CASE STUDY

Enhancing Talent Retention and Career Progression at CGT Catapult

The Challenge

Exam Question: How do you retain top talent in an increasingly competitive landscape?

CGT Catapult’s Background

In 2021, CGT Catapult launched a bold new people strategy to address growing challenges in its employee experience. Like many organisations in the post-COVID biological talent market, CGT Catapult faced high employee turnover and intense competition for critical skilled talent. Competitors were successfully luring away top employees with seemingly modest compensation increases, which pointed to underlying issues beyond compensation and benefits. Through a focused investigation, CGT Catapult uncovered the primary driver behind talent attrition was a perceived lack of career development opportunities.

CGT Catapult’s Objective

CGT Catapult partnered with Let’s Talk Talent to implement an actionable and robust career development methodology that aligns with their people strategy. The primary objectives were to create a scalable competency framework and career pathways that would:

  • Enhance employee career experiences
  • Embed a clear, actionable approach across the employee experience
  • Drive ownership of career progression for both employees and managers

CGT Catapult’s Goals

The goals for this initiative were threefold:

  1. Drive higher retention of top talent by creating visible and meaningful career development opportunities.
  2. Increase career progression and talent fluidity by providing structured and transparent pathways.
  3. Redefine career processes to empower employees in managing their career progression and to support managers in facilitating impactful career conversations.

Approach and Implementation

Working closely with CGT Catapult, Let’s Talk Talent designed a competency framework that aligned with the organisation’s vision and needs. The team created structured career pathways to encourage internal mobility and skill-building, whilst also driving empowerment, ownership as well as a culture of growth that employees could visibly engage with and trust.

The newly created framework and pathways were integrated into the employee experience, supported by manager training, and deployed organisation-wide. This was a key step to ensure that managers could confidently lead meaningful career conversations, encouraging employees to proactively pursue development opportunities within the organisation.

The Results

Within eight months, the new framework began to yield tangible benefits, demonstrating the value of a well-implemented careers approach. Key impacts that the team saw included:

  • 20% Reduction in Attrition: The robust career pathways helped CGT Catapult retain key talent, addressing their previously high turnover rates.
  • 20 Internal Promotions: Within the first year, 20 employees advanced into new roles, showcasing the framework’s success in facilitating career fluidity.
  • 100% Adoption of New Methodology: The career framework and pathways were fully adopted across the organisation, embedding career ownership into CGT Catapult’s culture and strengthening employee commitment.

By creating an effective and structured careers methodology that resonated with both employees and managers, CGT Catapult gained a substantial return on investment. The framework not only reduced attrition costs but also boosted overall engagement and productivity, as employees saw clear pathways for their future at CGT Catapult. 

This project showcases the true power of aligning a strategic talent approach with an organisation’s unique needs, paving the way for sustained growth and talent retention in a competitive market.