The Inbetweener: Is there a place in financial services for those who don't want to be promoted?
After years of working in financial services on the sale side of things, I went back to university to get my Masters of Commerce on the way towards getting my CA. The intention was to have a better career in a different, more respected position where I would more fully utilise my tertiary education.
It turned out to be a wise move because, although hating the thought of becoming an accountant, it actually provided me with a more secure working environment, while working toward obtaining my CA qualification.
I followed my career plan, and although it has taken a curvier road that I had anticipated, I haven't lost sight of my major goal. But I wonder what would happen if I changed my mind at this point of my career?
Anyone who works in an accounting firm (doing the plain vanilla stuff) will know that once you complete your degree and enter the industry, if you are half competent, your career path is pretty much planned out for you. No personality is required: You start as a grad; you do your CA; you progress to a senior; and then if you stick around long enough, you make manager.
She's happy where she's at, but her managers don't like it one bit
But what happens if you are happy to stay at the same level, don't want to do your CA and don't want to meet with clients? I work with a young woman who feels this way and the reception of her attitude hasn't been too rosy. She is 24, has been in the industry for a few years now and is happy to remain at her current level. There is no questioning her competence: She knows her stuff. But the sticking point is her not wanting to do her CA.
It is a given in any workforce that not everyone sticks around to get promoted, and in accounting especially, the organisational hierarchy is designed so that people leave at various levels in their careers. So my mind boggles as to why management aren't happy to keep a girl in the position she wants to be in, particularly when that is where they need the most labour. They are always recruiting at this level and at a substantial cost to themselves.
She is most upset now because she feels she is being managed out. She has even been asked whether she may want to leave to start a family. Did I mention she is only 24? When she told me this, it actually made me question the same thing: Was she being pushed?
Is it really such a mortal sin if someone doesn't want to make CEO and is happy to stay put? I always thought that job satisfaction made for happy bosses, but is being average really that bad? This girl is competent, has a specific skill set and is happy. So why change things?
