A survey of more than 1,000 HR leaders and broader management has revealed a career development judgement gap between employer provision and employee expectations.
Outplacement and HR specialist, INTOO UK & Ireland has revealed the findings in its Future World of Work report 2026, which takes an in-depth look at the relationship between HR leaders and broader management across the UK in organisations employing 250 people or more.
Owen Morgan, Managing Director at INTOO, said: “Our Future World of Work report provides an important nation-wide temperature check on the heart of UK working life every year. In our latest report, a large proportion of respondents feel their business is providing visible career pathways, however there is a considerable mismatch between what HR leaders and broader management think. Leaders are far more positive and optimistic about how the organisation is deploying and instilling career development plans (CDPs) whereas broader management are more sceptical.
“With the ‘September Exodus’ looming, which is an annual trend of resignations and new starts that takes place around this time of year, now is the time for businesses to be re-aligning their values and focusing on the development of their team.”
Owen added: “September provides a time for reflection following the summer months – salary concerns, missed opportunity for career growth or promotion, feeling ‘in a rut’ or simply unrealised ambition. As normal life resumes for many following the ‘back to school’ period, it is unsurprising that September can sometimes see a slew of resignations with workers looking for a fresh challenge or a new start.
In INTOO’s Future World of Work report, HR leaders and individuals within broader management were asked who they believe is responsible for career development. Findings showed that HR leaders are most likely to believe the organisation holds primary responsibility (32 per cent), while broader management (who are often closer to the individuals in question) are most likely to say it rests with the individual. Further to this, 80 per cent of HR leaders say their organisation creates visible career pathways effectively, whereas just 64 per cent of broader management agree.
Owen continued: “While senior leaders in organisations can feel they are offering the right career development pathways for employees, ensuring this is felt across the business is a vital part of maintaining a motivated and long-standing workforce. Career development is at the heart of what we do at INTOO and we know from experience that for many organisations, September creates a difficult time with talent turnover and the focus, inevitably has to be replacing them – which is a costly and time-consuming exercise.
“These challenges can be minimised by providing employees with the support, coaching and guidance required to support their career development. Understanding what employees really want, what motivates them and where you can develop their skills to protect long term employability are all important steps for organisations as they face a challenging cross-roads.”
INTOO’s report also found that 74 per cent of all respondents’ rate externally provided career support as valuable. Both HR leaders (47 per cent) and broader management (48 per cent) believe it encourages honest conversations that employees feel unable to have internally.
Owen concluded: “While traditionally outplacement support was purely for redundant or exiting employees, in the modern workplace it can be a progressive tool to support career transition frameworks, nurturing skills of existing team members or repositioning current employees as their roles change and new technology is implemented. Instead of laying staff off, organisations can implement external outplacement coaching to redeploy workers into new departments and support their long-term position within the business. We still find there is a distinct lack of understanding about how outplacement services can support employees and organisations, but ensuring individuals feel heard and understood supports the development of long-standing staff.
“While people may often say they are moving for ‘more money’, it is rarely the sole motivator,” Owen adds. “Understanding what makes your employees tick and ensuring that your organisation has robust career-planning support in place is key to pre-empting and potentially stopping unwanted resignations.”
