The most important thing/word I’ve learned in the workplace this week – Evolve.
Evolve immediately. You may have committed meetings/webinars/workshops to attend but if sometimes important internal meetings can occur last minute. Evolve, you get it done – then you flip back to where you need to be.
Many employees stay at a company where the company believes in their people. Employee retention matters to the company as well. Be at a company where you can grow from within and allows you to continue growing as a person. Be at a company where it feels like you found yourself in, where they can see that your values are aligned with their values/mission. Be at a company that stands for everything that you believe in as well.
For example – your favorite part of your role in the workplace could be engaging with consumers and that can help you develop to who you are today.
When you consider applying for jobs, think about “What does this employer look for in talent?” If you are looking to work directly with consumers – you may want to do more research on that specific company that you want to work for. That company may list their ideal characteristics on the description – to name a few: someone who is friendly, a team player, someone who cares about their customers by delivering the best experience, and being influential to others.
We all know that there is so much going on in the world today, let alone a pandemic that we are still going through. Ask yourself when applying to jobs or the current role you are in (whether you are entry-level, mid-level, management or executive level – “Can I be someone who can bring a positive light to someone else?” Now this question can only be answered by yourself. An employer can coach/train you on the responsibilities for the role, but something that cannot be taught is how you show up. Your punctuality/attendance is always on you. Once you get into work, there can be perks such as employee discounts – and this depends on your performance – which can be a competitive process.
If you are looking to go into leadership roles when it comes to moving up within the brand, knowing what you want – each sector/employer has so many different critical experiences that you get an opportunity and exposure to. For example, let’s say for the retail sector. You could be a sales associate but the merch team or visual team may come in and ask you some questions about, “Hey, what are consumers saying about this product? What is it that they want?”
Sometimes, you get those opportunities to have a conversation – and those are the opportunities that are the meaningful ones because once you share what you know and your insights, that team would not want you – but they NEED you.
Eighty percent of your development and your growth is on you and twenty percent is on your leader because there is a plethora of opportunities within the brand. When you share what you want to do with your manager/supervisor, you get to sit down and have that conversation with them. You need to own your career development, share with your leader what you want and what you are looking for, know where you want to go. Then based on what you want to do, your leader will try to help you get there however, the number one driver of that is going to be YOU.
Always latch onto a mentor at work – someone who is there that is doing the job that you want.
An NYC recruiter from a global retail brand that I work close with once told me, “When someone tells you that you want to be in a role, don’t see that as a threat. But see it as a great thing that someone wants to have the job that you have. As a leader, you do your job well so you can train someone else to do that job well. So when someone tells me that they want to be a recruiter, I say ‘Great, let me show you the basics – this is what we do – obviously we need to get approval from your leadership team/employer.’ We can spend some time to chat and once there is that opportunity to stretch or get that experience, I will share with them possible openings that they can apply to and if they get the job – then they can get that experience and grow from there.”
It can’t just be you knowing what you want, but your leadership team and those mentors that you surround yourself with should know as well.
Careers with Michelle 