Lateral moves are a career choice where an employee leaves their current role for another role with a similar salary, title, or seniority. Lateral moves can be made between two companies, within the same company or even the same department.
Aspect
Explanation
Definition
A Lateral Move, in the context of careers and employment, refers to a job change or transition where an individual moves to a different position within the same organization or to a different organization at a similar level or role. Unlike a vertical move (promotion) or a downward move (demotion), a lateral move involves changing roles or departments without a significant change in job title, responsibilities, or seniority. Lateral moves are often pursued for various reasons, including career development, skill acquisition, broadening experience, or finding a better fit within an organization. They can offer new challenges, opportunities, and perspectives while allowing individuals to leverage existing skills and knowledge. Lateral moves are a strategic career choice that can lead to long-term career growth and satisfaction.
Key Elements
– Job Role Similarity: In a lateral move, the new position should have a similar job title, responsibilities, and seniority level to the current role. – Change in Department: Lateral moves often involve changing departments or teams within the same organization. – Career Development: The move should align with an individual’s career development goals and objectives. – Skill Transferability: Lateral moves can leverage existing skills while acquiring new ones relevant to the new role. – Organizational Fit: Assessing whether the new role aligns better with personal values and goals is crucial.
Characteristics
– Skill Enhancement: Lateral moves provide opportunities to gain new skills or refine existing ones. – Experience Diversification: They allow for diverse experiences by working in different departments or on different projects. – Maintained Seniority: Individuals maintain their seniority level, which can be important for future career progression. – Risk Mitigation: Lateral moves can reduce the risk of stagnation in a current role. – Career Flexibility: They offer career flexibility without significant changes in job title or compensation.
Implications
– Skill Growth: Lateral moves can lead to skill growth and diversification, making individuals more versatile. – Career Advancement: They can position individuals for future vertical moves or promotions within the organization. – Enhanced Job Satisfaction: Finding a better fit or more engaging role can enhance job satisfaction. – Reduced Stagnation: Lateral moves reduce the risk of career stagnation and burnout. – Organizational Value: Organizations benefit from employees with broader skill sets and experiences.
Advantages
– Skill Development: Lateral moves facilitate skill development and diversification. – Career Progression: They can position individuals for future career advancements. – Enhanced Satisfaction: Finding a better fit or more engaging role often leads to increased job satisfaction. – Reduced Stagnation: Lateral moves help individuals avoid career stagnation and burnout. – Organizational Value: Organizations gain employees with diverse skill sets and experiences.
Drawbacks
– Salary Stagnation: Lateral moves may not come with significant salary increases. – Risk of Irrelevance: Repeated lateral moves without vertical progression can risk career stagnation. – Limited Change: Individuals may not experience a significant change in their daily tasks or responsibilities. – Lack of Challenge: If not carefully chosen, a lateral move might not provide new challenges. – Organizational Fit: There is a risk that the new role may not be a better fit than the previous one.
Applications
– Large Corporations: In large organizations, employees can explore lateral moves to different departments or business units. – Multinational Companies: Multinational corporations offer opportunities for lateral moves to various locations or divisions. – Government Agencies: Government agencies provide lateral move opportunities within different departments and functions. – Educational Institutions: Educational institutions offer lateral moves between departments or schools for faculty and staff. – Nonprofits: Nonprofit organizations have opportunities for lateral moves across programs or initiatives.
Use Cases
– Large Corporation: An employee in a large corporation seeks a lateral move from the marketing department to the product development team to gain a broader perspective and skills. – Multinational Company: An executive in a multinational company takes a lateral move to a different country to work with a new team and broaden their international experience. – Government Agency: A civil servant in a government agency shifts to a different department within the same agency to work on a new policy area, enhancing their expertise. – Educational Institution: A professor in an educational institution moves laterally to a different department to explore new research opportunities and teaching experiences. – Nonprofit: A program manager in a nonprofit organization transitions laterally to a different program area to contribute their skills and expertise to a new cause.
Lateral moves describe the process of an employee moving from their current position to one that is similar in salary, title, or seniority.
Whilst a lateral move is not a promotion, it can be beneficial for those who want to:
Increase the depth or breadth of their skill set.
Follow their passions and do meaningful work.
Develop more resilience. Many employees find lateral moves to be an effective way to challenge themselves and keep things interesting.
Improve work-life integration.
Establish or increase their professional network., and
Open up the potential for a better salary long-term. Lateral moves may be a short-term price some are willing to pay to eventually access roles with more attractive salaries.
