Job-hopping or staying loyal? Lessons from ACT’s 35-year CEO journey
Subscribe to our free newsletter today to keep up to date with the latest business news.
Career success is often portrayed as a fast-moving trajectory shaped by frequent moves, side steps and leaps to new employers. In a job market that rewards mobility, loyalty can seem outdated. Yet Janet Godwin, the CEO of ACT, stands as proof that one can build a thriving career inside the same organization for more than three decades and still lead change from within.
Janet Godwin’s journey: A testament to long-term commitment
Godwin’s professional life started at ACT in 1989 when she joined the education and testing nonprofit in an entry-level role. She steadily progressed through diverse positions in operations, IT and executive leadership. Her story shows that a single organization can be a landscape of opportunities when both the company and the employee invest in each other. In 2020, after 31 years at ACT, she became its CEO, proving that institutional knowledge and loyalty can deliver strong leadership when nurtured intentionally.
Godwin has credited her success to ACT’s openness to internal growth, structured development programs and her willingness to adapt and lead through changing times. Under her leadership, ACT has navigated shifts in the standardized testing sector and embraced new strategies to stay relevant in an evolving educational landscape.
The organizational impact of employee loyalty
Research consistently shows that companies with higher retention rates enjoy lower recruitment costs, stronger institutional memory and greater cultural continuity. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, replacing an employee can cost between one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary. For a leader like Godwin, the value of three decades of accumulated experience cannot be easily replaced or replicated.
Long-tenured employees often become culture carriers, setting standards for new hires and maintaining institutional values through periods of change. This deep-rooted experience supports stability in times of market volatility and leadership transition. Companies like ACT, which create pathways for growth and reward commitment, are positioned to maintain a competitive edge through a stable, experienced workforce.
Challenges and criticisms of long-term tenure
Not every story of staying put ends in advancement. Critics argue that long tenures can lead to stagnation or resistance to new ideas. Organizations must balance experience with fresh perspectives by encouraging continuous learning, internal mobility and external benchmarking. Likewise, employees must ensure that staying does not mean standing still. Godwin’s rise within ACT underscores the importance of adaptability, a proactive approach to new roles and a culture that embraces change.
Organizations hoping to replicate ACT’s long-term retention success need more than lip service to loyalty. They must develop clear career pathways, provide ongoing training and maintain open communication about growth opportunities. Flexible work arrangements, inclusive cultures and supportive leadership can further motivate employees to stay and grow.
Janet Godwin’s story invites companies and employees alike to rethink the modern definition of a successful career. While job-hopping may remain a fixture of today’s work culture, stories like hers remind us that loyalty, growth and leadership can flourish inside one organization for decades. For companies, the challenge is to build the kind of culture that makes people want to stay, and the kind of pathways that make staying worthwhile.
Sources: