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|Thought Leadership | Climbing the career ladder, whichever rung you start on | Part 2 of 2 |

A highly skilled workforce is vital to a country’s ability to work its way out of recession. HR professionals are focused on nurturing talent and creating an environment in which everyone can succeed. A lack of social mobility, however, is believed by many to be hampering millions of people’s ability to achieve their full potential in the workplace.

In this piece, let us talk about consider “steps of encouragement”. Encouraging social mobility is about more than just formal training. The environment HR creates within an organisation also has a great impact on whether it is possible for everyone, regardless of background, to succeed. Research shows that employees who have worked their way from very junior posts to much more senior ones tend to favour informal, unstructured approaches over a formal interview and selection processes, to move their career forward. Rather than always following highly structured selection processes it can, therefore, be valuable to encourage a more informal approach. Allowing people to cover absences prior to promotion can, for example, provide valuable insights for both the employer and employee as to a person’s suitability, especially if they lack the formal educational qualifications usually required for a role.

Encouraging managers and mentors to select candidates for promotion based on their performance and level of commitment can also help uncover talent in less obvious places, while coaching by peers, line and senior managers can help to stretch employees who lack qualifications, while developing their self-confidence.

Research into the attitudes and behaviour of employees that have moved from ‘the shop floor to the top floor’ has found that they demonstrate the key characteristics associated with employability. From excellent teamwork and effective communication skills to positive, flexible attitudes, they also show tremendous commitment to their organisation. Rather than moving jobs to move up, they tend to build their career within one organisation, paying back the time and money invested in them many times over. 

There are still however many questions. Is driving social mobility really the job of HR? Are formal processes excluding talented individuals who lack academic qualifications? Is business really suffering from a lack of social mobility? If so, what more could be done to tackle the problem? Do you think that your company does enough to encourage social mobility? Do you think it is even your responsibility?

Based on a Sage UK article placed in the UK’s HR Vision magazine