We know how to use maps to get from point A to point B. When it comes to professional goals, however, many people find themselves struggling to advance.
Are you trying to plan the next move in your career? Will you know when it’s time to take a leap? Are there any tools that can help you navigate your professional life? What kind of road map helps you get to where you want to go in your career?
Before heading off on a grand adventure, it helps to know where you’re going.
If you were to poll university graduates about their goals, (or most working professionals) many would include some variation of being ‘successful’ as a target.
While this is an admirable goal, it is the geographical equivalent of saying “up north.”
Without further specifics, the traveler is left to their own devices to determine if they’ve reached the final destination. To prevent this from happening in your professional life, define the end-goal.
What does success look like to you? Your definition of success may look different than it does to others. You may consider success being able to take four weeks of vacation every year. Success may mean you are able to lead a global team. Until you know what success means to you, however, you’ll have a hard time deciding if you’ve arrived.
Now that your destination is clear, spend time evaluating what it will take to get there.
Do you need specific training and certifications? Look for opportunities to acquire the skills and education that you will need to reach your goals. What are the qualifications for the job you want? Begin a systematic approach to gaining the skills you need for the job you want. Read journals, attend seminars, sign up for training events or look for other avenues to gain skills.
Work backwards. Find the role you want for yourself in the future and start working on those qualifications.
Use goal-setting to help create checkpoints along the way.
No one reaches success alone. Be on the search to seek out mentors, advisors, and industry leaders who can help you as you journey through your career.
Mentors can shorten your learning curve and help you master the skills you need sooner. They can be another resource for direction and can offer encouragement as needed.
No road is without its own set of difficulties. Route changing events can (and often do) happen. The same is true for careers. You may get laid off from your job, markets can change, personal matters may take priority. Being proactive about looking for potential roadblocks can help you avoid setbacks and reach your final destination.
Very few successful people credit their success to doing what everyone else did. The greatest success stories generally involve a variation of, “Everyone told me I was crazy, but I did it anyway.” Don’t be afraid to try an alternative route on your journey. You never know where it may lead you.
On most trips, the journey is part of the excitement. Don’t miss out on the enjoyment you can have along the way. Embrace the journey and appreciate the hard work and effort you are making to get to your definition of success.
Interested in learning more about how to attract, retain, engage and appreciate your employees? Check out our blog, where we explore new topics regularly.
When Google instituted its ‘Chief Happiness Officer’ position in the early 2000s, hundreds of companies followed suit, prioritizing happiness for their employees. As a result, employee happiness has become a focal point of human resource departments.
What happens when the clock strikes 5:00? Should corporations be concerned about their employees’ happiness outside of work? Some experts agree that companies should be empathetic to the happiness of their staff even when they’re not at work, while others vehemently oppose.
In a study by JLL Corporate Solutions, 87% of people surveyed want someone dedicated to employee happiness and wellbeing at work.
There’s merit for this idea. Happy employees are more likely to be engaged at work. Engaged employees are more productive, take fewer sick days and are less likely to look for a new job.
While on-site perks such as ping pong tables and free snacks are helpful, employers who wish to keep their employees happy while at work will work to help keep them happy while away from work. More succinctly, employers should prioritize their employees’ work-life balance.
Workplace policies that support employee life outside of the office can greatly improve what happens inside the office by alleviating the things that cause stress. Flex scheduling can accommodate working parent struggles. Providing an option to work from home as needed allows employees who have health issues to work as they are able.
While some companies seem to go to the extreme in providing for their employees’ happiness at work, they seem to ignore the fact that their company is made up of people who have lives outside the office.
Other companies pay lip service to being concerned about their employees, while their policies indicate they only care about their bottom line.
Companies can care about their employees’ happiness – both in and out of the office – without going out of business. In the end, it is left to each business leader to determine what is appropriate for their own company.
Do your employees need brand new flat screen TVs at home to be happy? Would those TVs help them to be more productive at work? You’ll have to decide that for yourself.
Does your company have a Chief Happiness Officer? What efforts have you taken to improve employee happiness?
Interested in learning more about how to attract, retain, engage and appreciate your employees? Check out our blog, where we explore new topics regularly.
When your employees' goals align with the purpose of the organization, they are more likely to be loyal to your brand, more likely to be engaged at work, and they become brand ambassadors - more willing to recommend your company to others.
Yet, according to a recent survey, 85% of frontline managers and frontline employees reported that they are unsure how they can live their purpose through their work.
Employees at all levels of your organization seek purpose in their lives. If your employees don’t see the higher purpose in the work they do at your company, or how their personal and professional goals align with company goals - they’re likely to seek greener pastures.
So, how can you start to align your employees’ goals with that of your organization?
