Supporting Boundaried Workers’ Career Growth

How to ensuring your Boundaried Workers continue to develop and thrive in their career.

Many Boundaried Workers, those with constraints limiting their time, flexibility, and mobility, exist within today’s dynamic work environment. While each Boundaried Worker’s constraints and needs are different, they often face similar challenges in managing competing demands. Their focus can become one of merely staying afloat, ensuring they meet job requirements while protecting personal commitments. Opportunities to take on wider responsibilities and access development opportunities can be limited, causing career progression to stall. These constrained aspirations can lead to frustration self-doubt, and diminished self-belief, ultimately undermining both their career progression and overall job satisfaction.

In organisations that value long hours, an “always-on” culture, and geographic mobility, the issue is compounded, Boundaried Workers find themselves further disadvantaged and often feel excluded.

Managers play a crucial role in fostering the career development of their Boundaried Workers.

For organisations to be genuinely inclusive, where all employees can thrive and progress regardless of their boundaries, it is essential to invest in equipping managers with the necessary understanding and empathy. This will enable them to effectively support the careers of their Boundaried Workers and ultimately help drive both organisational and individual success.

So what can I do if I’m the manager of a Boundaried Worker?

Discuss their career aspirations in the same way as you do all your team members, don’t assume they are not interested, or that furthering their career is not viable as a Boundaried worker. Be open and creative about how you can work together to meet their goals and retain their motivation and talent in the organisation.

Understand what their boundaries actually are. This might sound obvious, but its more than knowing their availability, it’s about having a discussion around the sort of boundaries they have. Psychologist Nina Brown categorises personal boundaries in a way that might provide a helpful framework for you both to discuss: Rigid (those that are non-negotiable), soft (those that can be blurred), spongy (inconsistent one minute rigid, the next blurred), and flexible (open to negotiation with notice). This sort of conversation can increase understanding and might identify the sort of opportunities that could work for your Boundaried Worker.

Plan career enhancing opportunities that fit within their boundaries such as taking on a new responsibility, attending broader leadership, giving them a slot at a high-profile meeting, attending a networking event, asking them to stand in for you, and attending development sessions.

Don’t assume they won’t be able or want to change things occasionally for a one-off opportunity. At the same time, respect their boundaries. Try to be careful about forgetting their boundaries and regularly offering development opportunities that won’t work for them. Forgetting their work pattern can make them feel that you don’t appreciate them or can make them feel guilty if they keep having to say no to an opportunity.

Be aware of your biases when you are giving members of your team development opportunities. It’s easy to fall fowl of proximity bias where you may be giving preferential treatment to employees who physically closer in the office, or affinity bias where your attention is more on those whose approach, interests and experiences are similar to yourself. Challenge yourself about what you are doing to support everyone in your team.

Ensure there is role clarity on both sides – especially if the hours they are working have reduced without adjusting key activities and deliverables proportionately. Often some degree of role redesign is needed to ensure they still have space for learning and growth as well as the obvious role outputs.

Check in regularly to ensure expectations are on track for both parties. Priorities and projects change, and this might have a different impact for a Boundaried Worker where different days, hours and locations may have an impact.

Help them to be more intentional about building their reputation with others, general visibility and informal opportunities to meet others might not come along as often as they do for a non-boundaried colleague.

Help them to build resilience, both personally and for their career. Looking after their energy levels and in particular building reserves in advance will compensate for the crunch times when work and home priorities are colliding. At these times they will need to draw upon reserves of personal energy and career focus may temporarily go down the priority list. If they have been building these in advance they will cope with the tough times more smoothly.

Recognise their contribution as an individual. Be careful about comparing their outputs to a non-boundaried worker who is always available. Also, be aware if they are struggling with comparison syndrome themselves. It’s not uncommon for them to get trapped in a cycle of insecurity and self-doubt. This can impact aspiration for career advancement and lead to loss of talent.

Boundaried workers make up a significant portion of the total workforce these days and to overlook their career development is to waste a huge talent pool that can enhance organisational performance and individual motivation and potential.

As a manager, you have the power to make a real difference for your Boundaried Workers. Start by engaging in meaningful conversations about their boundaries and career goals. Equip yourself with the empathy and understanding needed to support their growth. By doing so, you’ll tap into the huge talent pool that are Boundaried Workers and enhance organisational performance while supporting an individual’s motivation and potential to thrive at work.