Horizontal Career Ladders: An Equal Path to Growth (for everyone)?
time to look beyond vertical career ladders to give employees of all ages and stages an equal chance to grow and succeed in the workplace.
For decades, career advancement has followed a formulaic path. Employees would move up the career ladder from individual contributors into management positions and eventually to end up in leadership roles. A similar trajectory across many industries, with little variation based on individual motivations and career goals.
Much has changed. Today, there’s increasing recognition that one size does not fit all when it comes to career paths. While some might choose to stick with the conventional route, others prefer to explore alternative opportunities in other areas of the business in other roles, or with a different functional mix of tasks and responsibilities. For these individuals, horizontal career ladders — a lattice-type approach to advancement — can provide a more fulfilling path to growth.
So far, so good. Yet, as so often happens with career development initiatives, it is unnecessarily being focused on a specific cohort of workers. Deloitte’s research points to how Millennials and Generation Z are especially interested in continuous learning, and thus value the opportunity to laterally move within the same organization.
This downplays the fact that lateral mobility is valuable for tenured workers too, and perhaps explains why so many mid- and later-career workers are missing out on purposeful career transitions by failing to have the right conversations with their boss.
What is horizontal career development?
Horizontal, lateral or lattice career development is a way to progress through specialization but without changing levels. Typically choosing a career path within an organization, often with a different mix of responsibilities from the prior role.
While vertical growth involves climbing ever higher in one area of expertise (often with a prestigious new title), horizontal growth is more about broadening skills and exploring new interests. As Forbes puts it: “Vertical growth is like taking the elevator straight to your destination. Horizontal growth is like opening a bunch of new doors on the floor you’re already on.”
The concept of horizontal growth has been around for a while, but only recently have organizations started to recognize the value. Think about it, in today’s organizational landscape agility holds as much value as stability. Having an employee base build a wide range of skills across the organization offers significant benefits for the business. Retention is one benefit. The fact is, employees do not need to leave the organization to try something new. With talent quitting at a dizzying rate, any retention boost is a welcome bonus.
What about experienced workers?
With all its benefits, it’s no wonder horizontal growth is the new hot topic. But are tenured workers feeling the benefit? There’s hardly any data on this topic, so it’s difficult to say. What we do know is that long-standing definitions around what career development means are imposing a barrier between fulfilling horizontal career paths and the more senior workers in an organization.
Hitting the mobility ceiling is disheartening for employees at any level, and it’s something that can affect experienced workers even more. There’s a prevailing idea that mid- and later-career workers have reached their full potential and are not interested in exploring new avenues of career development. Combined with the myth that once a worker has started along a vertical growth path, they cannot switch to a horizontal one, you can see how the possibilities can be very limited for senior workers to experiment with different roles and responsibilities.
Yet, for more experienced employees, motivation is rarely tied to job titles or positions. Factors such as recognition, learning opportunities, and giving back to the organization are equally important for long-term success. When coached, senior employees are highly likely to express a desire to mentor others at the firm and cite legacy as a strong motivating factor.
This may clash with prevailing narratives around career development which largely focus on the skill-building needs of junior talent. But is very much aligned with the Financial Times article stating that, “counselling is the profession of the century.” A significant number of midcareer professionals, (farmers, investment bankers and lawyers) are taking a different path to embark on a career in counselling.
Taking charge of your career development
It’s worth noting that horizontal career paths are neither right nor wrong — they are simply different, and different means there may not be a structure in place to help you maximize them.
If you feel you’ve reached stagnation in your career and yearn to explore horizontal growth opportunities within your firm, the following tips can help you open the right conversations with the right people. Use them as guardrails when approaching stakeholders or mentors from different departments.
If you’re a manager, this framework can also help you level up your people (leadership) skills. It’s a great way to have real conversations with your team about their strengths and career aspirations, whether that path is vertical, horizontal, or somewhere in between:
#1: Set clear objectives: Ask yourself, what do you want to take away from this conversation? Do you want to focus on specific challenges or career next steps? Clarity on your objectives will guide the conversation in a productive direction.
#2: Establish a regular dialogue: What should the frequency of your career conversations be with this person? Will you need a cadence of regular check-ins to ensure you stay aligned with your career goals and provide opportunities for ongoing feedback and adjustments?
#3: Sell yourself: How much does this person know about your experience, strengths and aspirations? Don’t assume they have an in-depth understanding, even if you have been working together for a while. Prepare to articulate your achievements, skills and where you aspire to go, so they easily see where your next opportunity may be.
#4: Understand where they are coming from. How much do you know about their goals and priorities? Take some time to understand this person’s interests might intersect with your own aspirations so you have full visibility into potential opportunities and can actively pursue avenues of alignment.
#5: Figure out how much they care. How vested are they in your career? Do they know someone who may be more vested? This understanding can help you identify who in the organization might serve as a mentor or advocate for your career development. Remember, your boss (or boss’s boss) is an important ally, but in the context of horizontal development, not the only one.
Simply put,
If you’ve been in the game a while, don’t believe the myth that your career trajectory is set in stone. Traditional pathways no longer encapsulate the entirety of professional growth opportunities — you have your own ambitions, skills, and purpose, and you are the one who knows what you’re looking for best. Prepare to have meaningful conversations with your boss and other stakeholders in the organization and be clear about what you want to achieve. Ultimately, it’s up to you to take charge of your career development and pave the way for a more fulfilling work experience.
