This past Tuesday, we hosted a free webinar, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want with Beverly Kaye, bestselling author and founder of Career Systems International. Kaye is a recognized authority on career development, employee retention, and employee engagement. She has worked with organizations across the globe to establish cutting-edge, award-winning talent development solutions. She is the coauthor of Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em: Getting Good People to Stay and Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want.
Over 600 people registered for the learning event. You may view the archived webinar here.
Kaye began the webinar by starting, “The purpose of today’s session is to learn about the power of career conversations and how you can make them happen. It is not about having answers – it is about asking some great questions.”
We took a quick poll to determine if the audience thought their managers were comfortable having career conversations. 76% of the live listeners said no!
From there, Kaye discussed the three key players of a career conversation and where to invest. Is it with the Employee, Manager or the Organization? It is actually with all three. Growing your business means growing your people. This process can take time.
Kaye said, “Careers are developed one conversation at a time and they are developed over time”. Think about that concept for a minute. Does that ring true to you?
The word conversation is very “hot” right now. From “fierce” to “crucial” conversations, it has become quite a buzz word. Kaye says that having a conversation is so critical now and always.
There are three elements or parts to every conversation:
- Hindsight – What I bring
- Foresight – What to expect
- Insight – What now?
Next up was a poll to learn about how curious we are as individuals. The top replies were that people were NOT able to do the following:
- Suspend judgment
- Let go of the “need to fix”
- Say “I don’t understand”
Said Kaye, “We have an epidemic of judgment and skepticism in our workplace. Curiosity and judgment cannot coexist.”
Curiosity drives the conversation deeper and it is key to many other competencies.
“It takes a smart person to acknowledge that he or she does not know something.” It is very important to say, “I don’t know”. However, it is often difficult to hear those words, as one listener pointed out.
From there, Kaye talked about how the employer’s ability to take satisfying and productive steps towards career goals is directly related to their self-awareness.
Next were the ABC’s of Feedback.
A – Abilities
B – Blind Spots
C – Conditions
Ask people what they count on you for? Ask people who know you well. Ask people what you need to know.
Want to learn more? You may view the archived webinar here. Feel free to watch and listen as many times as you like.
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