Let’s cut to the chase: If your idea of “career growth” is telling employees, “Stick around long enough, and you’ll move up”, you’re not building careers, you’re building resentment.

Today’s workforce isn’t buying the whole “work hard, wait quietly, maybe we’ll promote you someday” package. And your top talent? They’re not sticking around to solve it.

According to the National Workplace Trends Study, 81% of employees say the most successful companies prioritize learning and development. And 64% of Gen X and Boomers say regular pay increases are a dealbreaker. Translation: Growth is no longer a perk, it’s the price of entry.

Let’s talk about why today’s talent isn’t waiting 5 years for a promotion, and how to stop losing them.

The Top 5 Ways Companies Are Sabotaging Employee Growth

1. Career Paths Look Like Escape Rooms
You shouldn’t need a map, flashlight, and six years of company loyalty to figure out how to advance. Yet 64% of employees say that clear career paths with defined milestones are essential to motivation and retention. If you can’t show your employees where they’re headed, don’t be surprised when they head somewhere else.

2. Promotions Are Based on Tenure, Not Talent
If Becky gets promoted because she’s been there the longest, but she’s not the most qualified for the role, congrats, you’ve just demotivated everyone. Especially your high performers. Growth today must be earned, but also accessible, visible, and fairly awarded.

3. Skipping the Skill-Building
Offering no upskilling opportunities in 2025 is like asking someone to run a marathon without shoes. Learning and development isn’t a “nice to have” anymore…81% of workers say it’s key to staying engaged. And let’s be honest, if your training still involves a dusty binder from 2003, you’re not developing talent equipped for today’s workforce challenges.

4. Forgetting That Growth Means More Than Money
Yes, compensation matters. (Just ask the 64% of Gen X and Boomers who expect regular raises.) But Gen Z and Millennials? They’re also looking for mentorship, skill-building, and personal development. If you only offer a paycheck with no pathway, they’ll cash it, and then they’ll leave.

5. Managers Who Don’t Coach/Mentor
Career growth lives and dies at the feet of leadership. If your managers aren’t having regular career conversations, offering feedback, or helping people map their development, then guess what? Your company is stunting its own growth. Literally.

How to Stop Losing Your Best People to the Career Path Maze

Want to become a Destination Workplace™—where employees grow, stay, and thrive? Start here:

• Get Clear on the Climb: Build career maps with milestones, timelines, and skill requirements. Make it as easy to follow as a recipe. No more “maybe next year” mysteries.
  
  
• Normalize Growth Conversations: Require managers to have development check-ins at least twice a year. Make growth part of the rhythm, not a rare event.
  
  
• Invest in Upskilling: Offer ongoing learning that aligns with career goals: tech skills, leadership development, communication workshops, you name it!
  
  
• Reward Progress, Not Just Patience: Recognize growth when it happens. Promotions and raises should follow demonstrated value, not just time served.
  
  
• Coach the Coaches: Train your managers with up-to-date coaching and mentoring methods.

Good Talent Aren’t Leaving. They’re Escaping.

If your employees can’t see their future at your company, they’ll go find it somewhere else. And you’ll be left wondering why your best talent is constantly turning into someone else’s star hire.

Stop making growth a guessing game. Make it a guarantee.

Don’t know where to start? That’s exactly where I come in. As the founder of Destination Workplace™ and one of the top leadership speakers in Dallas, TX, I help companies ditch outdated management strategies and build career paths that actually keep people around.

Want to stop losing top talent to better offers and brighter futures?
Let’s create a roadmap your employees can follow.

Reach out to work with me at DestinationWorkplace.com

>>> Featured on FOX, CBS, NBC, and ABC, Betsy Allen-Manning is a leadership keynote speaker and high-performance expert who works with executives, managers, and teams to ignite commitment, elevate excellence & infuse purpose into their culture. Her C.O.M.M.I.T. Framework™ and ‘DNA for Success’  keynote series deliver data-backed, high-energy presentations that strengthen leadership, enhance team performance, and build resilient cultures where people thrive and stay. Betsy is also the founder of Destination Workplace™,  an award-winning leadership training company in Dallas, recognized for advancing leadership excellence and driving a culture of high performance in some of the world’s most respected organizations.