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Careers & workplace advice from Hays

Daunting, terrifying, a major case of butterflies in the stomach, but also an increasing sense of exhilaration, purpose and commitment. These are just some of the many feelings I have experienced when making major decisions in my professional life.

The first bold decision I made in my career was early on, and it was my decision to step away from my role as a lawyer, something I had spent many years working towards, and forge a career in the completely unfamiliar field of professional recruitment.

More recently, I made the bold decision to propose to my current employers that we create a new role of Head of Diversity, and that I should be the person to step up to the plate and take this on.

Both very different moves at very different stages in my career, both very bold for me professionally and personally, but both linked by honest self-reflection, strategic planning, positive action and determination.

Why am I telling you this? Well, the 2017 global theme for International Women’s Day is #BeBoldForChange. International Women’s Day “celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women”.  In light of this year’s theme, many professional women around the world are telling stories of the bold decisions they have taken to advance themselves in the world of work, with the hope of inspiring other women to do the same.

Having the courage to back myself and to be bold in my professional ambition is something I have reminded myself of regularly throughout my career journey, and is one of the key messages I promote with my colleagues at Hays, plus the many candidates and clients with whom I work.

The problem is, change is scary.  A lot of the time, self-doubt, negativity and anxiety can get in the way of following through with the bold step you would like to make in your career.  Ask yourself if this sounds like you. Do you want to be bolder and braver in your career choices, but you’re just not sure how? If the answer to this question is yes, then in the spirit of #BeingBoldForChange, I would like to share some of my insights and advice to assist you in taking decisions which are brave, bold and in time, successful.

Be bold in finding the time to really listen to yourself

My first piece of advice to you would be to trust your instincts. If you feel like something is wrong in your career or that you could be doing more, then you are probably right. Simple though it sounds, in our full and often hectic lives, creating the time and space to really question and listen to ourselves can be a major challenge. Stop doing the doing, and be honest with yourself. More so, be open and accepting of what your instincts and emotions are telling you. Always remember that you know yourself better than anyone else.

Be bold in believing in yourself and understand your strengths

If you don’t believe in yourself, and understand what you’re really good at, then how can you expect anyone else to? Have the courage to look within yourself and find your key strengths. More often than not, I’ve found that my strengths and subsequent successes lie in the things I’m naturally drawn to and energised about. So start there.

This can be an extremely empowering exercise. You’ll probably find that you didn’t fully appreciate just how many strengths you really possess. Take this new-found understanding of your strengths to give you confidence, to inform your decisions and help drive your career forward.

Be bold in recognising your weaknesses, but don’t let them hold you back unnecessarily

Let me use applying for jobs as an example. We have all heard the stats that whilst many men will dive in head first and apply for a role even if they don’t match all of the criteria, most women will only do the same if they are confident they match 100 percent of the criteria (and then some!) It’s important to remember that a job specification is often a wish list which combines perceived essentials and nice to haves.

You often don’t need to be able to tick every single box from day one. Many skills can be learned and as many are transferable. The pressure to be the perfect match often comes from you and if you let this go unchecked, then you risk being the biggest barrier to your own career progression.

So don’t get hung up on all the criteria on the checklist. Instead – focus your energy on the core elements of the job description that do play to your strengths and be confident that you can master the rest when required.

Be bold in communicating what you want

You may know where you want to be, but do other people? By people, I mean those who might be able to help get you there? Look to your professional and personal networks; be it friends, family, former colleagues or university friends.

Have the confidence to communicate your vision and ambition with enthusiasm and self-belief and enlist their support.  Reach out and tell them what you are hoping to achieve, and ask for their help.

Guest speaker for our Hays Leading Women programme and negotiation expert Natalie Reynolds talked extensively on this matter at our last event. Natalie outlined how various studies have shown that women are good at asking for assistance and support on behalf of someone else, but are less comfortable and therefore more reticent when it comes to asking for what they want for themselves. The reasons for this are plenty, but my point here is to be careful not to fall into this trap. Be bold enough to put your cards on the table and ask for what you want. If you don’t ask, you run a high risk of coming in short.

So, what I want to say to you today is, be bold when taking key, strategic and considered decisions in your career. Don’t let another year pass where nothing significant changes although the opportunities are there for the taking. Now is the time to come out of maintenance mode and start actively managing your career.

For those of you who are already taking the above steps, I applaud you for being bold in your approach.  And for those of you that aren’t, why not make International Women’s Day 2017 the day when that changes?

If you are interested in the topic of diversity, you may also find some of the below articles useful:

Hays Leading Women

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Negotiation is probably the most important skill you can master to be successful both at work and in your personal life, but it can be stressful and difficult at the best of times.

