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Agile careers are in high demand, particularly amongst younger generations. But what is an agile career, and what are the advantages for the employer? We explore the rise of agile careers and explain why SMEs need to sit up and take note.
Millennials and Gen Z’s expect more flexible career development than the generations before them. In 2022, Gen Z (employees aged between 16-25), overtook Baby Boomers to become the third biggest generation in UK employment. Young professionals want clear, visible career pathways, and value learning new skills just as much as receiving a pay rise. Expectations are being driven, in part, by the threat of AI and the knowledge that up to 3m low-skilled jobs could disappear in the UK by 2035 because of automation and AI. The roles most at risk are those in trades, machine operations and administrative roles. The knowledge and skills required by roles is changing, prompting a cultural shift towards more agile careers.
The world is evolving, and our careers should too. Many employees no longer prioritise climbing the ladder and moving up the pay scale. North West businesses need to reassess career opportunities to attract and retain talent in an unpredictable job market. Supporting employees to plan for their future career has a huge impact on job satisfaction and is core to retaining talent within your organisation. Offering agile career pathways is one way to do this.
In this blog we explain what we mean by an agile career, the common features of an agile career pathway, and the differences between agile and linear development. We detail the benefits to businesses and employees, and explain the key steps to implementation in SMEs. By the end, you’ll understand what to do to embrace agile career pathways in your business.
What is an agile career?
The traditional view of career development is an image of someone climbing the ladder, rung by rung, until they reach the top and can’t climb any further. An agile career pathway couldn’t be further from this analogy.
Agile means being able to move quickly. An agile career is a flexible, adaptable career that takes you up, down, sideways - and even round in circles! - as you explore and learn. If you were to draw it, your picture would likely resemble a series of squiggles and corkscrews! Due to the variety of learning opportunities they offer, agile careers enable employees to manage uncertainty, and adapt and respond rapidly to changing business needs.
The principles of an agile career
Agile career paths follow many of the principles required by agile roles in IT, project management, and software development. These include:
Self-reflection and continuous improvement: a consistent drive to reflect, learn and refine in order to grow.
Proactive: having a positive mindset and being front-footed in response to challenges.
Exploration: researching and exploring trends and developments in your industry and field of work.
Resilience: being open to change and viewing it as a positive opportunity to learn and grow.
Collaboration: embracing opportunities for teamwork, meeting new people and learning from others.
Creativity and innovation: using all the qualities above to seek out new, innovative solutions to develop your career.
Flexibility: the confidence and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
What does an agile career pathway look like?
An agile career looks however the person wants it to look. Agile careers aren’t pre-planned, they are what you want them to be. An individual has the power to decide where they are heading and what their next challenge will look like. Flexibility is core to the principles of agile career development.
What employees look for in a career pathway
Gen Z are ambitius and moving between jobs faster than ever. Research by Randstad found their average tenure is just 1.1years in the first five years of their career. Data suggests investing in early career development and providing clear pathways, progression, and tangible rewards may help retain talent longer-term.
From our experience, employees of all ages and backgrounds value:
A personalised career path that meets their unique needs and aspirations.
A career designed around experiences, and not purely around satisfaction.
Do you understand what your employees want from their careers? Book a call and put your career development questions to one of our friendly HR Consultants.
Agile careers: the benefits for employees
Agile career pathways offer clear advantages for employees who are unsure what kind of career trajectory they want, or feel uninspired by a traditional, linear career. The variety of experience and growth on offer also makes them ideal for people thinking about a career change.
An agile approach to career development benefits employees through:
Inspiring them to find their own development path
Providing a variety of learning experiences outside their usual area of work or specialism
The excitement and challenge of experiencing different styles of work
Exploring their own creativity and learning new things
Learning how to adapt and flex quickly to change
Developing skills and knowledge, and exploring other interests alongside their day-to-day responsibilities
Acquiring skills and knowledge that will make them more attractive to employers in a competitive job market.
