The hitchhiker's guide to your career

This past weekend I spent some time gardening on my balcony. The confinement has given me more time at home I’m dedicating to take better care of my plants. Some simply needed water, some required new soil and a few had outgrown their pots and I had to re-plant.. It made me think of times when I felt that I didn't fit in my job any longer and I needed a new stimulus to continue growing.

Have you ever felt stuck in your career or unsure about what is next? Job changes can be a choice for the ones with niche expertise and looking for something new. In turbulent times they become a reality to face for the less fortunate. Career pivots are a frequent way to find more fulfilling endeavors. We all need to reinvent ourselves if we want to remain relevant in an ever changing job environment. Not knowing where the opportunity lies and the fear of missing out are common experiences we go through when job seeking.

At an individual level, a way of feeling more in control is to build a personal development plan. Learning what others that have been in similar roles to ours are doing next provides with avenues to consider. Reaching out to people in roles that we desire can help us validate our interests. Learning what skills helped them reach a certain position and what they consume to stay up to date provides resources we can tap into. Researching and cataloging learning materials can be done individually and collaborating with others. Once we have a catalog, we can book time to review its content and create a micro learning habit. Seeking for coaching opportunities can help us accelerate our learning. Experiential opportunities and stretch assignments allow us to develop skills on the job.

For managers and leaders, investing in the personal development of our teams should be our priority. This means, taking the time to make them think about what they want to do next, encouraging them to have a plan and review it regularly. It also means keeping their skills and interest top of mind and connecting them with opportunities we see around us. Leaving our ego behind to realize it is not about us having and retaining the best team. It is about developing every individual to be the best version of themselves for as long as we have them. It is about evolving the scope of our team and adjusting it to maximize the value add to the organization and community we operate in.

Organizations that promote an environment where an open and dynamic internal Job Marketplace is a reality will be more likely to boost productivity and retention. This can be accomplished by investing to identify and surface strengths and interests of individuals and matching them to organizational opportunities that can benefit from them. Making opportunities transparent and having fair and inclusive processes to move people around will increase employee’s trust and confidence. All in all, keeping the best interests of both the individuals and the organization in mind.  

Knowing what to do next in our career can be daunting, especially with a potential economic recession coming and more job insecurity.  Paraphrasing Douglas Adam’s in “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”: “don’t panic”; devoting time to our own development and contributing to the development of others is a great way to get started.