Successful Career Management - A Guide for Organisations, Leaders and Individuals

Overview

“Successful Career Management” written by Stuart McAdam, argues that the economic upheavals of the opening decade of the 21st century have necessitated new perspectives on corporate strategy and career choices – this book will be of interest to business leaders, managers and job seekers alike.

As organisations restructure upsize and downsize, the need to retain – and continue to attract – talent remains paramount. Yet talent management is often seen as a corporate activity done to employees rather than with them. The consequence of such an approach may unintentionally encourage individuals to look elsewhere for career opportunities. Paradoxically, many people fail to assume sufficient personal ownership of their own career management. They may lack understanding necessary to proactively pursue their own aspirations. They may focus on external opportunities, without fully exploring possibilities within their current organisation. The book explores the importance of individuals to have their own means of determining whether it’s better to move on or stay. “What’s the ‘Return on Me’ this organisation may be able to provide?” is a question we should all ask ourselves.

This is particularly important in today’s environment, where moving on may be more difficult than in the past. Leveraging the opportunities available – but untapped – in your current organisation is therefore worth serious consideration. The ethos of the book is not about making you someone you are not; rather it will support making you the individual you have the potential to be.

Organisations can do more to genuinely engage with their workforce; the deliverables expected from employee engagement may also become blurred, with “vicarious employee engagement” rather than active employee engagement coming out the winner, at least in the short term. Supervisors and line managers are frequently ignored as key links in the process.

Contents

Chapter One Putting Career Management in Context

• The bigger picture
• The Takeaway

Chapter Two The individual perspective – Key Elements

• Mapping
• Planning
• Exploring
• Demonstrating competence
• Arriving and delivering
• Consolidating and reviewing
• Choreography
• The Takeaway

Chapter Three Self-Management

• Balancing focus and desire
• Insight and outsight
• Connecting
• The Takeaway

Chapter Four Feedback and the Performance Review

• Feedback
• The performance review
• When feedback comes too late
• The Takeaway

Chapter Five Outplacement, Executive Coaching and Mentoring

• Outplacement
• The employer perspective
• Executive coaching
• Mentoring
• The Takeaway

Chapter Six My Big Fat CV

• Why this matters
• Structure
• Making sense of your MBFCV
• The Takeaway

Chapter Seven Mapping and Planning

• Mapping
• Planning
• The plan
• A brief excursion
• Pro bono work
• The Takeaway

Chapter Eight Exploring and Demonstrating Competence

• Search
• The new CV
• My CV
• Strapline/what do I bring?
• Authenticity
• Ring ready or ring rusty?
• The job description
• Non-Executive Directorships (NEDs
• The recruitment and selection timescale
• Saying “no”
• The supporting letter
• Getting help
• The Takeaway

Chapter Nine Arriving and Delivering

• Executive coaching
• The Takeaway

Chapter Ten Consolidating and Reviewing

Chapter Eleven The Organisational Imperative – Why Supporting Career Management Matters

• Talent management
• Employee engagement
• Performance management and career development
• Turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions
• The potential role of ROM
• How?
• Steps
• Training
• The Takeaway

Chapter Twelve Taking Stock

• Steps
• The Takeaway

Appendix A
Moving Forward: Interview 101

Appendix B
At the Heart of Making a Decision

Reviews

“… practical insight… on the dilemmas facing individuals and companies alike… a very useful structure for making the right choices for the right reasons.”
CELIA BAXTER, DIRECTOR OF GROUP HUMAN RESOURCES, BUNZL PLC

“… this book provides some very useful pointers for organisations looking for new ways to retain their key talent and for those individuals wrestling with the challenge of how best to manage their careers in an uncertain environment.”
MATTHEW ANDREWS, DIRECTOR, HAWKSMOOR SEARCH

“… of interest both to academics and practitioners… Written clearly and with flair, it is easy to read but also of great practical use.”
ADRIAN FURNHAM, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

“Thought provoking – forces you out of your comfort zone when contemplating strategic career moves.”
DIMITRIOS FOUNTAS, ASIAN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, SIR JOHN CASS BUSINESS SCHOOL

Articles by Stuart McAdam

Article: Does the real you show up at interviews? .
Article: Re-energizing Career Management .

Author

Stuart McAdam

Stuart McAdam is a Principal Consultant at New Futures consulting. New Futures offers solutions to personal and inter-personal challenges with a focus on executive coaching, talent and career management. Throughout his career Stuart has initiated, delivered and managed the process and consequences of change as a management consultant, human resources director, headhunter and executive coach. This has given him insight into both what works – and what sometimes doesn’t!

His professional capability includes an MBA and training as a coach at the school of Coaching and the Tavistock Institute. A registered user of a number of psychometric instuments, including the Hogan inventories, he is a Chartered FCIPD and FRSA. His professional capability includes an MBA and training as a coach at the school of Coaching and the Tavistock Institute. A registered user of a number of psychometric instuments, including the Hogan inventories, he is a Chartered FCIPD and FRSA.