In many cases, in the minds of your employees, the goals of an organization don’t translate well into actionable steps. To align employee goals with the organizations’, start with the end goal. Then, develop employee level goals to support the larger picture.
If the corporate goal is to “Treat customers with respect”, how does that relate to the average employee? For those in customer service, it might be obvious, for those in legal, accounting or other departments that don’t have daily contact with your customers, it may be ambiguous.
Define the goals into actionable steps that employees can work toward. Does it mean every employee is responsible for handling customer service issues as they arise? Does it impact the way customers are greeted? What does the goal look like for each employee?
How do you inform employees about the goals of the company? Break the goals down into small talking points. Add one to each staff meeting to introduce and reinforce the corporate vision. Ensure that on-boarding processes include information about the corporate goals, and how each position supports that goal.
Don’t assume that everyone “just knows.” Communicate clearly the goals of the company to each individual. Put them in writing. Display in public locations. Use them in marketing and internal communication.
Tie employee’s daily tasks to the larger corporate goal. Allow them to see how their daily activities affect the success of the organization. This can help prevent employees from being caught up in the day to day drudgery of their tasks; they see clearly how their efforts impact the company. In addition, increasing transparency helps everyone stay accountable for their work. When everyone can see the success (and failures) of the team, individuals are more motivated to work hard toward their goals.
Employees who have clearly defined goals are more likely to be successful at work. Help your employees develop goals that are tied to the corporate goals. Offer goal-setting workshops to assist employees in crafting SMART goals for their position. Help them identify ways they can meet the corporate goals through their own goal-setting plan.
Recognize and reward employees who meet their goals. Broadcast success stories as a way to motivate and inspire others to keep pushing towards their goals. Find ways to celebrate the achievement of goals – no matter how small or incremental.
Track new clients, sales records, customer satisfaction results; whatever the specific goals of your organization are, find ways to measure them, and celebrate their achievement. Use mistakes as a learning opportunity to improve, and encourage employees to keep working on their goals, even if they don’t meet them right away.
Goal alignment is one of the most important aspects of effective leadership. When you get everyone in your team working in the same direction, it can be a powerful opportunity for your company to succeed. How can you improve the goal alignment of your organization today?
Interested in learning more about how to attract, retain, engage and appreciate your employees? Check out our blog, where we explore new topics regularly.
Have you noticed key individuals within your organization who show signs of leadership? These emerging leaders can be an asset to your company with proper development.
An important part of your own leadership development is encouraging others to step up into their leadership roles.
Here are some simple ways you can start encouraging leaders in your organization:
Once you have identified an individual as an emerging leader in your organization, don’t keep it secret! Let the individual know that you have an interest in developing their growth and share your leadership plan with them.
Group coaching is one way to allow leaders to support each other and share their experiences. When participants take a role in leading discussions, they are practicing their leadership skills as well as learning from each other. A leadership development group is an excellent way to encourage emerging leaders.
As young (this could mean both young in age or young in leadership experience) leaders develop, allow them to be in the forefront of your organization. Give them opportunities to practice leading in a controlled environment. Let them lead the monthly staff meeting, present at a town-hall, or collaborate with other departments. Find ways that they can step into a leadership role and gain experience.
Use action-based learning to give emerging leaders the chance to solve real-world business problems.
Do you need to improve employee engagement? Are you working on improving client intake processes?
Whatever current issues your business is facing, give your emerging leader the opportunity to help solve them.
Failure is inevitable. Give your emerging leader(s) the freedom to take calculated risks. When things don’t work out the way they’re intended, use the chance to provide coaching on how to succeed in the future.
Discuss how the failed execution of the plan could have been altered to ensure success, and what steps could be taken the next time.
Resist the urge to “solve” the problem for them. Allow them to wrestle through the process and come up with their own solution. Then coach as necessary to help them make informed decisions.
Mentoring is when experienced leaders share their knowledge with others. Establish a mentoring program (either formal or informal – whatever will fit best in your company) to help develop the emerging leaders in your organization.
Tailor the program to meet the needs of your organization. Pair new leaders with high performing leaders at the same level for encouragement, or match mentors from different levels with new leaders to provide additional training.
Allow emerging leaders to see how their efforts impact the company. Establish milestones and goals, and then show them how reaching their goals can help the growth of the organization. Leaders need to know that every individual has a role to play in reaching corporate goals. By giving them real-time results tied to their goals and milestones, you can help them both appreciate the efforts of individuals and realize the importance of their own actions.
The misconception that emerging leaders are inherently equipped for success is detrimental to the emerging leader’s development and can cripple an organization’s growth. An effective leadership training program will provide systematic coaching and development. In addition, a successful program will encourage emerging leaders to continue their personal growth.
How will you encourage emerging leader(s) in your company?
Interested in learning more about how to attract, retain, engage and appreciate your employees? Check out our blog, where we explore new topics regularly.
A key to becoming a successful business leader is to identify the talents that you will need, and then find the employees who can fill those needs.
Many managers express uncertainty about how to begin looking for talent and are overwhelmed with the idea of implementing a search within the workforce. But, many times the talent that already exists within a company goes overlooked. So, how can you identify and grow talent within your company?
Developing the talent of your employees can be one of the most effective means of employee retention. This can be implemented through in-house training programs that will help you identify, select and train specific high-potential individuals.
But training programs can work for all and don’t always have to have the goal of finding your next rising stars. They can include topics such as goal-setting, getting your mindset right, and developing a successful work/life integration which will allow all your employees to be present and give their best to your company.
Over 70% of Fortune 500 companies have an established mentoring program. In addition, over 75% of executives list their mentors as one of the reasons they are successful. When done correctly, mentorship can be powerful.
Will your company pair new employees with a seasoned employee? Do you want to mentor highly qualified individuals who may be on a leadership track within your company? With a customized program, you can narrow down your mentorship to cultivate exactly the specific skills your company needs.
Establish an individual development program for each employee. What skills do they currently possess? What skills would they like to obtain? What are their future plans? By helping each employee develop a training plan, you can ensure that they are receiving the training they need to accomplish their goals, and they will be more equipped to perform their job.
Offer new training programs that can help employees learn new aspects of the job, problem-solving strategies or use new technologies. Encourage your employees to take continuing education courses, attend workshops and other training events as part of their jobs. Bring training programs to your workplace as part of Lunch and Learns, afternoon seminars and more. Offer courses that may not seem directly related to their jobs but will help them become better employees and ready for a rapidly changing future.
Sometimes, it is necessary to hire an outside individual, especially as turnover is at an all time high. Rather than make that the go-to solution, however, when possible find ways to promote from within. Inform employees of openings in the company and provide a path to advancement, so employees know what skills and requirements they must meet to be eligible for promotion
Your workforce is full of talented individuals. Allowing your employees to use their talents will not only benefit your company, it will help them become more engaged in their work and will reduce turnover as a result. Go looking for the hidden talent in your company – you may be surprised at what you discover!
Interested in learning more about how to attract, retain, engage and appreciate your employees? Check out our blog, where we explore new topics regularly.
The job market is changing. Gone are the days where employees found a job and settled in for life. A long ‘work history’ section on your resume was once associated with job hopping and was looked upon negatively.
Today’s workforce not only expects to change jobs frequently, but many employment experts recommend a job change every four years. Surely, this only applies to disgruntled employees, right? Surprisingly, even employees who reportedly love their job and identify as “happy” are leaving their positions.
In 2018, employee retention statistics showed that the turnover rate was at 27%. The following year, turnover rates rose to 36%. However, since 2010, employee retention statistics show that turnover rate has risen to an astonishing 88%.
While studies indicate turnover rates were already rising before the world shut down, the COVID-19 pandemic has had dramatic implications for employee retention.
By mid 2021, 65% of U.S workers were actively looking for a new job.
But what has changed over the last several years to make employee turnover rise at such staggering rates?
Before you can implement a plan to increase employee retention, you first need to figure out why they’re leaving in the first place.
Employees are less willing to stay at a job where they don’t see potential. Even a relatively happy employee may react strongly to management transitions, changing team dynamics and shifting job responsibilities.
Nearly 40% of employees reported leaving their job because of a poor relationships with management. How many of those bosses would be shocked to know they caused their employee to leave? Too often, management assumes that everything is fine because there are no obvious problems.
If employees feel that leadership is not delivering on their end, they’re more likely to go where there will be better communication and management practices within the company.
Thanks to an ever-expanding availability of connections, you can find job postings for companies around the world right on your phone. For a generation of employees who thrive on experiences, “Why not?” has become a mantra.
Why not live on the other side of the globe for a few years? You can always come back home. Why not try a completely different field? New opportunities arise every day and being able to take advantage of them is a chance many people won’t pass up.
The pandemic has opened peoples eyes to new opportunities and new ways of living. If you’re not fulfilling employee needs and offering flexibility in both scheduling and telecommuting, your employees will surely find it elsewhere.
Top performers want to be where they know their hard work is having a real impact and where they will have a wider range of advancement options. Do you have a path forward that they can see? Do you offer training and development programs for your employees? These are excellent ways to keep your employees motivated and engaged at work.
Richard Branson once summed up his philosophy of keeping employees happy by stating, “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” While there is no guarantee that employees will stay forever, you can make your workplace so attractive to employees that they will have little reason to leave.
Interested in learning more about how to attract, retain, engage and appreciate your employees? Check out our blog, where we explore new topics regularly.