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Monday, April 16th, 2012
Whether you are seeking promotion, facing redundancy or thinking about changing your career, professional Career Transition support via a career management company such as TCMO (The Career Management Organisation Ltd) is well worth considering.
Many people quit looking for a career when they find a job but in many instances, it is not planned. You could handle career transition yourself but unless it is carefully planned, it can be an unsettling process. As an example, where do you start? How do you plan transition from one career to another? The key word is “plan” because without careful planning, you could end up in a job that does not provide the enjoyment, stimulation and challenge that professional career management support can offer.
Your career should be mapped out on day one. It is a journey to success but along the route you will have to contend with many barriers and obstacles that only professional support can overcome. The road to successful career transition is dotted with many pot holes and only perseverance, careful management and the will to succeed will ensure success.
Career Transition should start with an assessment of your current situation plus the opportunity to explore positions which at this stage you may not even have considered. Careful planning and preparation with on-going support from a team of career professionals such as that provided by TCMO, is essential. Note the word “on-going,” because success is not final. Likewise, failure is not fatal provided the on going support to ensure that you have the focus and will to continue when things get tough is there. TCMO are career managers, coaches, mentors and trainers who have the skills to adapt and overcome the challenges encountered along your career path.
Career Transition should be viewed as a “New Beginning”. It can however be what you want it to be. A new lifestyle or a path to prosperity: a means of stimulation and enjoyment or a means of achieving your full potential.
Before you start on that journey, speak to the career management team at TCMO. They will offer a free career consultation to explore the opportunities. Make that call now (0131 201 0181) it could be the start of a “New Beginning”.
Monday, April 16th, 2012
There are people who are extremely lucky in some ways, especially when it comes to career management. You know the sort: they knew from the age of 10 that they wanted to be a doctor/lawyer/pilot, were focused on that one achievement throughout school, university and beyond, and are now happy (or possibly, more accurately, ‘content’) in their job. Fantastic.
Of course it could be that it was more a strong sense of purpose, rather than luck that drove them and allowed them to reach their goal, but the common thread is that they did remain focused and they managed their career.
However the truth is that the majority of people are more likely to have found their current role in life by: following the career of a family member, a friend’s recommendation, the result of trawling the internet, or simply by accident; and the result is just as common: Acceptance.
When we at TCMO speak to clients for the first time – i.e. people who come to us because they want or need to make a change in their career path – almost all say that one of the key requirements they seek in their new role is “Job Satisfaction”. There could be any number of causes for dissatisfaction with your job but the fact is that the vast majority of people will simply keep their head down and get on with it. “It’s a job. Pays the money. End of.” Precisely. End of ambition, end of purpose, end of job satisfaction.
There are always those well-meaning friends or partners who will tell you that you’re “…missing out on your true potential and you should be striving to better yourself!” (especially the partners!). And you may even agree. But, sadly, without the help and guidance offered by a truly professional career management team, very few know how to do so, inertia sets in, and so that is all that ‘advice’ will ever be: well-meaning but, ultimately ….useless. (It’s a fact.)
The Career Management Organisation (TCMO) on the other hand offers personal, focused and, crucially, objective guidance on how to drill down and identify your key skills, experience and personal preferences; we identify new opportunities and potential roles that are ideally suited to you. We then show you how to exploit these opportunities to the full – which means that we lift you out of the mere ‘Acceptance’ category and straight into ‘Job Satisfaction’, making your life considerably better and easier. And we’ve done it time and time again.
So, finally, when asked if you’re enjoying your job, you can say: “Oh yes! But I’ve always wanted to do this.”
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
What position do you think the current market is in at the moment?
With the notable exception of the public sector in Scotland (now 23% of the total), which saw an average total 4% staff reduction in 2011 (or 23,800 redundancies) it seems the state of the general market in Scotland can also be summarised as showing “modest growth”, with the usual strongest performers being IT/Computing and Executive / Professional but also a surprisingly welcome showing by Engineering/Construction. The financial sector is still “adjusting” as Lloyds TSB and RBS both announce 2000 job losses in the UK (25% in Scotland), although the retail banking side holds its own.
Despite the high level of unemployment, there are still areas of skills shortages within various industries, such as IT and electrical engineering. However, with many industries and organisations it is still a buyers’ market. This means that job hunters need to ensure they market themselves very effectively at all stages from their CV to their approaches to the market and, of course, that they interview, not only well, but better than their competitors.
