Progression: do your employees have careers, or do they just have jobs?

The Government has been putting more emphasis on access to employment – especially good quality, well-paid jobs. Encouragingly, the Government have acknowledged that making this happen for disabled people is crucial to building stronger economy overall.  

The proof of the government plans announced in the Budget and Health and Disability White Paper will very much lie in fine details and implementation, but there are encouraging moves to break down more of the barriers disabled people face to entering, and staying in, employment.  

But “getting in” to employment is one thing; “getting on”, in terms of progressing once in work, is another. Research we undertook with our Membership in 2020 found long waiting times for adjustments, inaccessible transport, inaccessible internal recruitment practices and a lack of tailored career development programmes all hindered disabled employees from doing their best work and progressing into more senior, better paid positions.  

Over to employers, then? In some ways, yes. But it comes back to sound, smart business practice. Members told us that the benefits of enabling in-work progression are clear in terms of building a skilled, flourishing workforce.  

The best way to do this is to start with employees in entry-level roles. As one employer told us, “The people who enter at this level are what the what the workforce will look like in five, ten years’ time.” Even (and especially) if there is no organisation-wide emphasis on progression, managers should start progression discussions with these staff members first, asking them: 

• What they currently think about working in their current job. 
• What skills or knowledge they would like to develop. 
• Where they would like to see their future in the organisation. 
• What the organisation can do to help them achieve that and in what timeframe. 

The individual approach is particularly key here. Progression and development mean different things to different people: it might not mean rapid promotion or dramatic shifts in duties, for instance. Again, it’s about a balance between building skills and developing internal talent but also allowing employees to flourish in the way that suits them.  

Employers also have a great ready-made framework in the form of the Low Pay Commission’s Five Point Progression Plan. One of the key takeaways is that many of the big enablers for progression are less formal, even light touch. They include shadowing and mentoring arrangements to allow employees to learn from other colleagues and about different parts of the business.  

The Plan also rightly points out the importance of the ways organisations communicate about progression. Dispelling the myth that all flexibility (cited as a benefit of entry-level roles by employees) disappears with seniority is key to making many employees feel able to seek their next career steps.  

Emphasising flexibility extends to training and development. This means employees should have dedicated work time to undertake training for their jobs – both the ones they have and the ones they might have in future.  

Many of these measures will read similarly to what we call disability-smart practice for employers. That’s because many of the key aims are the same – it’s about enabling all employees to flourish at work in an inclusive environment, so they can ‘get on’ after ‘getting in’. This is what makes the difference between a simple job and a rewarding career at a thriving organisation.