Gaining satisfaction and enjoyment at work, and feeling motivated to be at their best.
Agile careers: the employer benefits
When you invest in agile career pathways and align individual training and development needs to your business goals, you will:
Differentiate yourself from competitors
Increase your ability to attract and retain top talent
Attract younger employees with new ideas
Develop talent for the future
Build employee engagement and morale
Gain a loyal workforce that knows that their employer values and cares for them
Improve business performance and productivity
Increase workforce resilience in the event of a crisis.
Developing agile career paths in SMEs
If your small or medium-sized business is exploring the idea of agile careers, here are some tips to improve career pathways and incorporate agile principles into your development offer.
Establish career goals: use career conversations to find out what personal and professional goals are important to the individual. Make it clear your company is committed to, and invested in, their growth.
Be supportive: ask what support, knowledge, and skills development they will need to achieve these goals.
Provide coaching and mentoring: both are features of agile careers. Coaching is one-to-one support to explore personal career aspirations, mentoring is specific advice and guidance from someone associated with, or working in, a role an employee wishes to explore.
Hone agile skills: focus on helping your team develop problem-solving skills, change management techniques, and on internal and external collaboration.
Encourage curiosity: stress the importance of building industry knowledge in achieving the next step in their career, whatever that looks like to the individual. Suggest they research potential roles and the skills and qualifications required.
Discuss the opportunities: be open to talking about career opportunities within your immediate team, and in other departments and functions across the business.
Career mapping
Some managers may prefer to take a more structured approach when speaking with their team members about career progression. Career mapping can help steer the discussion. It involves three steps:
Self-assessment. Encourage the individual to explore past experiences, interests, and identify their skills and abilities, and consider what they wish to achieve.
Creating a personalised career map. Looking at the outcomes of the self-assessment, work together to look at other roles that meet their aspirations and interests. And don’t forget, every move on a career map does not have to be a promotion, it can be an agile, sideways move to increase knowledge and skillset.
Consider other opportunities. As and when opportunities arise within the workplace, take time to explore whether it could be a good move for the employee. It could be that the move acts as an accelerator.
We offer a range of accessible, inclusive learning and development solutions for SMEs. Take a look at the options and how we can help your team reach their full potential.
What are the alternatives to agile careers?
While agile career pathways have broad business benefits, we recognise that not all SMEs have the ability to embrace them. Other methods of career progression are extremely effective. Here are four alternatives:
The redesign. Great for companies with flat organisational structures, this approach could deliver amazing benefits to all parties. Instead of moving roles, set challenges and tasks where the employee can learn essential skills that match their own goals.
The rotation. Job rotation programmes provide employees with a greater insight into how the company operates. These alternative experiences will help should a vacancy arise which fits in with their career plan.
The dual ladder programme. Focused on innovation, the dual ladder provides separate routes for people who aspire to managerial roles and those who wish to develop their knowledge and experience without having to manage a team. Remember, not everyone aspires, or is suited, to managing others.
The horizontal career path. Not all moves are vertical. A horizontal move boosts knowledge and provides opportunities to explore other departments and functions. They also aid structural movement, for example an employee taking a horizontal role may allow another colleague to move up the ladder.
Agile careers in a combined approach to growth
While the traditional ‘climbing the ladder’ route to career development is still valid, agile career pathways are a realistic alternative. They benefit employees looking for variety and continuous learning in their future growth and development. For SMEs, being able to provide a range of career growth options is key to helping each employee achieve their full potential.
Empower your people to personalise their careers
Employees want to feel empowered to create their own individual career paths. Agile career pathways are a realistic way to engage young people in their own development and retain top talent within your business. For this to be successful, your people managers must provide relevant resources, job enhancement opportunities, and learning tools to support the employee’s individual plans. Our Altrincham-based expert HR Consultants can support your team with career mapping, manager development, and a range of e-learning modules to boost skills and knowledge. Get in touch to find out how we can help.
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