It’s that time of year where setting up New Year’s resolutions and personal goals seem to be a top priority, but many people forget to think about their professional goals.
So, what is it that you want to achieve this year? Is it taking the next step into more of a leadership role, is it brushing up on your financial acumen or are you looking to be taken more seriously as a project manager? Given the year that was 2020, many people are simply looking to ensure job security or that in the event of redundancy, they’re viewed as attractive prospects by future employers. Whatever it is that you’re aspiring to, now is the time to start having conversations with your manager about the possibilities open to you.
What to discuss with your manager?
The start of the year is a great time to have a sit down with your manager to discuss the career pathways open to you, and the skills that you need to gain in order to take on more responsibility.
Talk about your strengths and weaknesses and ask for advice on where they think you can build your skill set. Just be sure to go into the conversation with an open mindset and take any feedback with good grace. It shows a level of maturity and a drive to improve, that many employers look for in staff who become key to the successful running of a business.
Training opportunities
Based on your manager’s feedback on where you need to upskill, look into training programmes that can help you fill those skill gaps. Get creative in the training that you look for and gather a range of paid and free options. Paid training tends to be viewed more favourably and respected by the employment market, while free training options show your drive for continual self-improvement and the ability to develop a plan even when faced with a limited budget.
Once you’ve decided what training you’re interested in, discuss the options with your manager. It’s also a great time to find out if your organisation would be willing to pay for, or even subsidise, any of this training for you. Note: Many organisations set money aside specifically for the learning and development needs of their staff, so there’s no better time to have this discussion than at the start of the financial year.
Reporting on your progress
As you complete your training throughout the year, make sure you let your manager know, so that they can see your ongoing growth and development. It’s also a good idea to try to set up monthly or bi-monthly catch ups with your manager to discuss workloads in general, to keep abreast with the strategic goals for your department and to discuss your performance on the job. This is a great way to build rapport with your manager, to illustrate your ongoing growth and to show that you’re taking their feedback on board.
Try to also keep a record of your project wins and examples of when you’ve shown that you’ve gained the skills needed to take the next step in your career. This will provide a great portfolio of evidence to show your manager in your end of year review. Also, in the event you end up entering the job market, it’s a great list of examples that you can pull from to show a potential employer that you have the skills they require (just remember to ensure you keep commercially sensitive information under wraps).
End of year performance reviews
For your end of year review, remind your manager about the goals you set at the start of the year and the areas that they recommended you upskill in, to show you’re ready to take on more responsibility. Then walk them through the training that you’ve completed throughout the year and provide them with examples of how you’ve shown that you have the skills needed to take the next step in your career.
Training you can do through IMNZ
Here at IMNZ we specialise in helping people upskill across a range of leadership expertise. We offer a wide range of training courses in everything leadership and people management through to navigating the tricky world of finances, time management, presentation and communication skills and project management.
We also offer training in both traditional classroom-based formats for those who prefer face to face interaction as well as in a digital format, where training is broken down into bite sized chunks and spread across a number of weeks. To find out more take a look at the courses on our website or get in touch with our friendly team.
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