While a record number of people are leaving their jobs (see the series introductory article: Is The Great Resignation Time for Your Career Transformation?), you may not have to leave to get a better deal.
Because so many people are leaving, this may be a good time to negotiate a new situation at your current organization.
Visit the article Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Great Resignation Transformation to answer 12 questions to figure out what you want from your career and the organization you work for.
Make sure you are armed with information about the market for your occupation. When people are in a role for a long time at the same organization, they can lose touch with the “market” for that role. Occupations are influenced by the laws of supply and demand. Understand the supply for your occupation for your region (or broader if you can work virtually). Do the math to fully understand how many openings or the percentage of vacancies for your role. Also, research the going pay rate for your role. Be aware of what others at your organization are paid for similar work. Be aware of the rate you would be paid for starting that role at another organization. Remember to calculate benefits into the equation.
While you are not running for office, you do need to build your platform. Do not assume that your hard work, dedication, or achievements have been noted or recorded. Again, do your homework. Compile a list of your projects, achievements, impact. Did you carry the workload of others who were missing due to family or health reasons? Get that on the list. Did you implement a process to save the company money? Add it to the list. Did you win an award for customer service? Put it on the list. Go back through evaluations, coworker emails, and customer feedback and compile all the positive comments. Have “data” to support the good work you do.
Research continues to show that engaged employees are much more productive than other employees. When you are in meetings, on phone calls, interacting with customers, be positive about your role and your organization. Make sure that others know how much you like your job and indicate your interest in continuing to work for your current organization. Have a conversation with your boss and your boss’s boss (informal or formal) and make sure they know that you are interested in a clear plan to keep moving your career forward in their organization. If you can, ditch tasks that do not contribute to your plan and take on tasks and projects that demonstrate your interests and abilities for your defined career path.
Even though there is a worker supply deficit, be ready to take on more responsibility to get more salary and benefits. With several openings, this is a good time to look at the next org. chart layer and find a role that you want. Suggest the change as a win/win to your leadership. Provide the career path you mapped out within your organization or work with your leadership to build a path to that role if you need some more experience or skills to take that step. Most likely, they will want to work with you and develop you to keep you – a known reliable quantity — rather than take their chances on an unknown hire. The important element is to make sure they know that you want to stay, achieve, and succeed.
Whether it is free through your company, or free through others, like the IPD Expert Insights webinars, putting these on your calendar will show others that you are interested in learning and moving forward. In addition, good training will also infuse your creativity and self-reflection while increasing your skills and abilities.
While you do want to make sure that changes to your role are in your best interest, they must be framed in a win for the organization as well. Do not come across threatening, “Meet my demands or I am outa here!” You want to use your stakeholder management skills to collaboratively craft changes that are mutually beneficial. Even if you are ready to leave if the organization falls short of your ask, you do not want your attitude to burn reference bridges or tarnish your reputation after all your hard work for the organization.
Especially here in the Midwest, we are not inclined to use direct language—either when touting our worth or when asking for what we feel is fair compensation. Do not hint; be prepared to state out right what you need. Also, be ready to negotiate your initial ask. If you want more than a higher salary or if you know that more money will be tough to get, be ready to ask for better benefits or for working conditions that will suit your work/life balance better. Take the Evaluate Your Employee Benefits Assessment to build the package that you want. Prioritize what you want. And know your “deal-breaking points” and what you are willing to let go of to stay.
Experts tell you that true joy is generated through fulfilling a purpose. If you want to stay with your organization, find ways to connect your work to your personal purpose, personal values and personal mission statement. Purpose and joy are not dependent on the everyday flow of good and bad moments, but transcends them. However, happiness is OK too. Find ways to have fun each day. Take your breaks so that you stay energized and productive. Be a co-worker that others want to work with.
A natural instinct can be to work long hours and take on extra work to prove your worth to your organization. While most people have moments where their job requires that extra effort, consistently working longer hours does not usually lead to recognition or reward by the organization. Some roles, like sales, may be structured that way, but for most of us, working unreasonable hours only leads to burn out – which is not beneficial to you or the organization. Find outside interests for your time that will provide additional recognition and reward.
Managing your own career maturity is not that different from managing your work projects and operations. Take stock, figure out the gaps, and put a plan in place to close the gaps that move the needle on maturing your career.
For additional information, check out the references used for this article.
Part 1: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
(Coming in April) Part 2: You’ve Got Leverage
(Coming in May) Part 3: Make your Move
Before making any big decisions about your career, take a beat to assess your current working situation. Some of you may be saying, “I just spent the whole pandemic doing that!” Perhaps.
