Throughout May, we’ve spent time thinking about how job loss impacts our clients and their mental health. The decision to terminate an individual is most often made when the individual is no longer a fit for the organization or the role they were hired for.
With career transition support, many individuals come to this realization and move forward quickly. Others require further support and guidance. In addition to the one-to-one coaching, they rely on various tools, including access to SelfHelpWorks™, an innovative suite of eight online cognitive learning programs designed to assist and empower individuals to make positive behaviour changes while remaining completely confidential.
When it comes to a client’s mental health, we are considerate of meeting them where they are, recognizing that we are career consultants, not counsellors. Our role is to support the individual as they regain their confidence and seize this as an opportunity to pursue a new role. A role that excites them and is a fit with their values, strengths, and interests.
In their article titledWork, Mental Health and Our Role as Career Practitioners, Michael Huston and Dave Redekopp drew some important conclusions related to an individual’s work and mental health, including the fact that person-work fit is related to an individual’s mental health and wellbeing. The outcomes of the study showed that work is not only important for financial reasons but also for the expression of an individual’s interests, values, and identity. It is a source of social support and is critical in supporting other life roles. When work supports meaningful outcomes in an individual’s personal life it supports their overall wellbeing and mental health.
The opposite holds true if the work does not fit with their interests, values, strengths, and needs, and may hinder their success in those other life roles. The conclusion is that career development can directly increase one’s ability to find and develop a career path that matches their values, strengths, and interests, ultimately contributing to an individual’s overall mental wellness.
The importance of an employee’s mental health and impacts job loss can have on an individual reinforces the importance of having meaningful, well-planned and executed career development conversations on an ongoing basis. Creating the space for career conversations in your organization, will ensure the work your employees are doing is a fit for the organization, is aligned with their needs and career goals and is a proactive approach to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of the organization’s people.
The importance of a well-planned and respectful notification meeting.
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, “Unemployment can be, and often is, a shock to your whole system. You can experience some of the same feelings and stresses that you would if you were seriously injured, going through a divorce, or mourning the loss of a loved one. You can go through some or all the stages of grieving just as you would with any other major loss.”
We understand that it is not just about the job loss itself, but about how the individual was treated by their employer when they are told that their employment with the organization has ended. How the exiting employee receives this news and is treated during the process is critical.
Take for example, Marvel’s superhero actor Simu Liu. He publicly celebrated his 10 year anniversary of being terminated from an accounting role. In anInstagram post, he recounts the event and his feelings surrounding how it was conducted:
“A lady from HR and a security guard escorted me back onto the floor in front of the entire open concept office. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Nobody moved, offered a whisper of encouragement or even looked in my direction. I fought back tears of humiliation, grabbed my things, and never looked back.”
While he goes on to say losing his job with the firm ended up being the best thing that ever happened to him and it forced him to pursue his passion of acting, it doesn’t change the fact that this event deeply impacted him.
A well-planned notification
A well-planned notification includes:
A private space,
An appropriate date and time
Considering what you will say and how you will deliver the news, and
A plan for how departure from the building will happen
When leaders do not consider these items, on top of being a shock to the system, job loss can be a lifechanging event for an individual. Notifications are delicate situations, and how you plan for them is extremely important.
Our team works closely with you to review best practices for terminations. We help ensure that the exiting employee is treated with dignity and respect throughout the process. You have a lot on your plate. We are here to help you with the small details that make a big difference.
Download our best practices for notification meetingsguide
Letting someone go is never an easy decision or conversation.
Whether you’ve gone through the experience before or it’s your first time notifying an employee of job loss, there’s a lot to think about to make sure it goes smoothly. Proper planning can help ensure the exiting employee leaves the organization with their dignity intact.
Download our best practices for notification meetings guide for tips and checklists to help you plan for an upcoming meeting. For additional support, talk to one of our consultants about the value of a career transition program.
How to support your employees through seasons of change.
It’s natural for organizations to experience seasons of change, and 2022 is no exception. Thanks to the pandemic, on top of expected workplace growth and adjustments, there are additional challenges to work through.
Leadership teams are working on reopening plans, and many have retention challenges to address. Supporting employees through these changes is a must for leaders who wish to show they value their team members and understand their needs.
