Gaining Support
One of the most important, but often overlooked, aspects
of professional development is gaining the support of others. This can take
many forms, not only in the variety of people who may help you, but in the type
of support that they are able to give.
Think about those people who might be able to assist you
with your development plans. Your employer, colleagues, friends and family are
all possible sources of help. Great benefit can be gained by discussing your
development ideas and problems with impartial advisers, and they can be a
source of useful ideas and unexpected opportunities. For this very reason, the
professional institutions strongly advocate having a mentor - ideally
throughout your career, but certainly in it’s early stages.
1) Mentoring for career success
If you have a mentor, discussing your personal and
business development needs should be a natural part of your regular
conversations. There is general acceptance that most people achieve better
levels of professional success if they have the guidance and help of a mentor,
someone with whom they can discuss their career plans.
Find out more about Mentoring.
2) Manager(s) at work
Talking to your line manager - whether as formal
appraisal or an impromptu discussion - will be a vitally important part of your
professional development. These discussions will help you to establish
opportunities available to you, help you identify your strengths and
weaknesses, and give you valuable feedback on your performance. You may also
gain help with identifying competences and, because they want you to succeed as
much as you do, the motivational support will be immeasurable.
However, many people feel awkward about asking for career
or personal development advice, especially if they do not have their next move
clearly in mind. Asking the boss for advice can feel like a high risk strategy
- if he or she thinks you are looking for a move, they may undermine you or
stop investing in you. Usually such fears are unfounded.
If you have a formal appraisal, objective-setting and/or
development planning system in place, then this should provide the opportunity
to find out if your company has plans for you. Use this valuable opportunity to
share your goals and ideas. If you are developing your skills, you are likely
to have more to offer your present employer, and the evidence of your planning
and commitment will be seen as positive. Even if you are likely to leave,
having advance warning will help your manager to plan for your succession.
If you still feel nervous about speaking to your line
manager, why not seek the advice of your personnel manager instead? They will
understand how you feel, and may be able to provide the advice you need without
‘rocking the boat’.
3) Sponsor/Assessor
If you are working towards registration as a Chartered
Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, or Engineering Technician, then your Sponsor
and Assessor will also be valuable sources of help and support.
Those seeking registration as a Chartered Physicist will
have identified 2 Supporters who will, themselves, hold the CPhys
designation - or one of equivalent professional standing.
See your own institution's page for more information
4) Colleagues
Colleagues are a great source of inspiration and ideas.
Along with your friends, they are also often the best source of frank and
honest feedback, and can be a useful resource for information on other areas of
your business! If you are on a development scheme and have colleagues who are
also on the scheme, or have been through it in the past, they will be able to
guide and support you.
5) Friends & family
One of the reasons people often use for not doing
professional development is the impact it will have on their home life. Talking
through your aims and ambitions with your friends and family will help them to
understand why you need to spend time on professional development activities.
Involving them in your planning will elicit their support, and you will be able
to structure your learning to create a balance in your life.
6) Professional institutions
Never overlook your professional institution as a source
of help. They will have many practical solutions to make your professional
development easier, from guidance on how to do it, through to learning and
networking opportunities, ideas for gaining financial and practical help,
sources of information and links with training suppliers, mentors and
advisors.
The CRAC publication "Straight Talking: effective career
discussions at work" (2002) reports that in the supporting survey, 55% of
respondents had good discussions with managers in their employing organisation,
whilst 20% found external sources of advice such as career or training events,
external advisers and psychologists, helpful. 80% of discussions took place by
appointment, and 60% were initiated by the person seeking advice. So you need
to take the initiative, but also give your chosen adviser an opportunity to
prepare for the discussion. Make sure you are well-prepared. Work through the
professional development cycle, so that you have an idea of your current
skills, those you would like to develop, the type of work-based activities
which might contribute to that development, and what you perceive as the
benefits to, and the opportunities within, the organisation.
CRAC offers the following tips for receivers of career
support:
- Put yourself in the driving seat. Think about who can help you address
career issues. Make sure you get the help you need, by asking for it.
- Try to develop a relationship with your boss such that they will actively
support your career. If this is impossible, try to keep your boss
informed.
- If you want to raise a career issue in appraisal, tell your appraiser
beforehand. Ask for a follow-up to the appraisal meeting, if there are career
issues you could not discuss fully. Take advantage of other types of career
support offered by your organisation.
- If you are planning a job move, start raising the issue well in
advance.
- If you want to talk to someone, ask for an appointment and explain what you
want to discuss. Ask for at least half an hour.
- Prepare by thinking about your situation and skills, and their fit with the
business. Think about what you want to discuss, and what you want from the
discussion.
- You should not reject advice or feedback out of hand, fail to listen
attentively, or become aggressive or defensive.
For many professionals considering further education as a
part of their professional development financing it can be a major hurdle. But
a variety of schemes exist specifically to deal with this problem
1) From your employer
Many large employers are aware of the value of training
their staff to their best potential and will pay for or part-fund particular
training schemes if they are relevant to your job. Some enlightened employers
will even offer funding for personal development which is not directly
job-related, although you may have to pay tax on this as a benefit in kind. It
is well worth approaching your Human Resources department about what is
available to you.
If your employer has 50 or less employees then they may
be eligible for a Small Firms Training Loan (SFTL). They can borrow as little
as £500 or as much as £125,000 at lower than usual interest rates,
depending on their needs and the number of people being trained. An SFTL is a
commercial bank loan offered in partnership between the Department for
Education and Skills (DfES) and eight high street banks. You can get an SFTL
anywhere in Great Britain by applying to one of the participating banks which
are: Barclays, Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale, The Co-operative, HSBC, Lloyds
TSB, NatWest and The Royal Bank of Scotland.
2) Other sources
If you need to finance your training or course yourself
then you might consider applying for a career development loan or one of a
variety of bursaries and awards.
Career Development Loans were launched by the DfES in 1988.
Visit http://www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/cdl/index.htm for an application and information pack.
Bursaries and awards exist and your institution will be
able to advise on those that may be relevant to you. Remember that some career
development activities may also qualify for tax relief. |
