Harmonics

4 Aces Masterclass Series

Last February, John Fitzgerald wrote a blog called “4 Aces Hold the Key for the Future of Work” which looked at the new rules to succeed in the New World of Work. It received a huge reaction and prompted Bank of Ireland to ask how the concept could be brought to life for their employees.

Here, Justine Negri tells us how Harmonics developed a two page blog into a Masterclass Series which was rolled out to all Bank of Ireland manufacturing employees across Ireland and the UK over a couple of weeks.

 Q. John’s blog focused on four key criteria he believed were necessary to succeed in the Future World of Work. Why do you think there was so much interest in this concept?

Justine: In the Masterclass, I highlight how the traditional and rather predictable career model of the past is no longer relevant in today’s rapidly changing world of work. In the traditional model, you graduated from college and through hard work and loyalty alone you could progress up the corporate career ladder. But there’s a new model in town, the self-directed career management model, which implies that the onus is now on you to proactively develop and manage your own career.

Career development and career progression is showing up on Employee Engagement surveys worldwide as being of huge interest to employees. The world of work is being disrupted and organisational change is happening at an exponential rate. Because this model is relatively new, employees want tools, tips and techniques to stay ahead and succeed in this rapidly changing world of work.

 

Q. How did you go about developing the concept into a 45 minute Masterclass?

Justine:  I’ve been working in the career management space for over 15 years now and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with individuals from many different cultures and levels in an Organisation from graduate to CEO level. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet hundreds of Bank of Ireland employees over the past 3 years through the facilitation of the My Career Best workshop, coaching or the implementation of the online career management portal. To make this Masterclass as relevant and practical as possible to Bank of Ireland employees, I tuned into the pulse of emerging themes, needs and wants that I’ve been hearing over the past 3 years so that all participants were leaving with tangible and applicable insights and takeaways.

I introduced participants to the key ingredient that I genuinely believe, if applied correctly, can help us all advance in our careers and that is curiosity. This formed the main component throughout the talk and helped bind the 4 Aces – Awareness of Self, Awareness of the Environment, Adaptability and Anticipation – in a fun, engaging and insightful way.

I also wanted to make sure that everyone left with key learnings that they could apply immediately, so each participant received their own deck of 4 Aces career cards to take away. Each of the 4 Aces has a deeper meaning and will serve as a navigational point to guide them at any stage in their future career journey. The 4 Aces cards, with provocative coaching questions, offer a rich takeaway they can keep in their side locker or wallet to help them prepare for future career planning, performance, interview or career conversations.

Q. What kind of feedback have you received to the Masterclass Series?

Justine: The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I met approximately 1,700 people across Ireland and the UK over the past couple of weeks and the general consensus of praise has been the practical nature of the talk. Numerous people mentioned how they could really identify with the challenges, opportunities and expectations that this self-directed career management model presents and how tangible the 4 Aces are in helping them to plan and prepare for their future career. Participants also worked on live examples during the talk so they got a chance to be truly immersed into this new concept and experience the 4 Aces for themselves.

Q. Do you expect to be delivering this Masterclass again?

Justine: Yes. At Harmonics we are constantly researching the future of work and gathering data from the various Organisations we work with by adapting any masterclass or workshop to ensure it is relevant for every client we work with. This is a new model and it’s here to stay for now, so it’s important for employees to be aware of how they can take control, navigate and stay ahead in this rapidly changing world of work.

CIPD Mid West Event Addresses Employee Engagement Challenges During Exponential Change

Veteran CNN Reporter Gina London and John Fitzgerald, MD Harmonics Group, were the guest speakers at a recent CIPD Mid West event focused on the importance of driving employee engagement during organisational change.

Sponsored by Harmonics, it was the last CIPD Mid West seminar for 2016/2017 and featured an end of year BBQ social which was enjoyed by over 50 HR practitioners from across Limerick, Clare and North Kerry.

John Fitzgerald, MD Harmonics Group and Executive Coach outlined the significant impact disruptive technologies and organisational change is having on the workplace. He described how the ‘liquid workforce’ now demand rapid career growth as well as a compelling and flexible workplace but HR processes are failing to meet their needs. John presented a business case for HR Practitioners on why a new approach to employee engagement is required to address the exponential change that is now happening within traditionally linear work structures.

International campaign strategist and corporate consultant Gina London explained why employees believe organisational change means ‘more work plus uncertainty’ and shared some tools to improve communications and move relationships forward so that employees trust leaders more and buy-in to the change that’s happening.

Speaking about their sponsorship of the event, John Fitzgerald said “The speed and amount of change being faced by employees in the workplace is unprecedented. We were delighted to sponsor this event and have the opportunity to share with the HR Community in the Mid West some of our insights on how to improve employee engagement and the employee experience.”

Career Transitions Require Time

Following a telephone conversation with a panicked Senior Executive this week, I felt compelled to share his story with those who may be in the same situation now or at some point in the future.

The Senior Executive recently left his former employer and was due to start an Executive Outplacement programme with Harmonics in 10 day’s time as part of his exit package. A bespoke programme of outplacement support was developed with his needs in mind and comprehensive pre-work was sent to him to complete in advance of the first session.

