Workers are increasingly feeling let down by their managers when it comes to support, training and opportunities for growth, according to a new report from consultancy, Intoo, in partnership with Workforce Intelligence.

More alarmingly, these results only increase among Gen Z employees, who form the majority of new intake for employers and will outnumber ‘Baby Boomer’s in the US workplace for the first time in 2024.

In fact, nearly two in three (62%) of workers in this age bracket feel that career conversations with managers are not possible because their managers are too busy, compared to 52% of all employees.

As a result, nearly half (47%) say they get better career advice from generative AI, such as ChatGPT, than their manager.

Other issues highlighted by employees relating to a lack of support from managers included being too focused on their own careers to help others (47%), not knowing how to help with career development (46%) or just not caring about it (35%).

“Employees can often end up in roles where managing others is added to their existing responsibilities—but they haven’t received the training to lead,” Intoo’s chief revenue officer, Mira Greenland, told UNLEASH.

I think a lot of employers are aware of this problem, but they may not be aware of the severity of the consequences.”

“You can’t expect to grow your business without also growing your employees, and this starts with building strong leaders at every level of your organization,” Greenland added.

Learning and development key to improving career development opportunities

Gen Z were not the only group to feel short-changed by their managers or employers when it comes to career development.

Overall, 63% of workers believe that their employer cares more about their productivity than their career development, while nearly half (46%) said their manager doesn’t know how to help them with growing their careers or had a feeling of being ‘completely on their own’ at their organization (54%).

The consequence of this is one quarter (25%), rising to 44% among Gen Z, of employees intending to leave their employer due to the lack of career development support.

One way in which HR leaders can address this issue is by focusing on Learning and Development (L&D), according to Intoo’s findings.

The report found that eight in 10 employees believe best-in-class L&D opportunities could positively impact their engagement at work, job satisfaction, motivation at work, and likelihood of staying at the company.

This rose to 97% among Gen Z, who are three times as likely as Boomers to say that it is ‘very important’ that their employer offers career coaching.

However, the reality of L&D opportunities is less positive, with just 22% of employees and 41% of HR leaders rating their company’s L&D opportunities and benefits as ‘excellent’.

“Only half of the HR leaders we surveyed say managers at their company receive training when hired on how to provide career development guidance for their team members,” commented Dan Schawbel, managing partner at Workplace Intelligence.

What’s more, around a third of employees say they talk with their manager about their career just once a year or never.”

“Leaders need to prioritize addressing these issues if they want to retain their talent and bolster their efforts around internal mobility.”