---
id: "concept-destination-roles"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["§ Reskilling Is a Change-Management Initiative"]
tags: ["career-pathing", "employee-motivation", "program-design"]
related: ["concept-train-in-place", "claim-employee-willingness"]
definition: "Specific, predefined future positions within a company that employees are explicitly trained to transition into upon completing a reskilling program."
sources: ["reskilling"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-reskilling"
originDay: 10
articleStem: "hbr-edu-34-reskilling-in-age-of-ai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2023/09/reskilling-in-the-age-of-ai"
sourceTitle: "Reskilling in the Age of AI"
---
# Destination Roles

**Destination roles** are the specific, predefined future positions employees are trained to fill upon completing a reskilling program.

The research indicates that **clearly describing destination roles in advance is a critical success factor**. When destination roles are transparent, employees are significantly more motivated to participate because the career trajectory and tangible benefits become apparent (reducing personal risk — see [[claim-employee-willingness]]). Defining the destination role also makes the curriculum more effective, because training can be highly *position-specific* rather than abstract.

Integrating employees into these roles post-training requires additional support: **mentoring, coaching, and help navigating new work norms** — Amazon's ([[entity-amazon-d10]]) "Grow Our Own Talent" buddy system is one example. Destination roles pair naturally with [[concept-train-in-place]] and form the "matching and integrating" task of [[framework-reskilling-change-management]].