Here are four strategies that leaders can use to support employees through seasons of change:
Developing change communication plans,
Re-onboarding employees,
Holding career conversations, and
Measuring employee engagement.
Change communication plans
A thought-out communications strategy is crucial when supporting employees through change. Based on years of benchmarking research, Prosci suggests a coordinated approach to developing communication in times of change.
Here are a few questions to consider when developing a change management communication strategy:
Who is delivering the message?
Too often, change communication comes from the project team. Research from Prosci found that employees prefer to hear about change from their immediate supervisor or the person leading change (change sponsor).
More specifically, employees want to hear about the reasons for the change from the change sponsor and the personal impacts of the change from their own immediate supervisor.
Why is this change happening?
When planning change communication, you need to proactively answer the inevitable “why” questions. Clearly stating why change is happening throughout all change communications will help employees process and understand the importance of the change.
What’s in it for me?
No matter how valuable or critical a coming change is, if employees don’t buy in or support it, the change will not be as effective. Having employees who don’t support a change may cause turnover, sour the workplace culture, or impact productivity.
After addressing why change is happening, you need to share how it will benefit your employees. Keep in mind that there could be different benefits for different employee groups, and you may need to adjust the message for each one.
How is the message being shared?
Prosci’s research identified face-to-face communications as the most effective way to share change management messages. Face-to-face meetings are great as they allow for two-way communication.
While face-to-face communication should be part of the mix, it is also important to communicate frequently, repeat the key messages and use a variety of channels to reach the audience.
Channels may include email, video calls (individual or team meetings), in person, intranet systems, and other online platforms for updates (such as Slack or Microsoft Teams chats).
Re-onboarding employees
While employees were hopefully onboarded during their initial few weeks or months on the job, a change in their work environment is an opportunity to reinforce aspects of the company culture and help orientate employees to the space.
“[Reboarding] will help create a continued positive employee experience and help further socialize them into the organization’s culture,” says Rebecca Zucker.
Who to re-onboard?
Employees who have worked remotely for an extended time
Employees returning from a leave of absence (such as maternity or paternity leave, disability leave, or sick leave)
Orientate them to the space: Update returning employees on things that have changed while they were away, such as changes in offices or new procedures.
Be thoughtful and welcoming: Providing a small gift, being open to answering questions, and being genuine through the process are easy ways to make a person feel welcomed. Avoid making it seem like you’re acting out of obligation.
Connect them with a buddy: Zucker suggests pairing employees returning to the workplace with someone familiar with the office and culture.
Integrate them into the workplace: To help make employees feel valued and a part of the team, announce their return to the office so others know they have returned / where they are working. You should also provide them with any changed policies, roles, or updates to their job description.
Hold career conversations to realign goals
Through times of change, our priorities and career goals can shift.
Career conversations are intentional discussions leaders can have with employees to learn about their personal career goals, align their aspirations with organizational goals, and enhance employee engagement. During seasons of change, holding an effective career conversation can help leaders retain top talent and understand where these individuals will fit in the organization’s succession plan.
These conversations are a proactive approach that helps leaders align employee development with business strategy and business needs. Instead of looking for opportunities outside of the organization, this approach encourages employees to stay, develop, and become a part of a strong succession plan.
Measure employee engagement
When workplaces are in a transition period, the stress of change can impact employee mindsets and cause employee engagement to dip.
When we contemplate how to accurately measure engagement, climate assessments and employee engagement surveys are two commonly used strategies to consider.
Employee engagement survey
Generally, employee engagement surveys aim to measure how employees are feeling about the factors that impact engagement in their role and with the organization. Engagement surveys can address:
Employee satisfaction: The level of contentment or happiness a person assigns to the attributes of their job/position, their organization and the general or overall way they feel about their employment
Employee commitment: The pride people feel for their organization as well as their intent to remain with the organization; their desire to serve or perform at high levels; whether they would positively recommend their organization to others; and their desire to improve the organization’s results.
Some avenues to consider exploring in a survey of this nature include how employees feel about their supervisor and leadership as a whole, their role, communications, teamwork, compensation, training, recognition, benefits, and working conditions. A well-designed engagement survey will provide accurate, meaningful, and insightful information which can be used to foster the development of high performing individuals and teams.
