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Nearly half of workers unhappy with career progression

by John Eccleston 16 Aug 2011

Nearly half of workers feel that they have been unable to progress in their careers, with many pointing to a lack of funds and a failure by their bosses to “fight their corner” when it comes to promotions and pay rises.

The survey of 2,000 employees, carried out by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), found that 42% of respondents felt that they are further behind in their careers than they would like to be.

Some 22% of respondents believed that they had been overlooked for promotion or a pay rise in the last year because their employer does not have the funds available to pay for them to progress. Meanwhile, 9% claimed that their boss is not fighting their corner enough.

However, 13% admitted that they need to get more experience, and 6% said that they do not have the right training or qualifications to advance.

The research also found that, while individuals blame their slow progress on those around them, some have accepted that they have the power to bring about change.

A number of respondents acknowledged that they could do more to get ahead in their careers, including working overtime on a regular basis (44%), taking on additional responsibility for no extra money (37%) and studying in their spare time for a professional qualification (45%).

However, despite nearly one-third (29%) of respondents believing that a professional qualification helps an individual’s ability to lead people, teams and projects, just 4% are currently studying for a professional qualification and only 12% plan to do so in the near future.

When asked why they have not done anything to help themselves, the top reasons cited were the cost of qualifications (39%), the length of time they would take to complete (30%) and “not knowing which qualification would be best for my career development” (13%).

Narinder Uppal, director of the awarding body at the CMI, said of the findings: “It’s clear that we all recognise the importance of professional qualifications in our career development – but at the same time, it’s disappointing that more people aren’t helping themselves. It’s too easy to blame others for your own lack of progress, but in a time of tighter budgets and increasing competitiveness in the job market, those people that are prepared to make an effort to improve their skills will be the ones that employers turn to first.”