Why is letting your people grow within your company important?
Many Canadians are entertaining the possibility of changing careers within the next few years. Several reasons can explain their wish for new professional challenges: current lack of opportunities, feeling like ‘they’ve seen it all’, a change in their family situation, or a role which doesn’t correspond to initial expectations. At any moment, over half of the employees are open to changing employers if they get a good opportunity.
A recent Leger survey found that close to a third of young workers (16-34 years old) believe we must change employers periodically to advance our careers. The average number of employers in the last five years was 2.4 for that age group as opposed to 1.5 for people 35 years old and over. 69% of respondents in the 16-34 age group at two or more employers compared to 32% of the older group.
However, even if we feel like we need to change positions, that does not mean that we don’t like our employer anymore, nor that we can’t bring anything good to the table anymore. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could change…without changing too much?
Enabling internal mobility
Changing jobs is always a significant and serious decision. Impacts on both personal and professional lives are very high. Having the opportunity to change roles (or even careers!) within the same company makes it slightly easier.
If you like your workplace’s culture and appreciate your colleagues, it is unfortunate to give it all up. It is far from certain that you will find this elsewhere, and it might take several months, or even years, to rebuild your old professional life after a change.
At Crakmedia, the door is always open for this kind of change within the organization when the context is suitable and as long as it is compatible with the continuation of our operations. Horizontal mobility (changing position) and vertical mobility (hierarchical promotion) are equally valued as exciting professional development opportunities. This kind of change can benefit both the person wishing for change and the company desiring to keep their expertise.
Most people believe we need to become a manager to advance our careers. For Crakmedia’s HR team, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Professional development doesn’t necessarily have to be on the vertical axis. A person can grow as an individual contributor in the company by working on several projects in different teams without becoming a manager.
Growing horizontally
Changing departments or business units at the same hierarchical level in a similar role is called horizontal mobility. It’s a type of mobility primarily seen in larger organizations with several business units or services (banks, government, insurers, etc.). The same kind of role thus exists in several teams.
This kind of mobility might be less likely in SMEs since team segmentation is often based on the team’s expertise. It is quite rare that a marketing advisor will become a digital artist or a developer. It is, however, a possibility, and it occurred a few times at Crakmedia.
Going up the ladder
When it comes to vertical mobility, a person will usually stay in the same team or department but gain management responsibilities according to the hierarchical level of their new position. This type of role is usually left vacant by resignation or created along with a new team.
This is always an exceptional opportunity for new challenges and to discover a new side of a field we know very well. However, there is a limited number of management positions, and not everyone actually wants to get this kind of responsibility.
Another kind of horizontal move
The topic was briefly discussed earlier, but another kind of horizontal mobility corresponds to an employee who changes careers internally. This kind of move goes way beyond simply switching teams. Changing careers usually involves quitting our current job and returning to school for a few months, sometimes years, before starting a job hunt which could last close to a full year.
However, with your employer’s support and in the right conditions, keeping your job while planning a transition to a new team can be possible. Crakmedia is no stranger to this type of career switch. The benefits for the person wishing to change and the company itself are undeniable.
Supporting internal career change
When the circumstances are right, it is a good way to retain your employee’s expertise in the company, even if their new responsibilities are very different. They already know your field of activity, strategies, and synergies. But above all, they have already assimilated the company’s culture, which they believe in:
“For us in HR, we know that if we ignore a person who desires a career change, they will eventually leave, and we’ll lose them anyway. We really prefer to sit down with the person, discuss the steps, and come up with a cohesive plan spanning several weeks or months rather than just losing them suddenly. And from a very human aspect—and humans are the priority at Crakmedia—it’s an absolute pleasure for us to help someone who wishes to give more or differently to the organization.”, says Marie-Philip Gariépy, HR advisor at Crakmedia.
For the person changing careers, it’s potentially a smoother transition. They don’t have to significantly alter their routine: same workplace, same schedule, same colleagues. They already know the company and can fully focus on learning their new job. The transition process is simplified, but it is not necessarily easy.
Even if they have an edge over an external candidate, an employee who wishes to switch careers internally must still undergo a mostly normal hiring process. They have to apply for an open position and prove to the company that they are the best fit. Even if they are already in the organization, their future manager doesn’t necessarily know them, and they must be convinced that this change is thought-through and logical for their team.
Turnover is very expensive
Besides the loss of expertise, a departing employee will typically cost the company approximately once their yearly compensation for a professional-level position and up to four times for managers and VPs. Considering the average turnover rate is about 20% (and even up to 30% in tech!), the cost of losing employees can easily exceed one million dollars for a medium-sized company.
The hiring process for an open position varies greatly depending on the type of job. Still, its total cost is believed to be around 20% of the yearly salary. It can thus be interesting for a company to be open to internal mobility. It is not to say that there is no cost associated with internal candidates, but the cost can be significantly lower thanks to shorter hiring and onboarding cycles.
Professional development at Crakmedia
According to the Leger survey published in March, one of the determining factors promoting staff retention and loyalty (apart from compensation and schedule flexibility) is the existence of training and mentorship programs.
In a specialized company such as Crakmedia, training is absolutely essential. Performance marketing is a complex, ever-changing field for which no formal education exists in universities. A few positions in the company are rather specific to its domain of activity, such as in media buying or affiliate marketing, and there are actually very few companies like it in Quebec.
Crakmedia has invested massively in the last few years to implement a powerful in-house training platform. The company also created just last year a team wholly dedicated to training. Their role is to develop, maintain and improve courses and training offerings at Crakmedia.
Accompanying our people each step of the way
Crakmedia is bringing together many experts who must work together to make the company live and grow. We notice pretty much immediately after starting our job at Crakmedia that almost all projects end up involving all departments. We also find out rather early that we absolutely need a basic understanding of every other department and the interdependencies between them.
Upon being hired, a new employee goes through a thorough onboarding process which, in addition to training them for their job, introduces them to everything else done across the organization. A personalized and comprehensive roadmap is prepared to guide them through their first several weeks. New employees also have several CrakCoach sessions: a series of short informative meetings with knowledgeable team members sharing their expertise and know-how.
Over the following months and years, Crakmedia invests massively in its employees’ professional development. Whether through Litmos—the in-house training platform—or the many development courses offered, people at Crakmedia keep up with the latest trends and skills throughout their careers.
When their people are questioning their future, managers and HR advisors alike are attentive to their needs. Finding the right fit for Crakmedia—or any other company—is never easy, and we have a lot to gain by investing in the people we have in order to keep them for a long time.
Would you be interested in the Crakmedia experience and grow professionally in a high-paced challenging environment? Check out our job opportunities or submit a spontaneous application: crakmedia/com/careers
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