Outplacement leads to brighter future for wellbeing consultant

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Director Sue Thomas is absolutely delighted to share this story and would like to express her appreciation to Sam for this article, which describes her new business and the part played by outplacement with our new principal consultant Margery MacKellar.

Samantha Langford set up her health and wellbeing consultancy, Gaia Workplace Wellbeing, in October 2022. Now, having almost completed her first year, Sam has a busy order book and plans for business development. Once just a dream, her business became a reality following redundancy and outplacement support from Career Evolution.

When the company Sam had been working for as a Health and Wellbeing Advisor for 18 months made her redundant, with one month’s notice, on her return from her honeymoon, she was understandably shaken. However, her employer offered her outplacement support and despite initially being unsure whether to take it, decided to give it a go.

A winning pair

An important part of working with Career Evolution is the skills and experience of its Consultants. Sam was paired with Consultant Margery MacKellar, who worked closely with her to rebuild her confidence and help Sam recognise where her strengths were. Sam explains: “Margery was incredible. Without a doubt, without her support, I wouldn’t have got to where I am today.”

Thinking big in outplacement

Sam added: “Margery was so encouraging. She made me realise that the world was my oyster. I am passionate about reducing mental health stigma, promoting workplace health and wellbeing and ensuring staff feel comfortable to bring their whole selves to work. Setting up Gaia has enabled me to do this and help more people. I have also been able to focus on areas I feel particularly strongly about, such as Menopause, Grief and Bereavement and Trauma Risk Management.”

With initial plans to set up as a sole trader, Sam ultimately opted to set up a limited company, as well as offering some associate training work. She focuses much of her energy on working with SMEs and not for profit clients. Through coaching conversations, Margery was able to support and encourage Sam to think big and pursue her dreams.

Wellbeing expert

Sam is a Mental Health and Suicide First Aider, Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) and Sustaining Resilience at Work (StRaW) Practitioner and Invisible Illness Advocate. She also holds a NEBOSH Certificate in Managing Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace, as well as a Masters in Workplace Health and Wellbeing with Distinction.

Sam commented: “One of the things Margery helped me with was providing coaching but then also settings tasks to keep me focused on what I was trying to achieve. She made me write a bio statement that I felt really sold me and what I could offer. She encouraged me to turn my passive statements into strong statements that showcased what I was capable of. The support from Career Evolution and Margery has been life changing, and I am so glad I took advantage of the outplacement.”

For further information on outplacement, visit https://www.career-evolution.org/services/one-to-one-executive-outplacement/

Career Evolution introduces new Principal Consultant

Career Evolution is pleased to announce that one of the company’s highly experienced and long-standing Consultants has taken on the role of Principal Consultant within the business. Margery MacKellar, who has worked with Career Evolution for over four years, takes on the new role to further support Director and Consultant Sue Thomas.

A wide and varied career

Margery is an MCIPD qualified HR professional, Management Consultant and Career Consultant who brings expertise of delivery across the UK and Europe.  She started her career by initially training and qualifying as a Printer – and never thought back then that she would end up coaching and developing individuals. Margery works with clients across a wide range of roles, and at all levels from junior and middle management, through to executive and non-executive director professionals.

Hogan Assessment certified and British Psychological Society accredited, Margery has extensive experience working within all the fields of HR and professional development, including in a senior HR role working across Europe. She also spent a significant number of years working in HR within the health and innovation sector.

Margery joined Career Evolution in 2019 to support the company’s growth within the north of the UK, with her very first project to provide support to a fish food manufacturer near Inverness. Now, her main focus is supporting senior executives with outplacement and providing management development, specifically helping employees navigate across organisations and tap into their unique skillset. In her role of Principal Consultant, Margery will also be engaging with new customers across the business.

Matching Consultant and Client

Margery explains: “I love working with people and helping them to develop. One of the first things that attracted me to Career Evolution was Sue’s approach – and commitment – to matching the right Consultant with the right Client. That chemistry check is so important and is often what makes the difference to enabling people to be the best they can.