Focus groups are commonly used to take a deeper dive into the results of an employee engagement survey. This approach can allow organizations to understand the context of survey responses, which leads to more effective action plans to address areas of concern for continued employee engagement.
Climate assessments
Workplace climate assessments can provide a clear picture of the organizational climate and current challenges. Ideally, an assessment of this nature is delivered by an objective third party, to encourage employees to share their perspectives of the work environment freely and confidentially. Based on the size and setting of the organization, a combination of approaches could be used to gather employee perspectives, including online surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews.
Employee perceptions of the work environment can then be analysed against relevant HR and motivation theories, and recommendations to improve employee engagement, work environment and conditions can be suggested for implementation.
Whether from growth or outside forces, change is inevitable. Using the strategies shared above can help leaders support employees through seasons of change and support the health of the organization.
It is a question many people dread during job interviews: what are your salary expectations? Whether an interviewer provides a range or asks you to share your expectations, the topic of salary is a conversation everyone should be ready to address. Simply put, you know your worth, your skills, and the value you can offer an organization. With a little bit of research, you can develop your salary expectations and be ready to answer the question like a pro.
Why you should use research to develop salary expectations
Anytime you are applying for a job, you should use research to develop your salary expectations. Don’t just pull a number out of thin air — take time to explore available information to create an educated answer. Even if you already know how much you would like to make at your next job, salary research before applying for positions can help guide your job search. The information you gather will:
Give you a general idea, before applying, what the range/average is for a specific role within a certain industry
Help you understand which roles/industries are more likely to offer compensation that meet your needs, and
Help you answer the question “What are your salary expectations?” when it comes up.
Salary factors
When you start researching salaries for your desired job, you need to consider a few factors.
Organization type (private, public, non-profit)
Industry (finance, tech, health care, retail, etc.)
City / location
Your level of experience
A salary range, along with other job aspects, can change depending on each of these factors. For example, a job in Vancouver is likely to pay more than a similar position in Winnipeg, as the cost of living in Vancouver is higher. Similarly, small to medium-sized or private firms potentially have more flexibility in their budget to negotiate salaries than perhaps a non-profit would.
Another factor to consider when developing your salary expectations is job responsibilities. Depending on the industry you’re looking at, you may see multiple job titles for similar jobs. Review the duties listed in the job description for a better idea of the salary range and level.
Researching salaries
Once you know what type of organization and industry you would like to work in, you can start your research. When researching salaries for your desired position, check multiple sources (online, peers, and recruiters, etc.) Exploring different sources will give you a clearer and honest picture of possible salary ranges.
Online resources, like Glassdoor, are a great place to start looking for salary ranges. You can see salary information based job title and your region. If you’re in a smaller market or are looking for a niche position, keep in mind, there might not be as many results, but it is a good place to start.
Next, if you’re comfortable, ask peers within your industry (but not within your own organization) what salary range they work in, along with their responsibilities. These conversations can help you develop your salary expectation based on more than just a job title.
Lastly, recruiters have a wealth of knowledge. If you connect with a recruiter hiring within your industry, ask them about typical salary ranges for your desired position. They also may be able to point you to some openings that are a good fit for your specific needs.
With all your research in hand, take time to think about what you need. Points to consider include:
Current salary
Your skills
Research
Cost of living
Total compensation (benefits, flexibility in hours and work arrangements etc.).
Providing your salary expectations
You’re in an interview, and it’s time to talk salary. With your well-researched expectations in hand, you are ready for this conversation. Make sure to be honest during the discussion about how much you are expecting and your current compensation. If there is a large gap between what you are making now and your expected salary, be prepared to explain why.
If you’re not comfortable sharing a specific salary number, share the range you’d like to fall in. If you are in the right range the recruiter or hiring manager should let you know. You can also let the recruiter or hiring manager know you’re open to negotiation. This may be something you consider if you feel the role has the opportunity for growth.
To help you in this conversation, here are two answer examples:
“Through my research, I’ve found that the average salary for this position in this industry/region is between $80,000 and $90,000 and with the experience and skill sets, I would bring to the organization, I would want to be on the higher end of that range.”
