Don’t Keep Your Employees in the Dark about Career Development

Many companies worry over how they can retain their best employees. They hire consultants, plan getaway work weekends, host elaborate office parties and use all manner of tactics for inspiring and rewarding employees. Maybe the best one would be to simply talk to them.

It turns out that one of the biggest concerns employees have concerns their future. Specifically, they want to know what you, the employer, are going to do to advance and nurture that career.

In a recent survey from Robert Half Finance & Accounting, 40% of the professionals responding said their managers never discuss their career paths with them.

Yet, 37% expressed a desire to discuss their career paths at least quarterly. Another 45% want at least like to review their options annually.

This points the way toward an employee retention and morale-boosting strategy that many employers seem to be overlooking.

By taking an interest in – and engaging with – employees on an individual level, managers show that they’re paying attention, and making an investment in each workers’ future.

This can help employees to feel that they are in a nurturing environment. It can even prevent them from shopping their resumes.

After all, employees often think of leaving a company when they feel that they have reached the end of their potential in that company. By showing them a path toward greater professional fulfillment, managers can keep an employee engaged and happy who might otherwise be eyeing the door.

Of course, in order to provide this reassuring counsel, managers must first take the time to assess each employees’ role in the organization, and to think of how it might be improved upon.

In the hustle and bustle of the work environment it’s not always easy to slow down and think about individual workers, and their career paths. But the benefits of doing so will accrue in lower turnover and higher morale.