As I explained at two recent talks I gave to the “Hays Leading Women network” – many people are “avoiders”. Put simply, because they find negotiation so awkward, difficult and uncomfortable they will go to great lengths to either avoid it completely or, will spend as little time doing it as possible.

In addition, this discomfort is often magnified when you are negotiating something for yourself. Studies suggest we are far more confident and successful when negotiating on behalf of others; whether its team members, clients or our employer. However, when we start to negotiate for something that matters personally to us, we often lose confidence and our performance suffers.

For many people, the most personal and challenging negotiations revolve around salary. Discussing pay is the ultimate example of negotiating for something that matters to you and as a result, many people become incredibly nervous and intimidated at the mere thought of talking about their remuneration.

In my book “We Have a Deal: How to negotiate with Intelligence, Flexibility and Power” I elaborate upon our habits and behaviours in a lot more detail and the different ways in which you can overcome these in order to get the outcome that you want.

In this article, I will provide you with a snapshot of how you can execute your salary negotiations whilst managing your nerves and fears:

1. Have a structured approach to your pay rise conversation

For my coaching clients, I advocate the REAP approach (Research, Establish, Ask and Persevere) as a manageable way to think about preparing for and executing your salary negotiations.

  • Research: Make sure you do your research, conduct some industry base lining, compile your contributions and value to the company, understand what might matter to your employer in terms of future success.
  • Establish: Establish what really matters to you.  Is it the number or is it associated benefits such as flexible hours or working from home?
  • Ask: Plan plenty of proposal options in advance, have a clear first choice and ask for this first.  Be precise and avoid using a range- they only hear the lower end and you only hear the upper end. Don’t appear apologetic or uncomfortable about what you are asking for.
  • Persevere: Don’t accept defeat as soon as you hear a “no”.  Suggest your next choice of proposal incorporating different elements of a potential package. Have a strategy to keep the conversation alive either through questions (what changes could I make to help you get closer to my figure?) or requesting a follow up meeting at a designated time to allow you to further evidence your contributions.

2. Recognise you are probably going to feel uncomfortable – and that’s fine

A few nerves may actually enhance your focus and performance. However, if you know that negotiating a pay rise has a tendency to reduce you to a nervous wreck, take steps in advance to try to manage this. Simple techniques such as taking deep breaths and counting to ten slowly in your head before the meeting can help. You should also practice projecting a more powerful state of mind through your body language.

3. Know that negotiation is not greedy, selfish or unacceptable

It is how things have gotten ‘done’ for generations. If you don’t ask for yourself, who will? Trust your gut instinct which is telling you that you deserve this, and stick to your guns. This will help you stay confident, focused and assertive throughout the meeting.

This blog was co-authored by Natalie Reynolds (@AdvSpringCEO), CEO of advantageSPRING and Devon Smiley (@AdvSpringDevon), Head of North America at advantageSPRING.

If you want more advice on salary and a pay rise, you may also enjoy the below:

Not so long ago, most senior positions in Science-Technology-Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related employment were likely to be held by men. In more recent years, however, intense global pressure has created a significant swing towards employment of women in key roles in the life sciences.

The increasing pace of innovation, improvements in technology, greater patient access to healthcare, new funding models and a trend away from large corporations towards smaller startups, are also providing unprecedented opportunities for everyone regardless of demographic, to become key players in the biopharma/healthcare industry.

On 8 March, International Women’s Day celebrates the ‘social, economic, cultural and political’ achievements of women. To this, we would add ‘scientific’, by recognising just a few of the many women who are bringing their wisdom and ingenuity to advancing the life sciences.

Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey, 23andme

23andme is one of the world’s largest databases of individual genetic information. Co-founded by Anne Wojcicki and Linda Avey in 2006, with the aim of helping researchers better understand diagnostics and drugs, it is now more popularly known for providing information for individuals to learn about and explore their DNA (23 pairs of chromosomes) to better understand their ancestry and potential health risks.

Emma Walmsley, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

Appointed as chief executive of GSK in late 2016, Emma Walmsley will take over from Andrew Witty later this month. With GSK’s market value at around £80bn, she is set to become the most powerful woman in the pharmaceutical industry. Walmsley has been a member of GSK’s top executive team since 2011 and has worked in the UK, Europe, China and the US.

Jennifer Doudna, Caribou Biosciences

We have touched on CRISPR technology in previous posts; it was Jennifer Doudna’s research that led to the development of this radical new gene editing technique that has sparked off the biotechnology revolution. She is also a member of the team who founded two notable biotechnology companies – Caribou Biosciences and Editas.

