While many people began returning to the office from July this year, the autumn ‘term’ is when the majority are making a more formal comeback. While some are excited at the prospect of a greater sense of normality, others are feeling a sense of trepidation. That might be Covid related, or perhaps you enjoyed working from home and are questioning your next career move? What if your next move was about improving your prospects and experiences in your current job?
At the start of the pandemic, the UK predicted mass unemployment. What has surprised many is that it’s turning out to be quite the opposite. Many businesses are suffering a skills shortage as people switched careers from the most hard hit industries. Meanwhile, lots of people are choosing to stick with existing roles in the post-pandemic period, rather than seek out new ones where their sense of security might be less should further economic instability strike (last in, first out and all that). However, sticking in our jobs doesn’t mean that we don’t want new opportunities to thrive and feel invested in our work. It wouldn’t hurt to get a pay rise either.
You don’t have to change companies, or even your job role at the outset, in order to treat a return to the office as a whole new chapter filled with opportunity. It can be a chance to shake off old habits that weren’t working for you, improve working relationships, learn new skills to make you feel more empowered and excited by your role, and ultimately improve your prospects for now and in the future.
Update your skills
Perhaps one of the best ways to feel rejuvenated in your career is to gain new skills or update existing ones. It can help you feel more confident, make you eligible for new roles, and make you feel better able to contribute to discussions and processes within your team. Training with online and evening courses is one of the best ways to do that, especially in a world that now wholeheartedly facilitates remote learning. Investing in your own skills rather than waiting for team training also gives you far more power over the trajectory of your career – and who doesn’t want more autonomy over their future?
Spend time coming up with new ideas
Get invested in the company you work for and take time to think what it could do better or where it could enhance its offering. Last week we wrote about the importance of nurturing ideas, and cited Google’s 20% policy, where staff work on a passion project once a week. It’s where some of their best ideas come from. Your boss might not be in a place where they allow that kind of creativity (yet), but there’s nothing stopping you from letting your imagination run wild. If it was your company, what could you do? If you come up with something special then it might just be worth pitching to your boss! If not, allowing your thoughts to get more involved in the business could work wonders for making you feel more passionate and more invested in what you do!
Suggest team training
If you’re in a position of management, you might want to look at the prospect of bringing more training opportunities into the working environment in order to help staff feel more engaged and valued. Research found that “nearly half [of employees] would like to be offered mobile learning, and three-quarters want to have more control over what and when they learn.” We know that it’s hard to find good people, and when you have them, you want them to choose to stay. It’s also very expensive to hire new people – Glassdoor estimates the average cost of recruitment for a new employee in the UK is £3,000. Supporting team members in their career progression, providing opportunities to learn and grow, and showing that you value them is not just important for their contribution to the company on a day-to-day basis, but is also a more cost effective way of running an organisation.
At CamVision we offer career boosting courses in finance, technology, accounting, investment and engineering. To find out more, follow the link or contact us any time.