Move More

Lately, there has been much handwringing about increased worker mobility. Some call it the Great Resignation, others call it the Great Re-Evaluation or the Great Renegotiation. Whatever you call it, you cannot deny that more people have been rethinking their work situation since lockdown. Thanks to the inevitable disruption this causes for employers and established work teams, these newly mobile workers have been subjected to criticism and ridicule. But they may be getting the last laugh.

Consider what these moves mean for those workers. A recent report from the McKinsey Global Institute found that a worker’s financial health depends on their constantly increasing their skills and experience:

“By our estimates, the value of human capital represents roughly two-thirds of an individual’s total wealth. Skills acquired or deployed through work experience contribute an average of 46 percent of this value over a typical working life.”

McKinsey & Co., Human capital at work: The value of Experience, 2 June 2022

Given how vitally important growth in experience is, workers who cannot expand their skills in their current employment must seek new employment or risk falling behind.

McKinsey has identified four archetypes of worker mobility and has tracked their economic rewards:

• “Experience seekers start with lower-than-average wages but propel themselves upward by moving roles more frequently than their peers and stretching their capabilities substantially each time. The cumulative effect gives them stronger wage growth than any other archetype.” (emphasis added)
• “Early movers make bigger leaps in the first part of their career. Someone may start in one field, quickly realize that their passion lies elsewhere, and then get a break that enables them to follow it.”
• “Late movers stay put or make more incremental moves in the early stage of their career but eventually take a bolder step. Think of a seasoned journalist who goes into corporate communications, or a real estate agent who becomes a mortgage loan officer in a bank. This is by far the largest group in the sample.”
• “Lock-ins change jobs less frequently, and when they do move, they do not make dramatic changes. This is not necessarily because someone is timid or stuck; they could also follow this strategy because they pursued what suited them from the start. … However, lock-ins have the slowest wage growth, whether they start near the bottom or near the top.” (emphasis added)

Which type are you? (If you are in a law firm, you may well be a Lock-in.)

Regardless of your type, take a hard look at your current organization. Does it have the commitment and scope to help you grow meaningfully in experience and compensation. If so, then making a bold move that yields greater rewards can happen without changing your employer. However, if your organization cannot or will not support your growth then you need to move elsewhere.

For years, doctors have advised patients to move more in order to enhance their physical health. Perhaps we should be giving this advice to employees to enhance their financial health, career prospects, and wellbeing.

[Photo Credit: Ryoji Iwata]