Traditional values about job tenure and loyalty remain well ingrained with executives taking a cautious view of high job mobility, according to a study by BlueSteps.com, the online executive talent database of the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC).

The research revealed that of the European executives surveyed, 39% had worked for their current organisation for between two and five years, with 51% estimating they will have worked for between four and seven organisations by the end of their career. Forty percent of Europeans stated that a quarter of the senior management staff at their current organisation had been with the company for less than five years.

Peter Felix (pictured), president of the AESC and its subsidiary BlueSteps.com, says: “I was surprised to see that most executives only intended to work for between four and seven organisations throughout their entire career. I found it fairly low to be honest. Given the current skills shortage among senior executives around the world, I would have expected executives to be anticipating numerous job movements throughout their careers.”

The research found that 55% of European respondents believed that two years was the shortest tenure an executive should spend at any one organisation before it would compromise the value of their CV. 

The BlueSteps.com research also highlighted the key factors that cause an executive to leave an employer, with 76% of European executives attributing a lack of career advancement opportunities as the number one motivator to leave. The second most important catalyst, with 64% of the European vote, was dissatisfaction with senior management.