🌱 If They Can't Grow, They'll Go

Leslie Speas
Feb 12
3 min read

Today’s workforce is very clear about one thing: They want to grow.

Whether that means building new skills, earning more responsibility, moving into leadership, or simply getting better at what they do. People want to feel like their time in your organization is an investment in their future.

This is where the Growth & Career Development category of the Employee Experience Blueprint comes in.

🧭What Growth & Career Development Means in the Employee Experience

Growth isn’t only about promotions.

It involves answering two questions for your employees:

1️⃣ Can I grow here?

2️⃣ Will someone help me get there?

When the answer is yes, people stay, contribute more, and recommend your organization to others.

When the answer is no, they start checking out Indeed on their lunch break.

💥What's Included in Growth & Career Development.

This category includes the habits, structures, and tools that help employees stretch and grow, including:

Thoughtful onboarding that prepares people well
Training programs and skill-building opportunities
Access to mentors or coaches
Clear career paths and future-role visibility
Development plans that actually get used (not just put on the shelf)
Succession planning where you are growing future leaders from within
Internal mobility and promotion opportunities

Growth isn’t just formal programs. It's the opportunity to expand skills and meet your potential.

🧨What Lack of Growth Looks Like

Small clues tell you that growth and career development is missing:

🚧 Employees “check out” and do only what’s required

🚧 High performers become bored

🚧 Teams rely on the same people for everything

🚧 Managers avoid career conversations because they're unsure what to say

🚧 Development is reactive, only after problems show up

Growth gaps often aren't really visible to leaders until someone turns in their notice.

🌱Why Growth Matters for Retention

Organizations that prioritize development are 3 times more likely to retain employees.

Why? Because growth = hope.

It gives people a sense of:

Progress
Possibility
Momentum
Purpose

Growth tells people:

“You matter here — and we see more for you.”

That message is more powerful than any perk.

🛠️ 5 Practical Ways to Build Growth & Development — Without Big Budgets

You do not need a corporate learning academy to create growth.

Start small:

1️⃣ Add one career question into every 1:1

“What’s something you want to learn this quarter?”

2️⃣ Use stretch assignments intentionally

Let people lead a meeting, train others, or own a small project.

3️⃣ Create a “Growth Menu”

A simple list of options: shadow a role, attend a webinar, read a book, mentor someone.

4️⃣ Develop Career Paths

This helps make opportunities within the organization (and how to qualify) visible and achievable.

5️⃣ Match strengths to work

Nothing grows confidence and skill faster for an employee than opportunities to use their strengths in their work.

🗺️Where the Employee Experience Blueprint Helps

Inside the Employee Experience Blueprint, we:

Assess whether growth is happening — or assumed
Gather feedback from employees and managers
Identify gaps in development, feedback, and coaching
Recommend simple, practical systems that support growth without burning leaders out

Because when employees believe they are growing, they commit. And when they commit, your entire workplace becomes stronger.