The full-day workshop on developing people and teams was ending when I asked the managers in the room for their questions. In the back of the room, a hand shot up so fast it was clear the participant had just been waiting for her opportunity to ask.
“What do you do when a team member doesn’t want to grow?” the manager asked. Heads nodded in her direction — she wasn’t the only one with this question.
In fact, the question of how to talk with an employee who has no interest in growing or developing is so common that it’s been asked in almost every workshop I’ve ever led on developing people and teams.
Some people are happy with who they are and don’t want to change.
As leaders, can we live with that?
The growth vs promotion myth
There are good, thoughtful reasons to avoid some growth. A promotion, for example, can often come with new responsibilities that disrupt the balance you’ve achieved in your life.
One vice president I know recognized that moving up the next rung in the ladder would come with strings attached. He wasn’t willing to make those kinds of sacrifices on his time, if it meant spending more hours at work and less hours with his family and on hobbies he enjoyed. Avoiding the promotion makes good sense.
Others have turned down promotions that would have required more travel, relocation, less enjoyable work or more late nights on Zooms with global colleagues. Fair enough.
Growing to the next level in the organization is not everyone’s objective. We can choose to be ambitious about something other than work if we have an employee who doesn’t want advancement or promotions. That’s not a bad sign. They may just be happy with the balance they have right now.
But promotions are different than growth. Promotions are avoidable. Growth is not. When a team member insists they are not interested in growth, leaders need to understand what is really being communicated.
4 types of growth in the workplace
No matter the role, there are four types of growth beyond advancement up the ladder that need to be considered.
#1: Willingness to change
Change is the first type of growth. Change is inevitable, whether we like it or not. Colleagues come and go, business models shift, the market rises and falls and technology evolves. Lack of willingness to change is career-limiting. Adjustment will always be required.
Is it mandatory? Yes. Change is inevitable.
#2: Growth in capacity
The next type of growth is building capacity, either by handling more complex work or a higher volume. Most work requires individuals to become more productive over time or more advanced.
Is it mandatory? Usually.
#3: Growth in skill
A third type of growth is the development of new skills or knowledge. An accounting team member might be asked to learn to process payroll as a backup to another colleague. Or a graphic designer might learn how to use AI tools to stay on top of their industry. This kind of growth includes process improvements or innovations that help a team member get better over time.
Is it mandatory? Usually, but often with some flexibility.
#4: Growth in leadership
The fourth and final type of growth is to develop leadership capacity. Informally, senior team members should be leaders among their colleagues, role-modeling good behavior, mentoring new teammates and providing guidance on complex work.
Is it mandatory? It should be.
Focus on measurable indicators of growth
When you have a direct report who says they don’t want to grow, your first job is to assess what they mean by “grow.”
Are they willing to change when necessary? Good.
Are they open to growing in leadership, capacity or skill, even if they aren’t ready to climb the ladder? Even better.
Contentment in a current position isn’t the same as stagnation. If you can see visible signs of growth — including measurable indicators in their productivity, skills or leadership — then you can most likely be satisfied that their trajectory is healthy.
But if you can’t see any signs of growth or willingness to change, then you have a problem.
Knowing what growth looks like makes it easier to recognize when it’s missing. The four types of growth are useful because they give you something concrete to look for and something concrete to notice when absent. From there, you can offer compelling feedback.
Red flags that indicate a problem with growth
If any growth is difficult to see, then watch for other red flags, such as:
Resistance to change.
Declining productivity.
Skipping learning opportunities.
Lack of respect from other team members.
No self-identified growth areas in their annual review.
Performance plateaus are to be expected on occasion: sales numbers sometimes dip because of market factors, for example. But enduring plateaus and truly static employees may require difficult conversations and ultimately difficult decisions. Work with your team member to improve performance, but if they aren’t willing to grow, your best move may be to find a new team member who is.
Questions to gauge genuine growth vs. stagnation
Truly assessing a team member’s willingness to develop takes observation and conversation. The following questions can help you gauge stagnation versus a willingness to grow:
For willingness to change:
“When we’ve had to adjust our processes recently, how did you adapt?”
“What changes in our industry do you think will affect how we work?”
“How do you typically respond when priorities shift unexpectedly?”
For capacity growth:
“What aspects of your work feel more challenging now than they did a year ago?”
“How has your ability to handle complex projects evolved over the past year?”
“What is more sophisticated about the work you’re doing now compared to when you started?”
For skill development:
“What new skills or knowledge have you developed in the past 12 months?”
“Where do you see gaps in your current skill set that would help you be more effective?”
“What industry changes or trends are you staying current with?”
“What process improvements or innovations have you brought to the team?”
For leadership growth:
“How do newer team members typically come to you for guidance?”
“What role do you play in helping colleagues solve problems?”
“How do you contribute to team decisions or process improvements?”
These conversations are rarely easy. But the leaders who avoid them aren’t protecting their team members. They’re failing them.
Growth, in its many forms, is what keeps people relevant, engaged and valuable. Your job is to create the conditions for growth, name it when it’s missing and make clear that standing completely still is not a sustainable option for anyone on your team.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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