“Based on my research, experience and skill sets, , I would be looking for $80,000 – $90,000. However, I am flexible and open to connecting further about the role and my experience before making any final decisions on compensation.
At the end of the day, you want to work with an organization that is a fit for your specific career and compensation needs. Researching, developing, and professionally communicating your salary expectations will help you have those conversations and find an organization and career that is right for you.
Tara Gousseau Senior Recruiter Professional & Management Recruitment
With her years of experience in partnering with senior leaders and hiring managers to fill their talent needs quickly, Tara understands the importance of building relationships and working with her clients in partnership. With a background in transportation and logistics, Tara brings her passion for matching talent with great organizations.
Often the start of a new year symbolizes opportunity and change. It can also be a time to set new goals. Before we can look ahead to the opportunities awaiting us and determine what we want to achieve, we must reflect on the career goals we set and the progress made towards achieving them during the last 11 months.
Whether you have experience setting goals or are exploring the idea for the first time, below are some best practices for establishing and staying accountable to your career goals.
Why is setting career goals important?
Before we explore some best practices of setting professional goals, understanding the importance of establishing them comes first. In general, setting goals is essential to personal development. In our personal lives, we set goals to improve physical, mental, and financial health. At work, we set goals to achieve professional milestones and improve our careers. Setting goals is essential to ensure progress in your career. When we set goals, personal or professional, we establish a framework that enables us to achieve them.
Best practices for setting career goals
1. Set short-term & long-term goals
We recommend setting short-term and long-term career goals to ensure successful results. Both goal types are integral to the overall framework of setting goals and when appropriately planned, empower you to take your next step.
Short-term goals are achieved over a shorter timeframe and support progress towards accomplishing long-term goals. They are like steppingstones, bridging the gap between the two-goal types. Timeframes for short-term goals can vary from a few weeks to a few months and may depend on the goal itself. Ultimately, short-term goals keep you accountable and motivated to the big picture.
Long-term goals are big-picture dreams. They are bound to an extended timeframe and require an element of strategic planning.
For example, a long-term career goal might be a promotion at work. If improving time management skills is essential to achieving the promotion, practicing time blocking in your calendar may be a short-term goal that supports your overall goal.
2. Be SMART about your goals
SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The Canadian Management Centre states the SMART concept was first introduced in the 1980s and continues to be an effective management tool today. Developing goals under the SMART framework ensures well-defined objectives are established and increases the probability of achieving them.
Specific: Focused and tied to a tangible outcome. Make a career goal as straightforward as possible. Answer the ‘what, why & how’ of the plan; what is the goal, why is it important, and how will you achieve it?
Measurable: Include measures to monitor and track progress. Measurable goals answer the when and how part of achieving the goal.
When will I know I have reached my goal?
How will I ensure I am on the right track to meeting it?
Achievable: When setting career goals, they should be challenging but still manageable. If you are focused on an out-of-reach goal or dream, it can be discouraging and lead to failure. When identifying objectives, ask yourself if they are realistic and whether you have access to the resources required to be succeed.
Relevant: Provides the framework to ensure the goal is relevant to where you want to go and is supported by resources you have today. Ask if the goal is relevant to overall career aspirations and achievable given available resources and the current environment.
Time-Bound: Set a target date for completion. When career goals are time-bound, they prompt action and align focus back to the desired outcome while staying on track to achieve it.
3. Stay accountable to your goals
Now that we have covered the importance of setting career goals, the difference between short- and long-term goals and the SMART goal framework, it is time to tie it all together with action and accountability. Staying accountable to goals is the secret sauce to successfully achieving them. What steps can you take to ensure accountability?
The People First Career Management team recommends these best practices:
Write your goals down. Writing down career goals (on paper or in a digital document) provides an opportunity to reflect and plan on each of the SMART acronym components and what you need to do to achieve the desired outcome. Once you have identified milestones and a timeline, write them down. Cross off your milestones as you reach them to help yourself stay organized and on track.
Prioritize goals & time management. Managing goals effectively requires prioritizing daily activities. Develop productivity and time management skills by prioritizing time and tasks using a time management matrix and time blocking. These approaches are proactive and effective in identifying how and where you have spent time. Prioritizing tasks and managing time is easier said than done, but it is important. When you understand and implement time management methods, you can focus on the right tasks while increasing productivity.
