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Issue 6
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If you find this newsletter interesting and useful
please forward it on to your colleagues, friends and family.
"Everyone deserves a healthy and successful career"
6 million dollar man.
Remember the Bionic man? One of his enhancements was a bionic eye. In keeping with
many of the futuristic
scientific advancements that make the transition from fantasy to reality a real
bionic eye could be just around the corner.
US and German scientists have designed a bionic eye to allow blind people to see
again. Not the complete eye replacement that Major Austin was rebuilt with,
the 2007 version consists of a camera that sends signals to a chip implanted in the
back of the eye. Although the images produced by the artificial eye were far from perfect,
they could be clear enough to allow someone who is otherwise blind to recognise faces and
find their way round buildings.
Retirement, can you really afford to sit back and put your feet up?
You don't need a bionic eye to see that the age profile of the UK workforce
is increasing. According to a recent survey by AON Consulting
as many 78% of the UK workforce anticipate working beyond 65.
Increasing life expectancy, higher lifestyle expectation, reduced pension
performance and new anti ageist legislation will contribute to
an increase in the number of older employees in the workplace.
Many companies already recognise the advantages offered by older employees in both reliability
and experience and are prepared to help them make the transition to retirement
easier for them.
Retirement is not simply a case of putting your feet up and watching the world
go by.
Financial management is far more complex than ever, make the wrong choices and
you could outlive your retirement fund.
Relationships also come into play, all of a sudden you are sharing a house 7 days
a week.
Recreation time jumps from 2 to 7 days and could need funding.
For some it also raises the question of purpose, one minute you are making a
contribution to society the next not.
There is also the issue of who you spend your time with as many of your friends
may still be in full time employment.
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Welcome to issue Six of the Career Manager.
Holiday more important than Career?
How much time do you spend planning your holidays................
The chances are that you will already have it booked and are counting down the days.
You know what you want from a holiday, where you want to go, how you want to get
there and what you want to do for fun.
You've spent hours researching the perfect location, comparing facilities, activities,
and what ever else is important to you.
You've trawled the web for the best deals, consulted travel agents and asked friends
and family for recommendations.
And why shouldn't you? You work hard, you've earned it and it's a big decision.
.....................................and how much time planning your career?
What makes us spend hours planning two weeks of our lives and next to no time planning
our careers?
It's easy to find yourself a passenger in your own career, it's only when you feel a bump
that your attention is drawn to who is at the controls.
In many cases it's the auto pilot
(which is fine if you have programmed in the correct destination and run regular maintenance checks).
It's never too late to take control of your career, even to plan that most important
of occupations, retirement.
(Planning is a job in itself and something we can help with if you get in touch).
It's never too late to take control of your career.
Follow our simple strategy and you
will be amazed at the difference it will make to the health of your career.
Have a plan.
It all starts with knowing what you want, how you want to get there, how long it will
take and how you will know when it's right.
Project your plan into the future 3,5,7 years even to retirement if it's appropriate.
A clearly documented outcome ensures any future career decisions are that much easier.
Be clear about:
- What you expect from your job (satisfaction, salary, fun, etc)
- What the role requires of you (with tangible evidence criteria)
- Your working hours
- Travel preferences
- What you are working for
- Anything else that is important to you
Manage your manager.
Take responsibility for the relationship you have with your manager. It's easier for you
to manage one relationship than it is for your boss to manage 10 or more.
Arrange regular meetings (formal and informal) to discuss what is expected of you, how
you are doing, what support your manager can give you and what your career aspirations are.
Manage yourself.
Learn to eat frogs.(1) It is said that if you eat a live frog for breakfast it's the hardest thing
you will face that day.
The Pareto principle dictates that 80% of your achievement comes from 20% of your effort.
Most frogs live in the 20% category.
Success doesn't come from long hours it comes from consistently achieving the important
things.
Look after yourself.
To put in your best performance in your career you have to be in top physical and mental
shape.
How many top athletes do you know who put in a 14 hour day, grab lunch on the run, and turn
up
for work already tired and stressed?
Your professional and personal life should complement each other, if they don't both will
suffer.
Plan for any eventuality.
You wouldn't take a holiday without holiday insurance or tour the continent
without a roadmap, spare tyre and breakdown cover.
It's far easier to implement a plan in a crisis than develop one.
Have a plan for what to do if for example:
- You are affected by redundancy
- Your company relocates
- You (or your family) are hit with ill health
- You are offered promotion that doesn't fit your career plan.
Review your plan.
At least yearly give your career a thorough health check.
- Review where you are with respect to your plan.
- Revisit your plan whenever you are faced with any significant change.
- Get into the habit of updating your plan on a regular basis.
- Get feedback from an impartial source.
You will probably think that career managment is a really good idea and that
you really should have a plan.
The sad reality is that you won't unless you are forced to.
Contact us now and we will manage the whole process for you.
Of course you could always manage your career in the same way as
you might book a holiday on last minute dot com and see where you end up.
(1) Eat that frog by Bryan Tracy is full of great ideas for getting the important things done at
work. Read the review here
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