What is the Meaning of Career Plateau & Its Importance

What is the Meaning of Career Plateau & Its Importance

5-6 minutes 

Career Plateau Definition

When an employee rises to one of the topmost positions in a company, and there is little or no chance that s/he will move upward from there—that''s a career plateau. The low probability for further rise owes to a lack of skills, corporate reorganization, and so on.

Career Plateau refers to a point in one''s career where one feels they have reached a high level of maximum personal growth and lateral movement.

Peak attainment of some professional plateau forms an ordinary part of career development for most people. Hitting up against or skirting the edge around such a point can be disheartening and demotivating at work.

Let''s dive in and understand more about a career plateau.

Understanding the Meaning of Career Plateau

The Career Plateau certainly is a situation when an employee has reached a company position level at its highest and there is little possibility to be built upon it.

Poor prospects for further promotion are led by employee skills, corporate restructuring, and so on.

In a career plateau, the position of the employee becomes stagnant as he or she performs the same things day after day.

Due to excessive pressure or monotony, many employees may feel disengaged or become unproductive at work. These are the major reasons that make most employees seek opportunities for career development that are meaningful and engaging in nature to break through these barriers.

All that said, career plateaus can be divided into three types:

• The Vertical Plateau: After reaching the highest level for your current position, an employee may feel there is nowhere else to go.
• The Horizontal Plateau: This happens when an employee is no longer learning or growing in their current position, so they may be said to have hit a plateau of career development.
• The Stagnant Plateau: In some instances, employees experience little or no growth, which constitutes a stagnation plateau.

Causes of Career Plateau

Now that you know the different types of career plateaus, learn about the most common reasons why they actually happen in companies:

• Repeated Duties and Responsibilities: If you do the same tasks over and over again, you will get bored and spiritless, and your progress at work will also be held up. This means you will have reached a career plateau.
• Professional Growth Lag: If the current job is not offering any opportunity for promotion to workers, it may make them feel trapped and unable to move their careers.
• Lack of Training: No work in training and development opportunity may not allow employees to line up the necessary skills or knowledge to be the best version of themselves along the way.
• Reaching the Highest Level: There is no prospect of going further when an employee has reached the highest level in their present job.
• Internal Factors: In some cases, it may be because of internal factors. Burnout is one of the common factors which leads to a career plateau. Micromanagement or no work-life balance are some other reasons due to which employees feel disconnected and disengaged from their roles.

How to Overcome a Career Plateau?

Both staff and employers are very essential in overcoming the career barriers.

If the employees feel that they have reached the plateau in their career, then the employer should provide opportunities for the betterment of their professional knowledge and skills.

Research shows that people feeling stagnated are operating at less than optimal levels of performance. Offering conditions on the part of the employer to allow workers to be freed from mediocrity and continue reaching toward new horizons are:

• Growth Opportunities: Provide training and development programs so that employees can polish their skills and thus generate more profit for the company.
• Chances of Lateral Mobility: Allow horizontal movements within a company so that employees may properly develop in all aspects, high or low.
• Challenges and New Duties: Give employees new challenges and tasks to counteract the ennui which results from monotony.

Conclusion

Career plateaus are part and parcel of working life; however, they are often very irritating and disappointing.

Now that you know the causes, symptoms, and cures for career plateaus, you will be able to minimize their impact and keep your employees'' careers on track.

Whether looking for opportunities to do training and development, seeking a lateral move, or changing career paths completely, there are many ways employees deal with career plateaus. As a company, you must do everything to avoid such situations and help your workforce reach new heights in their professional lives!

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