Career Development Without a Formal Career Ladder
Career advancement is often associated with promotions, new job titles, structured training and clearly defined organizational hierarchies. In small culinary businesses, however, those mechanisms may be difficult to establish.
The study by Rahmayanti and Ramadhan found that employees in the four participating SMEs generally did not follow written career paths or standardized promotion procedures. Instead, career development emerged from everyday work.
Employees who demonstrated competence, discipline and reliability were more likely to receive additional responsibilities. Over time, these responsibilities could include supervising colleagues, handling cash, preparing sales reports, managing inventory, arranging employee schedules or helping train new workers.
The researchers describe this pattern as informal career management. Career growth does not necessarily require an immediate change in job title. An employee can experience professional development by taking on more complex tasks and gaining greater trust from management.
Informal Learning Becomes a Major Development Tool
Another important finding was the central role of informal learning.
Rather than relying primarily on scheduled training programs, employees learned through daily activities, observation, guidance from experienced colleagues and direct involvement in increasingly complex work.
For example, kitchen employees learned new menu preparation techniques from senior workers or owners. Baristas learned beverage preparation and subsequently took on inventory and store-opening responsibilities. Other employees learned different positions when they expressed an interest in expanding their skills.
This approach resembles the broader role of informal learning in SME career development identified by Hye Kyoung Kim in a 2026 study of career adaptability. Kim found that organizational career management and informal learning were associated with stronger career adaptability among SME employees. (SBP Journal)
For culinary businesses, learning by doing can be particularly practical because many skills are closely connected to real operational situations. Employees can immediately apply what they learn while serving customers, preparing food, managing stock or coordinating shifts.
Trust Can Open the Door to Career Opportunities
The research also identifies managerial trust as an important informal mechanism for career development.
Owners and managers reported giving more responsibility to employees who had demonstrated reliability, competence and commitment. Trusted employees could be assigned sensitive or more complex duties, including cash handling, inventory management and supervision.
From the employees' perspective, this trust created opportunities to learn new functions and demonstrate their capabilities.
The relationship between trust and development is especially significant in SMEs because owners and employees often interact directly. In a small organization, a manager may observe an employee's performance closely and make career-related decisions without relying on a formal human-resource department.
Rahmayanti and Ramadhan therefore show that managerial decisions can function as an informal career-management system. Recognition, delegation and opportunities to learn can become practical substitutes for formal promotion procedures.
More Responsibility Can Mean Career Advancement
One of the study's clearest findings is that career advancement was frequently reflected in responsibility expansion rather than promotion.
Employees described moving from basic operational duties into roles involving mentoring, cash reconciliation, shift coordination, sales reporting and supervision.
This distinction is important for understanding career development in small businesses. A worker may retain the same formal title while acquiring substantially greater skills, autonomy and organizational responsibility.
The researchers interpret these changes as meaningful forms of career development because employees gain experience and competencies that can strengthen their professional capabilities.
The findings are consistent with research emphasizing organizational learning and career-development resources in SMEs, while adding a more detailed view of how those processes can occur through everyday workplace activities.
Small Business Structures Also Create Career Limits
Informal career development does not eliminate structural constraints.
Because the businesses studied were relatively small, they had limited numbers of managerial positions. Employees could become senior workers, supervisors or take on additional responsibilities, but there were not enough hierarchical positions for every experienced employee to receive a conventional promotion.
Some employees also reported uncertainty about where their careers could progress because the organizational structure was limited.
This creates a central challenge for culinary SMEs: employees can continue learning and gaining responsibility even when formal upward mobility is limited.
For business owners, the finding suggests that career development does not necessarily require creating a large hierarchy. Clearer expectations, cross-training, mentoring, recognition and progressive responsibility could provide employees with visible development opportunities even within a small organization.
Career Development May Support Employee Retention
The study also explored how employees perceived career management in relation to their decision to stay.
Participants described learning opportunities, managerial trust, recognition and increased responsibilities as positive aspects of their employment experience. Some said these factors encouraged them to remain with their employers.
However, the researchers make an important distinction: the findings do not establish that career management directly causes employee retention.
Employees also considered salary and the work environment when thinking about whether to remain. Career development was therefore perceived as one factor among several that can influence the employment experience.
This is particularly relevant to culinary SMEs, where employee turnover can disrupt daily operations and affect service quality. Providing opportunities to learn and assume greater responsibilities may help businesses create a stronger sense of professional growth without requiring expensive formal training systems.
What the Findings Mean for Culinary Businesses
Researchers: Career Management Can Be Informal but Still Meaningful
Rahmayanti and Ramadhan's findings indicate that the absence of a formal career system does not mean employees lack opportunities for professional development. Instead, career management in culinary SMEs can emerge through work experience, informal learning, managerial trust, increased responsibility and employees' perceptions of growth.
The researchers' interpretation can be summarized as follows: in small culinary businesses, employees may develop their careers through everyday interactions and workplace experiences even when formal promotion structures are limited.
This perspective is particularly relevant for SMEs because it recognizes career development as something that can occur through ordinary management practices rather than only through formal training programs or hierarchical promotion.
Author Profiles
Ifada Rahmayanti is affiliated with Universitas Ahmad Dahlan and is the corresponding author of the study. Her academic work represented in this article focuses on employee career management, career development and human-resource issues in SMEs. The supplied article does not provide her academic degree, so no degree is attributed here.
Sadida Arsyad Ramadhan is affiliated with Universitas Sebelas Maret and is a co-author of the study. His contribution to the article centers on employee career management and development in the SME context. The supplied article does not specify his academic degree or formal field designation, so these details are not inferred.
0 Komentar