We know that careers today look a lot different than before the millennials were around.  No longer do employees stay with the same company for 35 years, feeling stable and loyal.  People change jobs far more frequently, always on the lookout for better opportunities.  And “better opportunities” is not simply code for “more money.”  On the contrary, employees are looking for a wide variety of things in their career explorations, and the one that we hear most often with our clients is better career development.  (In fact, we have been known to advise clients that their resumes are lacking in that department.)

What does that mean?  It means that unlike in the old days when an employee relied on the same employer throughout his or her career for job stability in exchange for loyalty, nowadays employees know that they need to actively manage their own careers.  They need to acquire the right skills and experience to keep them on the career path they’ve chosen, and they – not the employer – are in charge of making sure they do acquire those skills.  Moreover, their current employer might not be the best place to do that.  They may have topped out in the current job, and rather than staying there, they ought to be looking for ways to expand their skillset and opportunities so as to avoid stagnating. This notion is often called “career resiliency.”

We have advised many clients on career management and career development, but what does this mean for the employer?  Does it mean you are simply in the unfortunate position of having a disloyal workforce who may jump ship at any time, with no regard for your needs?  Not necessarily.  In 2001 The Harvard Business Review published a book on Finding and Keeping the Best People, in which they reprinted a 1994 article called Toward a Career-Resilient Workforce, by Robert Waterman, Jr., Judith A. Waterman and Betsy A. Collard.  In it, the authors argued that employers benefit from having a resilient workforce and that they have a responsibility to themselves and to their organizations to optimize the resiliency of their employees.

How does a resilient workforce benefit the organization?  With rapid changes in the economy, technology, and the marketplace, employers must stand ready for new challenges that they may not have seen coming.  A flexible workforce will be able to support the employer in managing those shifts.  The best employees in today’s world are those who can adjust their duties across different functions, take on new jobs that may be totally unlike those they thought they were hired to do, and add or change responsibilities as staffing needs change.  In addition, employees who feel empowered by the company to develop their own careers will also feel invested in the company’s success for as long as they work there.  It is true that employers today are more vulnerable to staff departures than was the case 25 years ago, but recognizing that those departures may be in everyone’s best interest will contribute to a functional work environment.

Collard, et al., offer an outline for promoting career resiliency among the workforce.  Consider the following suggestions, and allow Compass Career Strategies to help you implement them:

• Regular career assessments so that employees can evaluate their skills, interests, strengths and personality types in light of their careers, helping them to determine what jobs are the best fit for them
• Opportunities for honest benchmarking, giving employees the information they need to determine whether they are reaching the necessary milestones to remain competitive inside or outside the company
• Career development programs – training, workshops, individual coaching, education – and the schedule flexibility to take advantage of them
• Resume preparation service with no stigma or shame about taking advantage of it
• Well-communicated performance management evaluations that provide an honest view of the employee’s status and future with the company
• A culture of openness regarding the company’s future staffing needs
• Training and movement opportunities within the company
• A positive culture surrounding voluntary employee departures – recognition that the employee needs to pursue his or her own professional development, and that a move outside the company is a reasonable choice to make
• A “revolving door” culture, in which valued employees who depart are welcomed back, should needs and interests so warrant
• Outplacement services when the decision is made that the employee needs to pursue other employment

Although loyalty to an employer no longer equals 35 years with the same company, it can exist in another form.  A climate that values career development and recognizes the realities of today’s employee experience will be appreciated by the workforce, and that appreciation is reflected in a loyalty that manifests itself as dedication and commitment to striving for company success for the duration of the relationship.