International Stress Awareness Month (April)

This month (April) is International Stress Awareness month. Stress is something that should be discussed all year round, but it’s good to have a month dedicated to having open conversations about the impact of stress on employees. According to YouGov, 74% of people feel so stressed they have felt overwhelmed and unable to cope and 23% say that work causes them stress.

It’s important to remove the stigma associated with stress and mental health in the work environment, and help employees manage their work and personal stress.

It can be difficult to acknowledge when you’re suffering from stress, but learning the symptoms and signs of stress can help manage it, so it has less of an impact on your life. According to the NHS, within the workplace, multiple issues can result in stress, if not well managed:

  • Build up of workload and a lack of control
  • No clarity about responsibilities and demands on time and energy
  • A fear of redundancy or job losses
  • No support from line management
  • Difficult relationships with colleagues
  • Bullying or harassment
  • Workplace discrimination.

Your body reacts when it feels pressure from stress. Your heart beats faster, breathing quickens, and muscles tense up. It can also have a longer-term impact, with the risk of more headaches, chest pain and stomach problems. Irritability, trouble concentrating, forgetting things and feeling overwhelmed are all other possible symptoms – and all this will increase your risk of developing depression and anxiety.

Here are six techniques that should help you to alleviate stress and improve your work environment:

Breathing exercises

Try taking three long, slow, deep breaths. Concentrate on breathing in and out, and then allow your breathing to return to normal.

Take time out

Make time for yourself and bring in some enjoyment. This might be a short chat with a work colleague, sharing a treat like cake or chocolate, doing simple stretches, or taking time to go for a walk at lunchtime.

Communicate with your manager or colleague

If you’re feeling under pressure, let people know, so that they can help to make changes to make your work life better.

Set clear boundaries

This is particularly important if you work from home. You need to make sure you set yourself clear boundaries for when working and for when not at work. Make sure you switch off on your days off.

Eat healthy lunches

Plan and create well-balanced lunches. Ensure you drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Create practical solutions

If struggling to solve a problem, try using a different way to tackle it. Look at practical solutions, doing something differently, or can you look at it the following day or week.

Get in touch to see how we can assist with coaching or team development to ensure that your workplace stays stress free.

All work and no play – why your weekends should be for you

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I think it’s fair to say that we have all been guilty of doing work during our free time, at one point or another. Of course, this ‘work’ may not be for your company, and could be for you, if you are searching for a new job. The accessibility and ease of being able to job search from anywhere at any time, on your phone or laptop, means that many of us can’t switch off from it when we really should and need to.

This is especially true if you’re working from home, and it’s normal to have your work computer set-up at home and accessible any time out of traditional working ‘office’ hours. However, this not only adversely affects our mental health, but also affects those around us.

All your own work

When you’ve been job hunting for a while – whether you are just desperate for a job change or need to find work following redundancy – it can be very easy for it to start taking over your life, especially if you feel guilty for not constantly spending all your time job hunting. Scrolling LinkedIn and refreshing job feeds can become almost habitual, without really achieving anything.

Finding the right balance

We all know the importance of having a good work-life balance, but for some it’s easier said than done. Free time helps us to recharge and reset, ready to take on the next job application. Rather than making us more productive, continuing to search when it should be your leisure time can have the opposite effect. Without this very necessary downtime, it can cause increased levels of stress, tiredness, illness and burn-out – leaving you worn out and disheartened by the whole thing.

Have your work cut out

Choosing to spend all your time job hunting on the weekend or evening takes valuable time away from spending it on yourself or with your family. This lack of quality time can put a strain on relationships and can lead to missing out on fun family time – time you won’t get back.

Therefore, it is important that you still take time for ‘you’ and not feel guilty about not searching for jobs during your free time. Your weekends and evenings should be for you to enjoy some rest and leisure time. Be it pursuing your favourite hobbies, a date night with your partner, and importantly making time for exercise.

Work in progress

While it is vitally important to job search, there are ways to make the most of the time you spend on finding your next job. Allocate certain amounts of time towards searching for jobs and stick to it. You can set aside more time for applying for a promising role you’ve found, but then make sure to balance that with having a break from job searching for an amount of time.

Speaking of breaks, if you do decide to spend a few hours job searching and applying on a weekend, take frequent breaks to keep your mind fresh and body active. Making a cup of tea or enjoying a stroll will improve your productivity.

If you feel like you’re not getting anywhere with job sites, try something else – reach out to your network and connect with people on LinkedIn.

