The 21st-century worker no longer has a standardised definition of ‘success’. They are willing to change job or career direction as often as necessary to find their desired ‘path’.
Attracting and retaining employees has always been one of employers’ biggest challenges, but the new trend among professionals to regularly change or pivot their career adds a new layer of difficulty.
At the hiring stage, this ‘pivoting culture’ raises the question of whether the successful candidate will make a long-term commitment to the company (something that would’ve been taken for granted 10 years ago). Even after a successful hire is made, employers are left with the subconscious worry that an employee’s change of heart might lead to an untimely departure.
And for good reason. The nomadic nature of employees today poses a financial issue to employers.
Research from Adare Human Resource Management shows that businesses could be spending up to ‚¬13,100 to replace just one departed employee, money that could be better deployed into training and upskilling the current workforce.
Safeguarding against career transition
Challenging though the pivoting culture is, it can be used to an employer’s advantage. A workplace that embraces pivoting–rather than dreads it–can provide new opportunities to employees by facilitating change and transition within the workplace.
This is a concept that has already been recognised by global multinationals including Google, which implemented an internal ‘bungee programme’ that encourages employees to take part in a temporary job placement in a different department.
This programme not only gives Google employees the opportunity to challenge themselves and push boundaries without having to leave the company. It’s also proven to increase employee loyalty within the company.
This isn’t the exclusive domain of the Silicon Valley tech multinational, either. For a minimal investment in training and development, indigenous Irish businesses can nurture a culture of continuous learning that keeps staff interested and engaged.
Promising employees should be actively encouraged to take courses that hone their existing skills and develop new ones. These skills can be used to plug talent gaps, improve struggling areas of the business, and potentially create new revenue streams. It’s a win-win for both the employer and the employee.
Managing career changes
People find themselves at career crossroads for a number of reasons. Personal ambition, job satisfaction and family commitments can all inspire a change in perspective.
The employer can help frame this reassessment by providing resources that allow employees to understand and discuss their next move. Creating an internal career guidance resource can provide a confidential space for employees to discuss their career position, their goals and their challenges while increasing visibility of the internal development paths available to them. Irish employers can replicate this system by ensuring there is someone at management level who is willing to proactively mentor employees on their career development journey.
The role of the mentor is critical to the success of internal pivoting programmes. The mentor must be given the opportunity to establish a meaningful relationship with their junior colleague. This means stepping outside the largely unproductive and formulaic “where do you want to be in five years?”-type questions of old.
If you want to gain a meaningful understanding of a junior colleague’s aspirations or job satisfaction, this means asking meaningful and open-ended questions. For example, do they feel stimulated or fulfilled in their current role? If not, what are they prepared to do to address this? If a career pivot makes sense, how can the employer and employee make this work for all parties? These conversations require a level of trust, openness and confidence.
Finally, the modern professional knows their worth: they are educated, digitally savvy, and keen to experience a wide-ranging variety of roles and careers. Organisations want to hire them. By embracing rather than running from this new pivoting culture, employers of all sizes can turn employee ambition into productive energy.
Orla Moran is the general manager of IrishJobs.ie.