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How Stepping Back (Or Even Down) Can Be Good For Your Career

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In my previous post (see "Career Mobility? Up Is Not The Only Way") I interviewed Dr. Beverly Kaye, recognized internationally as one of the most knowledgeable and practical experts on career development and employee engagement. We talked about the idea of “ownershift” as it relates to career mobility, and explored the various ways smart people can navigate the modern workplace.

In this follow-up conversation, Dr. Kaye offers additional insights into the challenges and opportunities facing today’s workers.

Rodger Dean Duncan: In what ways can a career be rejuvenated by voluntarily taking a step back or down?

Beverly Kaye: This is certainly a less positively perceived direction to raise with individuals, managers and the organization. For many people there’s an unconscious bias about selecting this particular move as a next step in a career. (It’s the old “what will others think?” concern that gets in the way.)

Taking a step back or down can be a viable choice, and many who select it and grow from it eventually look back at this as one of the most important turning points (for the better) in their career.

An example I’ve seen repeatedly is the competent technical specialist who accepts a managerial promotion and then realizes he/she misses that technical work and is simply not comfortable (nor very effective) in the role of leading others. Admitting this to oneself is half the battle—talking about and calling attention to the misalignment is not easy. Handling the pejorative misperceptions of coworkers adds to the reticence. Imagine the number of talented people who suffer in silence because this admission is so difficult.

I’ve seen many excellent employees leave organizations for other companies in technical specialist positions because they are so uncomfortable in the management role.

My husband, a “rocket scientist” and PhD from MIT, was in this very position. He was able to raise the issue with his own manager (with some coaxing from his wife) and return to the technical work that he loved and remained in for 31 years.

We struggled to name this option and settled on “Step Back for a Reason or a Season.” We met a number of people who decided to take a lower position in their organization in order to move to a more growth-oriented area. These are legitimate career moves and people who select this mobility option need to be recognized and congratulated. Alas, this is not an easy choice.

Duncan: What can, or should, organizations do to encourage employees to take a more creative (or at least a less traditional) view toward managing their own careers?

Kaye: The benefit in terms of engagement and retention should be enough to motivate any organization and its leaders to make some small but significant changes in the way career information is disseminated and supported.

Some basic ideas for organizations that want to support their employees in thinking more creatively about their own development include:

  • Prepare employees on the “how to’s” of building their individual development plans. It’s one thing to suggest that employees “own” their own careers and another to actually teach them the essential elements to consider.
  • Educate managers on the art and science of holding career conversations. These conversations can actually be taught. Managers often have the will but not the skill. Organizations can deliver the specifics.
  • Collect stories of individuals who have followed alternative career paths. Some organizations video these stories or capture them in print and make them available. The best way to show that there are a variety of career paths is to highlight stories of individuals who have lived/ are living them.
  • Make career coaching available. Some bring in professional coaches who are available to employees. Others have actual career centers that provide information and coaching. The most exciting that I’ve seen are organizations that tap into their own talent to voluntarily coach fellow employees, talk about their own experiences, and share their lessons learned.
  • Capture, curate, and disseminate career information to all employees and managers. Such information is meant to inform everyone about opportunities throughout the organization, show career path alternatives, provide future skill requirements. All this will open channels wider and deeper.

Duncan: What are some of the telltale signs that a person should consider an employment change—either a different kind of job, or a new employer, or both?

Kaye: The signs are plentiful. The challenge is to recognize them in yourself as well as in those that report to you, and to engage in the conversation that is begging to be held. Telltale signs include:

  • Indifference about going to work, wanting to pull the proverbial blanket over your head in the morning
  • Feeling bored with work that once was exciting and interesting
  • Loss of creativity for approaching problems that inevitably arise, and having no patience for dealing with those problems
  • Feeling like a dinosaur, seeing younger people leapfrogging ahead
  • Change in organizational hierarchy so there’s no longer a connect and a belief in leadership
  • Scope changes in expectations so the new demands are not attractive or motivating
  • Volunteering for special committees or projects is no longer attractive
  • Loss of passion for what you do
  • Disruptive technology makes it difficult to keep up
  • Reporting to a manager who doesn’t value your work

In the Love ‘Em or Lose 'Em book we organized our findings around the alphabet, naming 26 areas that caused employees to stay or leave the company. The “J” chapter was for “Jerk,” and we identified 50 behaviors that employees reported as their reasons for leaving their organizations. In the keynotes and workshops that I and my team delivered, this chapter stimulated the most discussions. We usually had no problem getting managers to admit some of their own “jerk” behaviors.

Duncan: Hearkening back to one of your earlier books (Love It, Don’t Leave It), what are the two or three most important things people can do to become more engaged in and derive more satisfaction from their current jobs?

Kaye: When managers in our Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em seminars asked, “Is it all on our shoulders? Shouldn’t employees bear some of the responsibility?” we agreed (why hadn’t we thought of this sooner?) and wrote the companion Love It, Don’t Leave It book. Interestingly (or maybe not), Love It never gained the attention that Love ‘Em did, and organizations are still slow to address this issue.

It was hard to pick the top strategies (26 chapters matching the alphabet) listed in Love It, but, if pressed, I’d say that the route to helping yourself be more engaged is:

  • Ask for what you want! This is arguably the most common-sense approach, but one we find is least acted on. Not that people expect their managers to be mind-readers, but the idea of expressly raising the topic of “what is missing for me” and being willing to be creative about how to pursue it is not high on their radar. The “ask” could be addressed to your manager, or anyone else in or outside the organization. If people can answer the question “What would make me more engaged?” they have a starting place. The obvious next question is, so who can help?
  • Enrich your current job. Waiting for someone else to build passion into your job is certainly not an expedient approach. Thinking about the aspects of your current job that you are most interested in, are most excited by, or require improvement are the key questions that only you can answer and then pursue. The questions I often ask are “If you could make more time to do the part of your job that you enjoy the most, what would you choose? Who can you talk to? How can you make that happen?”
  • Link to others inside and outside the organization. Our research shows that those with strong internal networks (friends and colleagues) have a harder time deciding to leave an organization than those whose networks are limited. Intentionally adding to and building a strong set of colleagues enhances your ability to solve problems, gain access to relevant information, feel valued, and have a ready sounding board ... all of which are crucial to engagement and satisfaction.
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