4 Ways You Can Support Employee Career Development

What is career development?

Career development refers to the ongoing process of employers helping employees to learn new skills, gain experience, and progress within their chosen career path. It goes beyond simply offering a job, it’s about creating opportunities for staff to grow, both professionally and personally. For employers, supporting career development can take many forms, from formal employee training programmes to on-the-job learning and mentoring.

At its heart, career development is a partnership between the employer and employee. Staff are responsible for driving their own ambitions, but businesses play a key role in providing the tools, structure, encouragement and sometimes the financial backing to help them succeed.

Why is career development important?

Investing in career development is beneficial for employees and also a smart business strategy for employers. Research from the CIPD’s Learning at Work survey report (2023) found that organisations with strong learning cultures are more likely to report improved performance, higher staff retention, and stronger employee engagement.

For employers, the benefits include:

• Increased staff retention – Employees are less likely to leave if they can see clear career progression within your organisation. Replacing staff is costly, with Oxford Economics estimating the average cost of turnover at over £30,000 per employee.
• Enhanced skills and productivity – Continuous learning ensures staff stay up to date with industry changes, technology, and customer expectations.
• Better succession planning – Developing your workforce ensures you have capable leaders ready to step into more senior roles and you have a strong internal talent pool to draw on.
• Improved employer brand – Offering meaningful career development makes your business more attractive to top talent and helps your business to be seen as an employer of choice.

For employees, career development leads to greater job satisfaction, confidence, and a sense of purpose at work. In short, it’s a win–win.

4 ways you can support your employees’ career development

1. Provide access to training and learning opportunities

The most obvious, and often the most effective, way to support career development is by offering employee training. This can take many forms:

• Formal training programmes – Accredited courses, professional qualifications, or apprenticeships funded by the Apprenticeship Levy for larger employers.
• In-house learning – Workshops, seminars, or “lunch and learn” sessions led by subject experts are great ways for employees to learn from their colleagues.
• Digital learning – Access to generic online learning platforms or sector-specific e-learning makes use of modern technology to support employees in their career development.

According to the government’s Employer Skills Survey, around 60% of employers provide training to staff each year. However, the same survey highlights a growing skills gap in areas such as digital literacy and management capability. Offering structured training not only closes these gaps but also demonstrates a long-term investment in your workforce.

Even small businesses can implement affordable initiatives, such as job shadowing or peer-to-peer learning sessions. The key is to make training continuous and part of everyday work activities rather than a one-off event.

2. Encourage mentoring and coaching

Mentoring and coaching are powerful, low-cost ways to provide career development. A mentoring scheme pairs less experienced employees with more seasoned colleagues, enabling knowledge transfer, confidence-building, and career guidance. Coaching, meanwhile, focuses on helping employees identify goals and develop strategies to achieve them.

Benefits include:

• Faster integration for new starters.
• Increased employee confidence and resilience.
• Stronger internal networks and collaboration.

For example, a mid-sized retail company might assign a new store manager a mentor from head office to help them navigate leadership challenges. Similarly, a law firm could use coaching sessions to help newly qualified solicitors set career goals.

These programmes don’t need to be complex, even informal mentoring arrangements can have a big impact if they are supported by senior leadership.

3. Create clear career pathways and progression plans

One of the main reasons employees leave a role is because they can’t see where it will lead. By mapping out clear career pathways, employers provide visibility and motivation for staff. This might include:

• Defined promotion criteria – Outlining what skills, qualifications, or behaviours are required to move into higher roles.
• Regular development reviews – Going beyond annual appraisals to have ongoing conversations about career aspirations.
• Career maps – Showing different routes an employee could take within the organisation, whether vertical progression or lateral moves.

For example, an NHS trust might outline how a healthcare assistant could progress into nursing through funded training. A tech start-up could show how a software developer could move into project management or product design with the right skills.

When staff understand their options, they are more likely to commit to your organisation and work towards their goals.

4. Support personal development beyond job roles

Career development doesn’t always mean training for the next promotion. Sometimes it’s about developing transferable skills and preparing employees for future opportunities, whether inside or outside your organisation. Employers can support this by offering:

• Stretch assignments – Giving staff responsibility for a challenging project.
• Secondments or job rotations – Allowing employees to try out different departments or roles for an extended period of time.
• Soft skills development – Training in communication, problem-solving, or leadership, these skills are highly transferable and valued by employers.

These opportunities help employees build confidence and broaden their experience, which benefits the organisation as much as the individual. By showing that you value personal as well as professional growth, you create a more motivated and loyal workforce.

Taking action

Supporting career development doesn’t have to involve huge budgets or complex programmes. Whether you’re a small business offering job shadowing opportunities or a larger organisation with structured training pathways, the key is to make career development part of your culture. Start by asking employees what skills they want to develop, and review what opportunities you can realistically provide. Even small steps can make a big difference to staff morale, productivity, and retention.

As the workplace continues to evolve, employers who actively invest in employee training, career progression, and personal development will be better placed to attract, retain, and develop the talent they need for long-term success.

Having a HR system like HRX can help your business when it comes to career development. Each employee has their own record in the system. You can upload training plans and certificates to those records so that employees can easily view them as and when needed and if employees have training which needs to be periodically renewed then the system can log expiry dates and you can run reports to make sure that this training stays up to date. To book a free, no obligation demo click here.