Work with a career consultant or coach. To improve your confidence, provide structure to your goals and overcome mindset barriers, consider working with a career consultant or coach. Guidance from a consultant can help you reach professional goals much sooner than going at it alone.
Setting career goals provides structure and a pathway to success. As you navigate career goals in the future, start by taking time to reflect on the goals you previously set to understand where you can improve in your approach to achieving them. From there, refine your goals or develop new ones using the SMART framework and be sure to implement accountability measures. A new year is a new opportunity to refocus your career goals!
Jen Oleson Manager, Operations, Career Management
Jen believes that adopting an intentional and focused approach to one’s decisions and choices can lead to a more fulfilling and purposeful life. Her purpose and passion are to serve, inspire, and empower people and organizations to achieve their goals.
As a human resource consulting practice, our HR @ Your Service team has been fielding many questions from organizations that are considering a vaccination policy for their staff. As these organizations reopen in some form, whether fully or partially, whether to create a vaccination policy is a question that can be rather daunting (even for HR!).
There is no cookie-cutter approach to designing a policy as no two organizations are alike. However, it is clear that these policies should be aligned with legislation and reflect the organization’s needs. Ultimately, the policy should state the reason for its existence, list accompanying procedures, and be easy for employees to follow — even if they are not happy or disagree with it.
Involving employees in drafting a policy may be best practice but that can open employers up to a range of opinions and potentially heated arguments. So, while some consultation may be wise, the policy should be carefully planned with a level of compassion and respect for the varying opinions. Those who can lend their wisdom include health and safety committees, operational representatives, individuals with customer lines of sight, and union representatives.
Reviewing literature surrounding this topic reveals the following key considerations when introducing a vaccination policy:
The safety risk involved with having unvaccinated employees at work
Under the safety legislation across provinces, employers are responsible for the safety of their employees. The pandemic has shown employers that they need to pay attention. Early on, safety protocols revolved around distancing, masking, hygiene, and managing outbreaks. With vaccines now fully available, employers are looking at how this tool can sharpen their approach to safety.
As with any safety policy consideration, employers need to consider the risk factors to their stakeholders. This includes the characteristics of customers and employees, such as vulnerable populations, as well as the type and length of contact to provide service. Identifying risk factors provides a basis for the type of policy required.
Employers should consider whether they can mitigate the risks involved in implementing a vaccination policy. One way to mitigate risks is to require vaccination, other ways include requiring regular testing and continued use of personal protective equipment, remote working, or modified shifts.
Applicable legislation that governs the business
The Federal Government has mandated vaccination for all employees who are federally regulated including air, rail, and marine transportation sectors. This is not a choice for employees. Other industries such as health care, education, and childcare workers have been provincially directed.
With these employers moving ahead with vaccination policies, there is also movement in other industries such as construction, banks, and professional services.
This does lead smaller businesses to wonder whether to jump on board with a full vaccination policy or whether they can sustain employees who have chosen not to vaccinate. The concerns range from the ability to enforce the chosen policy and the costs that may be incurred to accommodate employees who are choosing not to vaccinate, whether it is a personal choice or for a reason such as a health condition or religion.
Selecting the right vaccination policy for your organization
Once an organization determines that a vaccination policy is their best course of action, there is a range of policies that businesses can choose from:
Full vaccination required of all staff without exceptions (rare and not usually recommended as this is the highest risk scenario since it does not allow for accommodations where acceptable).
Full vaccination required with exemptions and accommodations only provided in the cases related to protected grounds under the Human Rights Legislation of the applicable province (usually this would relate to a disability or religious ground).
Full vaccination required with exemptions and accommodations provided in the cases related to protected grounds under the Human Rights Legislation of the applicable province and for those who do not wish to have the vaccine for various other reasons.
The decision on which policy to create will be based on the considerations noted above. Consulting with safety experts and a lawyer is not uncommon as there are certainly arguments being made related to privacy and personal freedoms. Until cases have been tried in court and precedents have been set, there is a level of risk in these decisions.