Speak to our team to see how Outplacement and Coaching might help.

Resilience in the face of rejection

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Looking for your next career move when facing redundancy can be hard. Regardless of your level of experience, industry knowledge or even your latest job role, there is a high probability that you will receive at least one rejection letter when you are looking for your new position.

Sadly, given the volume some companies receive, you may not even receive an acknowledgement of your application, let alone obtain a notice of rejection, which can be even more difficult when you have spent time and energy on applying for the role.

This isn’t an indication of anything that you have done wrong, or even that you weren’t suitable for the role you were applying for. With many other people also looking for their dream job, it is a statistical probability that you won’t always be successful, and a large proportion of people’s applications can leave them being made to feel ‘ghosted’.

However, in the face of rejection, it is important that you are resilient. The right job is just a successful application and interview away, but maintaining a sense of self and your self-confidence is imperative to enable you to perform well when the opportunity comes along.

Resilience is how well you can deal with – and bounce back from – challenges. Resilient people tend to maintain a more positive outlook and cope with stress more effectively. It can mean the difference between accepting rejection and being overwhelmed by it.

Although some people are naturally resilient, resilience can be learnt, and you can build resilience in a number of ways.

Set your goals – what are you looking for in your next role?

The threat of redundancy can be extremely daunting. However, setting yourself some reasonable goals can be the first step towards bouncing back. Those goals might be to revisit your CV, update your LinkedIn profile or reach out to a former boss, colleague or business partner for a coffee and a catch up. Whatever it is, setting and then achieving simple goals will help you start to work out – and work towards – what you want in the future.

Once you have set your goals, working towards them will also help you feel more in control of your situation. Finding a new job won’t happen without effort on your part, but breaking down the work that needs to be done and tackling it in a manageable way is important.

A sense of purpose

Redundancy is hard, but it can also be seen as an amazing opportunity to find an exciting new role or even change direction completely.  With a defined purpose, you’ll be more motivated to learn from your past experiences and keep going.

Outplacement is also a highly effective tool which your employer can provide to help you in finding your next career move following redundancy. Our team offers tailored outplacement to assist with this process, to help identify your options and transferable skills which could open new doors to your next role.

Believe in yourself

During a redundancy process it is important to retain confidence in your own abilities. It would be easy to start doubting yourself, but self-confidence is an important element of resilience. Listen out  for negative comments in your head. When you hear them, practice immediately replacing them with positive ones. Research has demonstrated that your self-esteem plays an important role in coping with stress and recovering from difficult events. Remind yourself of your strengths and accomplishments – and if you identify areas for improvement, take time to develop them too.

Develop your network

Your business network can play an important role in helping you find your next role. Reaching out to former colleagues, bosses, suppliers and other industry contacts can yield impressive results. It can also help your resilience, as having a network of supportive individuals is so important. Your personal network is important too, as we all need our champions and supporters cheering us on.

Embrace change

Flexibility and optimism are essential parts of resilience. By learning how to be more adaptable, you’ll be better equipped to respond when faced with a difficult life experience like redundancy. Change is difficult, but with a resilient mindset, you can come out of it stronger and happier, and with a new career.

 

Contact us today and see how our Consultants can help with Outplacement support and our Career Coaches can help your team build resilience.

 

Outplacement: helping create positive change

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It’s not just the New Year which sees many seeking pastures new. The financial year-end can also bring about many changes for individuals and companies too. Sometimes welcome, sometimes not. However, this chance for change can bring many benefits, and these can be fully realised through outplacement.

Why outplacement?

It is in a business’ interest to offer outplacement to its team if it is making significant structural changes. One of the biggest advantages of outplacement is that it gives an individual the opportunity to stop and think about what they really want from their career and next job move. They might be happy to find a similar role or the next step up in the same sector. Or, they might decide to focus on achieving something entirely new and different. It might be something which aligns more with their goals, on a totally different path. Through outplacement, a Career Consultant will work with an individual to help them identify what they need to do to get to where they want to be.

What is outplacement?

Outplacement can be hugely beneficial. However, the individual has to fully engage with it, to get the most out of it. There are many stages, which will come in a different order for each individual depending on their personal circumstances. The main areas include identifying options, preparing a CV, updating LinkedIn and putting a strategy in place. This is followed by interview training and check-ins.

Outplacement is not a linear process. Some might need to start from scratch, especially if they have been out of the job market for a long time, and should begin with writing a new CV. Others might need a tailored approach which reflects their more recent job search experience, such as just tweaking and updating their LinkedIn profile. Outplacement can help an individual make sense of what needs doing, in what order, without it becoming overwhelming.