Dapo Ajayi, AstraZeneca (AZ)

Chief procurement officer at AstraZeneca since April 2014, Dapo Ajayi’s career has spanned an array of great work experiences, all for AZ or one of its subsidiary businesses. From manufacturing to supply chain, general management to global marketing, she has travelled the world with AZ, while honing her many relationship and leadership skills. You can read more about her journey here.

Cindy Wu, Experiment

Experiment uses the popular crowdfunding concept to create funding for scientific research. Co-founder Cindy Wu dropped out of university after being told that only tenured professors would attract funding of the type she needed to further her scientific interests, and went on to create the startup Experiment. She is quoted as saying “Experiment is creating a world where anyone can be a scientist”.

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In late 2016 two very high profile men resigned from demanding jobs for family reasons – James Brayshaw and John Key. What followed – and this might be a first in this part, was that men started to talk openly about their inability to “have it all.”

Last year also saw Mark Zuckerberg, who made sure Facebook’s parental leave policy covered both women and men, take two months of parental leave following the birth of his daughter. Wouldn’t it be great to see more men leading by example like this so that other male  and female  employees feel they can do the same without it negatively impacting their career?

De-gendering gender diversity by offering and accepting equal parental leave and flexible working options without career consequences for both men and women seems to me like the next logical step to help to make real and lasting gender equality progress in the workplace.

This starts with talking in terms of “family-friendly” rather than “women-friendly” policies. It includes encouraging and accepting the decision of more men to work flexibly, offering and accepting their decision to take paternity leave.  More importantly, it requires acceptance without making assumptions about career motivations or applying unconscious or otherwise career consequences.

If we can offer and accept men working flexibly and taking parental leave in equal numbers to women, we will also be supporting women who want to do the same. More working fathers with female partners will be able to provide the support required for them to return to work, and by becoming the “norm” and removing career consequences it will have a positive impact on female gender equality.

Shared caring responsibilities would improve gender diversity

In a recent survey of ours, 81 percent of respondents said shared parental leave and more shared responsibility associated with child rearing would help break down unconscious biases and improve gender diversity at work.

Yet just 19 percent said their organisation offers parental leave for male employees on equal terms to female employees. In addition, the majority say men in their organisation rarely take or only take some of the parental leave they’re entitled to.

Why? 61 percent of men said it’s due to the financial impact whereas 42 percent of women said it’s because they may be viewed as less committed to their career.

Flexible working is career-limiting for women

Meanwhile respondents said opting to work flexibly is a career-limiting move for women more so than for men.

The majority said less than five percent of men work flexibly at their organisation compared to between 21-40 percent of women. 96 percent of female respondents said agile and flexible working options are important to them compared to 86 percent of men.

Other surveys support our findings. For instance, a 2016 CPA Australia report showed that many employees think working flexibly will have a negative impact on their career.

The 2017 Modern Families Index found that twice the number of fathers compared to mothers believe flexible workers are viewed as less committed while more than double the number of fathers believe working flexibly will have a negative impact on their career. In addition, 47 percent of fathers agree they would like a less stressful job to reconcile work and home responsibilities. Fathers are therefore, according to the Index, “having to consider the same compromises women have had to for decades.”

Meanwhile, a study by the Human Rights Commission found 27 percent of men experienced discrimination when requesting or taking parental leave or when they returned to work.

Gender equality “enhances men’s lives as well”

As well as offering and encouraging men to accept flexible working and equal parental leave, I believe we need more men involved in gender equality. Last year US gender expert Michael Kimmel visited Australia and spoke about how gender equality and better distributing the load at home and in the office could be the best thing to happen to men.

In an interview with ABC’s Lateline he said, “We also know that gender equality actually enhances men’s lives as well: that it’s actually good for us in our relationships with our partners; good for us in our relationships with our children if we have them; good for us in our own health and well-being.”

In short, having more gender-equal working options is a change worth investing in, and there’s no time like the present. This International Women’s Day,  let’s do our bit to pledge for gender parity in the workplace and #BeBoldForChange.

Check out some of our other articles surrounding gender diversity in the workplace:

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You are a career driven individual, and for quite some time now you have felt more than ready to move up in your company.  What started off as motivation and excitement to work towards achieving that next step has, over time, turned into a feeling of being frustrated and stagnant in your job.

You are well aware of the fact that promotional opportunities are available in your organisation, you have even voiced your career goals with your manager, yet nothing has come to fruition and you just do not want to have to wait until your next appraisal to have another discussion.

There’s only so long you can carry on within a job that isn’t providing you with the recognition and development you deserve – so what should you do if you are still waiting for that promotion?

