Employee Retention: The Importance of Career Development Paths in Expansion Stage Recruiting

Employee retention starts even before an employee is hired – it begins with the recruitment process.

One of the biggest enticements for taking a job at an expansion-stage company is the opportunity to make an impact. During my recent interviews of entry-to-senior level candidates, one of the top questions asked is what is the career path?  This is a key factor for both recruiting and retaining employees. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Having a career development plan in place demonstrates that you don’t want the employee for solely what they can do for the company NOW, but also potentially what they can offer the company long-term.
2. Talking about the career path and expectations illustrates to candidates that there is potential to move up (or to a different role) within an organization.
3. Candidates and employees know the next step (though it is always subject to change) and therefore expectations are already set.

In expansion stage companies, having solid career development paths in place may be difficult.

No one can predict where the company will be in the future.  If you  don’t necessarily have a career path in place for a position, be very aware of this in the recruiting process.

How to combat it? In your recruiting efforts, focus on what this position/company can offer each candidate.  This can be exposure to new things, developing specific skills- all things that can act as a stepping-stone for the candidate.

No matter the path, to keep employee retention high, you should continue to train and develop employees.  It doesn’t matter what role an employee is in, there is always something new to learn and skills to be improved.