Making it work for you

One of the key services offered by Career Evolution is outplacement. Having one of our professional and highly skilled outplacement Consultants working with the job-seeking individual will help ensure that they stay focused and accountable. Whatever the time of year, individuals job searching will be competing against other people looking for their next career move too. However, through their outplacement commitment, and with Career Evolution’s support, this will help them to find their next career move. When they find it, our Consultant will continue to help them prepare for the interview and achieve the role they want.

Speak to us to see how we can assist you.

What an exit – how to enhance an employee’s departure

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The loss of an employee can be a difficult time for a company, especially if they are exiting from a senior role and have been with the company for a long time. Either of these elements can have a detrimental effect on staff morale.

As they leave it is essential that HR’s off-boarding process manages their exit effectively, not just for the employee involved, but also as a clear message to the rest of the company, and potentially for new hires, that the business will continue to look after its staff, even when they depart for pastures new.

While this can be easier for an employee leaving of their own volition and are departing on good terms, this is also important to manage for an employee who might be begrudgingly handing in their notice if they were unhappy in their role, or because of a company decision, such as redundancy. This can ensure that the company can retain some good PR, even out of a negative situation.

Sweeten the deal

There are multiple ways you can enhance an employee’s exit at an executive level.

Retaining some of the perks which the employee enjoyed for a short period of time after their departure, will help smooth their transition from the company and should be looked upon favourably from the remaining staff.

Offering such things as being able to keep hold of the company car, work mobile or laptop for another month for example, or extending their healthcare, will be sure to be appreciated, especially if their move is a geographic one as well as a work one.

Organising a moment of farewell, allowing other members of staff the chance to wish the exiting employee well in their next role, will provide all involved with a positive and lasting impression.

A small gift can act as a token of appreciation, and could take the form of company-branded merchandise, to continue to keep the company’s name in the leaving employee’s mind, especially if the door remains open for their potential return in the future.

Room to improve

One way to get a true measure of a company is to look at how they treat their departing staff, and, whatever the circumstances of a member of staff leaving, if they are treated with respect and made to feel valued, this can only lead to more positive reflections for the business.

Learnings can also be gained from the process, and used to inform future recruitment strategies and improve staff performance and retention, to assist with the growth and reputation of the business.

A good send-off

In order to retain a positive relationship with the exiting employee, providing support and assistance would not only be beneficial to them, but also the company. This can help to create a potentially beneficial connection, with the greater likelihood of new talent being referred, and enhancing the company’s appeal to attracting and retaining staff.

Offering coaching or outplacement support to the exiting employee can demonstrate how they are valued as a person as well as an employee, and can go a long way towards thanking them for their years of loyalty and service to the company.

We can offer a personalised approach for employees at all levels, providing a tailored package to suit the individual, demonstrating consideration and aiding towards a genuine, positive, beneficial and effective employee exit experience.

Get in touch to see how we can aid your staff leaving strategies.

Conforming to gender norms

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There’s a lot of discussion around gender in general and specifically gender in the workplace, as an ongoing debate about equality and fairness. In terms of parity, it’s important that any discrepancies between pay and opportunities are addressed, and we do seem to have come a long way in terms of redressing the balance somewhat.

One example I have encountered is highly-successful female clients who fear participating in interviews, if they know there are men on the shortlist as well. They become self-effacing and self-deprecating, to the point of being too humble about their achievements and experience. In fact, they become convinced that their own skills, experience and achievements will not win over the interviewer and secure the role. This is patently not true but persuading them otherwise can be problematic.

Never knowingly undersold

It’s very important not to undersell yourself when it comes to interviews – no matter what gender you are. By feeling inferior due to gender, you are immediately setting yourself up to fail. It’s a disadvantage from the off and we all know it’s difficult enough preparing for interviews, without added pressures such as psychological impacts to factor in. It’s also important to ensure that you are well prepared for your interview, so that your CV and interview answers accurately reflect your real personality, knowledge and skills. Don’t undersell your achievements and skills, in fact highlight areas you feel that are your particular strengths. 

Mental barriers

The sense of women feeling inferior in the workplace or of being unsuitable for a role may seem archaic in 2024, but in some women’s minds these mental barriers still exist. They feel as though they are conforming to gender norms, that if they are a women they shouldn’t be putting themselves forward for certain roles in specific professions. This is at a time when women’s participation in traditionally male-dominated sectors, such as construction or engineering for instance, are on the rise. If I am encountering this in my circle of clients, which I always deem to be a pretty representative cross-section, then it’s probably not an unusual occurrence across business and society in general.    

