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It's YOUR life! It's YOUR decisions! And it's YOUR What Next...!!
Thank you to the government, once again there are some superb opportunities out there for young adults! From the stories I hear, so many young adults are frustrated at the reality of coming out of university and hunting endlessly for jobs, only to end up being one of hundreds of applicants for a job that is nowhere near what they really want to be doing. You may or may not be aware that right now there is a huge selection of superb opportunities out there for young adults to earn and learn as they step onto the first rung of their career ladder. Nothing is better than a real life success story – here is one of my favourites: A 21-year old who entered the world of work as a receptionist after having finished her A-levels took advantage of such an opportunity and is now training to become a chartered building surveyor. You can read her story here .
Fed up with the door to your career being repeatedly slammed in your face? So many graduates are frustrated when they start job hunting, initially excited at the prospect of getting out there into the world of work and turning their degree into real life practical use…. only to discover that they are stuck in a vicious cycle. The vicious cycle: “To apply for this job you need some experience!” But I cannot get experience if no-one will take me on!! Aargh – how frustrating. The degree apprenticeship is such a simple and smart way to override this frustration, to earn money whilst continuing your education, to build up real and relevant experience in your chosen career and the cherry on top: to be debt free! I love this comment that I recently read, from a young man who decided to do an apprenticeship within a government department: “I’ve been involved with writing briefings, going to meetings with ministers, assessing the economic impact of new policies, and more. It’s a completely different learning experience from university, I think it’s superior. When you do a university degree you don’t learn a lot of practical skills that employers are really after. And my friends are certainly jealous I won’t end up in £40,000 worth of debt.”
Nowadays, it’s not often once can say that a bank has saved them £40,000 and provided them with a fantastic career opportunity. With the degree apprenticeship programme, one of apprenticeships that they offer, the banks today provide an opportunity for hundreds of young adults every year to start their career in banking with a salary, pastoral care, and education to achieve a degree or other formal qualification. Strangely, it seems that opportunities such as these apprenticeship programme that the banks are offering, are not well enough known about and not much spoken about – these were first launched in 2015. When I read the story of Carla Whiteford a technology apprentice at Barclays, who is now following through her ambition to study for a university degree in computing, whilst earning a salary at the same time, I felt a need to tell the world about this – every young adult needs to know that there are a range of excellent choices out there for them to start their career Click here for the full story.
What does it take to be a leader today, and how will the leader of the future evolve? When we think of a leader we imagine someone in control of their responsibilities and the output from their people. This cannot be executed without appropriate communication and interaction. Where great leaders differ from good leaders is in their ability to interact positively with people around them combined with their ability to empathise and understand the factors that affect wellbeing. Great leaders of the future will action their responsibilities more effectively by taking their employees, peers and stakeholders with them, in other words: by connecting with them. They will prove that they are not only intellectually qualified to hold that role but they also possess the soft skills to use their talents and skills to motivate and include those around them to get the required results. While it is important to set the tone by leading from example it is equally important to take time to understand the people behind the roles; to know them, to listen to them, to understand their needs and expectations within their role and how they foresee being managed. We now operate in an always-on world with increasing demands, competition and transformation occurring in almost every workplace. This will only continue with time and the leadership of the future will have to work smartly to take their people with them and not isolate themselves from a relationship of collaboration and trust in the workplace. Ask the employees: How does a good leader contribute to a culture of wellbeing? Across various workplace teams similar factors will feature if probed: support, respect, integrity, focus, reasonable behaviour and requests. ‘Great Place to Work’, the wellbeing measurement firm, reiterates this in their “ Wellbeing and the importance of Workplace Culture report ”. The report acknowledges the growing awareness of the impact of wellbeing on individuals, business, the economy and society and how organisations with effective wellbeing programmes outperform the market. The average UK organisation has wellbeing scores of just 53% compared to a score of around 84% at best-in-class organisations such as: ‘The UK’s Best Workplaces’ – whose cultures are more positive and supportive when it comes to culture, values and ethics, wellbeing and engagement. The behavioural style of the leader is pivotal to encouraging a feeling