I’ve spent 30+ years working in large, global organisations and along the way I’ve learnt a lot about how these monsters of industry work. I don’t mean how they work in terms of systems, processes and business, although these have all permeated my psyche. I mean I’ve learnt a lot about people - and more specifically people’s CAREERS and how the culture within big organisations can have a profound effect on whether those people realise their career potential, or not.
Whether you’re already working for a big business or have aspirations to join a big company in the future, I have some insight that I would love to share with you. It’s taken me a while to work this all out, I now have a very clear picture that has served me (and my clients) well ever since.
I’m the corporate geek in my family. Everyone else is either an entrepreneur or an academic.
The ‘prize’ in my family was always to be independent, your own boss, ‘in charge of your own destiny’. So in the late 80s when I joined the American software giant NCR as a graduate, my aspirations for a ‘big company career’ weren’t quite understood by those in my family.
But I was excited!
The idea of working for a company that supported 134,000 employees in 160 countries and generated $7Bn in revenue could only mean loads of opportunity - couldn’t it?
Well - yes and no.
As I moved on through my career, I worked for other financial and information services companies including TSB, Lloyds, Reuters and Thomson Reuters. What I learned across 3 decades working for these commercial giants is that the opportunities are certainly there. However, they won’t be available to you - unless - you proactively manage your own career. You have to adopt the right strategies, build the right alliances and create opportunities.
You are the boss of your career and there are some specific things you need to do to ensure you get the chance to step into your full potential in a large organisation. And this is very different to working in a small or even medium sized organisation, where there are other powers at play that influence careers in a specific way.
So what are the factors at play in large organisations which can often stymie the career aspirations of even the most talented people?
Essentially, what’s so different about working in and for big organisations?
Well, here’s the obvious - they’re big and complex
This complexity can be confusing and convoluted to navigate and causes a number of issues.
In a medium-sized business you may have sales and marketing operating out of a single department. In a big business all departments get split into many more specialised functions. For example in the sales function there is usually a Head of Sales, Head of Inside Sales, Head of Sales Enablement, Head of Solution Sales and so on ...
There will be teams at each turn in these big organisations that are highly specialised in particular areas such as digital sales or direct sales, who play very different roles to that of a generalised salesperson at a medium-sized business.
So, with more and more players, the organisation gets very complex, very quickly.
AND THEN THEY GET DUPLICATED.
In a global business many of these structures are duplicated by territory - so the complication multiplies across each geography. This means there are many more stakeholders to engage with across the ‘Matrix’ that could have a huge impact on your success.
For example, when I was working at Thomson Reuters I launched a global marketing program that was fully endorsed and supported by the CEO but it got ripped to shreds by the Head of Sales for Asia. I knew this person well, but I hadn’t spent enough time explaining the idea to himl, I relied too much on the fact that the CEO was endorsing the campaign. So whilst it’s essential to have the support of a senior leader for any significant project, it doesn’t mean support will naturally follow from others. You need to be aware of who holds sway and authority in all the regions and departments you need for support, so you can engage them in your thinking and understand their point of view.
Significant hires are made by committee
Often in a small organisation your boss will have a lot of power over your internal career. It’s not like that in a big organisation, your boss will often have limited input and significant hires will often be made by committee.
Discussions about ‘talent’ are a regular agenda item on senior leadership meetings and this provides a forum for your boss to ‘put your name forward’ as someone with high potential. But this will ‘just’ spark a discussion. It’s then down to the reputation you’ve created with the other leaders around the table to either underline or contradict your boss's endorsement.
Reputation is built over time and through the accumulation of small interactions and moments. In this scenario we rely on what people know about us and the impression they have of us - either directly or indirectly, as this can have a big impact on how these ‘talent’ conversations pan out for us.
Investment in individuals is subject to greater and wider scrutiny
In a smaller organisation your boss will probably make the decision about what funding they can offer you in terms of paying for development or training.
It’s just not that straightforward in a big business as there are many other factors at play. Budgets are often held locally and centrally and it’s not always clear what they can cover and who can authorise them. With so many other competing requests your boss may actually have very little input if the budget doesn’t sit directly with them.
For example, about 15 years ago my boss nominated me to go on the first Women in Leadership training course that Thomson Reuters had ever run. With only 20 spaces the places were highly competed for. Every other senior leader would have been presenting someone from their team to go on the course, and in that sense I would have been the ‘competition’. I have no doubt my boss had to ‘fight my corner’. Many people would have had a say in who ended up ‘on the list’ including people from Talent, HR, Finance, Strategy as well as the other Business Units. It would only have taken one of those people to express a negative opinion and my name would’ve been off the table.
Attending that course turned out to be a pivotal point in my career!
More informal opportunities are offered quickly and ‘under the radar’
This internal competition for resources drives opportunities underground as managers avoid going through complex internal processes by creating informal opportunities that ‘fly under the radar’. I’ve seen this in the creation of secondments, interim roles and other changes which often pre-empt an outcome for an individual, without the transparency of the opportunity that would attract other applicants and the scrutiny of central talent teams.
There is often tension between corporate and business functions
In big business there is often tension between ‘the business’ and the ‘support functions’ - and I say this having worked on both sides of this fence.
Working for ‘the business’ is often seen as more ‘worthy’ and working in a support function (such as Human Resources or Learning and Development) can be seen as a cost centre that needs to be (at best) minimised, and (at worst) marginalised. This unhelpful view can lead to toxic situations and unnecessary power plays where the careers of individuals can suffer.
If all of this sounds depressing or leads you to think it’s just too hard to succeed in large organisations, I want to encourage you!
With big organisations come big opportunities
There are many more roles available now and being created, than in any small business. Central talent teams attract specialists who have budgets to invest in the development of people that small businesses can only dream of. There are more touchpoints and dependencies on other businesses which can expand your network exponentially and expose you to opportunities within your industry. Global businesses often offer opportunities for relocation (at least pre covid!) and the opportunity to meet and learn from people all over the world.
You can tell I’m a fan. I’ve spent 30 years and had a wonderful career in big, global businesses.
But in order to succeed you must recognise the forces at play (that I've mentioned here) and proactively lead your own career.
There are 2 aspects to being successful in a big business that can have an exponential impact on your career. These 2 things are often overlooked, but are critically important as they combat the impact of the things that might otherwise derail your career - no matter how stellar your performance might be.
These areas are Your Reputation and Your Influence and along with Your Performance they are likely to be the most important things to accelerate your career in a large organisation.
Interested for more?
See our articles on What’s Your Reputation and The Importance of Building Influence on our Nkuzi Change Blog.
And connect with me and my co-Director Kate on LinkedIn: Kate Franklin and Elise Finn