Engendering confidence

So much so, that it is not unusual for us to be approached by organisations to offer support to employees who are going for high level internal roles and need to perform in interview.  In my experience, even in this situation, some women immediately feel at a disadvantage.

Part of my role as a Consultant is to actively encourage positivity around identifying and finding new roles, and also to engender confidence prior to an interview situation. This can be done in a number of ways. It may sound like stating the obvious, but I find the more preparation candidates carry out, the stronger they become and the more confident they will be in their own persona and capabilities. This will come out in the interview and present them as a strong, convincing candidate. In this way, the best candidate will always secure the role they are best suited for – whatever their gender.

Don’t settle for less – why you should wait for the perfect job

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Job searching can be an anxious time for many, especially if there is the added pressure of needing to find a new role whilst no longer in post. This can lead to a rollercoaster of emotions, particularly if several interviews have been and gone with no job offer in sight. These can range from hope to frustration, annoyance, and even anger, before you’re ready to accept and move on, ready to repeat the whole process again.

Don’t sell yourself short

It can be very tempting, therefore, to accept the first job offer that comes your way, even if it might not be a perfect fit. I do become concerned if my clients say that they are ‘happy’ to settle for less in this, whether that be for a lower salary or level of role.

However, if you don’t retain your market value, it can be difficult to regain it if you become unhappy in your new role. This is especially true if you’ve taken a pay cut or a step down the career ladder, as you can’t as easily immediately return to a higher salary or a more senior role level that you are currently accustomed to.

Keep in check

I work with clients to help them rebuild their confidence and self-worth through the job searching and interviewing process, building resilience in the face of rejection.

I can also help them to identify what they want and need in their next role, and what is negotiable.

It’s important then, right at the beginning, to have a checklist of what you’re looking for. These most commonly include:

  • Level of role
  • Function
  • Sector
  • Culture
  • Size
  • The amount of time working away (both nationally and internationally)

and, of course,

  • Salary

The only way is up

Just like it has taken you time to amass a career and standing to be proud of, it might take time to find the next role to suit you and help you take your next step up on the career ladder.

A focussed job search campaign, with an uplifted attitude and a tick list of what is important to you will help you to achieve your goals.

At this time of year, it’s important to know that there are better times ahead. Try to think about the successful career you’ve had, not just the gruelling process of finding your next role. You might find that by holding out for something better, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by being offered more than expected, such as increased pension contributions, extra holidays, or private health insurance.

It’s a long road to success, but it’ll be worth it.

If your business is restructuring, speak to us about how we can help your employees to find their next dream role.

Outplacement or inplacement

The new year can often mean a fresh start for many, and those looking to climb the career ladder might be searching for their next job opportunity. However, some may prefer the security that staying with the same company provides, and so the prospect of applying for an internal role might be an appealing one. Equally, with so many businesses restructuring and changes to job roles taking place across the board, some people are finding themselves having to interview for jobs internally, particularly to keep a part-time or role on a secondment.

Be prepared

Internal candidates need to remember that the same amount of research and preparation should be given to their interview preparation as they would if they were interviewing for somewhere new. This is especially important when you consider that they will likely be interviewing against some experienced external candidates. Just because someone already work for the company, and likely know the interviewers, and it might feel like it’s a shoe-in, they can’t assume that an external candidate won’t present themselves as the better candidate.

Encourage your internal candidates to research the role as much as they can. They have the added bonus of being able to speak to colleagues already in that team and find out more about the role and what they will be really looking for. They might even be able to speak to the person departing the role and find out more about the day-to-day. They can then tailor their CV and planned interview discussions to meet the requirements of the role. This is sure to help them gain an advantage in the interview

A bit of extra help

If you have an internal candidate applying for a role within your business, it is important that you remember that applying and interviewing for any role can be daunting, and sometimes more so when it’s for another internal role. Candidates will be worrying about the impact their role move could have on their current team, not to mention their manager, who they may still have to work with or at least see at the same business. Imposter syndrome is also a very real challenge for some candidates, so you might want to consider offering some coaching support to help them shine.

Our team of expert coaches will be happy to offer your internal candidates the support they need. Don’t just take our word for it:

“The support and challenge offered by Career Evolution ensured that I was at the top of my game for a very rigorous application process, against an exceptionally strong field. I can recommend them without hesitation.”

