The Second 'C' of Employee Engagement

4 Steps to Creating Opportunities that Matter

Career advancement is the second ‘C’ of employee engagement. It’s impact on an employee’s attitude towards their organization cannot be underestimated and has been proven to contribute to employees feeling a deep connection to their place of work. When employees think they have a future with their current organization, that there are opportunities for career advancement or career enhancement, then they are more likely to approach their jobs with passion and pride.

If your employees aren’t provided the knowledge and tools to do their work successfully and they don’t have meaningful work opportunities then, over time, they will feel stressed and frustrated. These side effects cost employers through turnover, diminished productivity, a demotivated work force, and so on.

Here are 4 steps to mastering career development in your organizations:

1. Talk to your employees regularly to get to know them. Through conversations you will get a clear picture of each individual and you can find out what their goals are. Get to  know what their strengths and weaknesses are.
    
2. Set goals with them and help them create a plan to meet their goals. It is important that you simultaneously provide them knowledge and tools to achieve these goals.
    
3. Mentor your employees. When you align a junior performer with a strong performer, they learn what it takes to succeed. Strong performers have connected and committed to  their organization, making them ideal role models for junior performers. Conversely, mentorship opportunities also give senior employees the chance to help others succeed,  which deepens their connection to their organization.
    
4. Offer training programs. These can include onboarding, special projects, role rotation assignments, job shadowing and more.

To retain their employees, managers need to embrace career development and create opportunities to discuss career paths with their employees, while focusing on understanding employees’ unique career goals. If you want a true measure of your employees’ opinions about how well you are providing these opportunities, it might be time to ask them, using a custom-designed employee survey. Once you identify your weak spots, then you can go about making changes that will help you connect with your employees in ways that have impact and meaning and help them grow and succeed.