Careers don’t always go as planned. While organizations have processes for identifying talent, coaching, and training to talk with people about career paths, they don’t offer any guarantees. A successful career path requires the ability to navigate through uncertainty. Saundra Stroope, global organization development leader, shares how you can achieve your career goals or help others achieve theirs by understanding the Myers-Briggs personality type and Career Views.
It’s November, and the goals you set for the year are 99 percent completed. You have been recognized for your contributions, and past conversations with your leader about your career have been positive. You are looking forward to some time off over the holidays and just wrapping up projects. Suddenly, the company announced that its financial performance hadn’t hit the mark. A few days later, you informed me that your role was no longer necessary.
It happened to thousands of people in 2022 and early 2023. Some organizations were better than others at managing this crucial conversation. We heard a lot on social media about the technology sector that botched it. It’s not news you want to hear at all, certainly not over email. After being recognized for your performance, it’s harsh to be cut off from all company communications immediately without the chance to say goodbye or left without any support.
There are thoughtful and transparent leadership teams that take the time to hold these conversations well. Many companies provide up to sixty days’ notice and support for people. Organizational support not only benefits the people impacted but also helps transition work in progress. The Harvard Business Review says layoffs can have a detrimental effect on both the people impacted and on company performance. Short-term cost savings provided by a layoff are often overshadowed by long-term effects of bad publicity, loss of knowledge, lower employee engagement, higher turnover, and a loss of innovation.
We rarely hear about the companies that manage it well in the news. Providing support such as career coaching and training about navigating career uncertainty benefits everyone. There are three steps essential to helping yourself or others move forward in a career.
-
Understand Interests
The most important factor in your career satisfaction is finding work you are interested in performing. Forget for a moment about the title, salary, industry, and company size or name. Research shows that working in a role that is well-matched to your personal interests has the highest correlation with job satisfaction. Focus on what you want to be doing daily. Identify the things you liked about your most recent role and everything you want to do in your next. Create an ideal job description to guide what you are looking for in your next position.
Providing coaching and assessments to help guide people through this reflection helps them explore their interests and possibilities for the future. Career assessments such as The Strong Interest Inventory help people explore and identify activities they enjoy. While most of us are exposed to these types of assessments in our early careers, they may also help experienced professionals reflect on new opportunities.
-
Identify Skills and Experience
Identify the specific skills and experiences you have that will transfer to your next position and those that you want to acquire in your next opportunity. Talking about the specific experience you can bring to an organization and what you want to learn is often an essential part of an interview. It can also help guide a career development plan.
Create a plan with 1 – 3 specific goals you can continue working on and carrying to your next organization. There are ongoing opportunities for development through volunteer work, even when you are in between companies. You may also find opportunities to hone skills through contract or part-time work. You might even discover that you enjoy working for yourself and the flexibility of working in contract positions. Research has shown that people with certain personality type preferences are more likely to advance in their careers by becoming entrepreneurs. However, there are no personality differences in entrepreneurial success. It is possible for everyone to be successful as an entrepreneur.
-
Consider the Work Environment
Company culture or the work environment can interfere with a well–planned career. You might find yourself in a job you truly enjoy performing, with the job title, or a well–known company brand, but feel like there is something undesirable about working there. Cultures vary. The same role in one company can be dramatically different in another.
Finding the right culture fit is essential. It’s how you work in the organization – the shared behaviors and practices that characterize a company or how we do things around here. It might explain the extreme difference in how companies approached that layoff communication. Knowing your personality preferences can help you understand the type of work environment that will best fit. The Myers-Briggs Personality Type Career Report can also help you identify strengths, challenges, and popular occupations for your personality.
Understanding your values, what’s most important to you, and the behavior you expect within a company is important. If you know spending time with family is important to you, a position traveling over 75 percent might not be the best option. Sometimes, we have beliefs about career success that don’t truly align with what would motivate us. The belief that you need to move up the career ladder might lead you to unhappiness if you are truly motivated by being the expert. It might also lead you to overlook an opportunity. The Career View profile helps sort through the difference between career beliefs and motives.
These three steps are crucial to moving forward with a career plan. The more you know about yourself, the easier it is to make decisions about the next steps in your career. “True navigation begins in the human heart. It’s the most important map of all.” (Lindsey)
