Love It Don’t Leave It by Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans

In tight economic times, sometimes the best career management move is maximizing opportunities in our current professional role and workplace rather than moving on to a new job. In this power A to Z guide, our authors give us 26 valuable tools to find satisfaction in our current workplaces. 

Several strategies are especially useful in our current economy.  Goals, for example – the authors propose that “up” is not the only way to progress in your career.  If the promotion you want isn’t available or the career ladder has only a few rungs, how do you grow in your current organization without moving on? 

The authors name 5 options: the lateral move, the enrichment option (growing in place), the exploratory option (a temporary move to research other options), the realignment option (moving downward) and the vertical option (moving to the next rung of the ladder). 

Lateral moves can be terrific learning opportunities to expand your skills or shift from a slow-growing part of the organization to a faster-growing one. The enrichment option can be utilized by expanding your job, refining your expertise or drilling deeper into an area you enjoy.  A temporary assignment to a new role gives you a glimpse into another area of your organization.  The realignment option might lead out of management to a lower-level position with better work, more life balance, more fun, and eventually more money.

Another valuable strategy is “Linking” with other employees, i.e., teamwork, collaboration, networking, interacting, sharing information, and coordination.  Employees may feel disconnected if they are the only ones performing or understanding a task, they work with documents or computers more than people, they don’t have much in common with other team members and their organization is competitive and noncollaborative. You can link into your current organization better by reading annual reports, newsletters and company policies, asking your colleages about recent work history, finding a  cross-functional committee or task force, attending interdepartmental meetings, and engaging in “water cooler talk” with people both inside and outside your unit.  They also suggest that you report your findings from a professional conference to your manager and join the regional group or “practice area” of your professional association.  Of course volunteering and professional associations are also great resources as well.  In order to gain a link, be a link – pay it forward in your networking efforts.

There are numerous other strategies discussed by our authors including finding a mentor, understanding the various generations in the workplace now and charting your career course. 

I highly recommend this book.  It offers something for everyone – including those staying in the same job, those staying in the same organization and making a transfer, and those transitioning to a new career or job in a new workplace as it offers success strategies for their new work environment.

Written by Career Services Director Lisa Cook