Seeking a promotion? You'll likely have to quit your job to get it

It may be time to stop coveting your manager’s title and corner office and send out a round of resumes instead. A new study shows an overwhelming number of Canadians change companies to get a promotion, a reality Millennials appear to have picked up on in their careers to date.

The Workopolis report says about 88 per cent of Canadians they switched employers to obtain a more senior position. The rest were promoted within their exiting companies, making job changes appear more of a necessity than a choice.

"Employees often leave companies for the same reason they join them … Opportunity for career advancement,” says Tara Talbot, vice president of human resources at Workopolis.

The report, which analyzed work history data from more than seven million employment-history records in the Workopolis resume database from 1990 to the present, shows it can take about 12 years at three or four different companies for a worker to move into a management role.

Talbot says too many employers don’t have proper succession plans and tend to look at outsiders more favourably than people they’ve been working with for years.

That has made shorter work stints “the new normal,” the report says.

How long a worker stays in his or her role also depends on their age. The survey shows what most of us have seen around us for years, which is that Millennials spend less time in roles than their Generation X and Baby Boomer peers.

The report shows Millennials, also known as Generation Y, held about four jobs in their first 12 years of employment, compared to about three jobs over the same period for the older Generation X cohort.

Citing Statistics Canada data, the report says two-thirds of Baby Boomers entered their fifties with jobs they’re had for at least 12 years. More than half worked for the same company for more than 20 years.

‘If the current trend continues, Canadians can expect to hold roughly 15 jobs in their careers,” the report says.

Dr. Mary Donohue, a generational expert and founder of the Donohue Mentoring System, says the problem for companies is that they don’t understand each generation and their differences.

“A different trigger motivates each generation: For Boomers it’s prestige, for Gen X it is money and for Millennials it is time off for fun and career advancement,” says Dr. Donohue.

“People are leaving because of inefficiency in leadership and a misunderstanding of what motivates each generation to be more efficient.”

Companies that don’t pay attention to these differences will inevitably lose staff, she says, which can hurt their productivity.

“Companies with high churn have lost the ability to lead through middle management and this will kill them. There will be no transfer of knowledge,” says Dr. Donohue.

“Great leaders help people accomplish their goals, however leaders today are too focused on task because they are constantly being asked to do more with less.”

The Workopolis study also shows Canadians are willing to not just change jobs, but locations. It says about 16.5 per cent of people changed provinces for a new job since 2010, which is a 21-per-cent increase in the last 10 years.

“For those looking for career advancement, embracing change is a must,” the report states. “For employers, providing opportunities for growth is a must to retain top talent.”