> This is an incredibly common part of the role(s), so my guess is that you have been unlucky in this.
I could be very unlucky, sure, but I've worked at my fair share of places and it's always been the same. Management is there to keep the cats herded and HR is there to make sure nobody fucks with the money. All that matters is that I do my job and that the employer can use the manager to push more work on me under the guise of setting myself up for a promotion or raise that will never, ever come - it never has.
> all the strong managers I've ever know or worked with pay attention this this, and vast majority of companies (again in my experience) made it an explicit part of their role.
All enhancing an employee's career does is ensure that they have leverage to negotiate higher salaries or leaving the company. No company wants this.
> I'd go so far as to say as a people manager (as opposed to a project manager, say) you cannot do a great job without considering things like career progression, because if you don't, you don't understand your team well enough to be really effective.
Sure, you know where strengths and weaknesses are but that doesn't mean you devote company resources to making the employee better suited for leaving the company. You can do things like growth but you're going to come around and put penalties and fees to prevent the employee from leaving voluntarily.
I have never seen any manager or business treat an employee's career as anything but an inconvenience at best nor have I heard of any of my coworkers or friends or family having experienced anything like this. I can only assume that it doesn't exist or that it is so rare that it may as well not exist.