373. CAREER GOALS

CAREER  GOALS

How to Talk to your Boss about your Career Goals

Performance reviews and appraisals are not the only time when you discuss your career goals with your boss.

1.   The goals can be set either

2.   At the very first meeting when you join in a new job or

3.   A new team/division or

4.   Anywhere during project changes or

5.   Set up in timely recurring meetings throughout the year.

Whether you had a great or a bad performance review for the last year, now is the time to ensure a more positive one for this year.

Plan and prepare to meet with your boss on goal planning for the current year.

Most of us just chuck it under the carpet or roll our eyes, wanting our best to delay as much as possible, either the goal setting meeting with your boss or discussing your performance review before it happens.

But taking charge of your career is in your hands and you better be diligent and proactive about it.

If you don’t take control now no one would and the outcome may not be to your liking.

Performance management is as much your responsibility as your manager’s, well in fact more of yours. Your company’s performance management system may be a real sucker or even one that changes every now and then (a personal experience – when a previous year’s performance appraisal was very conveniently ‘lost’ by the system. I ignored it then, with the “who-cares” attitude; but now realize the importance of what it truly means to be better informed of the performance management reports and what it means to visit them often to be on top of personal career development).

Not tomorrow nor later – today is the time to take initiate: if you have never had a goal setting meeting or performance review (whether new to the company or have been there for ‘don’t-know-how-long’) – now is the time. Managing your performance review and setting career goals with your boss strengthens your communication with upper management and brings forward your work and achievements within the company. You have to market yourself continuously to be visible as a valuable contributor to the organization, if you do not toot your horn no one else will – so take charge now.

Setting up a Meeting with your Manager
Initiate a meeting to discuss on goal setting plans for this year.

When? Ensure that you and your boss are not in a hurry to join another meeting or a Friday evening when all you have in mind is to be out of the office as soon as you can shake off that last task.

Email request: Send a meeting request email or just walk in and talk to him/her about it. (Though it should very well come from your manager but why wait if that has not happened since long – when you initiate you display abilities to lead and take charge of the situation).

Start your Email or conversation on these lines (after the ‘usual’ polite greetings and salutations):

“I want to meet with you to discuss the career goals for this year and to explore further growth opportunities within the company. During this meeting I propose that we take time to assess each other expectations on my current projects and also I shall have the opportunity to get clarifications on future prospects of my career development.”

Ask your boss for a convenient date and time for this meeting. Try to adhere to his timelines.

Such a conversation or communication enables the management to see “what’s it in for them” though rightfully they should be more concerned about how to develop the employee, but yet again if you are not in that set of environment – it is important to realize that keeping on top of your career growth is your responsibility and in a way recession-proofs your career as well.

What and How to discuss with your Boss in this Meeting

• Discuss in depth the expectations from the present and planned projects and keep the task measurable.
• Draft a process for continued communication or seek suggestions on how your manager plans on keeping track of the tasks and deadlines assigned to you. Don’t be shy to communicate if the expectations do not match and/or you have a proposal to work on some other tasks within the team.
• Ask your manager on how the feedback system would work – on the task accountability and appraisals going forward.
• The goal setting discussions should not be just one-a-year-discussion, take time to find out through your company policies if mid-year reviews are supported and ask your manager if he endorses multiple reviews (twice or quarterly) in a year.

Tip: Use good communication skills during this discussion and be a good listener.

Post-Meeting Action Items

• Document what has been discussed in the meeting. Prepare a concise outline and send your manager for approval, from here on it should be the manager’s responsibility to follow-up with HR to get your goals well placed in the performance management system of the company. But do not hesitate to follow-up a few days or a week later to find out how the process finally shaped up and if there are some action items on your plate now.
• Document again the final goals set and visit your performance management system if and when the need arises to update tasks on their status or add new ones.
• Further during the year your tasks and responsibilities may change, make sure that you edit it on the review system as well in your personal documentation.

Take charge of your career, manage your career well and reap the benefits of growth every year!

What has been your experience talking to your boss about your career goals? Please share in comments below.

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How To Talk to Your Teen About a Future Career

Thinking about a future career can bring a lot of stress. Figuring out what he is going to do with this ‘future’ is such a vast undertaking that wrapping his brain around it can seem too daunting. Parents need to learn to help their teen conquer this hefty question by dropping seeds of conversation as time goes by and watch them grow into ideas. This chops up the question into workable issues that you and your teen can enjoy dealing with throughout their teen years.

Time Required: Start as early as middle school.

Here's How:

1.   In your child’s life there are times when they are given the opportunity to see and/or discuss a certain career. Schools have Career Day, an aunt or uncle talk about what they do for a living or your teen’s youth group goes on a trip to a hospital and talks to the staff there. Each of these times is an opportunity for you to ask your teen what he thought of those jobs or that field of work.

2.   When your teen shows interest in a certain career, you should do some research. Then, you can offer your teen some information on that job and related jobs. The Occupational Outlook Handbook put out by the Department of Labor gives you what schooling is needed, how much someone can make and other information about almost every career out there today. It’s a wonderful free online resource.

3.   Help your teen weight the pros and cons for his different career interests. Encourage your teen to narrow the choices down to five at the most. He can always change his mind after he sees the specifics for these choices.

4.   Figure out the path your teen would have to take in order to obtain the schooling for his career choices. This is a good time to begin ordering in college and technical school catalogs. Use the catalogs and any other information you have found as an ice breaker for more conversations with your teen.

5.   The ultimate decision lies with your teenager, but you do have the right to have input. Make this a clear message. Teach your teen that part of being independent is knowing when and who to lean on, trust and respect.

Tips:

1.   Be sure not to push your teen in any specific direction that may be on your agenda. While you may need to push him forward, you want to guide him towards his future, not the one you may be dreaming about.

2.   Every time you talk to your teen about his future you will need to give him time to digest the conversation. Try not to pick his brain too much while he is doing this. Simply ask if he is ready to talk more about it and abide by his answer.

3.   Do you feel you have open communication with your teen?