The conventional language of career success moves in only one direction: up. You scale the career ladder or climb the greasy pole. If you do well, you have a rapid ascent. And if you really succeed, you reach the top. No one ever rings home to share the news that they have reached a plateau. But there is another type of career trajectory. Sideways moves, to jobs that do not involve a promotion or even necessarily a pay rise, can be a boon to employees and organisations alike.

A study carried out by senior lecturer Donald Sull of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his co-authors in 2021 found that the availability of lateral career opportunities has a marked impact on employee retention. Their research found that chances to move sideways were 2½ times more important than pay as a predictor of workers’ willingness to stay at a firm.