Should I stay, or should I go?
The"battle for talent" is an evergreen topic of conversation between BAD and our clients. As organisations grapple with the spiralling costs of recruitment and onboarding—along with the risks involved—many have doubled down on retention and reskilling. Indeed, the aftershocks of the post-COVID "Great Resignation" are still being felt, with employees increasingly reporting they feel overworked, underpaid, and unprepared for AI-driven workplaces. Microsoft’s 2024 Work Trend Index found that 68% of employees globally struggle with workload and pace, while 46% feel burned out. With a Great Resignation 2.0 potentially on the cards, the war for talent,it seems, is far from over.
If companies want to keep their best employees, they need fresh perspectives on retention. Career mobility is emerging as a crucial strategy, given that a lack of advancement opportunities is one of the most common reasons for leaving a job. Organisations that offer clear career paths and development opportunities are rated by McKinsey among the top quartile for organisational effectiveness. However, while career mobility initiatives are well-intended, they often fail to account for a critical factor: inclusion.
Keeping the path clear
It's no surprise that in a 2023 survey of UK HR professionals, 36% cited retention as their biggest priority, with 89% stating that the challenge is either getting harder or staying the same. At BAD, our clients frequently ask us: “We know career development and retention are connected, but how can behavioural science help?”
The starting point is to translate career mobility into observable employee behaviours. Employees who successfully advance in their careers take actions like discussing goals with their manager, seeking development opportunities,applying for internal roles, or engaging in training and job shadowing. But for these behaviours to happen, the right conditions and support must be in place. As an example of support, managers play a pivotal role as behavioural ‘co-stars’ - facilitating career conversations, actively supporting team members’ ambitions, and advocating for their growth within the organisation.
A systematic review of career management practices suggests three key drivers of career mobility:
- Access to career information
- Strong career-related relationships
- Opportunities to enhance competencies
However, the effectiveness of these practices isn’t universal. The paper suggests that individual differences - such as background and personal circumstances - can significantly influence how employees navigate career mobility. The above research highlights these as contingent factors, shaping whether and how employees benefit from career development initiatives.
Inclusion as the missing link
Career mobility is often framed as a universal process, but a closer look reveals a different reality. Employees do not experience career development equally. Researchers are increasingly calling for HR practices to better account for the career support needs of an increasingly diverse workforce. Consider these statistics:
- Older workers (55-64) who change jobs in the UK most often cite low pay (38%), feeling undervalued (26%), and lack of advancement opportunities (17%) as reasons for leaving. (ONS, 2023)
- Autistic adults are more likely to be underpaid (a third less than non-disabled people), overqualified and under promoted (DWP, 2024)
- 55% of parents stay in jobs due to flexibility, even at the expense of pay and progression (Working Families 2022 Index).
Inclusion isn’t just a moral imperative; it is fundamental to unlocking the full potential of career mobility strategies. Yet, many organisations struggle to move beyond broad demographic categories. Focusing solely on gender, age, race,or disability can overlook the real behavioural patterns that influence career development. This is where behavioural science can make a difference.
Digging deeper: the power of behavioural personas
One of the most effective ways to address career mobility challenges is to shift from thinking about employees in demographic groups to understanding them through ‘behavioural personas’.
Unlike traditional diversity categories, behavioural personas consider the lived experiences, motivations, and barriers that shape career progression. Take two women in the workforce:
- A young Black woman without children may face different career obstacles to a 55-year-old White woman balancing work with care giving for ageing parents.
- While both may experience gender-related challenges, their barriers to career progression will be influenced by different intersections of age, race, and personal circumstances.
For example, research indicates Black women face a ‘concrete ceiling’ in career progression due to lower levels of social capital and transparency around promotion opportunities,requiring much more active sponsorship from managers to progress. Older women(55+) may struggle with intersecting age and gender biases, limiting their chances of securing new roles despite extensive experience.
A way forward
Developing behavioural personas isn’t just an academic exercise; it’s a practical tool that allows organisations to design interventions that resonate with real employee experiences. At BAD, we collaborate with clients to uncover the specific challenges faced by different employee groups within their organisation. By moving beyond one-size-fits-all approaches and instead identifying the nuanced needs, concerns, and frustrations that shape career behaviours, we help companies design career mobility strategies that truly work.
For instance, one of our clients aimed to improve retention for women, but a broad "women’s programme" risked being too generic. Behavioural personas represent a useful starting point to identify distinct career barriers for different subgroups—such as mid-career mothers needing flexible pathways and early-career women requiring social capital-building strategies. This approach then allows for targeted, high-impact interventions.
Ultimately,developing behavioural personas is not just about inclusion—it’s about designing career pathways that reflect the realities of today’s workforce. When done well, this approach helps companies uncover hidden talent, reduce bias, improve personal development plans, and, most importantly, retain their best people.
If you’d like to explore how a behavioural lens can drive better career mobility in your organisation, get in touch. We’d love to share insights from our latest work.