Finally, consider what to include in a vaccination policy. Key elements to consider are:
If it is a mandatory vaccination policy, what is the timeline for employees to comply? How are they to show compliance — through self-declaration or by showing proof of vaccination?
Access to employees’ vaccination status, and any associated medical information, should be limited based on the governing privacy legislation. Only those required to know an employee’s vaccination status should have access to the information and only for as long as the information is required.
The necessity of the policy will dictate the type of policy required. Outlining the reasons for the policy should be noted for employees. Those who are vaccine-hesitant will want to know why it is required and any alternatives for accommodation.
If employees are accommodated for any reason, make it clear what the protocols are for each case, as an employer would for any situation of accommodation. These plans are often individually based and will range from accommodation at home, to PPE protocols in the workplace.
Provide a venue for continual review and updating as the pandemic is an ever-evolving situation. Ensure that updates are made when there are new requirements such as booster shots or new and acceptable treatments.
Ensure employees understand the consequences of not adhering to the policy and who in the organization they can share any concerns with. Stay respectful of these concerns and ensure that communication lines are open.
With many organizations keen to open their doors to employees again comes the decision of requiring employees to be vaccinated or not. Consider the above recommendations as the return to the office is planned and ensure that your stakeholders have been consulted. This will confirm that a thoughtful and considerate approach is taken.
Finally, plan to be flexible. If there’s one thing we’ve learned to be certain with this pandemic, it is that change is just around the corner.
Wanda Loewen Manager, HR @ Your Service
Wanda has been in Human Resources for over 25 years and has experience in a variety of industries including manufacturing, healthcare, financial and property management. She enjoys developing initiatives that help organizations drive their employee experience forward in areas such as engagement, total rewards, talent acquisition, performance management, learning, HR technology, compensation and operational excellence.
For a team to work well together there needs to be trust between the employees, leaders, and organization.For hybrid teams, building trust essential.
As hybrid workplaces are becoming more common, leaders may wonder how they can trust teams as they work in different environments. To answer this question, it is important to consider how leaders trust in-person teams. If we can work off the premise that employees who are trustworthy in person will be trustworthy no matter where they are working, it may make this question less concerning. By considering employees’ past and current performance, you should get a good sense of what can expect from them. Do they do what they say and get their work done? If so, there is no need to worry if you can trust your employees.
While leaders shouldn’t worry about how to trust employees in different environments, the questions remains: how do you build trust in hybrid workforce if it’s not there yet?
Types of Trust
First, let’s look at some of the types of trust. Trust has layers. It can take time to build and breakdowns are inevitable. The ASC DOC model, as seen below, was originally tested in healthcare and is now being used across all industries. There is a lot of value in understanding how the types of trust are related, as there may be times when you have Task Trust and not Relational Trust or vice versa.
Relational Trust (ASC)
Authenticity: your words and actions can be taken at face value
Safety: others feel safe, secure, and protected with you
Consistency: your behaviour is predictable
Task Trust (DOC)
Dependability: others can expect you’ll do what you say you will do
Ownership: others see you own the outcome
Competence: you have the skill and experience to do what’s expected
In the early stages of a team’s life, developing relational trust is the most important. As relationships within the team mature and you have built the required foundation, the shift to task-related trust becomes a focus.
Why Trust Matters on Virtual or Hybrid Teams
Trust is important in every relationship, personal or professional. When it comes to the workplace, fractures in trust are far more visible and fragile in virtual teams than in teams that can interact face to face.
When trust exists within your team, you will experience a different relationship with employees —they are more likely to experience a level of contentment, cohesion, and commitment. As well, individuals are more likely to feel confident in risk-taking, which helps us get better at what we do.
“We innovate at the speed of trust” – Stephen Covey
Priorities for Building Trust in a Hybrid Workforce
Now, how do you build trust within a hybrid workforce? With these five priorities, you will naturally build trust within your teams.
Psychological safety – This is the shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. Without this sense of safety, employees don’t raise their hands with new ideas, or with emerging concerns.
Empathy – Leaders that apply empathy put themselves into the shoes of their team members and take interest in the problems they face in the course of their work.