NHS Communications Director

 

Contact us to see how we can help you to prepare and attain your new internal role.

All are welcome – the importance of diversity, equality and inclusivity

I’ll never forget the feedback my father once received from an interview over 60 years ago: “You would have got the job as the best candidate, but you were born into the wrong class…” Times have thankfully moved on, and today we pay no heed to where or the circumstances into which, someone was born. We, rightfully so, place emphasis on the individual and not on their class. However, unconscious biases are hard to eradicate, and unfortunately in business people are still discriminated against when the individual is considered different to society’s idea of the ‘norm’.

The wider picture

Diversity, equality and inclusivity should always be at the forefront of the interviewer’s mind when looking for candidates. In a nutshell, these refer to;

  • Diversity – involving people from all backgrounds
  • Equality – ensuring all people should have equal opportunities and rights
  • Inclusivity – making all people feel valued.

Ensuring that this is incorporated across the business is a passion for many of my clients in Human Resources (HR – responsible for the hiring of employees and ensuring a positive work environment), Organisational Development (OD – responsible for managing employee wellbeing and performance management) and Learning & Development (L&D – responsible for encouraging the professional development of employees).

When I speak to these clients, I always want them to be aware of diversity, equality and inclusivity as a larger umbrella than they may have been exposed to, but should be aware of. This goes beyond someone’s race, gender or religion, to how someone thinks or identifies themselves.

Great minds

There has been a change of thinking in the way we think of the way people think. People have been speaking more and more about neurodiversity and how this can be a positive for a business. This can refer to people who have autism, ADHD and dyslexia, and sees these as a different way of thinking, rather than seeing these as a disorder and a challenge to be avoided or overcome. People who are ‘neurodivergent’ are often highly perceptive and show great skills with technical operations or are particularly creative, which can be a real boon to any company.

Embracing the community

We tend to think of diversity these days as more about embracing the LGBTQIA+ community. This is abbreviated to encompass lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual and any other gender identities and sexual orientations that are not specifically covered by the other five initials.

The more we and the workforce understand and embrace people’s differences, the more we can shift our thinking and celebrate diversity, to make a more inclusive space for everyone to thrive.

Setting the precedent

We as individuals have so much to offer in our own unique ways, and this brings new ideas to drive a business forward. Mahatma Ghandi is attributed to saying; ‘Be the change you want to see’, but what he actually said is far more poetic and resonant: “We but mirror the world. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. We need not wait to see what others do.”

Someone being right for the job should be based on their ability to do the role to the best of their abilities, otherwise if you hire someone who only ‘looks the part’, you’re just going to be disappointed when they can’t deliver.

Speak to us about our services.

 

Good for the ego

Having an ‘ego’ is often seen as something negative, especially in business. I think we’ve all been guilty at some time of saying something along the lines of: ‘Don’t work for them, the director has such an ego!’

Alter ego

However, those in psychological circles will know that the ego is actually something to be celebrated. Sigmund Freud heralded the ego as being ‘the rational part of the psyche’. It uses reason to control our overly impulsive (Id) and overly tentative (Superego) behaviours. Think of it as the mediator between the devil and angel on your shoulders.

Egocentric

The ego is our conscious self, and it’s the way we think about ourselves and how we wish to project this to others. Many people that I’ve worked with at the executive level are often apologetic about the fact that their loss or change of job title has ‘hurt their ego’. The fact that they are apologetic makes it seem that this shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a bad thing.

Many of these clients have humble roots, so why shouldn’t they strive for a high level role because of their ambition and intellect, and why shouldn’t they be upset if that is removed? If the ego is our ‘self’, it’s no surprise that many who invest so much into their careers feel lost when their job title or business is stripped away, and so much of my role is helping someone regain their confidence – be it their feelings of self-worth or confidence that they can move on again with their career.

Ego boost

Hand in hand with having an ego is someone also being seen as selfish. As the director of my own business, and facilitator to many others in business, I’ve attended several Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) lectures, and one key surprising take-away was that being selfish can actually be a good thing.

The dictionary defines someone who is ‘selfish’ as person who is only concerned with themselves. While ruthlessness shouldn’t have any place in business, it sometimes pays to be a little selfish. None of us would be where we are now if we hadn’t put our all into that job interview, that role, or setting up a business. And if we look after ourselves and fulfil our own self-care needs, we can give our best to others.

So maybe it’s time we changed our way of thinking and start putting our ‘self’ first and seeing the ego as a good thing.