How to add value through career coaching
Remember the movie ‘3 Idiots’? In the movie, Farhan (R Madhavan) is able to face his father and land careers of his choice. But the fact of life is that most Farhan’s end up in roles that they do not enjoy (and not surprisingly, are bad at).
The reasons could be many parental pressure, low-risk appetite, lack of awareness, not investing in self, etc. In the movie, Farhan was lucky to have Rancho as a friend, who also in a way became his career coach.
Most employees will have a corporate career of about 30 to 35 years.
A long period indeed! And if one wants that most part of this period t o be f ulf i l l i ng and rewarding, one needs to periodically take a pause, revisit and re-plan their careers. Moreover, in today’s VUCA world, every employee needs to be agile about their career planning if they need to stay relevant.
Structured career coaching will be an extremely important process in this regard. It adds value in some of the following ways:
MORE SELF-AWARE ABOUT NATURAL STRENGTHS LEADING TO INFORMED CAREER CHOICES.
An effective Career Conversation will usually get an employee to self-reflect on what their natural strengths are. This is often done with the help of various tools and conversations with coaches. A good psychometric tool will give employees an insight into what their innate strengths are, and what job families are they likely to enjoy and hence succeed. This allows one to make better choices about what they will want to do, independent of peer pressure and other motivations.
STRUCTURED AND FOCUSED SELF DEVELOPMENT
A career coach will not only help an employee figure out the ‘What’, but also ‘How’.
Any re-orientation in ones’ career needs to be planned strategically and executed thoroughly. Once an employee has clarity on what role he/she wants to focus on, they must go about acquiring the necessary competencies needed to succeed in that role. A career conversation helps employee to plan navigation from the current to the aspirational role in a structured manner. I t a l s o hel p s t he employee set realistic timelines for acquiring the necessary competencies.
ALIGNING ASPIRATIONS TO MARKET AND ORGANIZATIONAL REALITIES There is nothing wrong with having aspirational goals. Howe ver, i t i s prudent f or and employee to evaluate their career aspirations and goals in light of what are the current opportunities and dynamics in one’s current organization. One also needs to be aware of market dynamics at play, which may have a bearing on the relevance of certain roles/skillsets. An effective career conversation helps an employee to evaluate their goals in light of these realities and help them plan accordingly.
UPSKILLING TO STAY RELEVANT
Digital Disruption is ubiquitous. With business models undergoing rapid transformation, the shelf-life of skill is shrinking. Gone are the days when what we learn in colleges or universities ensured life-long employment. A case in point is the redundancies we see in the information technology sector.
Today, an individual needs to constantly acquire news skills just to stay relevant in the job market. Employees appreciate t hi s , and c areer c oaching ensures they are in better control of their careers and destinies.
In a nutshell, career conversations are about the future of both, the organizations and individuals. If all stakeholders get it right, employees will feel connected to their work, valued for their contributions, engaged with their organizations, and motivated to contribute. It will lead to an ecosystem of more productive individuals and organizations.