For a variety of reasons — lack of recognintion, difficulty in rising through the ranks, or simple desire to change one’s field of work– every year in Switzerland numerous executives leave their jobs in order to advance their careers, largely due to obstacles to their advancement in their current employment.
A current refrain heard in executive recruitment offices is, “I want to change roles within my company but there are no opportunities on the hroizon.” Other remarks often heard: “I haven’t had a raise in 2 years, despite the fact that my productivity has improved considerably.”
According to Swiss recruitment agencies, 630,000 people changed jobs in 2006. Not so long ago, it was unusual in Switzerland for people to change jobs at all. Nowadays, movement is ineluctable, but, interestingly, is not necessarily linked to dissatisfaction on the part of the executive. This means there is considerable room to improve corporate policies for retaining top people.
A Geneva agency conducted a study in spring 2007 and found that 50% of executives reoriented their career changing not only function but job sector as well.
It often occurs that the departure ofa n employee is necessary despite executive and company being on excellent terms. This frequently occurs in situations of family businesses where all the key posts are already occupied and will remain so.
The majority of employers obviously seek to retain their top executives and highly competent staff and therefore there is considerable room for career follow-up within companies to insure that top people remain committed to the company.
A spokesman for Credit Suisse recently remarked that in the current state of global competition, Credit Suisse obviously attempts to keep its best staff. Credit Suisse has in fact put in place management policies for human Resources that are designed to manage staff careers dynamically and constructively and to particularly retain top performing executives. The policies encompass employee training, personal development, promotion, and career follow-up.
Managing one’s professional career has become a more or less self-evident notion for today’s executives. While today’s enterprises to remain the most competitive must attract and keep the best people, executives themselves need to be proactive, and continually improve their skills, and adapt themselves to the needs of the company.
When executives consider whether to remain or to leave, there are also factors of perception to take into account. In Switzerland’s banks for example, certain types of jobs practically require that one leave to acquire other experience elsewhere. An account executive, however, who is responsible for a clientele (like provate banking) should usually stay in his job at least 7 years if he wants to have credibility elsewhere.
No such lengthy stay is necessary for young graduates who are expected to change jobs every 2 years or so to acquire new experiences, perhaps new languages, and increase their value on the Swiss marketplace. This logic holds up to the age of around 30. In Switzerland, from around the age of 30, employers begin to see change as negative and the context becomes very important.
