ARTICLE
High performer doesn’t see a career path here Are any of your high-performing direct reports unsure what the future might hold for them at your organization? If so, it’s up to you to help them explore some options. Otherwise, they might start exploring the job market. What could be going on? There’s not a clear promotion structure in your department or organization. The person is overwhelmed by choices. The person is underwhelmed by choices. The person’s values or goals don’t fit within the typical “career ladder.” You and the person are so busy with daily tasks that you haven’t had time for long-term planning. You’ve purposefully been avoiding career-oriented discussions because you want to keep the person in his or her current role for as long as possible. Political or logistical hurdles are blocking the person’s path. How to handle it: 1. See past your own motivations. Maybe deep down you want your direct report to keep doing exactly the same thing for as long as possible. This often happens with strong performers — especially if their jobs are hard to fill! But most people crave progress. If your high performers don’t see a way to advance — either through promotions or simply through increasing amounts of responsibility and mastery — they’ll probably leave, along with the time, money, and effort that you and your company have invested in them. 2. Make time for collaborative career planning and exploration. Conversations about long-term career goals never seem as urgent as day-to-day tasks — but they are. Managers who avoid them are often the ones caught completely off-guard by sudden resignations. If you don’t hold weekly 1-on-1s with your direct reports, get them on the calendar. These provide the perfect opportunity to touch base about big-picture issues. Then, let your direct reports know that you’d like to spend at least 10 minutes in each 1-on-1 discussing issues related to their career development. 3. Express your willingness to help. Does this mean you have to promise the person a promotion? Of course not. That may be neither possible nor appropriate. But you have a lot to gain by helping your direct report explore ideas and options, set his or her sights on something and take steps to get there. Your credibility will increase, and you are likely to boost your report’s engagement and motivation, just by making it clear that you care. In your next 1-on-1, initiate a career-oriented conversation: “Anup, an important part of my job is helping you reach your potential here. We could start by having a career development discussion during our next 1-on-1. Is that something you’d be interested in doing?” 4. Ask open-ended questions about the person’s strengths and interests. Your high performer might not know yet what he or she wants. This is perfectly normal. Encourage the person to dig into strengths and interests, which are often at the heart of fruitful careers. Here are some questions you can use to spur the person’s thinking: “What do you feel you’re best at, and why?” “Do you ever experience periods when you lose track of time and are ‘in the zone’? What are you doing during those periods?” “What gives you the greatest sense of accomplishment?” “What do you wish you had more time to do in your current position?” “What do you wish you knew more about here?” “Are there strengths of yours that you aren’t getting to use, or would like to use more?” 5. Help your direct report set a goal — even if it’s just an exploratory one. All of the strengths and interests in the world are unlikely to help if the person doesn’t have a compelling goal to guide his or her efforts. Continue the coaching process with questions that will zero in on potential destinations: “What would you like to be doing a year from now? Three years? Five?” “What skills do you think you’ve learned in your job that you could apply in other ways?” “Where do you see yourself having the biggest impact here?” “Who’s doing work here that you admire, and why do you admire it?” In some instances, these questions may lead to a highly focused goal (e.g., Become the vice president of marketing by age 35). This is rare. Most people have trouble defining career goals. There’s nothing wrong with creating a more exploratory goal that will allow the person to learn more. Example of an exploratory goal: Over the next three months, have coffee with someone in marketing, sales and human resources to learn more about those areas of the company. You can also direct the person to our Individual Goals topic if he or she needs to do more work on goal-setting. 6. Ask questions that encourage planning and action. Once the person has a goal, you can help figure out how to help him or her get there. Depending on the goal, this might be easy to do, or so difficult that it requires setting multiple “mini-goals” or milestones along the way. It’s not up to you to tell the person exactly what to do; it’s usually much more effective to coach the person toward possible solutions. He or she will then be more likely to take ownership of the process. These questions can help yield tangible next steps: “What’s the first thing that you need to do to reach your goal? What next?” “How long do you think it will take to get there?” “What skill gaps should we work to address, and how?” “What obstacles might there be, and how can you prepare for them?” “Who might be able to help you along the way?” “Who are the influencers and