Career development is often positioned as a priority in organisations. So why do initiatives sometimes struggle to gain real traction?
This question surfaced repeatedly during our recent Roundtable on activating careers at scale.
As participants reflected on their own organisations, a consistent tension emerged: While there is more emphasis on encouraging individuals to take ownership of their careers, engagement with career initiatives is often uneven.
This led to a deeper question: what really makes career development initiatives resonate with employees in practice?
Our guest provocateur Ayelet Hod offered a useful lens by sharing her experience at Teva Pharmaceuticals. Instead of treating career development as a one-off intervention, their approach focused on building an ongoing journey which combined self-reflection, skill-building and access to real opportunities.
Importantly, this was more than an abstract concept. Employees were given practical tools to understand their strengths, explore other options and act. Alongside this, a talent marketplace will create visibility of opportunities, making it easier to translate intention into movement.
In this context, engagement was driven by both messaging and making career development tangible and actionable.
Participants recognised similar challenges in their own organisations. Several noted that simply encouraging people to “own their career” is no longer enough on its own. Without clarity on what this means in practice or visibility of opportunities, individuals struggle to act.
Another issue is relevance. Career development needs to reflect the realities of different roles, career stages and operational contexts. Approaches that work in some environments, may not work in others unless they’re adapted.
Timing also emerged as a critical factor. In organisations undergoing transformation, career development can feel both urgent and more complex. While new opportunities may be created, there can also be fewer roles available in the short term. This can create a natural tension that affects the way initiatives are perceived.
Credibility also plays an important role. Participants noted that engagement increases when career development is obviously connected to business priorities and supported by leadership. When employees can see that development is taken seriously and that opportunities are real, they are more likely to invest their own time and effort.
Our View
What makes this discussion particularly relevant is that engagement is not something that can be driven through communication alone. It is shaped by the experience employees have: whether development feels relevant to their role; and whether they can see a clear path forward and whether they are really supported to take action.
Encouraging people to take ownership of their careers without building the capability, visibility and support to do so is more likely to create frustration rather than engagement.
When these elements come together, however, career development starts to feel different. It becomes part of how work is experienced by day to day, rather than an extra process.
In this sense, engagement in career development is driven by design, not intention.
