Forum Discussion

judithvirag's avatar
judithvirag
Verified Community Coach
10 days ago

Career Ladder: How Do You Handle Career Growth Conversations When There's No Clear Path Up?

Hi,  I run a medium size (24 staff) cleaning company.

When we hire we have the growth mindset people - which I love BTW - and one of their first question is what does a career ladder look like?

I am only hiring for cleaners as even if I would double in size which would take many years I do not need more office staff.  For maintenance, cleaning supplies I would rather hire part time for now.

So how do I have this conversation with these amazing candidates about maybe yes but not now or ever?  

2 Replies

  • roselvaggio's avatar
    roselvaggio
    Verified Community Coach
    9 days ago

    We’re around 30 employees total, and I actually use our own team as the example when candidates ask this.

    Our Ops Manager, Culture Manager, Field Supervisor, and soon-to-be Director of Growth & Sales were all promoted internally. We’ve also promoted trainers, deep clean specialists, and commercial leads.

    A lot of those employees came to us with experience in things like management, healthcare, or education, so they already had leadership, communication, training, or organizational skills that translated really well once they were inside the company.

    So I tell candidates there absolutely is room to grow here, but I’m careful not to promise a specific title or timeline. Growth happens when the business has a need and someone has demonstrated the skills and consistency to step into it.

    We promote from within a lot — we just don’t create positions simply because someone wants the next rung on the ladder.