decision makers you need to get to know, and how can you do that?” 7. Tie feedback to the person’s career plans. Studies show that most people do not assess themselves accurately. This accounts for why many think they deserve promotions when they don’t — or, in some cases, underestimate their own abilities. As a manager, you are in a position to help your high performer see him- or herself as others do, which in turn will help the person know what to work on. Above all, be honest. It’s not fair to tell your report that he’ll make a great leader or that she’s a strong communicator if you think there’s a lot of room for improvement. A better approach is to explain what qualities the company looks for in its leaders or communicators, and then discuss where you think the person currently stands. See our Giving Feedback topic for more tips. 8. Have your direct report put a plan in writing — and keep a copy for yourself. As businessman Paul J. Meyer once said, “Writing crystallizes thought and thought produces action.” Encourage your direct report to cover the following in a document that you can both refer back to and refine over time, changing or adding elements as necessary: One career goal for the next year (this can be exploratory in nature) First three steps to get there Anticipated obstacles List of people and resources involved 9. Follow up in your weekly 1-on-1s. Setting and following a career path isn’t something that can be done in one fell swoop. It’s tough and complicated. Plus, people’s feelings about their careers change over time. Revisit your high performer’s plan and progress on a regular basis, perhaps for five or 10 minutes during weekly 1-on-1s. This will help the person stay on track, while conveying your ongoing interest, involvement and willingness to be a resource. 10. Delegate tasks and projects related to the person’s long-term goals. One of the best ways to help someone figure out whether he or she wants to do something is to give the person the opportunity to do it. Is your direct report interested in management? Maybe she’d be the perfect person to help orient and train new hires seeking mentorship. Is he intrigued by design? Give him a side project improving the look and feel of an internal template or intranet page. Does she want to know what happens in the marketing department? Make her the team’s liaison to that group and let her sit in on any meetings with its members. 11. Put your direct report in touch with like-minded mentors and experts. It could be both illuminating and inspiring for your direct report to hear how others found their way in their careers. Think through your list of contacts — both at your current company and beyond. Do you know anyone who shares your direct report’s strengths and interests? Who struggled to find his or her way? Who is really good at something your direct report might want to try? Prep anyone who comes to mind by explaining your report’s situation, and then put the two in touch. Also, don’t forget about yourself! Sharing stories about your own career path will not only humanize you in the eyes of your report, but also will help you provide a real-world example of what it takes to follow up on a lead, get to know an influencer or meet a goal. 12. Network across departments. How can you help your direct report see what your organization offers if you don’t know yourself? Take every opportunity to network across departments and groups so that you have a holistic understanding of what your organization offers — and what it needs. That way, you’ll be ready to point direct reports in the right direction if and when their career paths branch out. See our Building Relationships topic for more tips on expanding your network. 13. Seek resources and advice from HR and/or your manager. Chances are, your organization’s HR team gives “career pathing” a lot of thought, and may have developed — or be in the process of developing — resources or tools that could help your direct reports. Your manager may also have relevant experience and advice about coaching others toward career goals. If nothing else, it could be useful for both to hear about any career confusion or frustration coming from the business’s front lines.
Are any of your high-performing direct reports unsure what the future might hold for them at your organization? If so, it’s up to you to help them explore some options. Otherwise, they might start exploring the job market.
Maybe deep down you want your direct report to keep doing exactly the same thing for as long as possible. This often happens with strong performers — especially if their jobs are hard to fill! But most people crave progress. If your high performers don’t see a way to advance — either through promotions or simply through increasing amounts of responsibility and mastery — they’ll probably leave, along with the time, money, and effort that you and your company have invested in them.
Conversations about long-term career goals never seem as urgent as day-to-day tasks — but they are. Managers who avoid them are often the ones caught completely off-guard by sudden resignations.
If you don’t hold weekly 1-on-1s with your direct reports, get them on the calendar. These provide the perfect opportunity to touch base about big-picture issues. Then, let your direct reports know that you’d like to spend at least 10 minutes in each 1-on-1 discussing issues related to their career development.
