Burned Out, Blocked and Bored??

I was reading an article from the HBR the other day on the subject of "mid-career" types and the challenges they face regarding career planning and advancement. I thought it was very interesting and certainly can relate. The double edged sword is that many boomer types are at the tops of their careers ( or near the tops) and a decade of downsizing has decimated the middle ranks of corporate America. That normally isn't a problem unless you are a younger worker looking to move up. Roadblock!

Now the other side of the sword is that as a company, you should seek to have a strong "bench" of capable people ready to do any of your top jobs. Unfortunately how do you keep a strong collection of people primed and ready before they get bored and move on to some other company?

I work in a matrix type organization and this is clearly an issue where people no longer can measure advancement by the promotional ladder ( because there isn't one anymore). So how do you do it???

I think the potential solution is in making job rotations more a necessity and actually drive employees to push their limits........