the researchers found. Sometimes job postings highlight skills that an employee doesn’t have, dissuading them from applying, even if they could be a fit. Such postings should provide clarity on how to bridge any skill gaps.

For instance, the researchers noted that GE Digital’s online tool, Career Discovery, allows employees to enter their capabilities and interests into the system. The tool then shows other roles in the company that could be a match for an employee, including opportunities that aren’t on their current career trajectory. It also shows competencies an employee might need to gain and where to look for training opportunities.

At wine and spirits company Pernod Ricard North America, employees can use a talent management tool to identify potential vertical and horizontal moves, view org charts, and connect with local HR business partners who can link them with HR teams at other locations. Employees can see all jobs at different grades that are available across the company.