【中文版在后面】

The job market has cooled, which reduces your ability to job hop outside the organization in search of growth.But should you job hop inside the organization?

Lateral career moves inside an organization can deliver benefits, especially for continuous learners who thrive on developing new skills. Yet many people struggle with making sideways moves, due to traditional (and often outdated) ideas about career progression. How do you know when moving sideways is the right answer? And why is it in a company's best interest to support lateral mobility and people's ability to move around internally? Check out the full article below for real-world wisdom from work culture expert Brian Elliott.

—Senior editor, MIT Sloan Management Review

When Moving Sideways Makes Sense

Slower promotions and a weaker job market have led to a lot of folks feeling stuck in a rut.The solution might be moving to a new role within your company—which can help you grow, stay engaged, and increase cross-functional connection.

We originated the phrase“careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder”.  Moving sideways, or even down a rung, can pay off in the long term if you have the right attitude and orientation. It also typically pays off for employers.

I've made sideways moves in my career, and I've even moved“down”in power and authority, for a few reasons: I'm a huge fan of continuous learning and also knew that in order to get to longer-term career goals, I needed to spend some time developing new skills.  I've also counseled people considering major lateral career moves.

What are the signals that it's time for you to start looking for a lateral move? Maybe more importantly, how do you cope with going against the wisdom you've been taught about career progression?  This piece aims to answer two key questions: When is moving sideways the right answer? And why is it in a company's best interest to support lateral mobility and people's ability to move around internally?

All of these circumstances combine to make lateral moves an option that many people would do well to consider.  But sideways career moves come with risks and don't always pay off.  So how do you weigh whether it's time to stop repeating“always upward”as your mantra of career progression?

There may be opportunities right within your organization (and even your job function) to move into a better role.

Sometimes, knowing when it's time to look for openings similar to your current job is obvious: You're not learning or advancing your skills, you don't like your manager, or your team isn't a good fit, but you're looking to stay in the same business function and internal mobility is relatively easy.

Many companies don't make lateral moves easy  because they lack the infrastructure to encourage these moves, and performance measurements and compensation are designed to support upward movement. Managers can also be resistant, wanting to hoard talented people.  But even in these organizations, there may be opportunities for sideways movement if you search them out and build relationships outside your team.

Don't (Excessively) Fear the Smaller Job

If you still find your function interesting, the best option might be exploring close-in lateral moves in the same function. This is especially true in more expertise-driven and technical fields, such as design, engineering, and finance. Getting exposure to different parts of the business, working on novel projects that stretch you, finding a better boss, being in a team that fits your work style, moving to a more stable business unit — these are all good reasons to change teams and less disruptive than switching job functions.

These types of moves also have long-term benefits: Your network expands, you're back on the learning curve, and higher energy levels at work are good for you and your employer. Combining an internal move with external learning opportunities, such as taking classes, seeking out tutoring, attending events, and building professional networks, all can help you get out of a rut while staying on a long-term path you find interesting.

What's harder—but certainly not impossible—is shifting your career laterally into a whole new business function, where your network isn't as strong and, more importantly, your skill set isn't as developed. There's evidence that changing functions pays off in the long run, especially if you're aiming for executive levels and general management roles. But in the short term, these shifts often come with a step down the job ladder, short-term declines in performance ratings, and stagnant compensation. And I know from personal experience that taking the ego blow of the “smaller” job can be hard in a world of work judged by titles, budgets, and number of direct reports.

I've moved functions a few times in my career, and each of these moves was a bet. They involved flat (at best) compensation and loss of the traditional corporate markers of power and influence. They also involved stepping into situations where I had less experience. But that was exactly the point: I wanted new experiences, both because I'm a junkie for learning and because I knew that those positions would make me a better leader further down the road. Each time I made a move like that, it got easier — the corporate markers didn't bother me as much, and I had greater confidence in the bet that I was making.

Internal Mobility Can Be a (Mutual) Win

Longer term, functional and team diversity are some of the biggest levers for driving innovation.   Developing leaders with experience across business units and functions pays off: It's what companies look for in executive hires, and managers who have the combination of deep understanding of the company across functions are inherently better candidates for senior leadership roles compared with external candidates.

【中文版】

就业市场已经降温，这降低了你跳槽到公司外寻求发展的能力。但是你应该在公司内部跳槽吗?