Relationships – Cut loose a bit by encouraging non-work talk. This may seem counterproductive, but is a vital tool for building authentic, trust-based relationships that make work go smoothly.
Trust model – Test the trust model with your teams by inviting feedback. Ask how the team rates on these measures. Where are we excelling? How can we improve in the future?
Shared leadership – Shared leadership occurs when the roles or behaviours of leadership shift from one person to another by giving team members decision-making authority over their area of work. Shared leadership is also a time-tested way of developing leadership.
Lastly, as you consider your team’s work environment and how to assess or build trust, think about the resources you have internally. These will support and impact your environment specifically your HR practices, benefits program, and health and wellness programs.
A career conversation is a critical tool used to engage employees and support organizational development.Gallupsuggests that leaders can increase engagement and productivity on their teams by providing more meaningful feedback and support. Holding effective career conversations is a strategic way to do this.
So, what establishes an effective career conversation? It’s crucial to understand that a career conversation is not a performance review or one-off chat. Each meeting should be an intentional discussion to learn about employee goals, align their aspirations with organizational goals, and enhance employee engagement. Exploring conversation themes that identify an employee’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction in their role, readiness for role enrichment, or new position supports having effective career conversations. People First Career Management consultants recommend considering the following elements to have more effective career conversations with your employees.
Prepare for the conversation
Ask the right questions
Move the conversation to action
Summarize next steps
Prepare for the conversation
Preparing for a career conversation sets the table for more meaningful discussions and ensures you can guide the conversation and keep it on track.
Plan to keep the conversation informal. Pick a setting that doesn’t give the impression that the employee is heading into a performance review. To do this, avoid booking a formal meeting room and instead consider going out for coffee or lunch. If you’re working remotely, you can host a virtual conversation. Arrange a coffee or lunch delivery to your employee to provide a similar feeling as going together in person. If you’re going to meet in the office, look for an informal meeting space.
To have a productive conversation, it’s also valuable to review the conversation themes ahead of time to determine the purpose and establish an outcome of the conversation. Providing the employee with a chance to prepare is also valuable. When you send the meeting invite, share an overview of the purpose of the conversation and the questions you plan to ask.
Ask the right questions
Talking about an employee’s career plans can clarify uncertainty and align individual and organizational goals. It allows you to gather information, identify obstacles, and establish the next steps in their professional development. Asking the right questions and encouraging your employee to be accountable for their career development is key to a successful conversation. More importantly, it shows your interest in their career by building connections, identifying employee interests and opportunities, and fostering a learning environment within the organization.
Questions to consider in your next career conversation include:
What do you enjoy most and least about your current role?
In what settings or circumstances do you think you make the greatest contributions?
What would you like to learn this year and why?
What are some successes you’ve had in your current role that you’re most proud of and why?
What projects, responsibilities, or positions are you interested in and empower you to pursue your career goals?
What can I do to help you progress towards achieving your career goals?
Plan to ask open-ended questions centred around self-reflection and self-discovery to keep the conversation focused on the employee’s career development. This can provide insight and direction for what steps you can take to assist with the employee’s career development.
Move the conversation to action
To have an effective career conversation there needs to be action afterwards. After talking about the employee’s career goals, focus the conversation on what you can each do to help reach those goals.
Often these discussions result in a manager providing the employee with additional resources and information to support their career development journey. Whether you’re introducing them to other people in the company or providing development resources, you need to gather and share that information right away. Other follow-up considerations for managers include:
Providing constructive feedback and insights on how to proceed with career plans.
Looking for opportunities to align employee development with the organization’s goals, and
Offering information about potential career paths available within the organization.
Follow up considerations for an employee could include:
Finding professional development training opportunities that interest them and align with career goals.
Asking for feedback and putting it into action right away to enhance their development and take ownership of their career.
Assigning follow-up items to yourself and your employees shows them that you genuinely support their career development and care about their future with the organization. It also encourages the employee to take ownership over their career development.
Summarize next steps in the wrap-up
As the conversation comes to an end, take a moment to summarize what you heard, confirm the next steps in terms of actions the employee should take, and set a date for a follow-up. Always close with encouragement and appreciation for the time and effort the employee took to prepare for the discussion.
