How to Help an Employee whose Career has Plateaued
About the Authors:
NEIL FLANAGAN and JARVIS FINGER
Management Strategists at Plum Press
World-renowned business strategists and authors of several international best-selling books on management. Neil is a sought-after keynote, conference and motivational speaker and Jarvis is the award-winning founder and editor of Australia's best known magazine for school administrators.
Plateauing is a normal phase in many careers. Usually coinciding with mid-career, employees (and managers) can experience a levelling out of their progress as a result of downsizing, restructuring, or plain old boredom. Previously high-achievers seem to lose their zest, sparkle, and enthusiasm. They become disenchanted, frustrated and, over time, their morale and productivity decline. What can you do to revitalise the career of a stuck-in-a-rut employee?
Understand the reasons why individuals plateau.
There are too few jobs to satisfy the number of competitors for those jobs. Those who miss out feel ‘dead-ended’.
The employee’s ability does not match the job—lack of skills, aptitude, inability to respond to changing job requirements.
Some are faced with the so-called ‘mid-life crisis’; or a sense of being trapped in an ill-chosen career choice.
Some feel betrayed after having rejected other worthwhile life roles in favour of their careers.
The extension—even abolition—of the mandatory retirement age results in some older workers becoming ‘trapped’ in upper-level positions.
Increasing numbers of younger, highly-qualified employees progress too rapidly up the corporate ladder—a move followed by a frustrating period of career stagnation.
Employees, too, can contribute to their own plateauing by:
being less active than others in adapting to change
displaying an inflated opinion of their actual work performance
showing little interest in understanding their boss’s problem
being unwilling to improve their work performance.
2. Be aware of the social and economic impact.
Lay-offs, mergers, and other cutbacks in staff contribute to plateauing. High unemployment, too, has reduced outside options for plateaued employees: they become stay-put. The two-income family may also mean that the employee may not be able to afford to transfer to other employment. The removal of layers of management through restructuring and downsizing has also resulted in more plateauing.
The ‘baby boomers’—those born between 1946 and 1964—account for a major proportion of our working population, and the number of higher management positions and others will not be sufficient to accommodate them. As a result, ‘baby boomers’ will have to adjust their expectation—usually downwards. No longer will a university degree (or two) guarantee advancement—or even a job.
3 Be proactive in dealing with the phenomenon.
Although you may feel inadequate in dealing with this omnipresent phenomenon, ignoring it won’t make it disappear. Alternatively, you can take a tough stance and demand greater productivity, an approach that will not work in most authentic cases. Or you can try to be understanding and offer assistance by considering one or more of the following options:
Help individual employees recognise that plateauing is a normal occurrence. Honest feedback can send clear signals to employees that their activities are important and that you are prepared to provide support to assist them over this period.
Reduce the focus on promotion as a major indicator of success. Where reduced promotional opportunities lie at the cause of employee plateauing, organisations can emphasise alternative ways by which success can be measured—
Provide opportunities for greater participation in setting goals and determining methods and procedures. Plateaued employees usually have a wealth of experience for the organisation to draw upon.
Assign the staffer to train new employees and bring others up to speed.
Devise a major project for the worker, with full autonomy, to show your trust and to provide new zest.
Since plateaued employees are often bored, ensure they are given useful activities; avoid particularly duties and responsibilities that are clearly beneath them, just to keep them occupied.
Change the structure of the organisation. Make modifications to create a more horizontal structure and establish additional responsible positions.
Consider lateral promotions. If demoralised workers have little chance of promotion in your area, their skills and talents may be valuable in another area.
Seek the employee’s input. Explore with the individual how the current job can be made more stimulating, without overstepping current parameters.
Provide specialist, qualified counselling. Where necessary, this will help them overcome individual crises associated with career plateauing.
4. Don’t pamper the employee.
Maintain your high standards. By all means be supportive of the plateaued worker, but resist the temptation of letting such employees coast for a while, hoping that they’ll lift their game after the crisis passes. By ignoring the problem, you are sending the message that you don’t care if a good job is done—which may translate into ‘You have no future around here any more!’. And that only exacerbates the problem.
Just about Everything a Manager Needs to Know
By Neil Flanagan and Jarvis Finger
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