Financial Services Professionals Among Happiest With Career Progression

June 20, 2013 - PRLog -- Almost half (46%) of financial services workers happy with their career prospects – well above the national average of 38%, “Career blockers” and recession blamed for stalled promotions.

People working in financial services are among the happiest in the UK when it comes to their career progression according to research by recruiter Randstad Financial & Professional, http://www.randstadfp.com/.

In a survey of over 2,000 British workers, only 38% of the UK workforce said they were content with their career progression.  But 46% of those working in financial services said they were happy with the way they were scaling the corporate ladder.  Those working in insurance, property, nursing, IT and telecoms, and education were also above average.

At the other end of the spectrum, those working in media and wholesale were the least happy with their career progression (12% and 13% respectively).

“Career Blockers” Cutting Down High-Flyers’ Promotions Prospects

The variations between sectors may be explained by how talent is managed across different industries.  Organisations that manage their employees’ careers most effectively adopt "up or out" policies that require the dismissal of employees who fail to attain a promotion after a certain amount of time – ensuring high flyers’ promotions aren’t held up by “career blockers”.  The United States Armed Forces, for instance, require that certain ranks be held for no longer than a set amount of time, a lack of compliance with which could render grounds for dismissal.

In the UK, leading insurance, financial services and law firms have adopted this ‘Up or out’ American model.  And these were three of the sectors in which people are most happy with their career progression.

Tara Ricks, managing director of Randstad Financial & Professional, says, “Dynamism in the workforce creates a high performance culture and is fundamental for the success of employers and the happiness of employees.  But there could be ‘career blockers’ holding up the promotion prospects of good employees in sectors like media and wholesaling.  That’s frustrating for those high-fliers who are left with no way to climb past underperforming managers.  Increasingly we see them looking elsewhere.”

Promotion Schedules Halted in Recession

Frustration with career progression in sectors like media and wholesale may also be explained by organisations’ reactions to the recession.  The economic downturn has led to some employers abandoning promotion schedules – assuming that the mere existence of a job should be enough to keep and motivate existing staff.  Randstad’s latest World of Work survey found that more than 60% of UK workers have taken on extra responsibilities as a result of the crisis – without being compensated for the additional demands.  

Tara Ricks explains, “Employers had to make difficult choices when deciding where and how to reduce costs in response to falling markets.  Slowing down promotions may have been the obvious choice in the short-term.  However with the focus on cutting employee numbers, it’s easy to forget about the people left behind. To accelerate their chances of promotions, candidates are having to go to even further lengths to stand out from the crowd, sometimes by changing sectors or working abroad.

“If this was a conventional downturn, most employees would have accepted the lack of promotions as a temporary setback or the price of protecting their job in difficult times.  But this isn’t a temporary downturn and as a result, the UK is left with a talent time-bomb – a bomb that’s likely to go off as alternative jobs become available.  Among the top 15% of the workforce, outside of sectors like financial services and insurance, three in every five employees say they aren’t happy with their career progression.  If companies aren’t forward thinking in their talent management they will see their top 15% go elsewhere.”

Career Progression Doesn’t Always Go Hand In Hand with Headcount Growth

There appears to be little relationship between headcount growth and how satisfied people are with their career progression.  For example, the number of people working in financial services did not expand between 2009 and 2012, according to the Office of National Statistics, while those working in IT & Telecommunications, the sector that expanded most between 2009 and 2012 (44% growth between 2009 and 2012), were only marginally happier than the rest of the country’s workforce.

Tara Ricks admits: “We expected to find a relationship at some level between career progression in a sector and job growth.  But the figures don’t bear this out.  Financial Services remained static in size as a sector between 2009 and 2012, and the property sector expanded by just 1%, but these were the two sectors in which people were most happy with their career progression.  We think this points to pride in being part of a high performance culture with sophisticated application of talent management.”

What Does Career Progression Mean To People Today?

In further research carried out by Randstad, when asked to think back twelve years and remember what they though the most important elements of career progression were, 62% of respondents said better pay, making it the most important factor.  However, when asked what they thought the most important elements of career progression were today, the most popular factor was Doing work that lets me learn new things, meet new people and participate in different projects – an option chosen by 74% of respondents.

Tara Ricks added, “Employees are redefining the meaning of career progression.  When it comes to career progression, not only are the values people hold changing, the whole concept of a career as an upward progression through a sequence of roles in one firm has changed.  Flexibility in the workforce means that for many a career doesn’t involve progression: it may be a series of moves that go sideways, or even backwards, and cross occupational and organisational boundaries for others its simply increasing their skill sets.”

For further information please visit http://www.Randstad.co.uk/about-randstad/news/where-does-...

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Bernard Rostker, et. al. (1992). The Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980 - A Retrospective Assessment (PDF). ISBN 0-8330-1287-8