7 Ways Your Company Can Revitalize Your Career

We have been discussing the research from Harvard over the past two weeks. This is the final piece for this 3 part series. See last weeks 7 habits of ineffective careers by viewing the posting below.

Here are 7 possible answers that organizations can use to revitalize your career:

1. Remove barriers - Managers need to be encouraged to stop blocking employees and remove internal hiring bureaucracy


2. Find the B players and nurture the keepers - They may not desire the executive suite but have a lot of internal knowledge and loyalty


3. Fresh assignments - Offer a different geographic location or part of an organization to offer lateral moves


4. Offer a mentoring program - This works bi-directionally. It impacts both the mentor and the less experienced


5. Education - Doing an MBA or taking an executive program adds more to your toolkit and is great for your mind


6. Sabbaticals - From micro to 1 year off, it is great for your sole and your soul


7. Leadership development - Training to help nurture and develop the skills and talents towards great leadership

Bonus idea:

Volunteering and contributing to others in need brings everything into perspective - everyone wins.

These are all great ideas. Organizations are complex. I think what will separate the good from
the great employers is their ability to utilize all 7 of these elements within their organization.

P.S. Next week I will be sharing my Breakfast with Bill Gates

This week's 10 Minute WORKout:

What is one action that you could take to revitalize your career situation?

Along the road with you,

Alan Kearns

What does your career report card say?

Our children brought home their report card in the last week. We are very fortunate that they both generally enjoy learning and are doing well in school. Overall, they both did great even though there were some areas that they wanted to improve upon in the next term. Ah, report cards. All of us have had good and challenging experiences with this. Report cards are important as they give us some data and feedback on how we are doing. They point out where we are doing well, and what we can focus on to improve. I recently was doing some research on issues around the midpoint of a professional’s career. They call this group the “middlescence”, also known as mid-career "restlessness”. I came across a great article on this subject published by Harvard Business School. The study is based upon a survey of 7,700 workers aged 35-54 conducted in 2004 by the Harris Interactive group.

The mid level career report card results:

25% have managerial responsibility30% put in 50 hours a week or more at work

43% feel passionate about their jobs33% feel energized by their work

36% felt they are stuck40% report feelings of burnout

33% agrees in top management integrity

25% disagree on the corporate HR policy

20% are looking for a new role

20% are looking for a major career change

This is not a great report card. I am not being negative, however, my perspective is that we live in very complex times in the workforce. There are many shifts occurring at the same time - globalization, technology, time famine, speed of response and the level of competition. You combine this with external focuses such as aging parents, debt load and a more fearful world, and lack of trust in government and authority in general. Let me say that I am a pragmatic optimist. I still think there are terrific opportunities and that the world of work is a worthy place to extend our talents and passions. I also know that we live in a far more complex and dynamic world. Like most report cards, it is a wake up call to determine where we are at and what actions we need to take to improve upon. Next week I will be sharing the 7 key elements that keep us stuck in this negative cycle.

Visit us at www.careerjoy.com to check out our new web site, and give us your report!

Along the road with you,

Alan Kearns

Are you getting a good return on your career?

This past week I was invited by my accountants Steve and Mark (we all need a great accountant on our side) to a hockey game. It was fun being in the box, eating chicken wings and other totally unhealthy food choices for one evening, not to mention the hockey game was pretty good also. I had the opportunity of chatting with a number of professional money managers.

Over this past while, I have begun to be a fan of bank stocks. Over the past 10 years, the average rate of return on bank stocks has been 15%, and they pay a dividend. A friend of our family was very senior with one of the banks. His word of advice; don't keep your money in the bank, keep it in the banks’ stock!

No, I am not shifting to becoming a financial planner, however, there are many parallels to getting a good return on your career investment. The key with investing your hard earned money is to act, not react.

Ever gotten a hot stock recommendation? Did you react? How much is that money worth now? That is my point. When we react to the market vs. act, we tend to make poorer financial decisions. Think Nortel, BreX etc. Ever got a hot career "tip" or call out of the blue by a recruiter? Did you react or act?

React: to return an impulse or impression

Act: the process of doing something

When we act with our investments, we have a plan and are taking action with our money. It usually involves a process and a clear sense of why we are investing, what we are investing in, and all the risks and upsides. When we react, we are responding to outside forces often without a process, a plan, and a clear sense of what we want and often out of emotion and momentum.

Over 50% of professionals have a financial planner. Why? Because it is wise. They provide a process, expertise, and ideally are not emotionally tied to the outcome. The other reason, the industry has done a terrific job marketing and delivering value to their clients.

The average professional will earn $3 million dollars in their career. What is your career game plan? With a plan, you reduce reaction to outside forces, you increase your likelihood of great decisions and, quite frankly, it puts you much more in control! Am I persuading you to seek me out to create a plan with you? Absolutely! However, I am doing this because I have seen the results of a well thought out career plan. It makes all the difference in the world to book a consultation. Simply visit us online at www.careerjoy.com.

Along the road with you,

Alan Kearns