Career Pathing: It Isn’t Just for Managers

Career Pathing: Not Just for Managers

You already know that helping your employees establish a career path is one of the best things you can do for your company’s bottom line. You also know what information you need to supply to support those efforts and the number one question your employees want you to help them answer. What you may not know, however, is which employees need that help.

The short answer is: all of them.

While it can be tempting to focus career development efforts primarily on upper-level employees and/or anyone slated for management, your company will benefit dramatically from focusing on all of your employees, especially those employees in high-demand fields like information technology and software development.

Every position in your company is essential. Every position adds value for your customers and clients. Every position, then, deserves support.

When we think of career pathing, we often think of vertical promotions within a department. Accounting clerk to accounts payable or accounts receivable manger. Copywriter to creative director. Career paths, however, are often much more dynamic than that.

They can move laterally, across departments, or include large jumps. Bookkeeper to sales representative. Technical support to software engineer. If your career development support extends only to managers or employees with aspirations to become managers, then you are neglecting a large, talented pool of workers – workers you want to keep, workers who may be perfect for your succession plans if you can only help them flesh out their career goals.

To learn more about how your company can benefit all of its employees in career development, request a TalentGuard demo today.

FAQs

Should career pathing focus only on employees headed toward management roles?

No. The post argues every position adds value and deserves development support, not just roles on a path to management. Focusing career development narrowly on upper-level employees means neglecting a large, talented pool of workers you likely want to retain.

Does career pathing only mean vertical promotion within a department?

No, career paths are often more dynamic than that. They can move laterally across departments or involve large jumps, such as a bookkeeper moving into a sales role or someone in technical support moving into software engineering, rather than a straight line up within one function.

Why should companies prioritize career development for employees in high-demand fields like IT and software development?

Employees in high-demand fields have more external options, so a lack of visible growth internally makes them more likely to look elsewhere. Supporting their career development is one way to retain talent that would otherwise be easy to poach.

How does broad career pathing support succession planning?

Employees outside the traditional management track can still be strong succession candidates once their career goals and skills are fleshed out. Limiting career development to people already on a management path means missing potential successors who exist elsewhere in the organization.

What’s the risk of only supporting career development for a narrow group of employees?

The risk is losing talented workers who don’t see a path forward because development resources are concentrated on managers or aspiring managers. Since every position adds value to customers and clients, the post frames withholding that support from most of the workforce as a missed retention opportunity.