The best career conversations never end | Great Workplaces

For far too long career development has followed a familiar pattern. Meet with an employee to review their performance. Discuss the possibility of a promotion. Wait another year. Do it all again. It’s a comfortable model, no doubt about that, but it no longer reflects how people actually build careers.

Employees aren’t asking, “When can I become a manager?” They’re asking bigger, more thoughtful questions about what skills they should be building, where they can contribute next, how they stay relevant, and what their future looks like at your company.

If you’re answering these questions on a regular basis, you’re off to a solid start in proving your business is a great place to work. But if you’re only having them on a yearly basis, and not giving them the thought they require, you’re not doing your employees or your business any good.

The truth is that annual reviews are simply not enough. The world is changing faster than ever—and business is no exception. Skill sets evolve, technology advances, and customer expectations are growing by the minute. Shouldn’t our career conversations evolve as well? Shouldn’t our internal dynamics grow with the outside world?

Yes, they should. Employees need—no, they deserve—frequent conversations.

This won’t come as a shock to anyone who runs a successful business, but Gallup has consistently found that employees who feel that someone at work encourages their development are far more engaged than those who do not. And according to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report, organizations that prioritize career development “outpace others on key indicators of business success.”

It goes without saying that the workplace has changed, and with it the expectations of employees. People don’t leave companies because they aren’t being promoted quickly enough. They leave because they can’t picture what’s next in their careers. And compared with 10 years ago, “what’s next” looks drastically different today. It’s no longer the linear path of assistant to manager to director and so on. Growth now comes in different shapes and sizes. It’s cross-functional projects, certifications, and lateral experiences, among many other things.

A few months ago, I wrote about how a “career lattice” is a more apt metaphor than a “career ladder”—and it’s becoming more accurate with every passing day. Careers follow a winding path; growth is multidimensional.

But here’s what I would argue is the biggest shift: in our upskilling world, employees need to become active learners. AI has sped things up more than we ever could have predicted while illuminating some truths we can no longer ignore. According to the World Economic Forum, 39% of existing skill sets will evolve or become outdated by the year 2030.

Think about that for a moment: two-fifths of our current skills will become irrelevant. Hopefully you’re a forward-thinking leader and have made a point of encouraging your team to grow with the times. But for those who refuse to help upskill their teams, it’s time you read the writing on the wall. Upskilling is a business strategy—and it’s no longer optional.

So how does this change how we have career conversations? For starters, the yearly meeting is out. Next to go are canned questions like, “Where do you want to be in five years?” Thinking ahead is always a good thing, but we can do much better than generic discussions like these. Think of new ways to learn about employees’ development goals. Consider asking questions that dig a bit deeper, like:

• What work or projects energize you?
• What skills do you want to build?
• What part of the business are you most curious about?
• How can AI help you become better at your job?
• What capabilities will make you more effective?

It comes down to this: we need to rethink our conversations to focus less on titles and more on capabilities. And more than that, we need to think about how we can make career growth continuous. Here are a few ways your business can do it.

Schedule recurring career conversations

Instead of the yearly performance review, spread out the dialogue across multiple conversations. Feel free to try different touchpoints. Quarterly, monthly, bi-weekly—if your employees want more frequent check-ins, go for it. Just be sure to stick with whatever cadence you choose. And once you’ve established a recurring schedule, ask the questions I listed above. Be sure to give your spin on them. After all, you know your business and your employees best.

Build personalized learning plans

No two employees are alike, so the idea of a cookie-cutter growth plan will only wind up holding them all back. Annual goals are important, no doubt about it, but they need to foster individual learning. Consider focusing on certain skill sets. Establish one technical skill, one leadership skill, one business skill, and (you guessed it) one AI skill. The nature of these competencies should reflect your employee’s interests and career desires, but this framework gives them a starting point. What comes next is up to them.

Create stretch projects

Growth happens when we step just outside of our comfort zone. So how do we encourage employees to take that first step? By starting small. Maybe it comes by having an employee lead a client presentation, or perhaps they mentor an intern. Maybe they chair an internal committee or even pilot a new technology. Again, help your employees embrace whatever growth journey they’re on—and remember that growth happens through experience.

Log the time

The one thing that shouldn’t change about how we encourage growth is documentation. I know, I know; it’s not the most exciting part of career development, but it’s important when you and your employees are looking to see how far they’ve come.

At DS+CO, we have agency-wide training and development goals: our employees need to hit at least four hours of training each quarter. The specifics are decided by our employees and their supervisors, but the main thing is that they’re actually seeking and participating in learning opportunities that interest them. Logging it not only checks the training box, but also gives both them and you a high-level view of what they’re learning—and how it’s shaping their roles.

These four approaches can go a long way in helping your employees grow in their careers, but the burden shouldn’t fall solely on your shoulders. It takes two to tango. And although growth is a shared responsibility, employees need to own their journeys. Don’t worry, there are ways to help them take more ownership. They’ll look to you for guidance and when they do, get them to ask the right questions. Curiosity is one of the best traits anyone can have. If you have a team filled with curious individuals, who knows what you’ll be capable of?

That’s why we need to break out of the mindset that career development is only measured in annual reviews. Progress is a far more effective yardstick than promotions, especially when you’re tracking every effort along the way. Great places to work recognize this; they’ll meet their employees halfway to help develop their careers in the way that suits them best. We can all make a difference in our employees’ lives. All we have to do is keep the conversation going.

Lauren Dixon is board chair of Dixon Schwabl + Co., a marketing communications firm, which has been honored as a Best Place to Work.