of wellbeing within the workforce. Their approach and actions will speak louder than words. A leader who shows support and empathy will be able to connect with others on multiple levels. As the factors that make up the feeling of wellbeing evolve so must the leader’s behaviour. Supportive leadership is seen as a key way of connecting with your employees and particularly effective when the company culture encourages and enables this type of environment. A supportive leader will involve those around them in their decision and make them feel a part of the process. Characteristically the supportive leader will habitually set clear and reasonable objectives and targets and be aware of their behaviour. Should this not be the case the leader can inadvertently drain the meaning from the work of their employees, which can set off a negative spiral of disengagement and affecting their inner motivation. The effective leadership toolkit will require a mix of factors. Leaders will be expected to inspire and consider what those around them need while leading by example and building engagement with their employees at all levels. Their toolkit will include two other characteristic measures – their Emotional Quotient, EQ, and their Social Quotient, SQ. The correct balance of these intelligences, combined with their IQ will differentiate the leaders of the future and enable their evolution to transcend the challenges of the future. Balancing our intellectual aptitude with an ability to relate to people on an emotional and social level will further cement the feel-good factors prevalent in a high wellbeing working environment. These environments will encourage productivity and generate an unconscious pride in being involved in that organisation and get that ‘feel-good factor’ that’s hard to articulate. The issue is not whether the leader of the future should accept this evolutionary behavioural challenge but can they?
During my 30 years observing and coaching individuals and employees on wellbeing and life skills, I have noticed the strong link between happiness, health and overall wellbeing. Wellbeing is hard to describe, it is a state of mind as a result of many factors: some we can change and others we can try to develop. It is now understood that the health and happiness of people affects their personal focus, attitude, performance and output: both in and out of the workplace. It is the people in any organisation that are the essence and root of its success. Happy people are more motivated, content and likely to be more productive at work. So how can employers be a catalyst to ensure there is a focus on the wellbeing factors affecting their employees? Generally the better the work environment, the greater the support and the outlook of the employees: this in turn delivers a greater commitment to the organisation. Listening to the needs of the employees and giving them a say in changes affecting their contribution and working conditions will help them feel included and that their opinion is valued. When we feel valued we feel more positive. The benefits of aiming to provide an inclusive, open, supportive organisation are multi-faceted, including generating: Reliable committed long-term employees High level service and/or productivity Consistent, reliable, quality performance and outcomes Business growth and personal growth The old adage of ‘what goes around comes around’ applies here. The circle of support provides and receives continually: but beware, the circle works for both a negative and positive approach! To deliver a workplace environment that embraces the essence of wellbeing employers need to ensure they listen to their employees, give them choices where operationally possible, treat them with respect and trust them to make decisions. Choice, Respect and Trust are elements that make people feel worthy and valued, it raises their self-esteem and then they feel better and happier in themselves. This is thought to have an impact on health too, as positive thinking and contentment are beneficial to the mind. Satisfying the mind and the soul has long been thought to have holistic health benefits. Whether this is a placebo effect or not is debatable, but when we apply mind over matter it is amazing what we can achieve. But what happens when then mind is challenged and it doesn’t experience contentment? What support is available for those employees whose mental health is in question? This is another facet in the overall provision of support for employees in the workplace. Occupational health departments will have to deal with both physical and mental health situations with the same level of care; mental health issues are less visible than the physical. Regardless of the health issue: mental or physical, employees need to feel the employer has a system in place to deal with it. This can range from an obvious route to HR advice through to a specialised service able to assess and support issues around the mental health of their employees. Listening is a skill, not always used as effectively as it could be. However in order to provide an environment that embraces the true meaning of wellbeing, employers need to listen to the needs of their most valuable resource: their employees. If the circle of wellbeing is to work it needs to evolve with commitment from both the employer and the employees. This in turn will provide both parties with the environment to progress in a successful manner. Commitment is the key. Those who experience the greatest change are those with the utmost commitment to making their companies, environment, careers, and lives, even more successful than they already are.