Career Growth Dilemma: How Long Should You Stay at One Company Before Moving On?

Career Growth in a Competitive Scenario

In the current competitive scenario, where everyone wants fast growth in terms of profile and salary, what should be the minimum or maximum period one should spend working in one company? How frequently should one move from one company to another? Is there any harm in staying in one company for a longer tenure, say 6-10 years?

Dear Arika,

There are two ways of looking at it. If you love going to the office every day, why would you think of leaving it? It's simple—if you sleep well at night, there's no need to change jobs. If your job has taken away your sleep, it's the right time to look out for a better opportunity.

Measuring Performance in HR

Being in HR for a long time, I still use an old thumb rule for measuring someone's performance. If an employee's salary is doubled in a span of 4-5 years, they're simply performing well. If in the same period their salary is not doubled, either they're not performing or their organization is not performing.

Long-term Employment Considerations

There is no harm at all in retiring from an organization after 2-3 decades, but it depends on the approach of your employer (both the organization and your reporting manager). Some employers see employees as assets, while some start viewing them as a heavy expense after a couple of years.

Probably seven-eight years ago, I interviewed for a senior HR position and learned during the interview how the employer feels about long-term employees. They felt that old employees are not getting any jobs elsewhere, hence they're staying for many years. Therefore, in that kind of scenario, it's not right to continue the association with an employer having a negative approach.

Moreover, in the same competitive scenario you mentioned, sometimes staying in the job is safer. One also needs to consider the security of their career before moving to a new organization.

Regards,
Umesh Chaudhary
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Umesh has rightly pointed out the difference. Here's my two cents.

When you join an organization, it will automatically open up a few learning cycles for you. Hence, the question remains with you: at which part of that learning cycle would you want to leave?

Suppose you joined a firm to implement HR systems and processes. Would you want to leave in 18 months to 2 years' time where the new system has not just been implemented but stabilized? Alternatively, would you want to stay to contribute to its maturity with audits and reviews, even working on restructuring to bring down the entire system to increase its agility?

The business cycle brings in opportunities of its own. How many will help you to grow will depend on you, whether you see it as a challenge or not.

There can be no other ground rule to measure growth, neither with designation nor through a hike in salary, other than the professional acumen to gain.

It's ideal to change jobs for a hike in salary and designation. However, the change would only come to you when you have such valued offerings.

Heresy or personal comments will eternally remain. Wish you all the best!