Show Me Your Career Resolutions #newyear #newme

The time for new year’s resolutions are upon us again. While most of us are rushing back to our gym routines, how are you challenging your career? It’s important to reflect on your last year in the workplace and think about how you could do better. Allow yourself some time to reflect. You can divide the last year up into quarters and look at those intervals of time and how you felt in those periods. Perhaps there’s a relationship that needs mending, a task you could do better in, a period of stress that you can’t go through again or a new job you’ve been eyeing for some time.

Let’s do an exercise. Not push-ups, I promise! Find a pen and paper and let’s list a few things out about where you’d like to take your career in 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. It’s okay if you’re not sure about the 10 years. This is really to help you understand what direction you’d like to go towards? Are you an entrepreneur in 10 years or in a completely different line of work? If you’re opening a cupcake shop in 10 years and you’re currently in Accounting – perhaps your goal is to gain capital and master how to make cupcakes. This exercise helps you find meaning in what you are doing now and lines it up with where you want to go.

Find the way and start setting goals by writing down what you’d like to do. Set suitable rewards for yourself along the way and share your plan to improve with others around you. This will help you get “there”!

Thinking about going into management or learning a new skill?

• Set an educational reading or exercise list for yourself and split it by quarters and months. Be open to using how-to tutorials, podcasts, audiobooks and online forums as ways to learn more. Set reminders in your calendar to spend time each month to carve out targets for the next.
• Create a plan to reach your goal that isn’t just passive learning. Commit to educating yourself with mentors and managers. Learn to manage those relationships to get the most out of it. Be willing to try job shadowing, interning, and volunteering. Fill your gaps of knowledge proactively.

Thinking about improving your team?

• Set regular team meetings to receive constructive feedback. Learn about how team members react when there is criticism and learn how to best provide feedback. Commit to regular one-on-ones to determine workloads, strengths, weaknesses and preferences of each individual. Use this time to motivate your team members and talk about what you can do differently as a manager to improve things.
• Prioritize areas of improvement and setup suitable training for the team. This could be part of team building. Plan for team building ahead of time. Each session should serve a purpose (ex: to learn, to review, to express, to commit). Lead icebreakers to gain a better understanding of each individual on your team and allow them free time to bond with each other.

Thinking about moving up, expanding on or changing your position?

• Get an understanding of what the next step up looks like. Chat with your supervisor or HR about how someone with your skill sets could move into a position like that. Commit to educating yourself. Express your willingness to take on responsibilities for learning purposes.
• If you’re looking to take on more challenges, consider discussing this with different leaders inside your company if you have an open door policy. Transferable skills are essential, so think about what types of skills you have and your potential to learn new ones.
• Make a development plan with deadlines to fill your knowledge gap. Arrange on-the-job learning by requesting to job shadow for a few hours each week while meeting your job requirements still. Find a strong mentor or role model to ask insightful questions to.

Thinking about changing companies or finding a job?

• Are there things that could be changed in order for you to feel satisfied at your current company? Set a plan to express these concerns to test the waters on whether or not changes could happen. Sometimes, it takes a few conversations to clarify your needs. Most companies that value employees will spend the time and effort to understand and retain you.
• What does your ideal employer look like?
• Create a basic profile with compensation, outlook and culture. Now, promise not to sway from it too much. The longer job searches go on for, the more likely candidates settle for a job they’re not happy with. Job searches have a huge luck component to it. Not just for landing a job, but the “right” job in the “right” company.
• Update your resume and reach out into your network to gain an understanding of the current job market. Depending on industry, the landscape can change throughout the year, so plan accordingly. Always research (ex: review website and recent news releases) on the company you’re looking to engage with.

This 2019. Let’s master your career plan.

We believe that planning for performance and success is what creates space for exceeding targets. Let us help you get to your goals. We provide coaching services as well as HR consultation including performance planning. We support professionals, managers and employers in making their vision a reality. Together, we can create plans, facilitate learning and grow in the direction that will move you towards your 10 year goal. We know it’s a moving target, so rest assured, we’re there along your side.