组织内部的横向职业调动可以带来好处，特别是对那些不断学习、善于发展新技能的人来说。然而，由于关于职业发展的传统(通常是过时的)观念，许多人在横向晋升方面遇到了困难。你怎么知道什么时候横向移动才是正确的答案?为什么支持横向流动和员工内部调动的能力符合公司的最佳利益?看看下面这篇文章的全文，看看工作文化专家布莱恩·艾略特在现实生活中的智慧。

——《麻省理工斯隆管理评论》高级编辑

当横向移动是有意义的

缓慢的晋升和疲软的就业市场导致很多人觉得自己陷入了窠臼。解决方案可能是在公司内担任一个新的角色——这可以帮助你成长，保持参与，并增加跨职能的联系。

我们首创了“职业是攀登架，而不是梯子”这句话。如果你有正确的态度和方向，从长远来看，横向发展，甚至是向下发展都是有益的。这通常也会给雇主带来回报。

在我的职业生涯中，我做了一些横向的调整，我甚至在权力和权威上“下降”了，原因有几个:我是一个持续学习的狂热者，也知道为了实现长期的职业目标，我需要花一些时间来培养新技能。我也为那些考虑横向跳槽的人提供过建议。

是时候开始寻求横向调动了，这些信号是什么?也许更重要的是，你如何应对违背你所学到的关于职业发展的智慧?这篇文章旨在回答两个关键问题:什么时候横向移动是正确的答案?为什么支持横向流动和员工内部调动的能力符合公司的最佳利益?

所有这些情况结合在一起，使横向调动成为许多人最好考虑的选择。但横向职业变动伴随着风险，并不总是有回报。那么，你该如何衡量是否该停止重复“永远向上”作为你职业发展的信条呢?

在你的组织(甚至你的工作职能)中可能有机会晋升到一个更好的角色。

有时候，你很明显知道什么时候该去寻找与你目前工作相似的职位:你没有学习或提高你的技能，你不喜欢你的经理，或者你的团队不适合你，但你希望留在同一个业务部门，内部流动相对容易。

许多公司不容易进行横向调动，因为他们缺乏鼓励这种调动的基础设施，而绩效衡量和薪酬的设计是为了支持向上的调动。管理者也可能会有抵触情绪，想要囤积人才。但即使在这些组织中，如果你能找到机会，并在团队外建立关系，也可能有横向调动的机会。

不要(过分)害怕较小的工作

如果您仍然对自己的功能感兴趣，那么最好的选择可能是探索同一功能中的近距离横向移动。在更多的专业知识驱动和技术领域，如设计、工程和金融，尤其如此。接触业务的不同部分，从事能让你发挥能力的新项目，找到一个更好的老板，加入一个适合你工作风格的团队，转到一个更稳定的业务部门——这些都是更换团队的好理由，而且比更换工作职能更具破坏性。

这些类型的举动也有长期的好处:你的社交网络扩大了，你又回到了学习曲线上，在工作中更有活力对你和你的老板都有好处。将内部调动与外部学习机会结合起来，比如上课、寻求辅导、参加活动、建立专业网络，这些都可以帮助你走出窠臼，同时保持在你感兴趣的长期道路上。

更困难的——但当然不是不可能的——是把你的职业横向转移到一个全新的业务职能上，在那里你的网络没有那么强大，更重要的是，你的技能没有那么发达。有证据表明，从长远来看，改变职能是有益的，特别是如果你的目标是高管级别和一般管理角色。但在短期内，这些转变往往伴随着工作阶梯的下降，短期内业绩评级下降，薪酬停滞不前。根据我的个人经验，在一个以头衔、预算和直接下属数量为评判标准的工作世界里，接受“小”工作的自我打击是很困难的。

在我的职业生涯中，我移动过几次功能，每一次移动都是一次赌注。它们包括(充其量)不变的薪酬，以及传统的企业权力和影响力标志的丧失。他们还涉及到我经验不足的情况。但这正是问题的关键:我想要新的体验，一方面是因为我对学习上瘾，另一方面是因为我知道，这些职位会让我在未来成为一名更好的领导者。每次我这样做的时候，事情都变得更容易了——公司的标记不再那么困扰我了，我对自己下的赌注更有信心了。

内部流动是双赢的

从长远来看，职能和团队多样性是推动创新的最大杠杆。培养具有跨业务部门和职能部门经验的领导者是有回报的:这是公司在招聘高管时所寻找的，与外部候选人相比，对公司各职能部门都有深刻理解的经理天生就是高级领导职位的更好人选。