Career development needn’t be always about promotions, says a top career coach. It’s about sustaining people throughout their working lives.
On his first visit to Singapore, top Australian career coach Paul Stevens refused to believe that Singaporeans cared only about power, status and money. So, he set out to prove it.
He didn’t have to try very hard. His three major clients — the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Defence and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) — are what he calls “courageous” employers willing to buy into the concept of career development.
“There’s an enormous mindset change. Employers are beginning to realise that keeping talent within the organisation reduces the risk factor,” said Mr Stevens, 61, a self-styled “career technician”, who is also the author of 38 books.
The issue, he added, should not be placement, but sustainability of persons.
In Singapore recently to train the IDA’s human resource team, his approach is optimistic. He teaches people that everyone has 10 options (see sidebar).
Singaporeans, he said, think only in terms of promotion, but not all workers are interested in climbing the corporate ladder. An employee of an organisation he had coached had asked to be demoted to a lesser role because he wanted to spend more time with his family.
“We were happy to hear that, because it meant that our message was getting through to people,” said Mr Stevens.
“You can’t look at your career without looking at your life. As societies become more affluent, people are starting to question the meaning of work.”
Gone are the days when a job’s sole purpose was to bring home the bacon. “Once that is met, it’s natural for humans to seek other forms of self-actualisation,” he said. And now, skills are not “the most critical thing” to getting — and keeping — a job.
However, re-skilling is just one part of career development. According to Mr Stevens, making sure you are functioning at an optimum level in the company also hinges on:
• Work and life balance
(how you juggle work and personal life),
• Renewal of motivation (how you find ways to be motivated by your job),
• Compatibility of values (why you see your job as a perfect fit),
• Identification of primary wants (what the job means to you), and
• Self-audit (how regularly you assess your performance).
But he cautioned that career development doesn’t happen overnight. “It’s a cultural change, a mindset process” that is delicate and cannot be rushed.
Paul Steven’s
10 career options
1. Remain in current role: No content change
2. Enrichment: Develop current job
3. Vertical: Seek promotion
4. Exploration: Test out options
5. Lateral: Sideways move
6. Realignment: Moving down
7. Relocation: Change business unit
8. Redirection: Change career field
9. Proposal: Create new job
10. External: Change employer
On his first visit to Singapore, top Australian career coach Paul Stevens refused to believe that Singaporeans cared only about power, status and money. So, he set out to prove it.
He didn’t have to try very hard. His three major clients — the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Defence and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) — are what he calls “courageous” employers willing to buy into the concept of career development.
“There’s an enormous mindset change. Employers are beginning to realise that keeping talent within the organisation reduces the risk factor,” said Mr Stevens, 61, a self-styled “career technician”, who is also the author of 38 books.
The issue, he added, should not be placement, but sustainability of persons.
In Singapore recently to train the IDA’s human resource team, his approach is optimistic. He teaches people that everyone has 10 options (see sidebar).
Singaporeans, he said, think only in terms of promotion, but not all workers are interested in climbing the corporate ladder. An employee of an organisation he had coached had asked to be demoted to a lesser role because he wanted to spend more time with his family.
“We were happy to hear that, because it meant that our message was getting through to people,” said Mr Stevens.
“You can’t look at your career without looking at your life. As societies become more affluent, people are starting to question the meaning of work.”
Gone are the days when a job’s sole purpose was to bring home the bacon. “Once that is met, it’s natural for humans to seek other forms of self-actualisation,” he said. And now, skills are not “the most critical thing” to getting — and keeping — a job.
However, re-skilling is just one part of career development. According to Mr Stevens, making sure you are functioning at an optimum level in the company also hinges on:
• Work and life balance
(how you juggle work and personal life),
• Renewal of motivation (how you find ways to be motivated by your job),
• Compatibility of values (why you see your job as a perfect fit),
• Identification of primary wants (what the job means to you), and
• Self-audit (how regularly you assess your performance).
But he cautioned that career development doesn’t happen overnight. “It’s a cultural change, a mindset process” that is delicate and cannot be rushed.
Paul Steven’s
10 career options
1. Remain in current role: No content change
2. Enrichment: Develop current job
3. Vertical: Seek promotion
4. Exploration: Test out options
5. Lateral: Sideways move
6. Realignment: Moving down
7. Relocation: Change business unit
8. Redirection: Change career field
9. Proposal: Create new job
10. External: Change employer
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