Mary Barroll
President, TalentEgg
When a company truly cares about employee growth, you know you’ve hit the career jackpot. While it seems like common sense to invest in your employees by offering them opportunities to grow as a professional, a lot of places just don’t. “We know from our national survey of Gen Y and Z job seekers, that employers who invest in professional development and career growth are extremely attractive and enhances employee engagement and retention for companies who integrate it into their workplace,” says Mary Barroll, President of TalentEgg. So how do you identify a company that truly cares about employee growth? Here are a few different ways.
1. Read job reviews
One of the easiest ways to find out whether a company cares about employee growth is to read about the company. Luckily, TalentEgg has many free career resources such as editorials, videos, career guides and inside looks into the companies that can give you a feeling of the corporate culture. “Career growth for young professionals allows them to feel that they are on a positive career path that leads to future opportunities and more fulfillment on the job. We encourage employers to integrate ongoing professional development into their employee engagement strategies, not only their onboarding,” Mary comments.
2. Follow them online
Since company culture is so important in today’s professional landscape, a lot of companies have dedicated social media accounts to share what goes on in the office. They’ll post pictures of work parties, team building activities, conferences, interviews with employees and more. If the company you’re interested in has an online presence, this can be a great way to identify whether they care about employee growth.
3. Read their company culture page online
Many companies have started to promote their company culture by having a dedicated page on their corporate website. While company culture includes a variety of elements, a large part of it is how they treat their employees. If a company does indeed care about employee growth, they’ll likely highlight the various ways they contribute to that on their website — growth and continuing education opportunities are just some examples.
4. Look through job posting’s keywords
When you come across a job posting that looks interesting to you, there are a few keywords to look for, which include “opportunity for growth”, “access to training”, “learning opportunities”, and “professional development.” Chances are when a company does offer these things, they’re proud to promote it in their job postings because they want to reach job seekers who also want to grow with the company.
5. Talk to current employees
Current employees are one of the best sources when trying to identify if a company that truly cares about growth. If browsing employees on networking sites doesn’t give you the information you hoped to gain, you can always reach out and ask to take them out for coffee for an informational interview. An informational interview is a meeting in which a job seeker seeks advice about their career, the industry or even the company they want to work for. A lot of people are flattered to be asked — so don’t be afraid to reach out.
6. Ask them
At the end of every interview is a great opportunity to ask about employee growth. Ask what opportunities for growth there are. Not only will you learn exactly what they offer, but they’ll see you as someone who values career growth and could be a potentially good fit for them.
If working for a company that cares about employee growth is really important to you, consider these tips. In fact, don’t rely on just one source of information. Their website might talk about opportunities for employee growth, but their employees might have a different story. Be sure to do your research and you will find the answer.