Firstly ask yourself, are you really ready?

To a certain extent, whether or not you get that promotion is down to you. Before you approach your manager to discuss a possible promotion, make sure you have done all you can to develop yourself and take advantage of the learning opportunities available at your organisation. In other words, be sure that you are as ready as you can be for this opportunity.

If possible, look at the job specification of your desired role. If this isn’t available, look to somebody within your organisation who already has this job. Where are your skills gaps, and what could you do to bridge them yourself?  For example, you may be a marketing executive wanting to progress into a more senior marketing role, but are lacking people management skills.  Therefore you would look for chances to upskill yourself before approaching your manager; be it through finding a mentor, going to industry events or through webinars and online tutorials.

By doing all you can to develop yourself, you save your boss some of the work and put yourself in a better standing when you ask for their support.

Preparing for your meeting

Now that you are starting to prove yourself by going above and beyond to excel in your current role, book a private meeting with your manager. Let them know what exactly you would like to discuss i.e. – your promotional plan.

Once the meeting is in the diary, it is important that you thoroughly prepare. By being as organised as possible you will demonstrate to your boss that attaining this promotion is something you are very serious about. Remember to ask yourself the below when preparing:

  1. What do you want?

Start by solidifying in your own mind exactly what you want in terms of a promotion, plus what kind of support you may need from your manager to help you get there. For example, you may be a senior marketing executive wanting to progress into a marketing manager role. Whilst you are keen and willing to develop your people management skills independently, you also think a training course or mentor scheme could be of benefit.

You need to have what you want crystal clear in your mind before your meeting, as well as what kind of support you will need to help you get there. The below steps will help you present yourself in the best possible light and help you get the result you’re looking for.

  1. Which opportunities are available?

So you know what role you want, and what kind of support it would take for you to adapt to this role, but do you know what existing opportunities you could take advantage of?  Which programmes do your company offer internally which could help you meet your goals if you were given sign off? What about external training programmes?

If you aren’t 100 percent sure of what exactly you need to do to get to where you want in terms of progression, then prepare some questions to ask your boss surrounding this. Being in a senior position themselves, they should be able to provide some insight and guidance.

  1. What about salary?

Whilst a promotion would equal an increase in responsibility, you shouldn’t go in asking for a pay rise straight away before this promotion has even been offered. Your primary motive for this opportunity should be the development, not the money, and this needs to be clear to your manager. However, when this conversation does come about you should be aware of how much money someone in your aspired position would typically earn by checking out our salary guides. Have this information ready for when it comes to negotiating a wage increase.

Arriving at the meeting equipped with the relevant information and questions surrounding your promotion, will show that you are focused, save your manager some time and ultimately give them one less reason to not help you progress.

  1. Why do you deserve this?

With any promotional opportunity, there will be an investment in you, whether it is time spent training or money on a pay rise. Whatever it is, be ready to justify why you are deserving.

Think about the progress you have already made within your current role, and what you have contributed to the business as a whole. Include examples of key achievements, times you have exceeded your KPIs or received positive feedback from stakeholders. You should also consider which elements of your aspired role you are already doing. Voicing these will enable your manager to imagine you in this position.

Note down all you have done so far to upskill yourself. This will show that you are pro-active and enthusiastic about being better at your job. You should also point out any ways in which you have applied this upskilling to the role. This will allow them to picture a tangible return if they were to invest money and time into developing you.

Lastly, reiterate your loyalty to the company, and how you would like to have a budding long-term career with them. Close with the fact that whilst you have made a lot of progress within your role, you have got all you can from it, and now need their help in getting to the next challenge.  Ultimately, you want your boss to know why you are a valuable asset to the team, indispensable and worthy of investing in.

During the meeting

Go into your meeting armed with the knowledge of what you want, how you can get it and why you deserve it, but remember the below:

  1. Don’t bombard your manager

It is important that you don’t bombard your manager with all this information at once. Have a structure of how you want the conversation to go in your head, the key points you want to cover off and maybe even write it down.  You need to go into this meeting composed, clear, and with the view of leading this conversation. Doing this will demonstrate that you are serious, prepared, and will impress your boss.

Open with what it is you want then let the conversation flow naturally, providing the rest of your knowledge when appropriate. If the question of salary comes up, then you have that information to hand. If not, then focus on getting the promotion or skills necessary for a pay rise before you ask for one. The key is to strike that balance between having a clear structure or checklist of things you want to cover off and being open to a two-way, fairly fluid conversation.