Evaluation is an important step because if you do not understand your current situation or what you want, you may go through a lot of change to end up in the exact same situation. Or… you could land in a situation where you are worse off.
Current research indicates that 40% of people who leave an organization boomerang back around and rejoin it. Therefore, before putting yourself through the emotions of change that go along with endings and beginnings, it is good to give the decision some thorough consideration.
Just as we teach in our business architecture courses, you need to understand the customer (you) and define the current state before you can assess gaps and make future plans.
Before making a move, evaluate:
Before making any decisions about leaving, you should make sure you understand what you are seeking that you are not finding in your current work situation. Answer these 12 questions to determine the “why” behind your desire to depart.
After answering the questions, consider how far away you are from the ideal role you seek. If there are just a few items that miss the mark, can you have a conversation with your current employer to get those items aligned to your needs so that you do not need to leave?
Do not underestimate the role that culture plays in your job satisfaction. In recent Great Resignation surveys, toxic culture was listed 10 times more than compensation as a reason to leave.
Your workplace culture is the shared values, beliefs, and attitudes of the people who work there. The workplace culture is heavily influenced by leadership’s actions, the organization’s stated mission and values, and most importantly, if those 2 things are consistent. Is the organization and its leaders doing what they say they are going to do? Are they putting resources towards the values they promise to deliver? Once there is disconnect between “the talk” and “the walk,” it opens the culture door for lack of trust and disrespect that can permeate the entire organization. This can make for a miserable work situation.
Take this True/False quiz to help you assess your current workplace.
It is really difficult to fix an organizational culture situation, but The Great Resignation may provide you the opportunity to seek work elsewhere and leave it behind rather than staying trapped.
If you have worked in a sector or with one organization for a long time, it is easy to think that all organizations offer the same perks and benefits as your current one. That is not the case – especially if you are switching across government, corporate, and nonprofit organizations. For example, I have worked in education for my entire career; I am still surprised when my corporate-employed friends talk about how they will spend year-end bonuses that equal 1 – 3 months’ salary for me (or more). Oh, that’s right, some corporate jobs get bonuses; very few government jobs offer any bonuses.
Without careful examination, you may discover that you have taken a perk for granted, and the ones that you used and valued the most are not present in the new job. And, in the worst case scenario – your salary increase disappears to pay for benefits that you no longer receive!
Use this form to tally your current benefits and make sure you understand your financial perks.
Now that you have your current situation defined and you know what you seek, the next 2 articles will give some tips for closing that gap by staying or by leaving.
For more information on this topic, see the list of articles used in the research.
To coincide with the IPD Expert Insights free webinar series on transforming the workplace using the Modernization Playbook, I thought I should take a look at workplace transformation on a personal level. For the first time in quite a while, workers are in demand so it stands to reason that they in a position to force their employers to “do better,” not only on compensation, but on benefits, working conditions, and even employee engagement.
America is in the midst of The Great Resignation: I found plenty of statistics that confirmed this, but this set paints the picture quickly and clearly:
Since many of these departures were related to the pandemic and people not wanting to be in roles required to interact in-person, it is not surprising that as the economy recovers, current demand has risen for Industries related to travel, hospitality, and recreation.
However, the shift in how America works has also created vacancies in software and IT services, corporate services, and finance.
A MarketWatch article cited statistics from Glassdoor after it released its annual 50 Best Jobs in America for 2022. The IT field was on top – actually taking all top 10 spots. Enterprise Architect was in the #1 spot. You can make $144,997 annually and with 14,021 job openings, you can probably find something to meet your work/life balance needs. Think of the value-add you bring to an IT role if you added some business architecture to your resume!
Not wanting to do IT? Some non-tech jobs in the top 50 included: HR Manager (#13), Corporate Recruiter (#17) and HR Business Partner (#39). Also all roles that would benefit from business architecture training.
When I started on the topic of career transformation, I was going to write one article; however, I found so much information that I decided to write a series instead. The Career Transformation Series will help you assess your own career situation and provide some possible actions steps for you to take so that you capitalize on The Great Resignation.
Beth Schaefer, Director
IPD at Metro State
Part 1: Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?
Evaluating Your Current Organization and Situation
This article will include information about evaluating your current work culture, the signs for departing, and a workplace asset assessment.
Using The Great Resignation to Transform Your Current Situation
If you decide to stay, this article will focus on the steps you should take to move your career forward, including tips for negotiating better compensation, steering for a promotion, and building your personal career brand.
Leveraging The Great Resignation to Make a Career Change
If you decide to go, this article will provide resources for casting a wide net, preparing for a career transition, and ensuring you negotiate compensation in line with your worth.
