From the Ask Tom mailbag –

Question:
You talk about how important it is to match a person’s capability with challenge in the role. You also say that as people grow and mature, so does their Time Span capability. What do you do with talented people when promotional opportunities are limited?

Response:
It’s a dilemma for every organization and why it is important for every company to stay “green and growing.” When personal opportunity stops, it is inevitable that you will lose that person. This can be traumatic, or it can be planned.

Look at any McDonald’s store. Inside you have a team of motley teenagers flipping burgers, sizzling fries and making chocolate shakes (my favorite). While I often joke that any employee who shows up for their shift five days in a row can be the manager, the long term potential for advancement is limited. For most companies, the prospect of short careers and high turnover would not be desirable, for McDonald’s, it’s their business model. Traumatic, or planned?

For McDonald’s, it’s planned, predictable and normal. For most kids behind the counter, it’s their first job and 1-2 years is all that’s expected. Any company with limited opportunity for advancement has to face that fact. Managers-Once-Removed (MORs) should be trained to look for the signs and be prepared for those coaching conversations. As a rule the company should gear its training programs to handle the normal course of turnover and gear it’s systems to accelerate proficiency in performance. That’s why fry baskets have timers and hamburgers are cooked on conveyor chains.

So, if the organization can stay green and growing, perhaps it can create those opportunities internally. But rarely for everyone and rarely forever.