Line managers have a vital role to play in fostering an environment of learning and creating a culture of career mobility. But there’s a huge gap between business perception and employee experience when it comes to the career support line managers are offering to their direct reports.
Whilst 88% of business leaders say that their line managers have effective and frequent career conversations with their team members, 63% of employees say they only discuss career plans with their line manager once a year - or less.
There could be many reasons for this: a fear of losing talent from within the team and being left with a shortfall, concerns around not being able to offer the development opportunities being asked for, or simply not knowing where to start.
With 48% having changed their career plans over the last two years, it’s vital that line managers have the confidence to hold open and transparent career conversations to make the best use of their workforce, and identify skill gaps, development opportunities, or way to maximise the business’ talent - inside or outside the team.
Having experienced years of high costs associated with restructuring activity, this leading Financial Services company introduced an “internals first” philosophy, which focuses on Redeployment and Internal Mobility of talent. Their objective was to reduce the costs associated with career transition and to retain and engage with their existing talent.
The organisation also had a drive to recognise diversity and unconscious bias, thus there was the opportunity to address the nature of conversations held around career development, in particular those of women.
Partnering with Right Management, the organisation implemented a ‘Leader as Career Coach’ programme for over 100 managers. The interactive webinars were complemented by 1:1 sessions with a career coach, to help line managers develop the skills to run effective career conversations, and equip them with the knowledge and tools to handle difficult conversations in the event of business change.
Having a career conversation once a year is not enough. To drive internal mobility and create an engaged and productive workforce, managers must commit to regular, honest and open career conversations. Here are 5 steps to get started.
