The Only Way Is Up, Baby…Or is it?

Now that you’ve got that 80’s “classic” by Yazz stuck in your head, let’s talk about career direction! 

Traditionally, it has been perceived to be progressing in your work like you need to be “moving up”.  That is, as your career progresses, success means moving in to management.  However, not everyone is born to be a manager or a leader, regardless of how skilled or knowledgeable they are in their chosen field.  Most of us have experienced a work situation where the person managing or leading a team is incredibly knowledgeable, and for this reason has been promoted into a position of leadership, however, they lack the skills or potentially the temperament to do so effectively.  To be able to effectively lead a team requires a person not only to be provided with the training and skills to do so, it also requires a particular personality type.  A person who is extremely passive in nature, with all the training in the world, is likely to find leading a team challenging.  At the other end of the spectrum, an overly assertive person may also struggle to keep a team on board depending on the team dynamics. 

The other challenge is that, as people progress “upwards” in an organisation, the positions available become increasingly limited.  Therefore, those who do not progress “upwards” may feel less valued or that they need to leave their current employer in order to be successful in progressing their career. 

So, what is the answer for those who leadership fills them with horror, or for those who perhaps are not an appropriate fit as a leader for your business or organisation but their skills and knowledge are of great value?  We need to change our thinking and support horizontal career growth and for this to be held in equal esteem as moving vertically.  Employees should be provided with opportunities to learn and to diversify into different areas of the business, to be a leader in terms of the knowledge and skills they can share, to be seen as an “expert” in their skill area, they need to be compensated accordingly for their expertise and all of this without it being intrinsically tied with a need to also be managing others.  Moving sideways could also give employees a much greater overview of your business which in itself can be incredibly valuable.  Of course, again, they need to be recognised for this value that they are bringing.  Being able to continually grow and learn, and being empowered to share knowledge with others has the potential for employees to experience greater self-development, to build self-esteem and ultimately have a sense of fulfilment in their work life. 

At EASI NZ we support businesses in developing their strategy and how to use their people to their full potential in achieving this.  We provide recruitment services to help find staff who are the right “fit” for their organisation and the roles on offer not only in skills but also using tools such as analysing body language to find out more about candidates.  We facilitate review processes which allow employees to share their aspirations and goals, as well as challenges. We utilise these tools to help employers structure job roles and responsibilities in a way that boosts employee performance, leading to better business results.  By doing so, we also aim to grow amazing people who are dedicated and loyal to their organisation.