What do you think the biggest challenge is for both employers and employees who are faced with a redundancy / career transition situation?
The ‘R’ word no longer carries the stigma it used to and both employers and employees should recognise this and be direct with each other to achieve the best outcome for both. Apart from ensuring legal compliance employers should be as helpful possible to the affected employee in terms of their future outside the organisation.
Treating employees who are leaving with respect not only helps them, but also gives a clear signal to remaining staff that their employer cares. Typical support would include a working of notice period, if needed, which allows the employee to start their new career search, a financial package to reflect their time with the organisation and outplacement support to help them develop their career search and provide the tools for them to gain a new position.
For employees it is important to recognise that it is the job which no longer exists and that they have done nothing wrong. Treat a redundancy situation as an opportunity to reflect on an employee’s career to date and what they want to do in the future. Professional support is extremely important in achieving this. Employee flexibility in terms of job sought, location or salary expectations are all helpful to finding a new role.
For employees facing redundancy, the initial issue is overcoming the “fear” factor. Fear that they are being thrown on the scrap heap and that because of the current period of recession, they will be unable to find another job. The challenge facing employers who are implementing redundancy is to ensure that appropriate outplacement support is in place and that they are seen as a caring employer. If this does not happen, those staff who are left will feel under threat and will start looking for new jobs elsewhere rather than wait for the next round of redundancies.
In terms of advice for employers, once a decision has been reached that staff redundancies are inevitable, the biggest challenge is to keep the ship steady. Even in the tightest of structures, it’s surprising how people add 2+2 and get 5. Rumours build up among the workforce and this can have a devastating effect not only on staff morale, but then client confidence as well, as disgruntled employees start to share their thoughts with others.
Consequently it’s essential to have an agreed plan of action, and then act swiftly and decisively. A programme of protracted and indecisive redundancies delivered piecemeal will have an increasingly negative impact which could, in the worst cases, cause terminal damage to the company/firm. Decide, plan, then act.
How do you think employers can help the employees who remain in employment after a career transition / redundancy situation?
Firstly be sure to treat the leavers respectfully – they are your ambassadors both internally and externally. Secondly be open and honest with remaining employees. Explain why the redundancies had to happen. Explain what everyone is now expected to do and why. Where changes are major implement management and staff training to help everyone understand accept and agree to changes. The best approach for an employer is to not pretend that nothing has happened. If you do not explain the changes the rumour mill will turn, and not positively.
What do you think might surprise people about the current market and jobs situation?
The unadvertised job sector accounts for around 70% of vacancies in the UK. A competent Career Management Company such as TCMO will enable people to access this market.
The fact, as I always say to people, that “..there are more jobs out there than you can shake a stick at; it’s just a case of knowing where to look.” This applies mainly to the unadvertised job sector, admittedly, although opportunities are so often missed through a lack of understanding about how to approach the market effectively which is surprising.
What surprises me, however, are the statistics in the Jobs Survey as the “modest growth” and the fact that the steadily upward graph lines are quite as positive as they seem to be.
Finally, the current need for ex-public sector employees to transfer to the private sector must be enormous, and the competition fierce and these people may have to adjust their focus dramatically, both in terms of remuneration and working practices. There is a great need for help in this area.
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012
With the world and web full of information and ideas it is hard to choose what is best for you and your current situation.
During personally challenging times after job loss or during new career searching good judgement can get put to one side for reasons that in the long run may not be right.
So, firstly you need to know what is career coaching and career transition ?
Career coaching should be a structured set of activities that offer you and equip you with key career goals and a realistic method of getting there.
Career Transition is a way of describing your current period of career change that could be due to your own or external influences i.e. redundancy or need for promotion? Or more simply put it is the bit between your A to B career journey.
Areas to Consider
- What do you feel you need most help with?
- Why do think coaching will help?
- Where do you feel you are up to in your career to date and where do you want to be?
- What timescales have you set yourself for getting a new job and getting a new career…..? they may be 2 different things
- How much time do you have to undertaken coaching
- Who else can offer advice? Public sector sources?
- What type of coaching do you best respond to?
