Career planning
How to have effective career conversations with your manager
How to have effective career conversations with your manager
5 minutes
Many of us operate under the false assumption that if we work hard this will be recognised and rewarded. In most instances, it isn’t that simple.
Instead, your career development starts with you.
You need to identify your next growth opportunity and ask for it. With the support of your coach, you will have discussed your skills, achievements and potential opportunities, and now it is time to act.
It may feel uncomfortable proactively raising a career conversation with your manager. However, it is a critical skill to take control of your career journey, identify your personal areas of growth and determine a long-term plan for success.
Six Steps for Effective Career Conversations
1
Preparation: Get prepared identifying your skills, achievements, gaps, SMART+ER goals
With the support of your coach, ensure you have a clear understanding of your current skills and how they align with your role and the organisation’s needs. Beyond this, list your achievements with metrics on the results achieved so you can prove the tangible impact of your abilities within your role.
We all have areas of improvement and skills gaps, make sure you have clearly identified what yours are and proactively put forward strategies to upskill yourself and current opportunities within the organisation to help your development.
And last, but certainly not least, develop your SMART+ER goals to share with your manager to your development objectives align with the current needs of the organisation. Many will be familiar with SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound). However, the inclusion of “+ER” (Emotional Connection and Reflect and Readjust) are imperative to ensure there is a personal connection or driver towards the goal. As well as ensuring there is flexibility within the goal, so it doesn’t become irrelevant or unachievable.
To help you with this process, here is a resource to map out your career plan.
We all have areas of improvement and skills gaps, make sure you have clearly identified what yours are and proactively put forward strategies to upskill yourself and current opportunities within the organisation to help your development.
And last, but certainly not least, develop your SMART+ER goals to share with your manager to your development objectives align with the current needs of the organisation. Many will be familiar with SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timebound). However, the inclusion of “+ER” (Emotional Connection and Reflect and Readjust) are imperative to ensure there is a personal connection or driver towards the goal. As well as ensuring there is flexibility within the goal, so it doesn’t become irrelevant or unachievable.
To help you with this process, here is a resource to map out your career plan.
2
Request meeting with manager: Don’t catch your manager off guard. Let them know your intentions to discuss career development
Career development conversations are a two-way street. For all the time and effort you’ve placed into preparing for the conversation, your manager needs to be prepared too.
Request a meeting with your manager with at least one week’s notice and clearly state that this is to discuss your career development. It’s important to note, this meeting should be separate from your typical one-to-ones or performance reviews.
Depending on your organisation’s strategy and planning deadlines, it can be beneficial to have these conversations before planning OKRs, KPIs or other performance requirements are decided, as there may be more flexibility to align your career goals with the organisation’s upcoming needs.
Request a meeting with your manager with at least one week’s notice and clearly state that this is to discuss your career development. It’s important to note, this meeting should be separate from your typical one-to-ones or performance reviews.
Depending on your organisation’s strategy and planning deadlines, it can be beneficial to have these conversations before planning OKRs, KPIs or other performance requirements are decided, as there may be more flexibility to align your career goals with the organisation’s upcoming needs.
3
Start the conversation: Open the conversation on a positive note outlining your personal growth and achievements
Clearly articulate the purpose of your career conversation so you and your manager are on the same page from the get-go. You could say, “Thank you for taking the time to discuss my career growth opportunities. Today, I’m interested in exploring my development plan to align my goals with the needs of our team and organisation.”
From there, share the insights you’ve uncovered with your coach on the achievements in your role to-date, the areas of growth you’re interested in exploring and your SMART+ER goals. Explain aspects of your role that you find motivating and how you feel you could more greatly contribute to the team by focusing on specific development areas.
Remember, you will need to be open to exploring how these development areas align to current opportunities and needs of your organisation. This is where feedback and insight from your manager will be vital to ensure there is scope to achieve your desired goals.
From there, share the insights you’ve uncovered with your coach on the achievements in your role to-date, the areas of growth you’re interested in exploring and your SMART+ER goals. Explain aspects of your role that you find motivating and how you feel you could more greatly contribute to the team by focusing on specific development areas.
Remember, you will need to be open to exploring how these development areas align to current opportunities and needs of your organisation. This is where feedback and insight from your manager will be vital to ensure there is scope to achieve your desired goals.
4
Evaluate different opportunities and options presented: Be open to the variety of needs and opportunities discussed
Effective career conversations are typically dynamic with many ideas, needs and opportunities raised. It’s likely that you will give your manager a lot to think about, and visa versa.
It’s important to be open to the feedback and suggestions your manager has put forward, even if these are different to what you’d planned for the conversation. Be sure to ask for clarification if anything doesn’t make sense.
As the conversation comes to its natural conclusion, be sure to recap what was discussed. It’s very likely there will be action items to take away and opportunities you will need to consider after the meeting. We strongly recommend writing down this recap in the meeting and sending the summary to your manager, ensuring you include specific action items with timelines.
It’s important to be open to the feedback and suggestions your manager has put forward, even if these are different to what you’d planned for the conversation. Be sure to ask for clarification if anything doesn’t make sense.
As the conversation comes to its natural conclusion, be sure to recap what was discussed. It’s very likely there will be action items to take away and opportunities you will need to consider after the meeting. We strongly recommend writing down this recap in the meeting and sending the summary to your manager, ensuring you include specific action items with timelines.
5
Draft a development plan: Put your career ambitions in action and create a development plan
Within a fortnight of your career conversation with your manager, create a draft development plan incorporating the points you discussed, whether these be projects for you to upskill, new opportunities to undertake, revised targets to achieve and beyond.
Within this development plan, be sure to include SMART+ER goals to hold yourself to account and have the ability to track your progress over time. Remember, the more specific you can make these with tangible metrics of success the better.
Your development plan should align to your current OKRs, KPIs or team goals, however they must focus on your professional growth to achieve specific milestones.
Within this development plan, be sure to include SMART+ER goals to hold yourself to account and have the ability to track your progress over time. Remember, the more specific you can make these with tangible metrics of success the better.
Your development plan should align to your current OKRs, KPIs or team goals, however they must focus on your professional growth to achieve specific milestones.
6
Follow up after the meeting and schedule regular check-ins: Effective career conversations shouldn’t be a one-time event
Share your development plan with your manager and request their feedback. Remember, they’ll likely have their own adjustments or insights to feed into the plan based on your organisation’s needs.
Once you’ve aligned on the plan, proactively schedule catchups to track your progress and ensure you can successfully achieve your desired goals.
Now that you’ve finalised your development plan, it’s time to act!
Now that you’ve finalised your development plan, it’s time to act!
Effective career conversations are critical for you to develop your skillset, advance your career trajectory and create new opportunities for yourself. Prepare well, communicate clearly, and always be open to feedback.
Although it may feel uncomfortable at times, you should initiate career conversations with your manager to have a clear understanding of your future growth within your role.
by
Hellomonday