How can organizations help employees self-manage their own careers? How can managers do a better job of responding to the special needs of workers in their early, middle and late career stages? What strategies exist for dealing with workers who have reached a ��plateau��?
Your questions are pretty broad. I will say that there are a couple ways of dealing with all of those issues at once. Those solutions are coaching and mentoring. You can either implement a mentoring program in your organization or you can hire a coach or consultant to come in. There are many books written on the subjects that you are looking for. You can find the books, coaches, and the various trainings I would suggest using before implementing a mentoring program at www.pacingoutcomes.com.
I think the key is in leadership, and ownership.If your employees don t feel a sense of ownership then they have no reason to care about the company they work for. I feel it is extremely important to let people feel like it s not just the place they work but that they actually impact business, and that their contribution is valued and important.This can be achieved through raises and bonuses, but also through a good constant dialogue regarding performance, and updates on where the company if headed. Round table discussions about the good and the bad are wonderful to make people feel included.When people have vision, they will automatically care about their careers and their contribution.I would think that when your workers reach a plateau, it s time to have a discussion about their goals, and dreams for the future. They post likely have an untapped resource in them that you may not know about. It s time to give them a new project branching into a new and challenging arena.