If an employee is great at something, do you give them more of the same assignments?
Or do you pro-actively find other assignments to stretch and stimulate them?
A friend D spent 10 years at his former company in the same role, as part of the strategy team.
And because he was very good at event management – he has an eye for detail, an ability to foresee issues, and cool calm demeanour in the face of multiple last-minute requests during the event – his reward was more and bigger event management assignments.
While D enjoyed his work initially, after a few years, he hankered for more strategic planning work.
And despite promises of such assignments, they never came.
He’d been pigeonholed.
Management could not see past his “event management halo” to consider him for other roles.
A few years ago, D took a leap of faith and joined a company who saw something in him.
He is now a Principal Consultant, representing his company with major clients, and on stage at big regional conferences.
My take?
Don’t let your company pigeonhole you in a way that you don’t want to be.
Do your tasks well, but also actively seek and volunteer for the tasks related to your interests.
And don’t take no for an answer.
You are in charge of your own career trajectory – there is always a role and a company for you, somewhere.