Investing in 2014 – Part 1 of 2 – Organizational and Personal Career

Includes links to an affiliate resource and a two very interesting articles on the web – on why people hate their jobs and career and financial advice for young professionals. Read on!


We are almost to the end of 2013; most organizations and many people individually are setting plans, priorities and budgets for 2014. In this two part series, I will start with organizational and personal career development and next week will look at investing in opening up a new market (you will have to wait to next week to see what that market is.)

Most corporations' largest expense is in its people costs!

Most corporations’ largest expense is in its people costs!


Starting with organizational investment in career development – I keep writing about how people costs are most company’s largest expenditure and they do not seem to do enough to leverage and protect this investment. Over the past three years, a record number of employees surveyed are either not engaged or negatively / destructively engaged at their jobs. This article on “Granted Blog” (link) discusses in depth why so many people hate their jobs.

Companies must invest more to keep their people engaged and contributing to their very best. Managers and executives need to be trained on how to manage people with respect in ways that spur them on to reach new heights (yes – the Granted Blog article does list bad bosses as one of the top reasons for people hating their work.)

The second top reason is misalignment of people and their jobs to their skills and aspirations. In addition to breeding great managers, companies may want to look at providing a robust program to inspire and encourage employees to take a longer view of their careers and be enthused to stay in a company for 5 or 10 years or longer. Check out my own innovative “Total Engagement Career Mapping Services” program for engaging employees in career planning and development.

And as we enter into 2014, not only do organizations need to look at the career management issue, but the New Year is a good time for each person to individually take stock at where they are career-wise and even life-wise. Do you feel you are headed in a positive growing direction in your vocation? Do you need to enhance your own plans for managing your life and career? One very interesting article (link) in which I am quoted is loaded with financial and career advice for young professionals (actually great info that can be useful for people of all generations!) It is called “Ask the Experts: Money Management for Young Professionals” by “The Insider.”

Total Engagement Consulting is a new affiliate of Karen Tax & Associates

Total Engagement Consulting is a new affiliate of Karen Tax & Associates


Since my consulting practice focuses on businesses and organizations, I have entered into an affiliation with Karen Tax & Associates and their IAM Learning Community and IAM Career SMART! to address individual needs. These programs are designed for those in large companies all the way through individual entrepreneurs seeking holistic strategies for business, career and life. You can read more on my affiliates page, or to immediately start with a free assessment to determine how aligned your career is with your life – link here!

Resolve in 2014 to invest more both in your organization’s development of its people talent and resources, and in your own personal career and life growth!

Essential Career Development: How HR Can Lead the Way to a Renewed Economy via Passionately Engaged Employees

What a provocative title for the February TSHM (Triangle Society for Human Resource Management, one of the local SHRM chapters I belong to) monthly meeting! Since my innovative career road mapping processes for organizations is one of my core consulting offerings, and since I wrote my last blog (link) about protecting an organization’s largest investment (people) via career planning, I knew I had to attend this session.

The speaker was Karen Tax (link to her business website), who after spending 15 years as a software engineer, returned to school to get her masters in Organizational

Karen Tax, Founder of Karen Tax and Associates, providing consulting and coaching services

Karen Tax, Founder of Karen Tax and Associates, providing consulting and coaching services

Development and then changed her career direction. She has spent her last 12 years as a self-employed coach and consultant, including launching a successful online career development community called “IAM Career SMART!” ™.

From the session I realized that Karen’s approach is very different from my career mapping process, but with her focus on connecting corporate career leadership to individual learning and coaching, our work is quite synergistic. Here are the key learnings I took away from this February 28th session:

• That employee productivity, which can lead to organizational success and a renewed economy, is at its maximum when employees are truly passionately engaged. The results we should be aiming for in terms of passionate employees are people who are empowered, entrepreneurial, authentic and leaders. And yes, leaders are needed at all levels of an organization.

• The biggest issue keeping employees from being passionately engaged is fear, which fosters risk aversion, mediocrity, status quo, disengagement, stress, limited thinking, health issues, impatience, rigidity and powerlessness.

• The antidote to fear is a corporate and HR strategy that is based on values, strengths, motivations and passions. By focusing on a love-based model instead of fear, we each can become our essential best.

• Real change or shifts in our way of thinking can inspire possibilities, ignite passions and change behaviors from the inside out. This can then connect our employee’s best within themselves to our organizational goals, resulting in maximum individual and corporate performance.

So what is the bottom line in what I took away? A critical component that HR needs to provide within a career development framework is to help each employee connect their passions to the organizational goals such that both the employee and the organization truly achieve their best.