Benefits of lateral moves to business
Lateral moves may result in a business losing reliable or talented employees, but there do also exist some research-backed benefits:
More capable employees – organizations that promote lateral moves and career mobility tend to employ smarter, more productive, and more talented workforces. This is mainly because employees move to upskill or pursue meaningful work.
What are some of the downsides of a lateral move?
Like any career move, lateral moves will not be suitable for everyone. Here are some of the potential downsides:
Compensation – as we touched on earlier, these moves are not promotions. Each individual must weigh up their circumstances to determine whether moving companies is worth the hassle. In other words, would a lateral move advance their career faster at another employer? Is the individual willing to work for a lower salary for the prospect of more attractive remuneration in the medium-term?
Lack of clarity – those who make lateral moves often and deviate from their career path risk raising a red flag to recruiters. In this instance, employees must be able to articulate why they change positions frequently and how those moves fit into their career plans.
Lack of career growth – when a lateral move does not eventually result in a promotion or a more attractive salary, it can result in career stagnation. To reduce the likelihood that a lateral move leads nowhere, employees must perform due diligence on the new company and ask lots of questions. Is there a clear growth path? What is the expected timeframe for promotions and does the company tend to promote internally?
Case Studies
Technology Company:
Scenario: An experienced software engineer at a technology company has been working on backend development projects for several years. However, they are interested in gaining experience in frontend development to broaden their skill set and explore new challenges.Lateral Move: The software engineer discusses their career aspirations with their manager and expresses interest in transitioning to a frontend development role within the same organization. After assessing the engineer’s skills and potential impact on frontend projects, the company approves the lateral move.Implications:
The software engineer gains valuable experience in frontend development while leveraging their existing backend expertise.
The company benefits from a more versatile employee who can contribute to both backend and frontend projects, enhancing project flexibility and team collaboration.
Financial Services Firm:
Scenario: A financial analyst working in the equity research department of a financial services firm is interested in exploring opportunities in fixed income research to diversify their knowledge base and career options.Lateral Move: The financial analyst discusses their career goals with their manager and expresses interest in transitioning to fixed income research within the same firm. Recognizing the analyst’s potential and the benefits of cross-training, the firm supports the lateral move.Implications:
The financial analyst gains exposure to a new asset class and expands their expertise in financial research, increasing their marketability and career options.
The firm benefits from a more versatile analyst who can provide insights and analysis across different asset classes, enhancing the firm’s research capabilities.
Healthcare Organization:Scenario: A nurse working in the medical-surgical unit of a hospital is interested in transitioning to the critical care unit to expand their clinical skills and experience in caring for critically ill patients.Lateral Move: The nurse discusses their career aspirations with their nursing supervisor and expresses interest in transferring to the critical care unit within the same hospital. After assessing the nurse’s qualifications and readiness for the new role, the hospital approves the lateral move.Implications:
The nurse gains specialized training and experience in critical care nursing, enhancing their clinical skills and professional growth.
The hospital benefits from a more versatile nurse who can contribute to critical care services, improving patient care and staffing flexibility.
Manufacturing Company:
Scenario: A production supervisor in a manufacturing company is interested in transitioning to the quality assurance department to gain experience in quality control and process improvement initiatives.Lateral Move: The production supervisor discusses their career interests with their manager and expresses a desire to transfer to the quality assurance department within the same company. Recognizing the supervisor’s potential and the benefits of cross-functional experience, the company approves the lateral move.Implications:
The production supervisor gains hands-on experience in quality assurance practices, including process audits, defect analysis, and corrective actions, enhancing their leadership and problem-solving skills.
The company benefits from a supervisor with a broader understanding of quality management principles and an ability to drive continuous improvement initiatives across different departments.
Key takeaways:
Lateral moves describe the process of an employee moving from their current position to one that is similar in salary, title, or seniority.
Lateral moves can be beneficial for employees who want to pursue a passion career, extend their professional network, or simply start afresh. At the organizational level, lateral moves improve performance, employee retention, and the capabilities of the workforce.
Some of the potential downsides of lateral moves include a lack of career growth and clarity. It can also be difficult to determine whether the move is worth the employee’s time or resources.
Key Highlights
Lateral Moves Definition: Lateral moves involve employees shifting from their current role to a similar-level position in terms of salary, title, or seniority, either within the same company, between companies, or within the same department.
Employee Benefits:
Skill Set Enhancement: Lateral moves offer a chance to broaden or deepen skills by taking on new responsibilities.
