Career Advancement was a key issue in need of improvement in 43 of the 100 projects we reviewed for this analysis.
Some people want more help and guidance in moving their careers forward. This can be addressed in the context of annual performance reviews and/or with other processes.
We often see comments complaining about the job-posting process. The key complaint in these instances is that employees feel the jobs being posted already have been promised to someone else. We sometimes see complaints about jobs not being posted at all.
We also hear about favoritism in promotions. There may or may not be actual favoritism at work when this is perceived. If there is not, in actuality, favoritism, then there is a communication problem either in the qualifications needed for a promotion or the qualifications of the person receiving one. If there is favoritism, the problem can be more difficult to solve.
Sometimes it’s just a fact of life that there aren’t enough open positions for people to receive the promotions they truly deserve. Adding responsibilities and pay can ameliorate the feelings of some qualified people who find themselves temporarily stuck because of a lack of promotional opportunities.
If we find problems with career advancement at your organization, it’s important to deal with them. More-engaged employees often have lofty career aspirations; you want to keep them engaged and keep them employed at your organization, if possible.