How to Offer Employee Growth at Small- and Medium-Sized Companies

By Neal Glatt, Managing Partner, GrowTheBench, Neal@GrowTheBench.com

The number one thing that employees want in a job is growth and development opportunities, and the lack of these opportunities is one of the key reasons why people leave companies. In fact, Gallup reports that 93% of the time millennial workers changed their role, they also changed their employer. This means that these workers wanted a new role, responsibility, or pay raise, but didn’t see that opportunity at their current employer.

How to Grow When There’s Nowhere to Go

The problem that many managers face, however, is a lack of positions available for workers to grow towards. While large companies may have plenty of open positions and growth opportunities, small and medium sized firms rarely have vacancies at the right level and the right time for employees looking to grow in their career. Talented workers who are seeking the next challenge often will look around their company and realize that vertical growth up the org chart simply isn’t an option.

When moving higher in the hierarchy isn’t an option, sometimes it can be suggested that a horizontal, or lateral, move may be the best step in an employee's career growth. And while this is occasionally true, it often fails to inspire employees to perform at their best because it can lack the pay, responsibility, and prestige increases that a great worker desires in their career journey. Companies that cannot promote employees up to the next level and cannot inspire workers to move across to another position have a significant retention risk. For today’s workforce in these environments, switching companies to advance their career is the next logical step and will most likely occur within the next twelve months.

The solution to a lack of vertical and horizontal moves is what GrowTheBench.com has deemed Depthical Development™. Rather than focus on changing roles and responsibilities, employees can go deeper into their existing roles. These workers grow through the addition and mastery of new skills, more consistent exhibition of desired behaviors and values, and overall mastery of their position. And these promotions should carry the same weight and respect of any other promotion, including increased pay or benefits.