  1. Keep an open mind

Whilst you may have your heart set on a specific promotion and route to success, remember to keep an open mind and think about what kind of alternatives your manager may offer.  Your boss may not have the exact opportunity you were hoping for; for example, they may be willing to put you on a promotion plan with some specific KPIs, then review in a few months’ time.  You should bear in mind that it is unlikely you will be offered a promotion there and then. Be ready for all outcomes and consider how flexible you are willing to be.

  1. Remember to follow up

After the meeting, send a follow-up email to thank them for their time, as well as confirmation of what was discussed. Try and work with your boss in putting together a formal action plan. This will help keep you both on track with moving towards the next stage in your career.

  1. Be prepared for a ‘no’

Whilst you have prepared as thoroughly as you can, understand that your boss may well refuse you this promotion, and they may well have good reason to.  Be ready to accept this answer graciously and determine what the reason is.

You may have been given a “no” on the basis that there are still areas you need to improve upon. If so, get as much detail as you can on what these areas are, plus some advice on how to improve. Can your boss help progress you to a point where you can expect a “yes” from them next time you ask for a promotion?

Alternatively, you may be completely ready for the next step, but your company don’t have the resources to help you get there, be it a lack of budget or time. Is this likely to change anytime soon?

In both of these situations, you need to consider your options. If your current company can provide guidance and support with getting you promotion-ready, then great, embrace this and take advantage of the opportunities available.

On the other hand if, for whatever reason, they can’t offer the guidance and support that you deserve, then perhaps it’s time to move on to somewhere that can. If this is the case, check out some of our job search advice and speak to a Hays recruiter for our expert-led support on your next career move. Ultimately, your continued career progression comes first, and you need to do all you can to keep this on track.

I hope you found this blog useful. Here are some articles which you may find interesting:

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Despite the dark, fog, and cold of the British winter, the trails and pavements of my hometown are newly busy with runners. Some are the determined New Year resolutioners, who’ve stuck with their promises into February; others are the charity runners and bucket-listers who are planning ahead for the London Marathon in April. As for myself, I’ve been out there all winter – I returned to running a few years ago, and like so many others, found that it’s a real addiction once you get those early, wheezing, walk-run miles out of the way.

Listen to the blog below:

Continue reading Six Lessons Running Taught Me About Work and Careers →

Have you ever seen a star employee, that person who hits every target and exceeds every objective, promoted to a management role only to struggle for the first time in their career?

When people are promoted up the ranks, it’s usually thanks to their attributes and abilities. But as any successful manager knows, there are a whole new set of skills required in their new management position.

These include and are certainly not limited to motivation, communication, listening, interpersonal, planning, problem-solving, delegation and time management skills; as well as the effective organisation, coordination and execution of organisational goals.

So if becoming a manager is one of the next steps in your career plan, it helps to know how your potential in the role will be assessed. According to a recent Hays survey of 1,516 Australian & New Zealand employers, there are two typical approaches: observation and assessment or the utilisation of big data.

56 percent said they use the observation and assessment method and plan to continue doing so. A further 24 percent currently use this method but plan to start using big data to inform their decisions in the next 12 months.

Observation and assessment can involve any combination of the following.

Observing:

  • How you treat colleagues who don’t perform as well as you
  • How you perform in secondment opportunities
  • How you perform in projects with team lead components
  • How you coach an underperformer

Assessing:

  • Self-motivation
  • Communication skills
  • Empathy
  • Strength
  • Understanding of the broader company (not only the department they work in)
  • Leading by example
  • Respect from others in the organisation
  • Emotional intelligence

Getting feedback from:

  • Peers
  • Major stakeholders

It’s also common to use a standard assessment form or checklist to perform an evaluation that determines how consistently you demonstrate certain abilities or characteristics as benchmarked in existing successful managers.

While only 20 percent of surveyed employers currently fall into the second category, the use of big data to make predictions is a growing trend.

In organisations that currently use big data, mined data pinpoints which staff members could bring the highest ROI in a management role. But most organisations are not yet at the point of using data as a predictor and are instead focused on gathering and reviewing the consistency of results.

Managers must have a high level of emotional intelligence

There’s one additional key requirement that’s considered important in a manager’s success: emotional intelligence. It’s important because it allows you to understand, manage and engage the emotions of your employees and, just as importantly, your own.

In what is now one of Harvard Business Review’s most read and enduring articles, psychologist Daniel Goleman’s ‘What Makes a Leader’ article notes: “The most effective leaders are all alike in one crucial way: they all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. It’s not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter, but…they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions.” He goes on to state that his research and others show that EI is the one non-negotiable of strong leaders and introduces five components of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy for others and social skills. I recommend reading his article if you’d like to know more.

For more advice on becoming management-ready, you may like to read the below:

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