Guest Blog Written By: Melissa Mac of Melissa Mac Career Coaching
When the clock strikes midnight, what are you going to celebrate as you ring in 2018? How many January’s come and go with the intention of bettering our lives, but as we trudge through to March those intentions are left to the wayside? Give yourself a career check to help you plan for a happier and more balanced career in 2018.
What Happened in 2017?
Don’t raise your glass to hopes of a better year; raise your glass because you are taking solid, actionable steps to ensure that 2018 is a better year. How are you going to do that? By taking the time to focus on what happened in your career during 2017. Ask yourself:
- Are you working for an organization that supports you and recognizes your contributions?
- Are you working in a role that utilizes your best talents and strengths?
- Are you working in a role/organization that offers a positive work/life balance?
- Are you doing work that you find interesting and purposeful?
- Are you on track with your projected career goal progress?
Imagine for just one moment that you just said “Yes” to all of those questions. How did it feel? Pretty terrific, right? Unfortunately, statistics reveal that most of you didn’t say yes to them all. When the average turn over rate is 17.8% and 71% of employees are looking to leave their current role, it is disheartening to understand that the majority of you likely didn’t even say yes to half of those questions.
Why Make Change?
Happy employees are 20% more effective in their role. We can’t just depend on our employers to take action to improve employee engagement and provide clear career pathing opportunities. Your career is, after all, your responsibility. You can take steps to be 20% more effective in your role and to be part of the 66% of highly engaged employees who have no intention of leaving their company.
Conduct an Annual Career Check
As the year comes to a close, it is an excellent time to evaluate your past year and plan for next year. You can do this in two easy steps:
- Take my Career Fit Quiz to help you determine if you are on the right path
- Download this Annual Career Check worksheet to help you reflect back and plan forward
Small and simple steps can have a big impact. Increase your awareness of your current career situation and be planful with your career goals. When November 2018 rolls around and you ask yourself these same questions, perhaps you’ll have more ticks in the yes column than the no.
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