But he called this week in a state of blind panic. He had met someone for coffee who told him that he needed to get back on the horse ASAP and not leave a gap in his CV. Their career advice suggested he needed to start job hunting sooner rather than later or he would regret it. This friendly advice led him to this urgent call to bring forward his first session to the following day as he needed to update his CV before the end of the week and start job hunting immediately.

Like many who have faced a job-hunting period, he was in an emotional place.  In his early fifties, he had never been out of work before and felt out of control. Trying to speak to him in a logical manner was not working because of his state of fear and panic. He was like a man racing into Harvey Norman before a deadline because he had just heard the advert, “when these jobs are gone, they’re gone!” His friend had put the fear of God into him, that he would never get another job if he didn’t take the first one that came along.

We have fine-tuned the Harmonics Career Transition methodology after working with thousands of people over the last 10 years. It works and it delivers job placement success when practiced. But it is a process and there is an art and a science to how we work. The science piece first. Executive Job Search is very much like the birth of a new baby because it typically takes 9 months from conception to delivery. This man wants a baby in 9 hours not 9 months!

The 9 Month Gap

A nine month career transition might seem like a very long time for an emotional Executive, but finding the right opportunity takes time. It’s important to allow space and time to come to terms with often emotional endings after a long service with one employer. Next, we help them create a new career identity to grow within them first so that they can then communicate this articulately to their network and potential stakeholders in their next career move.

A few years back, during a first Outplacement session, an IT Director demanded that I help him find work in 6 weeks as he didn’t want a gap on his CV. Knowing he had lots of IT project management experience, I asked him if he could deliver a complex 9 month IT project in 6 weeks. He said it wouldn’t be possible as there would be too many variables and stakeholders involved in the project and the client wouldn’t get the results they wanted. Short cuts would not deliver the outcome required. I agreed and shared the similarities in career transition. It is often overlooked that Executive Search projects typically take 6 months, so why would his Executive job search take any less?

Restricted by the Paradigm of the Past

Instead of using the opportunity to take stock, many candidates go back to what they know. They design their future career move from the paradigm of their past role. They are limiting themselves by their own bias, prior experience, former job title, industry sector and career specialism. In career transition, and with more time on their hands, people will meet well-intentioned friends for a catch up coffee to start networking. These coffees turn into multiple career advisory sessions. These friends are all well-meaning but the career advice is clouded by their own bias and likely siloed view of job search. Our methodology at Harmonics brings people through a guided process on what they have to supply, what skills are in demand and bridging the gap between both – but only when we have mapped out the full picture.

100 Yard Dash to Nowhere

Back to my panicked caller. The friend offering career advice had never changed jobs themselves but knew of someone else who had struggled to get a job after they were made redundant. It turned out to be someone with few relevant skills or qualifications so inevitably they found it harder to find a job. We need to be careful who we listen to in life!

I spoke to him about how he needed to make the next move the right move, rather than just another job. His first session would not focus on just his CV but on designing from first principles to create the best outcome for him. This Harmonics Career Transition methodology is a once in a lifetime process, to take stock rather than a CV writing service. In career coaching, we aim to create a Career Destination on the map before we set off at pace in a race to an unknown land. This 100 metre dash video clip from the famous Monty Python sketch team will give you a laugh and an idea of what people can be like when they start out in career transition.

Managing Uncertainty is a Key Trait for Future of Work

Leading and managing through uncertainty is one of the key traits for successful leaders in the future workplace. How he manages through this period of change will serve him well if he listens to his intrinsic motivators and trusts his intuition. Change is a process and it takes time to readjust and re-calibrate our career direction. The gap in your CV is often now viewed by recruiters as someone who took the time to ascertain what they wanted rather than a rapid response to the first job that comes along.

Change is not a straight line and the Bridges Model of Change makes so much sense for those in Career Transition. This quotation from Susan Bridges sums up for me the space we need to give ourselves between endings and letting go of the past before the new can come to life.

“The essence of life takes place in the neutral zone phase of transition. It is in that interim spaciousness that all possibilities, creativity and innovative ideas can come to life and flourish.” —Susan Bridges

Personal Innovation Project

I encourage people to think about their career transition as if they were going to work on an innovation project for an employer wanting to transform the way they do business and re-position for the future.  Set your transition up as a Personal Innovation Project and take the time to redesign your future not based on the old principles of the past, but with a blank slate and focused on first principles.

My parting career transition advice

1. Design from first principles – start with a blank canvas not from your former job title
2. Start from the inside out – Ask “what do I want?” rather than “what will others say or think?”
3. Trust the process of nature – It takes time but all new babies do too!

Let nature be your guide and trust the science and methodology of the career transition process. Personal renewal starts with rest, the brain needs sleep to refuel, the baby needs time to grow, the seeds planted in spring can only be harvested in autumn.

Watch this Space

If you are in between jobs or know anybody who would benefit from reading this blog, please share. There is no need to panic; it is just the space you need to create between endings and new beginnings.

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not into fighting the old but on creating the new” – Socrates