People Strategy

CHAPTER 5Prioritizing Growth

Humans are wired for growth.

We are always seeking out new opportunities and challenges: looking to improve ourselves or our careers, taking on new responsibilities, and adapting and evolving as people and workers. We want to be happy in the moment, but we also want to look back on the long arcs of our lives and see ourselves building new things over the years. This is especially true in our fast-moving world in which skills have an ever-shorter shelf life, and the labor market remains uncertain. A recent survey conducted by consulting firm Guthrie-Jensen (https://guthriejensen.com/blog/statistics-employee-training/) found that three-quarters of American workers are looking for growth opportunities at work; even more Millennials say that they value development opportunities, with 87 percent of respondents saying that career growth is “very important.” Companies that recognize the importance of employee development are better positioned to attract and retain talent. According to the 2018 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report (https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report-2018), 94 percent of employees would stay at a company longer if it presented them with sufficient growth and development opportunities. And a Zaki Warfel survey (https://courses.zakiwarfel.com/dci-report) found that companies that invest in leadership and career development see a 250 percent longer employee tenure.

And this fact isn't lost on most HR teams. In ...