Career Pathing for Underrepresented Employees in CX

Career pathing, defined

We’ve all been there. Your annual review is coming up, and you’re hoping to land that promotion and get the raise you’ve been working toward. 

This is an exciting and anxiety-inducing process for anyone, but it can be especially anxiety-inducing for underrepresented employees. POC, LGBTQ+ employees, disabled employees, women, and especially people at the intersections of these identities disproportionately feel more isolated and uncertain at work. Unclear expectations and performance indicators leave room for bias in the performance review process, which increases turnover.

So how do companies retain more underrepresented employees, and help them stay satisfied with their jobs?

Enter career pathing. Career pathing is, most simply, the series of jobs an employee has within a company, and the route they take to “climb up” the job ladder. Career paths should be comprehensive, documented processes that employees can easily access. Companies are responsible for building effective career paths for their employees and training them appropriately, but few actually prioritize career pathing within their employee engagement strategy.

Let’s look at why career pathing is so important for underrepresented employees, in and out of the customer experience industry, and what we can do to install better career paths to retain diverse talent.

Photo by James Wheeler

How career pathing affects employee engagement

Every employee wants the opportunity to advance and make higher wages. For many, this is what can make a job “good.” In fact, 94% of employees noted that they would stay longer in a company that invested in their career versus one that did not. In another study, 93% of employees who are planning to quit in the next three years cite lack of professional growth opportunities as a top reason for their departure.

Turnover is costly, and so are unengaged employees. But career pathing offers more than just increased engagement scores. As Gen Z takes on the workforce, investing in well-engaged, well-trained employees can help with seamless succession plans when senior team members retire. 

Additionally, embracing trust and transparency through a detailed, comprehensive career plan contributes to higher employee loyalty scores. Loyalty to a company keeps employees around, even when they are recruited for other roles or offered other jobs. If they see a clear path forward, they are more compelled to stay.

Photo by Liza Summer 

Career pathing for underrepresented employees

When it comes to diverse talent, it can be much more difficult to advance in an organization. Much of this comes down to systemic bias. For example, promotion often requires access to senior leadership. Senior team leaders hold the written (and unwritten) rules for how to advance in an organization. 

However, many senior employees are overwhelmingly white and male. Similarity bias may cause them to only share these unwritten rules with those who resemble them. 

We all have biases, and they can often be sneaky. This is why transparency is key when it comes to developing career paths for diverse talent. 

Senior leaders should never assume that employees “know what it takes” to advance. These skills and expectations should all be written out, and better yet, custom-designed for each employee. With each employee bringing different identities, experiences, and strengths, each career path should spell out exactly how they can be successful. 

Moreover, companies should be sure to remove biases from the career path documentation. Examples of bias include measures for speaking more in meetings, or rules about how to wear one’s hair, or rules about attending “mandatory fun” activities. Accounting for social and cultural differences and abilities among groups is necessary when creating a diverse and equitable company culture.

Photo by Jonathan Borba

Career Pathing in CX

In the customer experience field, career pathing is incredibly important for agent retention, which continues to be a major concern for industry leaders. 

Many agents are entry-level, and getting them engaged, trained, and excited about a future in the call center is a great way to increase employee engagement and therefore lessen that stubbornly high turnover rate. 

There are quite a few companies leading the charge when it comes to career pathing in CX. Here are just a few notable efforts:

Verizon

Verizon launched its new Talent GPS program in 2021 after employees stated their desire for more career development and resources. Talent GPS is a program that provides transparency and visibility for each career field at Verizon. Every employee can access these career fields, which are skills-based and not personality-based to ensure equitable advancement opportunities.

Talent GPS is very new, but Verizon hopes to use it as a tool to empower employees. By having access to every career path across the company, employees can more clearly answer that difficult question… “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” 

I sat down with Tanya Johnson, Vice President of Consumer Customer Service at Verizon to discuss the efforts to engage agents and change the industry from the inside. 

“I've been in the field for two years, leading a team of over 6500 Customer Service individuals across 48 states all working from home,” Johnson states. 

“There’s a real impact that we all make in the customer service industry. Management should never go a day without listening to a call and just really understanding how challenging it really is. It’s so rewarding when you get that one that just nails it.” 

Johnson’s emphasis that managers should be on the ground, doing the work of their employees, is a real testament to Verizon’s culture of transparency and trust. If CX leaders know the ins and outs of the agent’s day-to-day, then they know how to inspire their employees, and how to build the best, most engaged team. 

Zendesk

Many CX companies rely on external training programs to train their agents successfully. But what about career paths? 

The Zendesk Foundation recently launched a new initiative under its Tech for Good program, aptly called the CX Training & Certification Program. Zendesk provides partner organizations with free equipment and training modules to help train the CX agents of the future, and to help engage diverse talent in an accessible way. 

Through one partner organization, Kindwork, talented underrepresented job seekers receive a free 6-week training program that prepares them for a career in customer service. Once they finish the program, Zendesk offers job placement help and one-on-one coaching programs.

CCWomen 

For those who have made it through the career ladder, sometimes it can feel like the support drops off. This is where communities and networks of underrepresented employees at all levels of their career can be helpful. 

Customer Contact Women, or CCWomen, is a community built for all women in CX and beyond! 

We recently announced the launch of our digital membership platform, which is coming in June. This program will provide mentor matching services, resources and support, virtual and live events, and so much more. Interested? You can fill out this form to be first in line for more information.

Click the image to be first in line for CCWomen Membership news!

Takeaways: 3 simple steps toward making career pathing a priority today 

1. Transparency is key. Like Verizon, making your career pathing structures as universally accessible as possible is so important for retaining and supporting diverse talent. To mitigate implicit bias that often sneaks its way into the advancement process, documentation can help put everyone on a level playing field. 

2. Invest in managers so they can invest in their employees. The manager-employee relationship is where trust is built, and it is the cornerstone of the business as a unit. Employees who feel that their managers have their best interest at heart will be more engaged, and more loyal. Managers should be trained to implement career paths, offer helpful feedback, and support employees as they advance. Managers should also be trained on developing diverse talent through consistent DEI programming. 

3. Give talent a choice for how they use it. Having ownership over your own career is an essential part of the career development process. Whether companies sponsor one-on-one coaching, or membership to external support and communities, or conference attendance to develop professionally, employees need resources to help them reflect on their own career paths and what they actually want. 

Whether you are in management or just starting out, your career is YOUR career, and you should have plenty of opportunities to assess where you’d like to see yourself next. 

At CCWomen, we’re so happy to help you along your career, and provide you with resources and community as we figure this out together. For more information, you can email ccwomen@cmpteam.com, and let us know what you think!