Often times, employees come to a point when they are ready to advance their position or further develop their skills. How can the organizations leadership support individuals seeking to relocate laterally or advance their careers by moving into a position of higher authority within their organization? Provide an example.
Discussion 5-2: Lateral Relocation/Job Promotion
Although lateral relocation or movement to higher job positions might cause work disruption in organizations, the leadership should always be ready to support employees who are willing to make steps in their career paths. Employees feel motivated and become more engaged when they learn that their employers are committed to helping them achieve professional growth (Society for Human Resource Management 2022). According to Jin and Waldman (2019), employers can employ numerous strategies to support promotions, lateral moves, and the creation of task-specific human capital. This discussion will explore these strategies in detail.
The organization’s leadership can support individuals who are seeking to make lateral moves and get promotions within their organizations by easing frustrations, sharing insights about those new roles, and developing training plans to equip them with relevant skills and knowledge. The Society for Human Resource Management (2022) emphasizes the importance of opening doors to employees who want to make lateral moves by eliminating barriers that might prevent them from performing duties that are outside their functional areas. Essentially, leaders of organizations should allow employees to access information regarding openings in their areas of interest and give them an opportunity to express their interests. Some employees might be willing to advance their positions and advance laterally but might not be aware of the best actions to take to achieve their goals. Since the organization’s leadership understands work trends better, it can encourage lateral moves and position advancement by showing employees the best career paths to take (Jin & Waldman, 2019). Most importantly, an organization can work with both former and current managers of an employee to develop training plans aimed at addressing existing skill gaps.
References
Jin, X. & Waldman, M. (2019). Lateral moves, promotions, and task-specific human capital: Theory and evidence. The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 36(1), 1-46. https://doi.org/10.1093/jleo/ewz017.
Society for Human Resource Management. (2017). Help employees, managers recognize the why of lateral moves. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/organizational-and-employee-development/pages/help-employees-managers-recognize-the-why-of-lateral-moves.aspx