Growing People Without Growing the Org Chart
What do you do when someone on your team is ready for more, but your structure isn’t? It’s a tricky, human dilemma that every leader faces at some point. This article explores how to keep talented people engaged when you can’t offer a clear next step. Drawing on personal experience, including my own journey from manager to director in a company with no formal ladder. I share five practical ways to stretch, support, and retain rising talent, even when a promotion isn’t on the table.
What Happens When Your Star Has Outgrown Their Role?
Growth Without A Title
That’s what the owner said to me when I stepped into my first management role. It was a small business with a flat structure, no obvious promotion path, and not much room to move up, at least on paper. But they gave me space to experiment, lead, and learn fast. And despite the flat structure that role led to my first directorship.
This experience shaped how I think about growth. It taught me that people don’t stay for a job title, they stay for the chance to stretch, to be seen, and to matter. You don’t always need a new position to offer growth, but you do need intention and honesty.
1 - Be Honest and Don't Delay the Conversation
Start by acknowledging their readiness. Let them know you see their growth, their impact, and their potential.
Transparency builds trust. If there’s no clear next step in the short term, say so, but also explain why. People don’t leave because they hear “not now.” They leave when they hear nothing.
Avoid vague timelines. Say something like:
“Right now, there isn’t a defined next step internally. I want to keep developing you while we explore what could be possible, inside or outside this team.”
In Summary
When someone is ready for more and your team isn’t, you have two responsibilities:
To honour their ambition.
To find a meaningful path forward, whether it’s within your structure or beyond it.
Because keeping someone engaged isn’t about handcuffing them to a role. It’s about helping them feel seen, stretched, and supported, wherever their journey takes them.
This isn’t just a structural problem. It’s a retention problem. A motivation problem. And a human one.
Now, as a strategic advisor and trusted sounding board, I’ve found myself on the other side of that conversation - leaders leading talented people who are ready for more, but the org. chart isn’t.
So what do you do when someone’s ready for a bigger role and there simply isn’t one?
This isn’t just a structural problem. It’s a retention problem. A motivation problem. And a human one.
Here’s what I’ve learned are the most practical, honest ways to respond.
If job titles are what you're after, we're not the right place for you. But if you want to grow personally and professionally, then we’ve got plenty of that to offer.
Final Reflection
If you can’t offer your people a ladder, offer them a landscape. Be the kind of leader they’ll still thank later, whether they stay or move on.
Who on your team is ready for more, and how might you help them grow, even if you can’t promote them yet?
2 - Redesign the Role, Even if You Can't Redifine the Title
You may not be able to promote, but you can enrich. Look for stretch assignments, project ownership, mentoring roles, or cross-functional collaboration. Build their influence beyond their formal remit. Give them a taste of leadership or strategic thinking within the role they’re in.
Think about visibility, complexity, and autonomy - not just hierarchy.
3 - Sponsor Them Instead of Only Coaching Them
Sometimes growth doesn’t live in your team. That doesn’t have to be a loss. Advocate your team member across the business. Who else might benefit from their capability? Could you co-design a secondment, a project exchange, or a dotted-line contribution?
Great leaders aren’t afraid to say, “You might outgrow this team before the team grows. Let’s see what’s possible elsewhere, with my support.”
4 - Co-Create a Medium-Term Development Plan
Even if the next role is 12 to 24 months away, make the path visible. Identify skill gaps, strategic exposure, or organisational understanding they’ll need. Build milestones together and show them what readiness looks like in context.
When people can see how they’re growing, they’re more likely to stay, even if the destination is further out than they’d hoped
5 - Support Their Exit and Stay in Their Corner
Sometimes the best next step is outside your organisation. That doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you’ve done your job well. You’ve helped someone grow to the point where the world opens up.
The best leaders don’t trap talent. They develop it, celebrate it, and support it, even when it walks out the door.
And here’s the thing: those people often come back. Or send others your way. Or carry your culture into new places.
