Written by HRCap, Inc.
Published May 18, 2023
Reskilling for Career Advancement or Career Change;
Career Pathing Programs to Attract and Retain Talent
Continuing on from last month’s column about the “Eager Entrepreneurs,” our second MZ Generation Career Category is the “Refined Reskillers,” who resign for their own learning and development. When asked if they are open to consider a new career opportunity, many from this category share that they are about to start an MBA program from their dream schools. They instead ask for an executive recruiter’s insight on which school to accept, and request to stay in touch for continued mentoring and networking.
Growth is extremely important for the MZ Generation. They believe it is critical to grow and transform through education and continued learning. More than 30% of the MZ Generation are considering applying to graduate school in order to strengthen their market value. They are motivated to gain greater self-realization through continuous growth and proactive learning. Many are actively leveraging various online/hybrid education programs created since the pandemic as well. According to a LinkedIn study, the MZ Generation logged 50% more hours watching online courses than any other generation. 76% took online courses for greater self-development, 69% for an accelerated promotion, and 42% for a complete career change.
Why are employees resigning to pursue higher education? Most cite career advancement or career change as their main reason. Therefore, in order to attract and retain the Refined Reskillers who are passionate about self-development, organizations must design and provide corporate training systems to actively support promotions or internal job changes.
Many companies already offer such career pathing programs. Career pathing is a process of providing employees with a detailed career roadmap to help them advance or transition from their current position to where they wish to be. It is a win-win strategy that drives both individual career growth and company business performance.
Organizations should provide in-house leadership/professional training and fast-track development programs for top performers eagerly seeking career advancement. Organizations should offer skills training and internal mobility opportunities for dedicated employees looking to find better-fitted career changes. This will allow Refined Reskillers to not only gain the skills needed to continuously grow, but also achieve greater self-realization through mentorships and constructive feedback on their work. Building a strong culture of learning can help retain talented employees, while further saving considerable time and cost from hiring externally. In fact, career pathing is an efficient strategy to attract MZ Generation employees who are highly interested in continuous career development with the company, beyond the roles they are currently interviewing for.
Many organizations offer corporate tuition sponsorship for top performers, as a means to develop and retain strong talent. The condition is that these employees must return post-graduation and serve the contracted amount of time, or else they would be responsible for paying back the tuition. However, this is not a sustainable way to retain the Refined Reskillers. Larger and stronger competitors can simply scout these top candidates by offering significant sign-on bonuses to free them from their payback conditions.
Rather than making conditional investments to retain talent, companies must organically strengthen their in-house Learning & Development programs to engage and drive top performers for greater growth. After all, only transformational investments in their growth, not transactional investments, can truly touch their soul.
Stella H. Kim
HRCap - Chief Marketing Officer & Global VP
Original Source: [전문가 칼럼] 6가지 MZ세대 커리어 유형: (2) ‘발전하는 학습인’
Source: HRCap, The Korea Daily, JoongAng Ilbo
Adapted Into HRCap Instatoons
========
Want marketing-leading updates on HR Trends, Recruiting Tips, and Career Advice?