Why don’t organizations invest in their junior people?

Companies invest in their leadership – executive coaching for new CEOs, fellowships and leadership cohorts for their senior leaders, etc. But how do they invest in their younger employees? What would the workplace look like if every employee had a professional coach? If there were more opportunities for mentorship and personal professional development outside of technical management and “getting the work done?” 

I suppose there’s a concern that if you provide too much development for younger employees they will, maybe sooner rather than later, move on. And maybe companies don’t want to invest dollars in supporting the development of people who might move on. But let’s be honest. People are going to move on at some point. So take that out of the equation and read that sentence again. “Maybe companies don’t want to invest dollars in the development of people”??? Surely that can’t be true. 

Some people are fortunate that their managers have the bandwidth to be true mentors. But many managers are stretched thin, or just don’t have the skills to support employees in the way they need for their growth. 

Supporting the thoughtful and intentional professional growth of more junior employees is a win-win.  The organization gets stronger employees, builds an internal pipeline of leaders, and in the worst case scenario, sends off a strong and talented employee into another role at another company and builds its brand as an organization that cares about its people.

Are there organizations out there who do this well? Orgs who explicitly incorporate personal professional growth into the management structure? Who allow PD dollars to be used for external coaching/mentorship? I would love to connect with some organizations whose policies allow for this or who also see this as a gap are interested in incorporating this into their professional learning offerings. How might this be mutually beneficial for the organization and the individual employee? What practices could be put in place to make this feel “safer” for the company? 

If you have ideas on this topic or companies you know of who are killing it at mentoring their junior people, drop your thoughts below!