Career management programs largely fail to help employees understand advancement opportunities and chart career paths with their organizations, according to the Towers Watson Global Workforce Study.

The survey found 46 percent of employees and 59 percent of high-potential employees said their organization provides useful career planning tools. Forty-two percent report their employer provides advancement opportunities. Forty-one percent of employees — and 40 percent of employees who have been formally identified as high potentials by their organization — said they must join another firm in order to advance.

Employers also recognize their career management programs are falling short. In another study, the Towers Watson Talent Management and Rewards Survey, 49 percent of employers said they are effective at providing traditional career advancement opportunities; a smaller group, 38 percent, report they are effective at providing nontraditional career development opportunities. However, employers rank career management opportunities as the number one reason that employees would join a company, ahead of base salary and challenging work.

“Many companies are failing to see the big picture when it comes to career management programs and are in danger of losing some of their best talent,” said Renée Smith, a talent and rewards director at Towers Watson. “The lack of career advancement opportunities is the number two reason that employees leave an organization. Pay is the number one reason. At a time when hiring and turnover are increasing, and employers are experiencing problems attracting and retaining talent, employers need to understand the importance of providing career advancement opportunities. Currently, their programs are coming up short.”

The Towers Watson Global Talent Management and Rewards Survey was conducted from April to June 2014. It included responses from 1,637 companies representing a wide range of industries and geographic regions, including 337 companies from the US. The participants.

The Towers Watson Global Workforce Study included more than 32,000 employees, including 6,014 from the US, selected from research panels that represent the populations of full-time employees working in large and midsize organizations across a range of industries in 26 markets around the world. It was conducted online during April and May 2014.