PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Professional development throughout one’s career is often reflected in the attainment of postgraduate qualifications, relevant to one’s profession and career aspirations. However, such qualifications often do not resource us to manage the daily demands and complexity of our working lives, which are increasing. Over time this has led to high and often excessive levels of workplace stress, now being the norm. Many people feel alone in navigating their work path and role, given the political realities of professional life i.e. low trust, rivalry etc. Regular individual support can be a valuable resource, making a difference to both personal and professional levels of success and satisfaction.

Leadership Challenges

For leaders, the pressure for constant results and high performance, for both themselves and their teams, is enormous. Additional pressures and demands are diverse:

•   Juggling between day-to-day issues, risks and crises, and longer-term priorities;
•   People issues – managing performance, conflicts, health and safety concerns; building relationships etc;
•   Strategic mapping of the various forces that impact our roles, and obtaining clarity for effective action; and
•   Fragmented communications due to organisational siloes, hierarchy and behavioural factors, which can result in frustrated efforts to make good holistic decisions in a timely manner.

Support options

As many professional’s progress through their careers, to keep their CVs and skill set fresh, postgraduate tertiary qualifications are considered highly desirable, especially MBAs and studies in information management. Alternately, skill specific certification such as project management and change management qualifications are also sought after. These are often considered essential prerequisites for promotional opportunities and are generally obtained in one’s 20’s and 30’s. How about during the rest of one’s career?

In many professional groups, practitioners are required to be engaged in regular supervision throughout their career, with a highly skilled supervisor/mentor, to help reflect on and manage the complexity of their work. This could include:

•   a confidential place to study the impacts and interdependencies of specific key interactions and events;
•   supporting a continued efficacy and ethical stance in one’s professional role, and
•   receiving support for the professional and personal aspects of self, and to guard against ‘burnout’ from the cumulative effects of workload and role stress.

This resource is also available to organisational leaders and managers in the form of a regular consultation with a Workplace Therapist/coach, of your choice.

Benefits of workplace supervision and coaching

Most people can see good sense in proactively managing their physical health and well-being, via an investment in regular exercise etc. So, it seems odd that we would ignore looking after ourselves professionally by gaining confidential and professional support from a qualified organisational therapist/coach throughout our career. In a time when we are being encouraged to work longer (until 70 years), workplace supervision and coaching can be the intervention that helps to give you the edge, enhance career performance and satisfaction and importantly, to navigate the peaks and troughs of professional life. Our careers and development as professionals are our responsibility.

Sondra Ramirez

Workplace Therapist and Counselor