#AskDesiree: Is employee progression valued in my ecommerce team?

Employee progression in ecommerce teams is extremely important to me. For those of you who know my climb up the career ‘bamboo tree’ (or ladder to most people), I was offered some great opportunities!

This is the hot topic for my monthly slice of #AskDesiree goodness…is employee progression valued within your ecommerce team? I was asked this question by an anonymous panda based in London, currently in a junior position within ecommerce. They aren’t sure if their current team is the place to develop, even though they really enjoy their work life. Let’s see how I can help!

Employee progression is important in ecommerce

Before I begin to answer the question at hand, I asked the marketing pandas for some extra insight from the 2018 ecommerce salary survey & insights report.

When asked what is essential when picking a new ecommerce role, the opportunity to progress is within the top five, sitting pretty at number three! In fact, it has been in the top three for two years running now. If 65% of ecommerce professionals feel progression is essential, then this question is a definitely a hot one right now!

Progression in your ecommerce team

How often is employee progression discussed in your team? This is the first thing to determine and will require you to think back throughout your time in the company.

Your interview process

What was the emphasis throughout your interview process? As you are a junior member of the team, I would expect there to be a lot of focus on how you want to kick off your career and grow. Progression isn’t just about promotions – it’s about learning new things, being involved in the team and having the support there for your growth. Did you feel this was conveyed before you joined the team?

Feedback/Performance reviews

How many of these have you had throughout your time with the team? In my experience, following the probationary period is the perfect time to have one of these. It allows you to go in depth about what you have learnt, what you want to improve and what you want to do next. These are all key things to consider for a company or team who values progression. These should continue intermittently, perhaps every quarter, especially in the early stages of your career. Has this happened regularly for you?

Your fellow colleagues journey with the team

A great way to consider how your senior management team approach progression is to talk to your team. Is there anyone who has come on a great journey, starting at your level before climbing the career ladder? If so, you shouldn’t be afraid to talk about how you can do the same.

Learning opportunities for employees

As I mentioned earlier, offering training and learning is a great way for a company to show they value employee progression. People should feel they are developing in all aspects of their career – not just in terms of job title!

If your company is offering learning opportunities but you don’t feel it helps you personally, are you providing feedback on what will help you? If they are investing in courses and training sessions for the ecommerce team, then it is clear they want you to gain value from this…help them discover what is valuable to you.

If there are currently no learning opportunities, have you asked about this? If it is not a priority for them, then perhaps it’s not something that will be easily available to you within this ecommerce team.

Your career progression – where do you want to be next year?

While you enjoy the work you do, get on with the team you work with and feel comfortable, is this enough to keep you from achieving your goals?

While you want your management team to value the growth of their employees, you also have a responsibility to ask about it…you’re the one who wants to progress after all! Now, I’m not telling you to march up to your manager and ask, “When do I get to do your job?” Big NO NO!

If by next year you do not yet have more responsibilities and haven’t seen any trajectory of growth, I believe it is time to explore the job market for an opportunity that offers this. As I said however, you need to be honest about this with the management team…they might just value your progression after all and will work on this moving forward!

I think it’s so important for junior ecommerce cubs to be passionate about their progression – it’s an industry that requires constant growth from employees because the industry itself is ever changing. If companies aren’t putting investment into helping their employees grow too, then it won’t be long before they start looking elsewhere.

Ask Desiree – here for your ecommerce career questions!

I am your ecommerce career mentor, so don't be shy...send your questions over to me: desiree@cranberrypanda.co.uk! From job search anxieties to hiring calamities, I am here to help. Look forward to hearing from you, ecommerce friends!