Recent WorldatWork research found that career growth is one of the strongest factors influencing whether employees stay with an organization. Yet many retention strategies still focus heavily on compensation and benefits, often missing an earlier signal: employees may no longer see a future for themselves within the organization.

In this interactive workshop, participants will explore what career growth actually means, how to recognize when it may be stalling, and what organizations can do before disengagement becomes a resignation. Building on WorldatWork research, Isioma Coker will draw from her experience across Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 organizations and introduce the Career Thermometer, a framework for recognizing potential retention risks across wellbeing, purpose, growth, and workplace relationships.

Together, Isioma and WorldatWork COO Kawel LauBach will examine where Total Rewards can influence the employee growth experience and why compensation or promotion alone may not solve the underlying retention problem. Through real world scenarios, peer discussion, and practical exercises, attendees will explore how to distinguish a compensation issue from a growth issue, identify meaningful opportunities beyond traditional promotion, and consider where organizational practices may be unintentionally getting in the way.

Attendees will leave with practical tools for spotting signs of stalled growth earlier, questions they can use to better understand what employees need, and a concrete next step they can take back to their own organization to make career growth a more intentional part of their retention strategy.