I have recently been supporting people in their fifties with career support, much of it to do with getting over the shock of redundancy and rebuilding their confidence for the next challenge ahead. With younger people it is often how do they get over imposter syndrome to ensure they progress to the levels they wish to do so.
I was therefore interested in respected author Antionette Oglethorpe’s recent book “Confident Career Conversations” which I recommend if you are looking for the next step on your career ladder.
The theme of Antoinette’s book is for both employer and employees to be more open and have conversations on what is next rather than both keeping quiet and letting valuable training and experience go to waste. My era of loyalty either way is a thing of the past with CVs showing 2/3 years’ experience at a company being seen as a positive by employers rather than a negative, which was the case when I looked for jobs.
The first conversation should be by the employee asking themselves – What do they really want from their life and career? The second conversation should be between employee or boss or mentor – where and how can they find opportunities to develop new skills, knowledge and experience? The third conversation should be between top management, HR and employees around how the organisation and employee’s partnership can evolve.
From my experience being involved with employee-owned companies (EOTs) research shows that engaging with employees boosts performance by 15/30%. 70% of employees are dissatisfied with future opportunities at their organisation. Employers want to maximise performance and employees want to maximise their careers. The key to this is having open, honest and effective conversations.
If you are dissatisfied, ask your boss or boss’ boss for an open conversation. Don’t leave before you have such a conversation. If you feel stuck, have a conversation with a mentor or coach first to understand what strategy will work best for you. If you are reaching a crossroads in your career, I suggest Antoinette’s book is a good starting point to give you time to reflect and ensure you take the right steps going forward.
If you are still unsure of your next steps, get in touch with me neil@nvwsolutions.co.uk and we can have a confidential conversation which hopefully will give you a clear path forward.
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