Changing dynamics of career growth: Horizontal growth vs vertical growth

In an article published in ETHRWorld on 23rd July, Niharika Mohanty, VP – HR, Zomato, had talked about her own example of being an HR professional and having done only HR roles all her life, yet at Zomato, had taken up roles of sales and operations for 15 cities in India at a certain period of time herself. Through exclusive conversations with ETHRWorld, HR leaders discuss the opportunities a horizontal growth trajectory offers, vis-a-vis the conventional vertical growth; and the challenges, the best practices as well as the success rate of the approach across companies in different sectors.

Highlights

Any employee who has stayed back at for over 3 to 5 years is skilled in at least three roles. This is how Zomato skills its employees across different roles horizontally over a period of time.

While most candidates look at career advancement in terms of vertical or upward movement on a traditional career ladder for monetary growth and a higher designation over a period of time, companies providing or encouraging horizontal growth are on the rise.

In an article published in ETHRWorld on 23rd July, Niharika Mohanty, VP – HR, Zomato, had talked about her own example of being an HR professional and having done only HR roles all her life, yet at Zomato, had taken up roles of sales and operations for 15 cities in India at a certain period of time herself.

Through exclusive conversations with ETHRWorld, HR leaders discuss the opportunities a horizontal growth trajectory offers, vis-a-vis the conventional vertical growth , and the challenges, the best practices as well as the success rate of the approach across companies in different sectors.

Encouraging horizontal growth of employees

Swadesh Behera, Chief People Officer, Company, says that this change has been guided by evolving and dynamic nature of consumer preferences.

“The emphasis on horizontal growth allows organisations to stay agile and responsive to the evolving needs of the market,” he says.

“Companies today need to adapt to shifts in engagement methods and purchasing behaviours of consumers which has led to prominence of channels like e-commerce and omni-channel. This dynamic landscape calls for a workforce equipped with flexible and diverse skill sets to meet new demands as they arise. Keeping with the rapid pace of change, innovation is driven through candidates who excel in collaboration, cross-functional teamwork and problem-solving in diverse settings,” says Behera.

Additionally, he says that the newer generation of employees is eager to learn and grow, actively seeking to build skills at an accelerated pace.

Madhup Agrawal, National Head – HR, IndiaMART, says that the consistent opportunity of cross-skilling among employees helps them gain experience of multiple job roles, thereby enabling them with critical thinking and advanced problem-solving skills.

“It also helps companies to break silos and get fresh perspectives on ongoing products, services and issues. For instance, an employee, working in a new client onboarding department, can help the client servicing team in handling edgy clients better, as he is always prepped to answer any kind of questions thrown his way,” explains Agrawal.

Similarly, he explains further how someone working in the website customer experience can be of extreme support in the new client onboarding team as he is aware of the basic issues that every client faces while using the website and can inform the client proactively. This is only possible if the organisation allows seamless rotation of employees horizontally.

Talking about another not-so-talked about benefit, Agrawal says, “Horizontal growth eases the way for vertical growth as well. An employee who has worked across departments is way more valuable to any organisation, versus someone who has been growing in the same department. Horizontal growth opportunities provide the employee with an environment to work with multiple teams, helping him imbibe people skills. All this collectively can easily help in elevating a candidate to a senior role better.”

Vishpala Reddy, Head – Human Resources, Philips Indian Subcontinent, says that the company views career growth as a lattice rather than a ladder, encouraging development in multiple directions, not just upwards.

“Our Individual Development Plan (IDP) approach empowers employees to explore new skills and experiences, supporting their aspirations through a mix of on-the-job learning, mentorship and internal opportunities,” Reddy says.

Philips’ Talent Marketplace, for example, provides “gigs”, i.e., short-term projects enabling employees to work with different teams and expand their skills while staying in their roles.

“This model aligns with our core belief that growth is not one-size-fits-all. By championing versatility and cross-functional learning, we create an environment where employees can evolve through both lateral and upward movements, fostering a workplace that values curiosity and resilience,” Reddy says.

With tools like Talent Card and Talent Insider, Philips’ employees can showcase their growth interests, and recruiters actively match internal talent to new roles, ensuring that horizontal growth is not just encouraged but actively supported.

Mohanty of Zomato shares that the company implements horizontal shifts successfully, by trying to cultivate a supportive environment where individual employees can thrive.

“Risk-taking, experimentation and honest feedback – all are encouraged, knowing that the collective strength of the team will always prevail,” says Mohanty.

“By embracing these principles, we strive to create a workplace where every Zoman is a risk-taker who is driven by learnings and failures, thereby contributing to Zomato’s legacy,” she adds.

Success of the horizontal growth approach

Behera of Titan shares that to align with the demands of the market, the company has introduced ‘The Bridge Projects Marketplace’ – a unique tool that connects Titan’s internal talent with modular project opportunities across the organisation, fostering skill development and mobility within the company.

“This internal marketplace enables employees to explore projects, gigs and roles beyond their regular responsibilities, empowering them to apply their expertise in new areas, develop new skills and broaden their career paths,” says Behera.

Launched in June this year, Titan has already boarded 126 projects, had 773 applications and 442 unique applicants across the spectrum of projects.

“We are witnessing an increase in the number of applications, growing by 3-5 percent every month since its launch,” he shares.

Each project is driven and spearheaded by a sponsor, providing them access to unique skills and perspectives across the organisation.

This also helps instil the spirit of intrapreneurship by empowering employees to develop and lead new projects or initiatives, Behera adds.

Reddy says that at Philips, the horizontal growth model has been highly effective in fostering adaptable workforce, as in 2024, around 40 percent of the open roles in India were filled by internal talent, with many roles being lateral moves across departments and regions.

“This model not only supports our employees’ career aspirations but also strengthens our organisational resilience by cultivating versatile, cross-functional teams. Employees frequently transition between roles, such as Electrical Engineers moving to different business units, or Mechanical Engineers transitioning to Systems Engineering. Inter-functional mobility is also common such as movements from Manufacturing to R&D,” shares Reddy.

Agrawal of IndiaMART says that with over 6,000 employees, the company has successfully rotated 850 employees through internal job postings.

“We also follow a mandatory job rotation policy across the organisation, wherein employees are moved from one department to another after a specific period (new servicing division to clients servicing and client servicing to key client’s division),” adds Agrawal.

Challenges faced while executing the horizontal growth model

Behera says The Bridge Projects Marketplace at Titan was consciously designed as a self-service, giving employees more control to explore projects aligning with their interests.

“Given its nature, adopting a project-based, modular work style was challenging initially, as projects’ sponsors struggled to understand what qualifies as a modular project. Sponsors also had to be encouraged to give opportunities to candidates who were not a perfect skill match. However, by sensitising managers to prioritise potential over perfection, Titan fostered a learning environment,” says Behera.

Additionally, since the marketplace wasn’t tied to performance, some employees struggled to dedicate sufficient time to the projects.

The marketplace was intentionally not linked to formal performance evaluations, emphasising that participation is purely for developmental growth.

Behera adds, “By removing any impact on performance ratings, Titan encourages employees to pursue opportunities without the pressure of evaluation, fostering a genuine learning experience.”

Reddy of Philips shares that early on, there was some hesitation as employees equated growth with promotion alone; however, programmes like Talent Insider, IDPs, and cross-functional gigs provided clear pathways for lateral movement, encouraging wider skill acquisition.

“In 2021, 21 percent of roles were filled internally, which rose to 40 percent this year, demonstrating how our approach has been embraced, creating a culture where growth is self-driven and purpose-filled,” says Reddy.

Agrawal of IndiaMART shares some of the challenges which remain consistent in implementing such programmes –

• Resistance to move out of comfort zone

“We understood that people may need some signposting – counselling as they feel uncomfortable stepping out of their current role boundaries,” says Agrawal.

To manage this, a nomination process was created where senior leaders used to discuss prioritising their long-term growth and communicate movement.

• Reassuring that horizontal growth is career development

To ensure that people can see horizontal movement as growth, all horizontal movements are now considered as career progression which include salary revision as well as major perks at IndiaMart.

Also, career progression adds value and weightage to horizontal movements as well.

• Ensuing a transitioning period post movement

The employees who took up horizontal growth were looked upon as tenured employees and performance expectations were quite high as soon as they joined the new teams/departments.

This often led to the disengagement of employees very quickly. Hence, the company ensured that during the transition period, the expectation is like any new joiner.

Mohanty of Zomato says, “We believe that true growth happens outside of comfort zones.”

According to Mohanty, Zomato employees are encouraged to explore new passions and challenge the status quo.

“In line with Zomato’s founder’s mindset, all employees embrace horizontal learning with ‘Everyday as Day 1’ at Zomato, where every day you come to work with the same excitement as any new person – to learn new things, and make a positive impact,” she says.

“We are averse to the concept of titles at Zomato and believe that every Zoman must be defined by their appetite to learn and dream big. We believe in hiring for culture (fit) and training for skill for us to collectively grow,” says Mohanty.