“I have done a lot of work around personality, leadership and fit over the years and this feeds into much of the work that I do. When I am working with a Client on outplacement I also need to be able to help them articulate themselves on paper, so that they are selected to be interviewed. This can sometimes be challenging as I am working with them when they are at their most vulnerable. However, I am a trained competency-based interviewer, so I usually know what the interviewers are likely to be looking for.”

An integral part of the team

Commented Sue Thomas, Director at Career Evolution on Margery’s appointment: “Margery is an integral part of the Career Evolution team, and I am looking forward to working more closely with her as we welcome new Clients to Career Evolution.”

Outside of her work, Margery has been inspired to start running and has also started befriending residents at a local Dementia care home.

Getting on with it

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Meeting etiquette can always be difficult to get right.  And since the pandemic, it’s one that is beginning to become much more normal again. In person meetings in particular are making a comeback, but many people have embraced remote meetings as the way forward. However, wherever the meeting takes place, we are converging to discuss business matters, there are a few things we should all bear in mind.

Better late than never?

People turning up late – is it acceptable or not?  I worked in an organisation where all the really interesting discussion points were held at the beginning of a meeting, so that you missed out if you arrived late.  It’s important to have a roughed-out agenda, so any late attendees can see what was discussed, but unless you have a valid excuse, lateness for meetings is usually seen as being rude.  Interestingly, people are less tolerant of people being late on virtual meetings – why would you be five minutes late, when you only have to connect through your computer? That said, virtual or in person, we’ve all run into traffic – vehicular or internet – and sometimes internet speeds can cause havoc at the very moment you want them to deliver the broadband performance you’re paying for.

Constantly on-call

Phones and things – is it acceptable to leave your phone on during a meeting? Some people do and we’ve all had attendees answering the phone with that poor excuse: “I’m in a meeting”. Just mute the ringtone and allow them to leave a message. However, if the people in the meeting are aware you may need to take a call, it won’t come across as rude. Tip them off beforehand and this should work. It’s actually worse in an online meeting if this happens. Just ignore it and ring them back after the meeting has finished. Meetings have their own ebb and flow, and any interruptions can disrupt this. It can also disrupt trains of thought and natural development of discussions, and a phone ringing can bring this to a halt, and it’s difficult to pick up where you left off afterwards

Focus on the matter

As a rule of thumb, I always put my phone on silent and upside down so it doesn’t distract me at all.  I’m not able to see any incoming emails from my one screen, so I’m not tempted to look at something else. This allows me to concentrate and focus on the meeting and its attendees. If a meeting has a reason, there shouldn’t be any circumstances to become distracted from it, unless it’s highlighted and acknowledged by the rest of the participants. You can take part in meetings from any location these days, which can be hugely beneficial – especially over the summer months. But remember, if you are on holiday when you are taking part in the meeting, move any cocktails out of camera shot.

 

 

No back-to-school blues as Career Evolution becomes a teenager

The summer holidays may be over, but with the sun out and a mini heatwave in progress, what better way is there to mark the return to school and Career Evolution’s 13th birthday, than with new stationery, like a brand-new notepad?

Make a note

It can be easy to forget just how much you have achieved in your working life. Things that to you might just seem like ‘business as usual’, might in fact be considered a huge achievement by others. By keeping a note of what you have done, as you go along, will mean that when you are called upon to list out your achievements – whether its for your CV or in an interview – you will have all the key points identified, and with dates too.

Sue Thomas, director at Career Evolution explains: “I find that by keeping a notepad where I track all my achievements – big and small – means that I have one place to look when I am trying to remember what I achieved and when. This can be particularly helpful if you have to demonstrate continuous professional development (CPD) activity each year. Marking down dates and titles of training courses, webinars, conferences and seminars that you have attended, will go a long way towards the hours of training and development that you need to track annually. It can also be used to record achievements, changes in responsibilities and promotions. It is also a good place to save the outcomes of appraisals and review meetings too.

Time to celebrate

“I have done this for a long time, and as the business celebrates its 13th year, it is fascinating to look back at some of the achievements that I have recorded over the years. From my first client success to bringing on board the first of my career Coaches and Consultants. They are all important and a good demonstration of how far I have come.”

To find out more about Career Evolution, visit www.career-evolution.org