Think about the people you count on.
The person who notices when a customer needs help. The one who catches a detail before it becomes a problem. The team member who takes pride in their work and wants to learn more.
As your business grows and changes, what would help those people grow with it?
Start by asking them.
Gallup’s August 2026 U.S. data show that 53% of employees were actively looking for another job or watching for opportunities. That does not tell you what your own employees are thinking, but it is a reason to make time for the conversation.
You do not need to begin with a formal career plan. Start by recognizing a specific contribution, asking what matters to the person, and exploring a realistic next step.
1. Find out what growth means to them
Before deciding what someone’s next opportunity should be, learn what they want to develop.
Try asking:
- Which parts of your work do you enjoy most?
- What would you like to get better at?
- What gets in the way of doing a good job?
- Is there another part of the business you would like to understand?
- What responsibility would you like to explore next?
Give the person room to answer. You may hear about a skill they want to build, a process that frustrates them, or an interest you did not know they had.
Do not assume growth means becoming a manager. Ask whether they want to deepen their expertise, work on a different kind of project, or learn to lead others.
Listen before explaining what is possible. You do not have to promise every opportunity someone requests. Be honest about what you can support, what needs more consideration, and what is not available right now.
Then agree on one useful next step and a date to revisit it.
2. Turn development into a practical opportunity
A smaller business may have only a few management positions. Look beyond job titles when discussing development.
Consider opportunities to:
- Build a technical or customer-service skill.
- Lead a clearly defined improvement project.
- Learn another part of the operation.
- Mentor a colleague.
- Practice making a specific type of decision.
Look for an overlap between the person’s interests and a real business need.
Here is a hypothetical example.
An employee at a retail business enjoys investigating stock shortages and wants to learn more about operations. The owner and store manager invite them to help lead a supervised inventory improvement project.
Before starting, they agree on:
- The problem the project will address.
- What a useful result would look like.
- The training and information the employee needs.
- The time available for the work.
- The decisions they can make.
- Who will provide guidance.
- When they will review progress.
They also decide which existing duties need to shift to make room for the assignment.
Treat development as supported learning, not simply more work added to someone’s week. When responsibilities expand, discuss the implications for workload, role expectations, and compensation.
3. Match responsibility with clear decision authority
If you ask someone to take ownership, explain what they can decide.
For each new responsibility, talk through:
- What they can handle independently.
- What spending, staffing, or policy limits apply.
- What requires approval.
- When they should bring you or another leader into the conversation.
Use situations they will actually encounter.
Can a team lead adjust a schedule within agreed staffing requirements? Can a customer-service employee resolve a routine issue using an approved policy? Can the employee leading the inventory project recommend a change, or also put it into practice?
While the person is learning, review decisions together. Ask what information they used, what options they considered, and where they felt uncertain. Share your reasoning, too.
Use those conversations to decide what support they still need and where they are ready for more independence.
4. Support the people who lead your team
Make development conversations part of your work with managers, not just the employees they supervise.
Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report found that global manager engagement declined from 27% in 2024 to 22% in 2025. Those global findings are a prompt to check in, not a diagnosis of your own managers.
Ask:
- Do you have enough time to coach your people?
- Which priorities are competing for your attention?
- Where are expectations or authority unclear?
- What conversation have you been putting off?
- What support would help you lead more confidently?
Make time to practice feedback, discuss a difficult situation, or work through a decision.
Avoid treating a promotion as the end of someone’s development. Agree on the guidance, check-ins, and learning opportunities that will accompany the new role.
5. Help people understand what is changing
When you introduce AI, change schedules, reorganize work, or adjust responsibilities, include a conversation about what it means for the people doing the work.
Explain:
- Why you are considering the change.
- What has been decided.
- What is still being worked through.
- How day-to-day responsibilities may change.
- Where people can ask questions or raise concerns.
Be clear about what you know and what you do not yet know. Do not make promises about future roles that you cannot support.
After a change, check how it is working in practice. Ask about workload, handoffs, learning needs, and the customer experience. Use that feedback to identify adjustments.
Keep the everyday conditions of work in view as well. Growth opportunities should sit alongside fair pay, dependable tools, workable expectations, and respectful treatment. Gallup’s retention research identifies pay and benefits, career opportunities, unrealistic expectations, work-life balance, and lack of respect among employees’ reported reasons for leaving.
Start with a conversation you can act on
Choose one person to talk with this week.
Tell them what you appreciate about their work. Ask what they would like to develop and what support would help. Agree on one realistic action, put a follow-up date on the calendar, and keep that commitment.
You cannot control every reason someone leaves. You can make thoughtful decisions about the work, support, and opportunities you offer.
You’ve worked hard to build your business. Now make it work better for you and the people helping you build it.
At Creating Greatness, we help you attract good people, develop their strengths, and create a workplace where they want to stay.