Senior Vice President of Growth, at Leadr, a people development software that helps leaders engage and grow every person on their team.
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February 1, 2023, was one of the most exciting days I’ve had during my two years in my current role. It was the day I promoted our senior marketing manager to director of marketing. I’d worked with her on a growth and development plan for several months, and it was so rewarding to watch her development translate into growth within our organization.
Having the right people in the right seat on your marketing team is everything.
The State Of Marketing Careers
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the field of marketing is projected to grow at a faster-than-average rate of 10% between 2021 and 2031. With the shift toward digital marketing, there is a growing demand for marketing professionals with skills in such areas as search engine optimization, social media marketing, content marketing and email marketing.
The Importance Of Career Development
Despite the promising state of marketing careers, many marketers struggle to see the growth potential available to them. A study by the Content Marketing Institute found that 69% of marketers either believe they must leave their companies to advance or simply can’t visualize the path forward.
There is a disconnect between the tremendous growth happening in the field of marketing and the opportunities that marketers are aware of. That means it is more important than ever for managers to engage and communicate with their marketing teams about growth and development. A report found that engagement is 15% higher and retention is 34% higher when employees have access to growth opportunities in their workplace.
Creating Career Development Pathways For Your Marketing Team
Here are five practical tips to help your team recognize and embrace growth opportunities:
1. Create a personalized development plan.
Developing your marketing team begins with creating a plan. However, it needs to be a plan that addresses the unique strengths, goals and desires of each member of your team. That’s where a personalized development plan comes in.
Personal development plans take the goals and aspirations of each of your team members and turns them into attainable and measurable goals that are broken down into actionable steps. Done well, personalized development plans increase engagement, foster new skills, encourage teamwork and collaboration, and make it clear how your marketers can develop their careers or specialize in their field.
2. Discuss growth goals.
Goal setting is a powerful skill that directly relates to development and success. In the professional setting, this can look like earning a certification, increasing job performance metrics or learning a new area of marketing.
Just having a career development goal is not enough. Research shows that goals have a higher chance of being achieved if there is accountability to support it. In one study, goals that were shared with a specific person and then followed up with weekly progress updates had a 76% success rate. As a manager, you are perfectly positioned to check in with the growth goals that are set by members of your marketing team during your weekly one-on-one meetings. This lets your team know that not only is their desire for career development important but that you are going to help them along the way.
3. Offer regular feedback.
For Millennials and Gen Z, promotions are not the only means of career development and advancement. In fact, many of those in these generations value feedback more than ever and prioritize having a role that truly benefits the organization they work for.
Providing your team with timely, consistent feedback allows them to feel valued, understand where their work is making a difference and see avenues for continuous development outside of promotions.
Providing regular feedback is crucial to help your team understand their strengths and areas for improvement. When you schedule your one-on-one meetings, take time to discuss each individual’s progress and provide feedback on their performance. This feedback can help individuals identify areas for improvement which you can then work together to develop a plan to address.
4. Invest in your team’s goals.
A simple way to prompt the career development of your marketing team is to point them toward training and development opportunities.
Encourage your team to attend conferences, workshops and training sessions. Send them links to books or podcasts that relate to their growth goals and development plans. Most importantly, help them track and apply their learnings by asking, “What did you learn this week to help you in your development goals?” in your weekly one-on-one meetings.
These resources can help your team learn new skills and stay up to date with the latest marketing trends and best practices, which sets them up to be successful in both their current role and any future roles that they may step into.
5. Encourage job shadowing and cross-functional collaboration.
Job shadowing and cross-functional collaboration can help your team develop a better understanding of the broader organization and how to market the products or services you offer.
Encourage your team to shadow colleagues in other departments and work on cross-functional projects. These experiences can help individuals develop new skills, envision what the next steps in their career development could look like and become better marketers by understanding the organization more holistically. At my company, as a part of our leadership development track, participants meet with the members of our executive team one-on-one for an “ask me anything” session. I have a passion for helping people develop their unique strengths, so this is one of the meetings I look forward to the most in my role as senior vice president of growth.
Career development is critical for the growth and success of marketing professionals in a time when there are more marketing opportunities and avenues than ever. By taking time to help your marketing team understand and work toward the next steps in their career development, you give them clarity and purpose while your company gains a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining top talent.
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