Career Planning Is Broken — Here’s How to Fix It

In today’s workplace, the concept of career planning is undergoing a seismic shift and most organizations aren’t keeping up. Employees are ambitious, curious and eager to grow, but they’re often left to navigate their futures alone.  

The result? A workforce full of potential but lacking direction and a growing disconnect between employee expectations and organizational support. 

This is the central insight of Right Management’s latest report, “The Career Imperative,” the second installment in our 2025 The State of Careers™ series. Building on the foundation laid in our first report, “The Career Equation,” this new study dives deeper into the evolving nature of career development and the urgent need for organizations to rethink their talent strategies and how they support their people. 

The Career Planning Crisis 

Let’s start with the numbers. According to our global research of 2,402 white-collar employees and 1,029 business leaders across eight countries, only 4% of employees have a clearly documented or structured career plan. That’s not a typo — four percent. 

Even more striking, 40% of workers admit they don’t have a career plan at all, and many others describe vague aspirations rather than actionable paths. This lack of clarity isn’t due to a lack of ambition. Employees are actively trying to grow; they’re learning new skills independently, taking risks and exploring new roles. But without guidance, their efforts often lack alignment with organizational goals. 

This disconnect is costly. When employees don’t see a future for themselves within the organization, they disengage. And when they disengage, they often leave. 

The Death of the Corporate Ladder and the Rise of the Map 

For decades, career growth was synonymous with climbing the corporate ladder. Promotions, titles and upward mobility were the markers of success. But today’s workforce sees things differently. 

In our research, only 12% of employees said they’re aiming for formal management roles. Instead, they’re looking for impact, flexibility, skills development and meaningful work that aligns with their values.  

The traditional ladder is being replaced by a career map. By this, we mean a multidirectional framework that includes lateral moves, skill pivots and project-based growth. 

This shift isn’t just philosophical; it’s also structural. As organizations flatten their org charts and middle layers shrink, the familiar rungs of the ladder are disappearing. Employees are no longer waiting for promotions. They’re seeking opportunities to flourish in new ways. 

Why DIY Career Planning Doesn’t Work 

Left to their own devices, employees are largely self-directed. They follow their interests (32%), learn new skills independently (29%) and figure things out through trial and error (19%). While this drive is admirable, it’s not sustainable, especially in a workplace transformed by AI, digital transformation and rapid change. 

Only one in five employees say their manager actively supports them in mapping a career path. Just 15% see clear guidance from their organization. This lack of proactive leadership creates a gap between employee development and business needs, a gap that widens skill shortages and undermines workforce effectiveness. 

Organizations that want to stay competitive must intentionally connect talent growth with strategic goals. Career development can’t be a side project. It must be a core business priority. 

Connecting the Dots: Why Career Development and Support Matters Now More Than Ever 

So far, we’ve explored how traditional career planning is falling short, how employees are navigating their futures without support and how organizations must shift toward dynamic, skills-based development. But why is this shift so urgent — and why now? 

Because the cost of inaction is already showing up in the data. 

In our first 2025 report, “The Career Equation,” we uncovered a critical insight: career support is one of the most important drivers of employee engagement — more influential than compensation, perks or job logistics. It accounts for 27% of engagement variance, yet leaders only attribute 20% to it. Meanwhile, compensation — often overemphasized — impacts just 9%. 

This misalignment is more than a philosophical gap. It’s a strategic blind spot, and it’s contributing to a troubling trend in workforce engagement. 

According to Gallup, only 31% of U.S. employees are engaged — the lowest level in over a decade. That means nearly 7 in 10 workers are either disengaged or actively disengaged, costing companies worldwide billions in lost productivity, innovation and retention. 

And here’s the paradox: the employees most likely to leave are the ones you need most: high performers with strong skills and a growth mindset. These individuals aren’t just looking for a job. They’re looking for a journey. If they can’t find it internally, they’ll look elsewhere. 

This is why career development must be treated not as a personal responsibility, but as a shared strategic priority. It’s not just about helping individuals succeed. It’s about building a workforce that’s ready for what’s next. 

Building a Future-Ready Career Support Model 

To meet this moment, organizations must move from reactive planning to dynamic career navigation. Here’s how: 

1. Create Experience Pathways 

Replace rigid corporate ladders with flexible maps. Let employees grow through cross-functional projects, lateral moves and skill-building opportunities. Make these pathways visible and accessible. 

2. Make Skills the Currency 

Use digital skill portfolios to help employees track growth and showcase capabilities. Maintain a transparent inventory of valued skills and align them with internal mobility options. 

3. Empower Managers as Career Navigators 

Managers are overwhelmed, but they’re also essential. Equip them with real-time skills data, coaching tools and the authority to support creative career shifts. Reward them for development, not just retention. 

4. Take an Experimental Approach 

Design short-term career experiments that let employees test new roles or skills. Use these experiments to build agile, personalized career plans that evolve with business needs. 

5. Make Learning Part of the Flow 

Tie development to business initiatives. Offer mentorship, cross-functional assignments, AI pilot projects and peer-to-peer learning. Focus on real skill gains, not just training hours. 

A Global Challenge with Local Nuances 

These issues are big challenges for North American companies, but they’re also a global problems, too. Our research spans North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, revealing regional differences in how career development and support are perceived and delivered: 

• Latin America leads in awareness of experiential learning opportunities. 

• North America is most familiar with static, feedback-focused approaches. 

• Europe and APAC report lower overall awareness of skill-building support. 

Despite these differences, one theme is consistent: employees everywhere prefer flexible, experiential learning over traditional, static training. They want mentoring, mobility and real-world development — not just performance reviews. 

Optimize Your Talent Strategy: A Call to Action 

Right Management has been a global talent development leader for over 40 years. Our mission is to help organizations build high-performing workforces through data-driven insights and strategic career support. 

“The Career Imperative” is your roadmap to the future of work. It offers actionable talent strategies to close the gap between employee expectations and leader intentions and build a culture where career conversations are a living, breathing part of your organization. 

This report builds on the foundation laid in “The Career Equation,” reinforcing the message that career development is no longer optional. It’s the missing link in talent strategy — the key to unlocking engagement, retention and long-term workforce readiness.