What happens when career planning continuously misses the mark? Well, the latest trend of ‘job hugging’ goes some way to answering the question.
Our research found that while employees are keen to pursue professional growth, organisations are failing to provide the guidance and support they need to achieve their goals. As a result, there’s a growing trend of people staying in roles they’re dissatisfied with, purely out of fear and economic uncertainty, as opposed to loyalty or ambition.
And with 4 in 10 employees saying they lack a career plan, while 3 in 4 managers say they’re overwhelmed and have no time to conduct meaningful career conversations, it’s no surprise we find ourselves on the precipice of total workforce stagnation.
In our latest webinar, we heard from Nicola Rundle, Global Solutions Architect, and Tim Gilbert, Market Lead for Right Management UK & Ireland about the recent trend of job hugging, the danger it poses for businesses and how it can be overcome.
Job hugging – what’s fuelling it?
Everything centres on a disconnect between employees and businesses.
Organisations are over reliant on yearly performance reviews and individual development plans as their sole means of driving career growth, whereas employees are looking for experiential learning through mentoring, internal mobility and regular performance assessments – all of which are generally underfunded and at risk of being cut.
This misalignment has left employees lacking direction and feeling disengaged in their careers, and therefore posing serious knock-on effects for organisational agility and success:
“From a business perspective it’s a risk, particularly when it comes to how motivated and engaged people are, and indeed what implication this has on the ability of an organisation to execute its strategy.”
- Tim Gilbert
And with managers unable to conduct regular career conversations, there’s a danger that much of this disengagement could go unnoticed within organisations:
“The challenge for HR is to identify the job huggers vs the job lovers and to reengage them before stagnation sets in.”
- Nicola Rundle
So what can we do to get career planning back on track?
With flatter organisational structures and fewer promotional pathways available, there needs to be a greater focus on helping employees embrace agility in their careers.
When people know their worth, understand how to pivot if needed, and possess a willingness to stay future-ready, they’re far more capable of navigating today’s world of work:
“Static plans no longer work when the roles and skills evolve so quickly – which calls for a shift away from static career planning to more dynamic career navigation.”
- Nicola
A key component of successful career navigation is adopting a growth mindset, which allows people to become more comfortable with ambiguity and moving forward without a clear destination:
“The ability to be resilient and learn is a fundamental part of navigating a successful career within any organisation… Growth mindset allows individuals to navigate change… and lean into learning, innovation and resilience.”
- Tim
That said, the impetus cannot rest solely on the individual. Employees will need support and systems to be put in place for them to successfully act on their intentions:
“You’ve got to anticipate the skills needed for the future, embed learning into daily work and create infrastructure that will align individual growth with the needs of the business – and you can’t leave employees to figure all this out for themselves.”
- Nicola
What are the key actions for employees and organisations moving forward?
For the wider workforce, it’s about embracing a new model of career enablement:
- Navigation rather than planning: With 39% of today’s skills becoming outdated in five years, managers will need to become more active in supporting employees to identify and build future-ready skills.
- Use career experiments and learning in the flow of work: Design short-term career experiments and learning opportunities that align with business initiatives to make development continuous and practical; celebrating skill gains when they occur.
And at the same time, organisational leaders will need to:
- Move from career ladders to pathways: Recognise our changed landscape and promote lateral moves, skill-building and cross-functional growth to better align career development with business transformation goals.
- Facilitate manager enablement: Equip managers with the skills and time to guide career conversations and enable successful career navigation, while reward them for developing talent as opposed to simply retaining it.
The success of any business is inseparable from the strength and performance of its workforce, which is why organisations who invest in career development are far more capable of adapting, innovating and leading through change.
Find out more by catching up on our webinar.
