Feel like your career is stalling out?
It’s natural. Maybe you’ve been in your company or role for too long; maybe you don’t have the kind of clear growth HR career path you need to feel like you’re making moves. But feeling stuck is dangerous, and it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Career growth is closely tied to engagement; chances are, if you’re feeling out of touch with your best career self, you’re feeling distanced from your organization too. Taking advantage of these five tips will help you get back in your groove, so you can keep giving your best to your team and your organization as a whole.
To get your HR mojo going again, try:
- Asking yourself some questions
- Hitting the books
- Learning from others
- Meditating (trust us)
- Taking the lead
1. Asking yourself some questions
You’re the captain of this ship. If it’s time to set sail towards a new destination, you’re in charge.
Instead of waiting for a promotion or opportunity, be proactive about your wants. You don’t need a ten-year growth plan in place to ask your manager for some help planning for the future.
What’s missing in your role? Answering this question will help you, your manager, and whoever’s on this growth ride, navigate your next career steps.
Recommended reading: Designing Your Life, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
2. Hit the books
A great way to fast-track your development is to explore new qualifications. There are no one-size-fits-all criteria for a successful career in HR; however, academic study can provide you with confidence and a competitive edge.
If you’re not in the marketing for a degree program, short courses can be a great addition to your CV. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) offers courses such as Future-Focused Learning and Development and, Recruitment, Selection, and Resourcing Talent.
Your employer might be so impressed by your initiative that they’ll fund your studying!
3. Learning from others
Ever looked longingly at the office across the hall and wondered what happens in there?
You’ll never find out unless you ask! Talk to your manager about skills you’d like to grow and develop and come up with a shadowing plan, where you’ll be able to spend some time with someone watching them do what they do and figuring out if you could enjoy it too.
Shadowing is a great low-investment way to figure out if that job really is all that and a bag of chips, or if it’s just a bag of pretzels you found in the back of your car. If it doesn’t seem like it’s right for you, no big deal—you can move on and go shadow someone else!
4. Meditating (seriously, trust us)
When your calendar is packed out with meetings and the office is fully-stocked with loud sales guys, how are you supposed to plan for your future?
We recommend taking some time alone in the circumstances that allow you to focus best to think about your next steps. Set aside a few one- or two-hour blocks to plan your future: what you want, what you don’t want, and when you want to do it. Your future is important, and it’s coming whether you plan for it or not—so you might as well take the time.
That might not mean meditating. You might think best when you’re collaging, doing yoga, or…thinking. But give yourself the time.
Recommended reading: Find Your Why by Simon Sinek
5. Taking the lead
This is your future, after all. Take the lead! Don’t wait for your annual performance review, or when you see a cool new job advertised. As soon as you start feeling a twinge of growing pains, take action. Your career will thank you.
Setting your sights high will reward you tenfold. Just like that “empty” tube of toothpaste you always manage to squeeze more from, you know you’ve got loads of fresh potential inside just waiting to come out.
