Many employees are uncertain about the future and know that each career decision they make will impact their ability to advance and find the fulfillment they desire. There are several factors involved in having a successful and prosperous career. For example, you must have the right boss and mentors; work for an organization that allows you to build upon your education and reach your full potential; see opportunities – and grow them with proper timing – to name just a few. Workplace demands are evolving quickly as the marketplace has become more globally competitive than ever before.
As such, there no longer exists a “one-size fits all approach” and singular path to a successful career. In fact, regardless of how talented you might be, there are no guarantees. Things are changing so fast that employees must become more entrepreneurial in the workplace. They must figure things out on their own and begin to trust their gut because the new workplace hasn’t been around long enough to learn from others how to best navigate and survive the changing terrain. Needless to say, many employees are concerned about their short and long term career goals.
In today’s workplace, employees must determine fairly quickly if they fit into their organization’s culture and if the required infrastructure (leadership, resources, attitude, track-record, etc.) will give them the best chance to contribute and advance. This is asking a lot for an employee to do and the pressure mounts for those in undesirable workplaces who choose to “weather the storm” and hope that the environment changes in their favor. You can either see the glass as half full or half empty. I suggest that you see unfavorable workplace situations as an opportunity for professional growth – offering nuggets of wisdom that you can use throughout your career.
One of the most defining moments in my career occurred when I worked for an organization whose senior leadership cared more about the short term sales and profitability of the business and its impact on their quarterly bonuses. Rather than focus on building sustainable momentum that was centered on innovation, customer service, brand and talent – they cared primarily about themselves. No wonder the organization was never a market leader. It was a hierarchical-driven workplace culture focused on top-down control at the expense of the development and advancement of its employees. .
Fortunately, I had great mentors who taught me how to navigate internal politics and to make the most out of an unfavorable situation. I learned how to “control the controllable” and not get side-tracked by other people’s agendas that could have thrown my career off-course. Instead, I disciplined myself to invest in my own development and associated myself with people that I could trust and build momentum around. Though the company was not the right fit for my career and future, it was the best on-the-job-training I’ve ever had.
You must have wide-angle vision in today’s new workplace to avoid the traps that may hinder your path towards career success. Here are the five things employees fear most throughout their career; you may not be able to always avoid them, but you can always learn to navigate through them along your journey.
1. Bad Boss
In the aforementioned example, my boss was extremely ineffective and fell victim to the unhealthy workplace culture. He was more concerned about playing office politics to advance his own career rather than focusing on the tasks at hand and being a great leader to those who were depending on him to have their backs.
Many employees underestimate the negative effects on their careers of having a bad boss, such as not feeling comfortable having them as a reference on your resume or introducing them at networking functions or to family and friends. But having a bad boss can also have positive effects, by exposing you to character traits you want to avoid and a leadership style you do not want to adopt. In many respects, when you have a bad boss, you have to work twice as hard because you want to respect your supervisor and at the same time do what is right for the business. In other words, you are attempting to excel at your job and get noticed by others along the way with the hope of advancement – despite having an ineffective boss.
2. Ineffective Senior Leadership
When you work for an organization whose leadership at the top is ineffective, you feel as if your career – let alone your job – is at risk. You know that your senior leadership is stalling your career when the organization finds it difficult to create and sustain momentum. You never feel that you are learning how to win and be successful. It’s a constant fight to gain support for professional growth and development and budgets are always tight. In fact, you rarely have the opportunity to meet with the senior leadership team because they don’t want to expose their lack of leadership to their own employees.
It’s important to believe in your company’s leadership and know what they stand for. This has such a profound impact on the type of leader you desire to be and the type of company you would want to work for. If you are just looking for job security and overly fearful about your future, your career will remain on auto-pilot.
3. No Mentors
This has become a growing fear for employees in recent years as they seek career council outside of their immediate workplace. One of the most sought after requests I receive from employees today is, “How do I find a mentor and what is the right approach to cultivate a long-term relationship?”
Not having a mentor can be the most profound disruptor in one’s career. Mentorship is critical to stay-on-track and gain access to a multitude of perspectives in order to make the right workplace and career choices. Additionally, it’s not just about finding a mentor – but the right mentor for you. Finding the right mentor is crucial to the mentor/mentee relationship. When these relationships go wrong, employees are hesitant to seek out new ones.
4. Did Not Reach Full Potential
Employees are extremely fearful of not reaching their full potential in their careers. They don’t want to find themselves at the later stages of their careers regretting not having reached a certain management position, salary level or leadership role of influence. This is why employees fear that they may not be making the right decisions and choices; that they are always in the wrong place at the wrong time; or that they are not investing enough in themselves to open new doors of endless possibilities.
Reaching your full potential is impossible if your boss is not aware of or does not value the skill-sets and capabilities that you have to offer to the workplace environment. This is why many employees are overlooked for promotions or otherwise not given high-potential opportunities. They just don’t do enough to get noticed, and when they do they fear they will not be surrounded by the right leaders that will allow them the opportunity to reach their career goals and objectives.
5. Job Security
Job security is the ultimate fear that employees have about their careers. It has become more difficult to find continuity, consistency and a trajectory for career growth and advancement. This is why it is so important to be your own boss in your work (unless you are fortunate enough to overcome points 1-4 in your career). You must enable your own career opportunities by knowing what it is that you want to ultimately accomplish, so that you can set-forth specific goals and objectives to get there.
You can no longer solely depend on others to help you – you must focus on connecting the right dots in your current workplace and throughout your network to overcome the fear of job security. Let’s face it, many employees are operating in survival mode; as such, you must become proficient at continuously reinventing yourself in order to avoid becoming complacent throughout your career.
Avoid fear by allowing risk and change management to become your best friend.
Career management success requires you to be a more self-aware, agile and passionate explorer of opportunities for growth and advancement. Focus on what you can control to generate results and the desired outcomes for yourself and the organization you serve.
via 5 Fears Employees Have About Their Careers – Forbes.
5 Fears Employees Have About Their Careers
