5 Signs Your Company is Stagnating (and It’s Time to Move On)
A stagnating company can be a career killer for high-potential talent. Our experts share advice on how to tell if your company is languishing.
Sales aren’t declining, but they aren’t growing either. Every day seems to bring a new emergency that prevents you from doing any business development. And no one in your department has received a promotion in the last two years.
Stagnation doesn’t happen overnight or in some dramatic fashion. Rather, it creeps up on firms slowly and steadily, says Juliana Barela, a senior vice president and general manager for the North America RPO practice at Korn Ferry: “Stagnation happens quietly, and often goes unnoticed until it is too late.”
A stagnating company can be a career killer for high-potential talent, experts say—eroding skills development, sapping motivation and purpose, and even stigmatizing workers by association. The problem is that employees often don’t realize they are working for a floundering company. With that in mind, our experts share five signs that a firm is stagnating and that it might be time to move on.
The metrics are flatlining.
Growth isn’t just measured by revenue and profits. It can also be seen in hiring, in the quality and number of employee benefits and services, and in the opening of new offices or stores—as well as in improved brand reputation and other metrics. David Farris, sector leader for the Professional Services practice at Korn Ferry, says long droughts or drastic changes in any of these areas are less indicative of a temporary condition and “more a sign the company is flatlining.”
The firm is avoiding or ignoring AI.
Let’s face it: If your company isn’t using AI to transform processes and operations, it’s on a slippery slope to stagnation. (Relatedly, rolling out a few AI tools without any cohesive strategy won’t help much.) “AI is now essential for all firms, to keep up with innovation and competition,” says Farris. He says firms taking a wait-and-see approach or sticking to old ways of doing things are avoiding seeing—or outright ignoring—where business is going.
Agreement is the path of least resistance.
It may sound counterintuitive, but too much agreement among leaders could be a sign of complacency, says Barela. When decisions require an excessive number of approvals or become too difficult for top performers to navigate, agreement becomes the path of least resistance, which isn’t always good for business. “Agreement can sometimes signal alignment,” says Barela, “but it can also signal resignation.”
Internal matters take precedence.
Has your company undergone more than a few internal restructurings? Are leaders more focused on cutting costs than on growing revenue through new products and services? Is holding on to longtime clients and customers becoming a challenge? All these can signal that the attention of leadership is shifting inward, says Farris: “When that happens, keeping up with innovation and competition becomes a struggle.”
Talent isn’t refreshed.
People feel stuck in their jobs in part because firms aren’t replacing laid-off workers or filling open positions—even as they cut back on training and development budgets (44% of learning and development leaders had budgets cut this year). It’s a recipe for stagnation, say experts, who note that some turnover and upskilling is vital for firms and their employees to evolve and grow.
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