We often prepare for the ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ question, but what happens when our goals change during that time? Do companies investigate enough to reduce turnover?
Have you entered a career or job role with a plan – and a nice, rehearsed answer to the ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ question?
What if after you have been in a company or a role for 5 -10 years, mid-way through your career, working up the ladder, building experience, and honing your skills, your life takes a different turn?
Your ambitions or drivers change significantly, and you want to go in another direction.
Can businesses accommodate that pivot – are there support systems in place that enable a positive and transparent conversation between employer and employee to facilitate changing needs? If not, will you move on?
Many businesses have a degree of churn, but how many dig deep to look at attrition within the company and interrogate what prompts people to move on?
Using data, observing patterns, and psychology to create positive change. Developing a deeper empathy and understanding of employees, and nurturing a culture based on flexibility, connectivity, unity, and purpose are essential for retaining them.
When we were a relatively small team seeing these incremental changes in people’s drivers was easy to spot as we were all in the same office. However, since we have expanded into three offices with one in the US, we have had to place more emphasis on ensuring there are channels for people to communicate these changes.
Regular catchups with managers, everyone based in the office, and opportunities to raise concerns to help us understand team members’ drivers and ambitions and provide valuable insight to inform positive change. For instance, we recently modified our promotion structure based on feedback from a recent survey.