My wife, Margie, says managers have three roles—doing their own job, working with people to help them develop and accomplish their current goals, and talking with people about their career aspirations.
The third role Margie cites is one that is often either forgotten or squeezed in at the end of an annual performance review meeting. As a manager, why would you want to talk with your people about their career aspirations? It’s not necessarily because you have a promotion in your back pocket. It’s because you care about them and want to know where they see themselves in one, three, or five years—where they would like to be in their career.
Career coaching is an organizational strategy that retains high performers and increases bench strength over time. Why? Because people get energized when their manager wants to talk about their future—it shows them their manager is interested in them and it makes them more willing to share their thoughts and plans.
Several signals can indicate that it’s time to start having career conversations with a direct report:
- When they continually exceed expectations
- When they ask for more responsibility
- When they bring up the topic of their career aspirations
- When they have mastered the basics of their current role
Some managers are hesitant to have career coaching conversations with a valued team member because they fear losing the person to another department or organization. But consider this: research from world-renowned coaching expert Marshall Goldsmith shows that one of the most common reasons people leave a company is because nobody asked them to stay. Look at each coaching conversation as an opportunity to let your direct report know how much you appreciate them and their work.
Another reason managers are hesitant is because they don’t have a potential promotion to offer or a good idea of new opportunities in the organization. The idea is to have the conversation without thinking either of you have an answer—yet. One of the questions you could ask is What are two or three positions in this organization that might be of interest to you in the future? The person’s reply may give you clues about their general interest or intent. It may even lead to a conversation about how they can find out more about those positions.
Managers, I urge you to sit down and discuss career aspirations at least two or three times a year with each of your direct reports. A regularly scheduled one-on-one meeting is a perfect time to bring up this topic.
People need their managers to be interested in their future as well as their present—and career coaching conversations are a great opportunity to show your direct reports you really care.