Career conversations are an easy yet effective way to support your employees, learn about their goals and provide feedback. But an effective career conversation only happens when both the manager and the employee are prepared. Using the advice above, you can hold better career conversations with your employees.
For additional support,contact usto learn how People First’s career consultants help managers and employees participate in effective career conversations.
Jen Oleson Manager, Operations, Career Management
Jen believes that adopting an intentional and focused approach to one’s decisions and choices can lead to a more fulfilling and purposeful life. Her purpose and passion are to serve, inspire, and empower people and organizations to achieve their goals.
Whether your employees are returning to the workplace, working remotely, or balancing a hybrid of both, leaders have a role to play in creating a sense of belonging among employees.
The pandemic has disrupted many leaders’ relationships with their employees. As the new normal emerges, these disruptions could impact how employees view their contributions or level of belonging in an organization. According to Deloitte’s 2020 Global Human Capital Trends research, 44% of executive survey respondents said contribution was the biggest driver of belonging at their organization. How is contribution evaluated within your business? And how can you influence your employees’ sense of belonging in this new, ever-changing post-pandemic environment?
For leaders to effectively manage results and encourage a sense of belonging they need a well-rounded set of skills and abilities.
Effective communication
Right now, every leader should be over-communicating with their teams. This means ensuring that each team member receives the information they need when they need it, regardless of their physical work arrangement. This will require leaders to do more frequent check-ins with employees using tailored communication methods (i.e., email, text, chat platforms, video conferencing). Ask your team what method works best for them (for the individual and the group). By using their preferred communication methods, you can demonstrate care, show interest, and express gratitude in a way that is meaningful to your employees.
Sharing expected & actual outcomes
One approach to show your team members the value of their contributions is to emphasize outcomes in performance management. Outcomes speak directly to a worker’s contributions toward organizational objectives. Deloitte’s data indicates that the shift toward outcome-based performance management is already underway. It’s no longer about how much time employees spend working — especially when leaders may not be able to monitor how long their remote teams worked. More than 65% of executives in Deloitte’s report agreed that they believed metrics would need to shift from capturing outcomes rather than outputs in the next five years.
Coaching
Coaching your employees, whether for developmental purposes or preparing them for their next promotion, is essential to successfully support your organization’s new way of working. Team members can experience an increased sense of belonging and engagement with frequent, quality coaching from their leaders.
A pre-pandemic example of how coaching can support your organizational objectives in a post-pandemic environment is that of the 2016 shift in Microsoft’s approach to leadership from “command control” to coaching their 130,000 employees. As part of this shift, Jean-Phillipe Courtois (their newly appointed CEO) encouraged his leadership team to focus on asking coaching-oriented questions including,
What are you trying to do?
What’s working?
What’s not working?
How can we help?
These types of questions can further demonstrate to your staff that you care about them not only as employees but as people.
Motivating and team building
In work environments where team members may be remote and in office, motivating and creating team cohesiveness can be challenging. Effective leaders acknowledge this and embrace new and innovative ways to motivate and bring teams together to accomplish organizational goals. Celebrating successes through virtual and in-person interactions including meetings, emails, chat rooms, and virtual get togethers can support your team building efforts. Themed days to celebrate various holidays (i.e. Halloween, etc.) that bring your staff together may look different than the pre-pandemic approach. There is no shortage of well tested strategies available through a quick search on the internet when you are looking for ideas in this area.
During the pandemic, leaders have had to pivot their leadership style to meet the new needs of their employees and business. As they face the new way of working, whatever that may look like for their organization, they should consider these questions:
How can we see without being “there”?
How do we support and engage our workforce?
What are the ways we can create high-quality connections? Connections that will keep employees engaged and feeling a sense of belonging.
How can we, as leaders, demonstrate care and foster inclusion?
These questions represent just a few of the qualities that leaders will need to possess to be successful as organizations moves forward into the post-pandemic world.
When challenges are multiplied, the basic skills of leaders also become more critical than ever. Leaders need to learn and practice proven approaches to motivating, coaching, and communicating effectively.
Ardele is a senior human resources professional with over 18 years’ human resources leadership experience. In the past number of years, Ardele has specialized in employee and leadership development through her senior roles in Learning and Development.
