Employee development has always been important. But lately, it feels like the stakes have changed.
Skill gaps are growing.
AI is accelerating.
Talent is harder to keep.
And HR teams are under pressure to create employee growth and development strategies that actually work—for employee
s, managers, and the business.
We recently hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) with two of our in-house experts: Meghan Freeman, Product Manager over our Growth tool, and Emily Rodriguez, Insights Analyst.
They dug into the real employee development challenges facing HR today—and how to make development more scalable, personal, and impactful. Here’s what we learned:
📺 Want to watch the full recording? Click here! >>
Why is employee growth such a hot topic right now?
Development isn’t a new priority. But the urgency around it is new—and rising.
“I think what’s shifting now is maybe a greater sense of urgency, especially from the top down,” said Meghan.
“Executive leaders are saying, ‘We’re concerned our people aren’t necessarily prepared to meet the challenges of tomorrow.’”
That concern isn’t just anecdotal. In recent research, 6 in 10 employees told us their organization doesn’t give them enough opportunity to build new skills. That’s a big deal—especially when coupled with broader workforce trends.
Meghan pointed to several driving forces:
- A wave of Baby Boomer retirements, leaving leadership and expertise gaps
- Fewer young professionals entering key fields like nursing and accounting
- The rise of AI and automation, fundamentally changing how work gets done
“Organizations are realizing they can’t hire their way out of these gaps,” she said. “They have to develop the talent they already have.”
📕 Read more about what’s shifting in employee development in our 2025 HR Trends Report >>
What gets in the way of effective employee growth and development?
Even the best intentions can get bogged down by one fundamental problem: lack of clarity.
“Employees don’t have a clear picture of what growth actually looks like,” said Emily. “And managers don’t always have the right context to support them.”
Too often, growth conversations feel vague or disconnected. Employees are told to set career development goals—but not given the frameworks or support to pursue them. Or they’re given static employee development plans that sit untouched in a spreadsheet.
According to Meghan, clarity doesn’t have to mean prescribing a fixed path. “What are the capabilities or skills needed to move up—or over—in the organization?” she asked.
“It’s not about locking people into steps. It’s about giving them a sense of where to go and how to grow.”
Emily added that HR can help connect the dots without over-engineering it. “It doesn’t need to be rigid. You don’t need 18 million forms. You just need to make it visible.”
How do you personalize employee growth and development across a large workforce?
It’s the question almost every HR team is grappling with right now. How do you make development and career pathing meaningful at the individual level—but scalable at the organizational level?
“You just start,” said Emily. “There’s no magic. And sometimes that first step is just getting the conversation going.”
That can be as simple as adding a development question into existing one-on-ones. It doesn’t need to be a new program or platform right away. It needs to be a habit.
“What kind of work energizes you?”
“Where do you want to grow?”
“What challenges are you ready for next?”
These are the types of questions that can spark progress and build trust between managers and employees.
“It doesn’t have to be this massive thing,” said Meghan. “But it does have to be consistent. And it has to evolve. Goals change. Life changes. That’s okay.”
Can AI actually make employee development more personal?
When done right, yes. AI can be a powerful way to scale personalization without losing the human touch.
Meghan offered a simple experiment:
“Try asking ChatGPT to be your career coach. Say, ‘Based on how I’ve interacted with you, what are my strengths and opportunities for growth?’ I was amazed at how accurate—and affirming—it was.”
At Quantum Workplace, that concept is built directly into our Growth product. Our AI tools help surface personalized suggestions based on the employee’s role, growth goals, and organizational priorities. It also helps managers avoid the “blank page” problem.
“Managers already have so much on their plates,” said Emily. “AI can help them get started faster—so they can spend more time actually coaching and supporting their team.”
Meghan added, “We’ve designed Growth to save time for employees, managers, and HR. It’s not about removing the human side of development. It’s about removing the friction.”
What do you say to people who claim they don’t have time for career development?
It’s one of the most common challenges HR hears—but it’s also a cultural one.
“You need a culture where growth is part of the work—not something separate you do after everything else,” said Meghan.
That doesn’t mean employees need to spend hours a week in training programs. It means building a mindset of continuous learning—finding growth in stretch assignments, peer feedback, and day-to-day problem-solving.
“It’s okay for HR to be clear about this,” Meghan said. “Growth is employee-led. It’s their responsibility to advocate for themselves. But it’s also manager-supported and HR-enabled.”
Emily summed it up this way: “Employee-led, manager-managed. That’s the balance.”
How do you make sure development doesn’t become a check-the-box exercise?
The key is relevance—and integration.
“When growth becomes one-size-fits-all, people check the box and move on,” said Emily. “But when it’s personal and useful, it becomes something employees want to do.”
Too often, development happens in a silo. Employees complete a plan. Managers file it away. HR never sees it again.
That’s where career development tools like Quantum Workplace Growth make a difference. Growth plans are connected to 1-on-1s, performance reviews, and real-time feedback—so development becomes a living, visible part of the employee experience.
Emily shared a real-life example: “One customer added a single career question to their company-wide 1-on-1 template. It sparked conversations. And soon, managers were adding their own.”
What role should senior leaders play in employee development?
You can’t scale a development culture without leadership buy-in. But you need more than approval—you need modeling.
“You need your leaders to be developing their own people—and developing themselves,” said Meghan.“So much is modeled from the top down.”
And if leaders don’t see the connection between development and business performance, make it for them.
“There’s plenty of research showing that organizations who invest in growth are more productive, more innovative, and more profitable,” said Meghan. “That’s what speaks to the C-suite.”
Emily added that development already is happening at the top level—it just isn’t always labeled that way.
“They’re going to conferences. They’re part of advisory groups. That’s development too,” she said. “It just looks different from what a frontline employee might need.”
Final advice?
Start small. Show impact. And make it personal.
“Even if it feels like no one’s using the tools, find your allies,” said Meghan. “Start with one team. Highlight success. Once people see it working, it’ll catch on.”
And remember: employees don’t need perfect plans. They need meaningful ones.
“The best template is the one the employee creates themselves,” said Emily. “One that reflects who they are, where they want to go, and what they want to build next.”
Want to go deeper?
🔍 See how our Growth tool works
Purpose-built to scale personalized development that drives retention, performance, and agility.
📥 eBook: Employee Growth Without the Guesswork
Get our actionable guide to building a modern growth culture.
📊 Explore the 2025 Workplace Trends Report
Discover why personalized growth is one of this year’s top five trends.
📺 Watch the full AMA ⬇️