Once you have asked yourself these questions then its time to go and find the right career coaching which is relevant and effective for your career transition situation
Choosing your Career Coaching
You should use your answers to the above questions and directly ask your potential career coaching provider to provide their bespoke solutions / offerings and pricing to match your budgets
Once you have a number to consider then it is down to meeting them and seeing who fits your style and who you feel can respond to your career transition
Overall, you need to pick a career coach who understands and knows how to deliver your expectations…..not just a counsellor or expert on your specific industry.
A business such as TCMO will be able to manage all these needs and more, we look forward to hearing from you……….
Monday, March 19th, 2012
For anyone who decides to take up the offer of Career Management from professionals like TCMO, the results can be both rewarding (and, sometimes, quite astounding). However, as we have said many times, any form of career management has to be structured round a joint effort between us both. Like two horses pulling a carriage, if one slows so will the other; but if both pull strongly then they will reach their destination much sooner – possibly in record time!
In other words, the benefits to be gained by working with Career Management professionals comes not only from what you will learn from them about yourself, your capabilities, your opportunities and the range of skills you possibly didn’t realise you had, but also by how you can apply these, and yourself, in a much more structured way to the various aspects of job searching. It is also, importantly, a strong motivational tool.
Often mis-quoted, it was in fact Churchill who first said: “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.” And this indisputable piece of advice applies equally to your own career management. It is vital that you plan your activity and have a strategy that you can follow on a daily basis. It has also been said that job searching is a job in itself (“….it’s just that you don’t get paid!”) and you must approach it in that way.
You should be able to plan daily tasks and activities and structure those tasks such that the activities under which they fall have separate headings. Just as a good chef will prepare his signature dish by first sourcing the ingredients, then preparing each ingredient separately and finally combining them to achieve his masterpiece, so you need to set yourself tasks which, individually, will require your full attention and effort.
Good activity planning has also to include the setting of weekly goals, which can be set either by your TCMO career manager or yourself. Naturally, your personal goals will be specific to you and your own strategy, but will provide the motivation to keep you focused. Combine these goals with the application of new ideas and success will follow. Just as the chef will have spent time and effort of every aspect of his creation, so you will find that a similarly focused, structured and planned approach will result in…..the Signature Dish of the Century!
Career Management by TCMO is the way forward….
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Corporate image and employer brand is of paramount importance when recruiting new staff. It is however this image and branding that is most at risk when companies face change. That is why caring organisations retain and promote the services of an Outplacement Company to help smooth the period of transition associate with change, and this is where employees benefit from the actions of a caring employer.
Outplacement support represents an in built insurance policy for those employees who may, as a result of change, restructuring or down sizing, find themselves out of a job. The initial shock of redundancy is quickly addressed by a competent outplacement company such as The Career Management Organisation Ltd (TCM)), who will very quickly provide support, hope and focus for the displaced employee. It will also be promoted to the employee that their employer is caring by proving this professional assistance during a period of transition where the employee is most vulnerable and prone to making the wrong decision career wise.
Outplacement support, according to the latest statistics, puts people in a much better position, than those without it, resulting in placement twice as quick as those without the support. The benefit to the employee is that instead of jumping into the first position that comes along, time is taken to focus on the route ahead, thus ensuring that the employee secures a position that they want. This is a positive step for the employee and also, through time, puts the employer in a better position than at the beginning of the process.
The employees who are leaving and who receive the pro-active support offered by companies such as TCMO, will very quickly grasp the opportunity and see it as a positive move. However, the benefit to the employees who remain will result in less worry and anxiety about their own jobs, because they have seen first hand that their employer will assist them find a new position should they ever have the situation imposed on them.
The objective for all parties concerned is to secure a win-win-win situation. A win for the Employer who is seen as a caring responsible employer with their image and brand left intact. A win for those Employees leaving who see this as a positive opportunity to re-examine their career and have the service and support provided free of charge and a win for those Remaining Employees who have the reassurance that they will be looked after if redundancy visits them in the future.
Employers should seriously consider retaining the services of an Outplacement Company such as TCMO, not just in times of restructuring and downsizing, but as an on-going function of their HR Department. Not only can these companies provide the services detailed before, they can also assist in the recruitment process by introducing potential employees from other companies who have recently made staff redundant. Outplacement is a never ending journey, assisting organisations navigate through change but at the same time supporting individuals achieve their potential – an interactive journey to success.
