Are sustainable careers predictable?

What is the definition of a sustainable career? And what elements are missing from that definition today? We open the discussion at our round table with a question to which the answer does not appear to be entirely unambiguous after all.

“Sustainability to me means long-term, and is part of the strategy you have in mind as a company. After all, life is a whole of different chapters, and it might happen that you have to hit the pause button in one of these chapters. Many organizations often take a different view on this, thinking in cubicles when it comes to career development. Flexibility, in terms of career roles, is a big shift to make, not only within an HR department but throughout the organization in general”, explains Fabienne Vanwynsberghe (Freelance HR Specialist).

Karen Van Tongelen (Learning and Development Advisor at Agilitis Group) fully agrees: “A sustainable career used to be considered a career of 10 or more years, at the same company. But the question is: Is it really sustainable to stay with the same company for that long?”

Defining sustainable careers, raises an additional question: Are the lines between private life and work starting to get blurry? Is this indeed still a blind spot for employers and how do you manage this?

“Within our organization, I notice a huge difference in terms of the relationship between private and work life. To explain this change, we have to go back in time a few years: the corona crisis was upon us and clearly brought new challenges. Despite that shift, you have to be vigilant that you don’t grow into a charity organization as a company. In my experience, it sometimes tilts and this possibly can tie you down as an organization. You have to be careful as a company not to create too high expectations around work-life balance”, says Elke Dekort (HR Operations Manager at GB Foods).

Acting as a destination finder is deeply embedded in TriHD’s philosophy. It’s an important topic to challenge people on, but often a conversation that is needed. “Some people simply have a clear path in mind, even if that destination is outside of your organization. That’s not always an easy conversation to have, as it often are good employees, but it does actively contribute to ambassadorship”, says Céline Woltman (Business Manager at TriHD).

Fabienne also shares this view: “To me, it is a circular story and you can also see it more as an ‘opportunity’ when employees consider leaving the company. If an employee chooses to go elsewhere, why shouldn’t the door at your previous employer remain ajar? That’s also a piece of the puzzle of sustainable careers and it also has something to do with ambassadorship.”

There are ‘dark sides’ in both classic and trending career visions. “It is the strength of an HR Manager to be able to read context and not get carried away on trends within their field. But even in those trending concepts, there are a lot of ‘dark sides’ that we should dare to anticipate. HR innovations, however, do not solve all the problems of the past, they can also create new ones”, explains Peggy De Prins.

“You have to be conscious that not everyone wants to find job satisfaction, but sometimes stability can also create boredom. As an employer, part of our job is to make sure these people are motivated. For example, we notice that blue-collar workers do want to progress, but often have a different mindset. Surely, the motivation in people who really want to take active steps in their career is different”, adds Elke Dekort.

This pattern is certainly not peculiar to blue-collar workers, but can just as easily be encountered among white-collar workers. “Employees who want to grow into a team-lead position sometimes relapse into their previous role when the pressure increases. As an organization, you can provide support, but the intrinsic motivation still has to come from the employee”, concludes Eva Ceusters (SD Worx).

Everyone at the table agrees that there is a clear tension between wanting to develop yourself and getting ahead with it, or developing yourself because you simply enjoy it. “In growth paths that we define, our employees are often convinced that their ambition has to be fixed from the start. But you can develop new competencies throughout your career path and delve deeper within a domain that you find interesting or enjoyable”, explains Elke Dekort.

“I am convinced that sometimes we also create our own blind spot. Occasionally, you have to stay true to a classic pattern, as too many changes can just as well be the deciding factor for employees to leave. Moral of the story? There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Every company has different needs, but you also see differences at unit level. One unit may need the classic approach, while another unit prefers the trending side”, says Fabienne Vanwynsberghe.

You cannot underestimate the impact of a manager on a sustainable career path. “Is there a mismatch between an employee and their manager? Then they will soon start looking for a new challenge. The corona crisis created a fault line where after the pandemic, it was sometimes difficult to motivate employees to come to the office. Within our organization, we are currently experiencing some rotation among consultants and managers, creating new teams with people who are not aligned and it is often in this part that the manager plays an important role in connectedness. If a manager cannot provide stability at such times, then you end up in a vicious circle”, explains Karen Van Tongelen. 

Matching a definition to the job of a manager can often provide guidance. “The human aspect, being the glue between everyone in the team and giving clear direction are important qualities of a manager. At TriHD, we notice that it is really helpful to organize an extra training course or 1-1 coaching to support the manager’, Sara Wouters continues.

But it’s about more than just defining the job, you also have a certain responsibility as an HR Manager. “As an organization, you have to dare to look into the mirror, get a good view on the needs of the managers and provide them with the right tools. Lead by example. Especially in times of crisis or reorganization, you need to help managers to smoothly pass on communication to their team. If you can connect well with employees at such times, you create trust. And that too is part of the sustainability story”, adds Fabienne Vanwynsberghe.

“Shared leadership can be an answer to the question of what, we ourselves, can do for leaders. As a manager, however, you also have to dare to admit that you make mistakes as well and pass on what you learn from them. Young people are quick to doubt themselves, for example, so you have to make sure that you keep them close to reality. You have a job to arm and empower people about the ‘dark sides’ to avoid disappointment or dropping out. You have to name the difficult days and normalize taboos”, Peggy De Prins starts.

Many companies’ marketing campaigns offer “the ideal model”, but nothing could be further from the truth. “You can create catchy marketing campaigns, but you should always address the reality during (job) interview, and make sure that you don’t create expectations that cannot be met”, says Fabienne Vanwynsberghe. 

“A successful approach? We give candidates the opportunity to participate in the job for a few hours, even before they are hired. That way, they really get to know the team and the job. We notice that people tend to make a more conscious decision, in two directions: they as a candidate, and we ourselves as a company. If there is any doubt at that moment, it can be a decisive factor”, explains Karen Van Tongelen.

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