“Keep Doing What You’re Doing” Sounds Harmless, Until It Quietly Stalls Your Career

In many workplaces across the United States, employees are often told a reassuring phrase that, at first glance, seems like a positive message, which is, “Keep doing what you’re doing,” but, over time, this message has come to subtly convey a message of no direction or growth, rather than a positive message.

Although this message might seem like approval, it does not come with any form of feedback, goals, or opportunities for advancement, leaving the employee confused about what to do next with their career. This results in a situation where workers are still doing the same thing without acquiring any new skills or challenges, which makes them feel as if they are stuck in a professional cycle.

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, workers who are not offered opportunities for development tend to have low engagement and satisfaction over time, especially when feedback from management is vague.

Why stagnation happens in everyday roles

Stagnation among employees is not necessarily caused by poor performance. It is rather caused by a lack of guidance and development.

Employees may be performing their jobs well and efficiently. They may also be performing their jobs in a way that meets expectations. But when they are given no other challenges to perform, their jobs become mundane.

The SHRM report also points out that unclear career paths are one of the major reasons that kill motivation. This is because the employee does not understand how their current job relates to their future. This leads to a sense of purpose among the workers. This feeling eventually leads to a lack of motivation among the workers.

In the end, the high performers become unmotivated. This is because they were once motivated to perform their jobs. They were once enthusiastic about their jobs.

One of the key factors that has contributed to this phenomenon is a practice called talent hoarding, which refers to managers deliberately holding onto their top performers instead of helping them advance. In a study published on arXiv, this practice has been defined as a managerial strategy aimed at keeping their team performance metrics at a high level, even if it means holding back their employees' career advancement.

While this practice might work well for a team in the short term, it has negative implications for the long term, both for the employees and the organization as a whole.

How motivation and satisfaction begin to decline

This means that when employees do not feel as if their efforts are contributing towards their growth, their motivation slowly begins to dwindle in a very obvious way, even if their performance is constant. The findings of SHRM suggest that a lack of recognition and opportunities for growth impacts job satisfaction, which in turn impacts the extent of their effort towards their job.

Employees who do not feel as if they can grow in their current role will not be as inclined to offer innovative ideas, as there is no real incentive for going beyond their job requirements. This slowly impacts their productivity, which may not be readily apparent.

Career stagnation may result in frustration, especially when an individual compares their progress with that of their peers or the industry.

The SHRM report indicates that employees with low morale tend to pull away from team activities. This will have a ripple effect on the company. This emotional detachment is not always easy to detect; however, it will eventually change the workplace culture

Why employees eventually consider leaving

One of the most detrimental effects of this is the increase in turnover intention, where employees are likely to seek new employment opportunities where they would have better chances to grow professionally. The reason behind this is that when employees feel unappreciated and lack opportunities to grow, they are likely to seek new employment opportunities.

According to SHRM, organizations that lack opportunities to develop their workforce are likely to have higher employee turnover, which is costly in terms of recruitment, training, and brain drain.

The hidden cost of doing nothing

The phrase “keep doing what you’re doing” is innocuous enough, but in its absence of follow-through, it can be interpreted as an indication of a lack of investment in an employee’s growth. In this way, stable positions can quickly devolve into stagnant ones where an employee feels unseen and unsupported.

Studies and workplace observations alike demonstrate that growth, feedback, and appreciation are integral to maintaining an employee’s interest and long-term retention. In the absence of these factors, even high-performing teams can begin to see a decline in motivation and an increase in overall dissatisfaction.