Whose responsibility is internal career growth? Is it the individual employee or the company? From my perspective, it’s a partnership from both, and it’s one of the reasons I love my job on the talent development team at Procore. My role as the learning and leadership program manager focuses on activating employee potential through growth opportunities that fuel individual and company success.
Most organizations offer a variety of resources for employees to leverage for their professional growth, such as career and professional development programs, with resources like on-demand skill building, workshops and internal mentoring programs. While these will differ from company to company, for the most part, there should always be something you can take advantage of.
Five Internal Career Resources to Help You Grow
The types of internal programming that I have seen to benefit our employees best are a balance between self-directed learning, manager-supported, and live workshops.
Learning Platforms: Membership to platforms such as LinkedIn Learning and Masterclass allows employees to take courses on skills they want to improve on. This offering is a self-directed approach where employees can independently identify topics they want to know more about and take them at their own pace. As an add-on, we’ve found it extra helpful to offer our employees ‘LinkedIn Learning Skill Sprints’ where they can join a live workshop with one of our career development team members and work through a class together.
Internal Networking: Meeting new people, learning what they do and understanding why their work matters can be a very strategic learning opportunity. Some companies have a formalized process for this, much like at Procore. We call this our Get To Know You (GTKY) program, where you can schedule a meeting with anyone in the company to learn more about their work and role.
Career Development Workshops: These workshops could be offered live or on-demand, and often cover topics such as delivering feedback, communication, career planning, and productivity. Here at Procore, we take these workshops one step further with topics like our Inclusive Culture Workshop, where employees learn key skills such as objective decision-making, fostering a culture of belonging, and ensuring colleagues’ voices are heard.
Industry-Specific Training: Learning about the industry your company serves is critical to your success in serving them. Many organizations provide training materials, resource libraries or simply point to external resources where employees can keep on top of industry trends. Some companies, like Procore, invest in industry training teams that focus on developing ongoing and current educational programs for employees.
Role-Specific Training Programs: Role-specific training helps employees get a solid foundation to develop valuable skills to succeed in their roles, expand their scope, and hopefully advance within the company. Sales teams, for example, usually have internal boot camps and academies, much like our Sales Development Representative Academy, which has a clear design of learning expectations and timelines.
Career Advancement is Your Responsibility
Your career advancement is your responsibility. When you work for an organization like Procore, which offers robust career and professional development resources, you are empowered to own your career. One of the first steps you can take is to speak with your manager. Ask them about resources and for guidance; together, your manager can help you create a plan of action and identify where you can tap into available resources. Another step is to research your organization’s benefits and perks when it comes to both career and professional development. There may be pre-existing programs for you to leverage–like a company LinkedIn Learning membership. You can also reach out to the people in your organization leading career development programs to find ways to stay connected.
Do you want to know more about how Procore supports employee growth? Chat with our #LifeAtProcore Insiders about what it’s like to work here.
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