If you are interested in researching on your own, check out this list of resources to get started.
If you are as old (mature) as I am, you will remember the craze around a little book by Robert Fulghum entitled All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten.
Now, we have the 2021 version of that book: The Beatles: Get Back documentary. The documentary itself does not call out or highlight lessons, but you can find tons of social media lists that discuss how this documentary is a playbook for production and creativity.
Here is a Baker’s dozen on lessons for productivity/creativity/problem solving that you can use for self-reflection.
Take a look at the list, pick one lesson you can improve on, and make it your 2022 Resolution!
1.Wait To Speak.
When brainstorming, one person speaks at a time; listening is more important than speaking.
2. Be Silly.
If you do not speak up with an idea because you are scared of looking stupid or silly, your best ideas will never get put into action.
3. Be Silly (Yes, Again).
Have fun with the people you are collaborating with. Humor only helps productivity – moments of levity can spark creativity.
4. Always Say, “Yes.” Or, Maybe “Yes, And…”
Do not dismiss the ideas of others – especially, if you do not have an alternative idea to suggest. “That is a good idea, and we could also…”
5. Let It Be Go
If you keep bringing up an idea that no one else can embrace, let it go and move onto the next idea. (See me demonstrating silliness here with my word play on a Beatles song?).
6. Do not seek perfection.
Rather than revising and revising and revising until you have the perfect product, just get something going. Build the skateboard, then the bike, then the motorcycle, and then the car.
7. Embrace accidents
(Like Covid?) and build on the directions they take you.
8. Eat and drink.
The science is right. If you do not take time to stay hydrated and fuel your body, your problem solving will suffer.
9. Give credit.
If someone else has the winning idea, give that person their kudos for it.
10. Switch gears.
If something is not coming together, move onto another idea or project and circle back with fresh eyes and thoughts.
11. Try it out.
Even if something does not seem quite right, try it for awhile to confirm it’s not right, or to see how you can improve it.
12. Respect others.
Even if someone in the group is less experienced or seldom speaks up, their perspective is valuable (or even more valuable) for its lens and freshness.
(Radio buzz) Ahh, Houston, we have a problem… we are out of turkey and Aisle 26 needs more toilet paper.
I heard it on the news (the real news on TV), expect shortages in the supplies you need to host holiday gatherings*.
I do not want to start hoarding or stampeding, but as the host of the family Thanksgiving, I am getting a head start on determining the head count and assigning outside dishes so the people can plan. To make room in a freezer for an early turkey purchase, somebody needs to eat down their frozen dinners and ice cream, and one must provide time for that to happen.
And, my family does a lot of baking… we all remember the great yeast shortage of 2020. While others are focused on Halloween candy, I am getting my pantry stocked with supplies to make bars, cookies, and candy.
The logistics and supply chains associated with my household are much more complex than they used to be.
While I keep wanting the pandemic to be over, one of the ways it keeps circling back is in the form of supply chain issues.
Other than Business Architecture class, I did not pay much attention to supply chain theory, but now, my life is daily affected by the supply chain.
I suppose it always was affected daily by the supply chain but in a positive way. I could go to a store or restaurant and get whatever I wanted or needed as long as I had money to pay.
That is no longer the case.
As I stood 15th in line at Fleet Farm last Friday with my weekend DIY project items (only 2 registers open because there were not enough employees), I noted a missed profit opportunity because all the “impulse-buy” racks were empty. Was the product sitting…
Note: It was a long wait, so long that the guy behind me had time to rethink his impulse buy and return his bag of candy corn to the bin. Ray of sunshine that there was a giant bin of candy corn?
Now more than ever it is important for those who manage the supply chain to make sure they understand business needs and that the business understands customers’ needs.
A motto of good business architecture is that it should solve a business problem, and the current supply chain issues are giving plenty of opportunity for problem-solving.
This month we are featuring a free webinar on how to solve problems so that you do not need to solve them again.
So, I took a quick look out on the world wide web, to see what obstacles people are facing to getting problems solved – especially as many of us are in transition from remote working to being back in the office.
Turns out that, at least at a high level, it does not matter if you are remote or in the office or somewhere in between. The obstacles seem to be the same.
Depending on the survey or article, these will change in order, but they remain quite consistent.
Consider this – do you have a process to solve problems? Defining a problem-solving process and reflecting on how to make it better each time you finish solving a problem will help you address these four obstacles.
We are interested in hearing from you. Take a minute to answer our survey question. We will share the results in our webinar on August 25th.
This is a continuation of Standing Up a Business Architecture Practice:
Part 1: Your Value Proposition can be viewed HERE
Part 2: Your Practice Charter can be viewed HERE
Engagement – How do others access your services?
