Want to Keep Your Employees? Give Them Growth Opportunities

Employees value a clear career path over all else.

By Max Freedman, Senior Analyst | Editor Reviewed: Adam Uzialko, Senior Editor
Business News Daily | Updated November 22, 2024

Few people find joy in doing the same thing forever. And because full-time employment takes up more than one-fifth of employees’ time per week, most workers want a long-term career path that involves change and progress. This is just one reason you should work with your employees to create growth paths, and doing so will benefit your business, too. Learn why it’s important to establish these career paths and how to create career development opportunities for your team.

Why career development opportunities are important

Career development opportunities are important because they keep employees happy, and happy employees stick around longer. Lowering employee turnover is always a key small business goal, as it saves time and money on recruiting and training while preserving vital institutional knowledge that only veteran employees have.

A 2022 survey from the Pew Research Center found that high employee turnover rates were correlated with poor career development opportunities. The Pew Research Center surveyed 6,627 non-retired Americans, 965 of whom chose to leave a job in 2021. Among those who left jobs, 33% cited a lack of career growth opportunities as a major reason for their departure. Another 30% said it was a minor reason, for a total of 63%, making it the second-most commonly cited reason, after low pay.

Beyond addressing this prominent concern, offering career growth opportunities can benefit your staff’s work quality and bottom line. When you train your employees in skills they’re seeking that are also relevant to your work, you can hire them internally for new job openings. Your employees will move up the ladder, and you’ll drastically lower the costs of your usual hiring process. Professional development can be as good for you as it is for your team.

How to create career development opportunities

Here are some ideas for creating internal career development opportunities, according to staffing firm Robert Half:

• Collaborate with your employees on growth goals. When you and your team members work together to set growth goals, you’ll find a meaningful middle ground. The employee will get career development opportunities they like enough that they won’t look for jobs elsewhere anytime soon. Simultaneously, your team’s new skills will move your company forward.
• Cover education costs. A big challenge with implementing professional development programs is finding the time to manage and run them. If that’s not possible, you can direct your employees to relevant courses and cover their costs. Doing so can show that you value your employees’ presence at your company, which can lead to happier employees.
• Set up a mentorship program. Early-career employees can often learn directly from more experienced ones. You can establish a mentorship program to shape how your higher-ups guide other members of the organization. You should also be a mentor in this program so your team can learn from and form personal connections with you. This approach to team building can increase employee retention.
• Give and get feedback. Employees learn best when they know what they are and aren’t doing well. This means being unafraid to give constructive criticism and praising your employees for all their wins as they learn and grow. You should also make it clear that you’re open to receiving feedback, too. This way, employees can feel safe sharing concerns about your development program. You’ll show that you value them if you quickly make the requested changes.
• Involve all departments. Maybe an employee on your writing team really wants to be a marketer. You could connect that employee with a manager in your marketing department for long-term training. Over time, this employee could work toward a job in which they write less often but always get to promote the work they create.

How to encourage employees to pursue career growth

Although Pew’s findings suggest that most employees don’t need much motivation to pursue growth, some might need extra encouragement. Some employees might be less invested in your company mission, or others might think they’re too busy for career development. If you need to persuade certain team members to pursue career growth, take the following steps…[MORE]

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