CAREER PLATEAU AND ITS THREE TYPES

Working in an organization helps an individual

build and enrich his/her career. Employees will start at a
low position and then manage to achieve big promotions.
In times of progress being achieved by employees, more
experiences will be acquired. But what will happen if the
employees feel that they will no longer achieve higher
careers?

Many employees experience being stuck at

some point in their career when the movement or
progress of such seems to slow down or stop. This is a
career plateau. It is also best described as moments in
employees’ career which feel like they have reached a
point or position where they are unable to progress or
move forward. In an organization, there are instances
wherein an employee has reached the highest position
in the company. This situation will make him/her feel
constantly bored, frustrated, lack of commitment, and
stuck at a job position because of repetitive responsibilities and tasks. Also, career plateau makes
an employee struggle to find job fulfillment. As a result, the employees tend to be unsatisfied with
their jobs and be unproductive. But there are employees that see career plateau as a motivator to
start a change in the organization.

There are three types of career plateau: Structural, Content, and Life.

First is Structural Plateau. From the

word structural, the organizational
structure of the company makes the
employees feel a career plateau. It is an
instance where the employees achieved or
progressed at a point where the
organization’s structure prevents them
from moving up because there is a shortage of rungs on the promotional ladder. The employees
are unable to rise further in the flattened organizational structure. As stated, in this kind of career
plateau, the career of the employees stops when there are no other higher positions that can be
filled. Since there are no other positions for them, the possibility of promotions will be lessened.
This will make the employees stuck at their current positions. There are instances that promotions
will not be given because of lack of skills and experiences of the employees. It can also be the
employees’ personal choices and reasons.

For example, an employee may experience structural plateau because of organizational

assessments. An employee may not receive future promotions because the management believes
that the employee lacks the managerial ability or skills needed for higher – level positions.

The second one is Content Plateau.

Working for years in an organization will
make an employee gain knowledge about
the different tasks given to him/her every
day. Because of this, the employee tends to
master and memorize the every day process
of his/her job. In this kind of career plateau,
the employee lacks a sense of challenge in
the job. Since he/she does the tasks every single day, the challenge or hardness of the job disappear.
In this case, the employee tends to lose his/her interest in taking greater responsibilities. Also, the
feeling of reaching the dead end of the job is associated with content plateau. This kind of career
plateau also depends on organizational or personal reasons.

When the organization has negatively assessed the employee’s capabilities, the employee
may not receive any further increases in responsibilities associated with the current job he/she has.
The organization may believe that the employee does not have the skills, ability, desire, and work
ethics to handle more advanced tasks.
 Another type is the Life Plateau. In content plateau,
the jobs of the employees are not challenging for them
anymore. In this third type, the job and the life of the
employees are affected. Such seem to feel like predictable,
monotonous, and meaningless. The employees feel like they
are working for nothing and living their lives in a repetitive
manner. What they do yesterday will be the same thing for
today and tomorrow and so on. There are no changes in terms
of that. In this case, the employees feel stuck in doing everyday routines.

These career plateaus are serious

problems especially when the employees
perceive such in a negative perception. These
can cause changes in the employees’
performances, satisfaction, and productivity as
they tend to invest less time and effort in work
activities. Career plateau must be handled
accordingly. Human Resource should lead the
solutions for these problems. Having employees
with career plateau, HR is responsible to provide
opportunities for employees and make their
current jobs more meaningful and engaging.
Rewards and recognitions will be a big help for
the absence of promotions as these will motivate the employees to continue striving in their careers.
Trainings will also help the employees overcome career plateau as it aims to change employees’
behavior, attitudes, and opinions.

In employees’ point of view, there are also strategies that will help them cope up with
career plateau. They can prepare a plan for acquiring new knowledge, experience, and skills by
adding more challenges and eliminating problems. Employees can also experiment with new types
of works and responsibilities by volunteering for stretch assignments within or outside their
department. Most importantly, employees must restructure their view of success. Promotions are
not the only way to achieve satisfaction. Gaining interest and taking adventures in other aspect of
life may help the employees to find their happiness.

References

http://career.iresearchnet.com/career-development/career-plateau/

https://peopleforce.io/en/hr-glossary/whatis-career-plateau/

https://hr.un.org/page/career-workbook-plan-your-career