Deliverables – What products and services are you providing?
Interactions – What are the roles and responsibilities of the people involved?
ABOUT THE PRESENTERMaureen Mathias earned her Master of Arts from Rutgers University, later adding a Certified Business Architect from the Business Architecture Guild and a Business Architecture Certificate from Metro State University in St. Paul Minnesota.
Maureen started a journey in 2008 that led to a career as a business architect. “Through the journey, it seems I have hit every situation you would want to avoid. One thing that stands out, is that a business architecture practice anywhere must fit the culture and the needs of an organization.”
In her business architect role for an insurance company, she has established training for the teams that utilize architecture tools and for those that need to learn what business architecture is and how it relates to their day-to-day responsibilities for several years.
Maureen is excited to share her experience: what works and what does not as well as learn from the experiences of other business architects.
Sailing Out of the Pandemic Eye
How come returning to “normal” seems to be so much harder than pivoting to pandemic status?
First, I have to say, it has been awhile since I have heard anyone use the word “pivot”- in spring of 2020, I got tired of hearing it. Is the absence because we no longer need to pivot, or we have burned out from pivoting?
Second, I love metaphors, and water offers endless metaphors to use; this is warning that there are three metaphors ahead.
Now that we (The nation, Minnesota, my workplace, my family) have new guidelines for the “fully vaccinated,” I thought I would be leaving the choppy seas of the pandemic and would be heading into smooth sailing.
That is not the case.
Originally, I thought the strict rules BV (before vaccination) of pods and masks, cooking and eating at home every night, and social distancing were the storm. If I could survive that storm (that included the pivoting, the unknown, the weekly or daily changes from science on what to do to be safe), I would be doing the dance of joy once I was fully vaccinated.
Also, not the case.
I have come to believe that all of the “hard stuff” I just mentioned was not the choppy seas, but rather, the calm waters in the eye of the storm.
I wrote an article a few months back on pandemic changes that would stick because I think many of us are still evaluating what we want to bring forward from the pandemic to define our new “normal.” While we may have some freedom to take our time on a personal level, our jobs may not be so patient.
In talking to the customers that IPD serves, many of you are in the midst of transitioning back to the workplace, or planning to transition back, or being told to transition back. Some of us will never have to transition back (My department is on this list, but not my organization). The anecdotal evidence I have from those conversations is that the transition to return to work is much harder than the transition to work from home.
This is curious as we often find “rip off the band aid” change to be jarring and chaotic, yet in March of 2020 all aspects of our lives made the transition to pandemic rules: schools, workplaces, healthcare, government services, banks, restaurants, grocery stores. And, while there were pockets of logistical nightmares, many made changes (mainly with IT) to meet needs in a just a few weeks; when prior to the pandemic, those changes had been discussed or creeping forward for years!
Perhaps sailing out of the eye of the pandemic storm is so difficult because we have some freedom of choice back. On the way in, the course was determined for us by government and science recommendations, but now we are back to everyone being “captain of their own ship,” and getting our fleet (whether friends, family, or coworkers) to all chart the same course is difficult.
My solution to almost every problem I experienced during the pandemic was to give people grace, and my strategy for sailing the choppy waters from pandemic to new normal will remain to give people grace. For those in leadership roles, checkout the “Return-to-Work Phobia” article for how to provide grace in the workplace.
Beth Schaefer,
IPD Director
For over a year, public health messaging has been that the safest place to be is your home, so it is hard to turn off that messaging just because your cubicle wants you back. Only 44% of workers are comfortable going to a workplace outside their homes. 2/3 thirds have anxiety over returning to work.
Many people are voting with their feet by leaving jobs that require them to transition back to the cube lifestyle and choosing jobs that offer a more flexible hybrid model or to not work at all.
While many decisions about the transition back to the office are made by the organization, many of those decisions focus on the physical environment: protective plexiglass, higher cube walls, new barriers, mask rules, installation of numerous sanitizer dispensers, reduced room occupancy rate, temperature screenings, etc.
This means that supervisors and managers need to focus on the emotional needs and recognize the true trauma that many faced and are still facing because of the pandemic. While many leaders may feel that handling staff emotions falls outside their roles, research will tell you that employees who feel their concerns and well-being are being addressed by employers are far, far less likely to seek new employment. And, having flexible policies to accommodate the transition will help you hire all those people leaving their inflexible roles.
Proactively address concerns with your team members:
Rethink your communication plan:
Experiment on working models, if you can:
Be optimistic:
Focus on wellness for yourself (and encourage your staff to do the same):
Beth Schaefer,
IPD Director
