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Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor.
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I'm the founder of Lead Above Noise, where we help leaders
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activate performance and engagement without burning out.
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Whether it's a bootcamp, a keynote,
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or a pulse check, we help teams achieve meaningful change.
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If that's what your organization needs, send me a note,
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rachel@leadabovenoise.com.
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So a lot of the work I do with clients begins
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with an employee engagement survey.
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Well, technically it begins when the client gets their
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survey results and then calls me instead
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of banging their head against the wall.
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Though I suspect sometimes they do some head
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banging before they call me.
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But either way, for some companies, actually for many
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of them, that survey is an important data point,
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but also it's a big source of frustration
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because what is so common is
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that certain questions generate a negative
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response year over year.
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Things that feel outside of a manager's ability to control.
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And this creates a cycle of a lot of frustration,
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like take career development
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and progression consistently an area in which employees are
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unhappy at so many companies year over year.
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From my vantage point, here's what it looks like.
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Employees feel stuck like they're working their bleeps off.
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They're ready for the promotion they think they
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deserve, and it's not coming.
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Managers feel that disappointment directed at them,
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but they're like, what am I supposed to do?
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I can't promote everyone on my team,
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and frankly, I can't promote anyone
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into a role that doesn't exist.
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And organizations or senior leadership,
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they're feeling tired of what they perceive
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as a sense of entitlement.
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I hear things like, who is managing these expectations
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that leave people thinking
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that hard work will get you promoted
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every two to three years?
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Where do they all think they're going?
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It's a tough cycle, and whether
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or not we can solve it completely, who knows?
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But without a doubt, we can improve things significantly.
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For me, it begins with how we conceptualize career growth
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and development, how we frame it, how we talk about it.
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If we shift and expand our minds,
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it becomes a more solvable problem,
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unless you prefer the head
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beating approach, if it's working.
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So today, let's talk about
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how we can all play a role in moving the needle in the right
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direction on the career advancement front.
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Let's start with some math now for future reference.
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When I start a sentence like that, you should generally run,
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but this time I think I got it.
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Because every organization, no matter
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how relatively flat it may be,
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will always have more space at the bottom than at the top.
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And when all the folks at the entry point are vying
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for the same few spots at the top,
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it becomes a breeding ground for disappointment
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and unhealthy competition.
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So we have to open the aperture on
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what actually constitutes career growth,
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development and advancement.
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So
Let's start by redefining career development.
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Career development is not just about moving up,
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it's about growing in meaningful ways, like having a sense
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of the journey you'd like to be on,
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and always feeling like you're moving
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in some way towards it.
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Yeah, sometimes that may be with a promotion,
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but also maybe by expanding your skills
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or your confidence, your network, your industry expertise.
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If you are somebody and no shade, if you are
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who has consistently given this one a thumbs down on your
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company's engagement survey,
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here are some things you might play with.
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Can you broaden your skillset?
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Learn something new that makes you more versatile?
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Whether it's mastering a new technology,
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developing a leadership capability,
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or understanding another department's work growth often
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comes from expanding your toolkit.
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Can you deepen your expertise?
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Choose something you're good at
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and become the go-to in your little world?
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Get certified. Learn advanced techniques.
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Help your company spot opportunities to use your skill
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and knowledge in new ways.
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Think about your legacy.
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Think about the impact you wanna leave.
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Maybe it's mentoring junior colleagues,
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leading a meaningful project
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or building something that will last beyond you being there.
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Legacy isn't always tied to title,
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it's tied to contribution.
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Proactively seek new challenges.
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Don't wait for someone to assign you work.
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Volunteer for a cross-functional project
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or propose a new idea.
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Build your network. Internal networking
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can be really powerful.
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Get to know people in other teams or departments.
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Collaboration and visibility can often lead
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to new opportunities.
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And be vocal about your goals. Talk to your manager.
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Share where you wanna grow and ask for their support.
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Tell them how they can help you.
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Managers can't help if they
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don't know what you're aiming for.
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Now, if you're a manager in a company,
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the focus is on guidance, not guarantees,
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because managers often feel caught in the middle.
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They see the frustration on the surveys,
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but they can't manufacture promotions,
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but they can focus on helping employees see the broader
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opportunities for growth.
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Here are some things you can do as a manager.
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Shift the conversation instead of asking
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what role do you want next, try asking what skills
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or experiences do you wanna gain this year
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or beyond the what questions?
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Ask the why and how,
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like why does that feel important to you?
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And how can I help you feel a sense of momentum?
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So you're actually helping not just support,
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but even shape their journey over the long term.
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You can create opportunities even if you can't offer a
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promotion, can you offer stretch assignments,
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shadow opportunities, help them find mentors
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or get exposure to senior leaders
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and you can help celebrate progress, recognize
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and reward their growth even if it doesn't come
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with a new title, no money required.
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Just help your team members see the progress they've made
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and how that's moving them closer
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to the goals you help them set.
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And finally, what can organizations do?
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Because organizations have
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to play a role in reshaping expectations
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and providing meaningful growth opportunities.
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Here are some ideas. Be transparent.
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Share the realities of promotion opportunities, guidelines,
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and criteria for how your company thinks about promotions,
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but also highlight other pathways for growth.
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Set clear expectations and reduce ambiguity.
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You can invest in development, offer training programs,
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mentorship or job rotations.
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Make it clear that growth is about capability
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and contribution, not just titles and redefine success.
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Create recognition programs that celebrate skill building,
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teamwork or innovation, not just promotions.
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So there you have it. The frustration
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around career progression isn't just about entitlement,
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it's about misunderstanding.
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By redefining what growth looks like
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and focusing on broad development,
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rather than narrow promotions, we can create workplaces
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where employees feel fulfilled and managers feel empowered
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and organizations see engagement rise.
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If your team or organization is struggling
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with these challenges, I'd love to help.
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Send me a note at rachel@leadabovenoise.com
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and we can set up some time.
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In the meantime, join me next week
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for another great episode.
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Visit my website@leadabovenoise.com.
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You can follow Modern Mentor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
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or wherever you listen.
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Thanks so much for tuning in and have a successful week.
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Modern Mentor is a quick and Dirty Tips podcast.
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