Pursuit of Passions: Employees can engage in more meaningful work aligned with their interests.
Resilience Building: Such moves challenge employees, enhancing adaptability and resilience.
Work-Life Integration: Lateral moves allow exploration of new roles without the pressure of promotions.
Networking: Employees can expand their professional network through exposure to different teams.
Long-Term Salary Growth: Although not immediate promotions, lateral moves might lead to better roles and compensation in the future.
Business Benefits:
Organizational Performance: Companies promoting lateral mobility tend to have better overall performance.
Employee Retention: Internal role shifts contribute to higher employee retention rates, reducing turnover costs.
Skilled Workforce: Encouraging lateral moves results in a workforce with improved skills and talents due to upskilling efforts.
Potential Downsides:
Compensation Consideration: Lateral moves don’t offer immediate promotions, so employees must weigh salary implications.
Lack of Clarity: Frequent lateral moves might raise concerns for future employers, necessitating clear explanations.
Stagnation Risk: If lateral moves don’t lead to growth, employees might face career stagnation.
Lack of Career Growth: Without clear paths, lateral moves may not lead to desired advancements.
Company Research: Thorough research is vital to ensure that a lateral move aligns with long-term career goals.
Key Takeaways:
Lateral moves are career transitions to similar-level positions for employees.
Employees benefit from skill enhancement, passion pursuit, resilience building, and networking.
Businesses gain improved performance, retention, and a skilled workforce.
Downsides include compensation trade-offs, career growth concerns, and ambiguity in paths.
Thorough research is crucial before making lateral moves for career alignment.
Andy Grove, helped Intel become among the most valuable companies by 1997. In his years at Intel, he conceived a management and goal-setting system, called OKR, standing for “objectives and key results.” Venture capitalist and early investor in Google, John Doerr, systematized in the book “Measure What Matters.”
A SMART goal is any goal with a carefully planned, concise, and trackable objective. To be such a goalneeds to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. Bringing structure and trackability to goal setting increases the chances goals will be achieved, and it helps align the organization around those goals.
Micromanagement is about tightly controlling or observing employees’ work. Although this management style might be understood in some cases, especially for small-scale projects, generally speaking, micromanagement has a negative connotation mainly because it shows a lack of trust and freedom in the workplace, which leads to adverse outcomes.
Developed by business consultants Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey in the 1960s, delegative leadership is a leadership style where authority figures empower subordinates to exercise autonomy. For this reason, it is also called laissez-faire leadership. In some cases, this leadership type can lead to increased work quality and decision-making. In a few other cases, this type of leadershipneeds to be balanced out to prevent a lack of direction and cohesiveness in the team.
Agile leadership is the embodiment of agile manifesto principles by a manager or management team. Agile leadership impacts two important levels of a business. The structural level defines the roles, responsibilities, and key performance indicators. The behavioral level describes the actions leaders exhibit to others based on agile principles.
Active listening is the process of listening attentively while someone speaks and displaying understanding through verbal and non-verbal techniques. Active listening is a fundamental part of good communication, fostering a positive connection and building trust between individuals.
Adaptive leadership is a model used by leaders to help individuals adapt to complex or rapidly changing environments. Adaptive leadership is defined by three core components (precious or expendable, experimentation and smart risks, disciplined assessment). Growth occurs when an organization discards ineffective ways of operating. Then, active leaders implement new initiatives and monitor their impact.
A RASCI matrix is used to assign and then display the various roles and responsibilities in a project, service, or process. It is sometimes called a RASCI Responsibility Matrix. The RASCI matrix is essentially a project management tool that provides important clarification for organizations involved in complex projects.
In a flat organizational structure, there is little to no middle management between employees and executives. Therefore it reduces the space between employees and executives to enable an effective communication flow within the organization, thus being faster and leaner.
Tactical management involves choosing an appropriate course of action to achieve a strategic plan or objective. Therefore, tactical management comprises the set of daily operations that support long strategy delivery. It may involve risk management, regular meetings, conflict resolution, and problem-solving.
High-performance management involves the implementation of HR practices that are internally consistent and aligned with organizational strategy. Importantly, high-performance management is a continual process where several different but integrated activities create a performancemanagement cycle. It is not a process that should be performed once a year and then hidden in a filing cabinet.
Scientific Management Theory was created by Frederick Winslow Taylor in 1911 to encourage industrial companies to switch to mass production. With a background in mechanical engineering, he applied engineering principles to workplace productivity on the factory floor. Scientific Management Theory seeks to find the most efficient way to perform a workplace job.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