Does this mean you have to promise the person a promotion? Of course not. That may be neither possible nor appropriate. But you have a lot to gain by helping your direct report explore ideas and options, set his or her sights on something and take steps to get there. Your credibility will increase, and you are likely to boost your report’s engagement and motivation, just by making it clear that you care.
In your next 1-on-1, initiate a career-oriented conversation:
“Anup, an important part of my job is helping you reach your potential here. We could start by having a career development discussion during our next 1-on-1. Is that something you’d be interested in doing?”
Your high performer might not know yet what he or she wants. This is perfectly normal. Encourage the person to dig into strengths and interests, which are often at the heart of fruitful careers. Here are some questions you can use to spur the person’s thinking:
All of the strengths and interests in the world are unlikely to help if the person doesn’t have a compelling goal to guide his or her efforts. Continue the coaching process with questions that will zero in on potential destinations:
In some instances, these questions may lead to a highly focused goal (e.g., Become the vice president of marketing by age 35). This is rare. Most people have trouble defining career goals. There’s nothing wrong with creating a more exploratory goal that will allow the person to learn more.
Example of an exploratory goal: Over the next three months, have coffee with someone in marketing, sales and human resources to learn more about those areas of the company.
You can also direct the person to our Individual Goals topic if he or she needs to do more work on goal-setting.
Once the person has a goal, you can help figure out how to help him or her get there. Depending on the goal, this might be easy to do, or so difficult that it requires setting multiple “mini-goals” or milestones along the way.
It’s not up to you to tell the person exactly what to do; it’s usually much more effective to coach the person toward possible solutions. He or she will then be more likely to take ownership of the process. These questions can help yield tangible next steps:
Studies show that most people do not assess themselves accurately. This accounts for why many think they deserve promotions when they don’t — or, in some cases, underestimate their own abilities. As a manager, you are in a position to help your high performer see him- or herself as others do, which in turn will help the person know what to work on.
Above all, be honest. It’s not fair to tell your report that he’ll make a great leader or that she’s a strong communicator if you think there’s a lot of room for improvement. A better approach is to explain what qualities the company looks for in its leaders or communicators, and then discuss where you think the person currently stands.
See our Giving Feedback topic for more tips.
As businessman Paul J. Meyer once said, “Writing crystallizes thought and thought produces action.” Encourage your direct report to cover the following in a document that you can both refer back to and refine over time, changing or adding elements as necessary:
Setting and following a career path isn’t something that can be done in one fell swoop. It’s tough and complicated. Plus, people’s feelings about their careers change over time. Revisit your high performer’s plan and progress on a regular basis, perhaps for five or 10 minutes during weekly 1-on-1s. This will help the person stay on track, while conveying your ongoing interest, involvement and willingness to be a resource.
One of the best ways to help someone figure out whether he or she wants to do something is to give the person the opportunity to do it.
Is your direct report interested in management? Maybe she’d be the perfect person to help orient and train new hires seeking mentorship. Is he intrigued by design? Give him a side project improving the look and feel of an internal template or intranet page. Does she want to know what happens in the marketing department? Make her the team’s liaison to that group and let her sit in on any meetings with its members.
It could be both illuminating and inspiring for your direct report to hear how others found their way in their careers. Think through your list of contacts — both at your current company and beyond. Do you know anyone who shares your direct report’s strengths and interests? Who struggled to find his or her way? Who is really good at something your direct report might want to try? Prep anyone who comes to mind by explaining your report’s situation, and then put the two in touch.
Also, don’t forget about yourself! Sharing stories about your own career path will not only humanize you in the eyes of your report, but also will help you provide a real-world example of what it takes to follow up on a lead, get to know an influencer or meet a goal.
How can you help your direct report see what your organization offers if you don’t know yourself? Take every opportunity to network across departments and groups so that you have a holistic understanding of what your organization offers — and what it needs. That way, you’ll be ready to point direct reports in the right direction if and when their career paths branch out.
See our Building Relationships topic for more tips on expanding your network.
Chances are, your organization’s HR team gives “career pathing” a lot of thought, and may have developed — or be in the process of developing — resources or tools that could help your direct reports. Your manager may also have relevant experience and advice about coaching others toward career goals. If nothing else, it could be useful for both to hear about any career confusion or frustration coming from the business’s front lines.