We conducted a detailed market survey involving more than 2,000 professionals. To ensure that we have adequate representation by all possible work groups in the survey we ensured that these professionals include Professionals:
1. How do you define Professional Success?
Only 4% Professionals regard Salary & Designation as the benchmark of success at work. While money, designation & location etc. are for sure, hygiene parameters for many professionals yet they do not consider them as any hallmark of success. The new age workforce is much more evolved and looks at success from the lens of higher learning, challenges, being able to guide, coach & influence others positively.
2. Were you able to plan your career or it evolved on its own?
For most professionals (93%), irrespective of their professional background and skillset, the Careers have largely been unplanned & evolved as an outcome of their response to situations at work on day-to-day basis. While it is sometimes assumed that coming from a higher ranked college as a Campus recruit, it might be easier to carve your career to your plan – our survey finds that 5 years into professional lives and the impact of pedigree in being able to manage your career to your plans gets really weaned out.
3. Why did you switch jobs in the past?
Nearly 90% Professionals change jobs primarily because they want to change from their ‘Current Job’ i.e. that these people change jobs because of reasons that are very much internal and incumbent to their current jobs. Its primarily when employees do not want to continue in the current jobs, that is when they look for a job change. The internal reasons include a wide variety of elements right from challenges in current role, no-challenge in the current role, company culture, reporting manager issues, workplace politics, lack of recognition etc., to even lack of clarity on own future in the company.
4. Did you have any professional guidance in your professional life & career?
Most professionals (84%) did not get any expert guidance in their Career. Discussion with friends & family only serves to vent out but fails to provide any guidance for way forward. Most professionals keep work situations to themselves & tackle just as it occurs to them. Its only a few Professionals who have been able to keep in touch with Seniors (ex-Reporting Manager, Senior Colleague, Business Leader etc.) and seek counsel around career decisions. However, these professionals have also confessed that their interaction and discussion with such Senior Colleagues is fairly limited and brings them to a One Person perspective only at times.
5. Having guidance from someone with more experience - expertise on an ongoing basis will add value to your professional life?
Guidance from others who have been through our like professional situations can give us a significant head-start in our learning, contribution & eventually – Professional Growth. Majority professionals reflect on their career to see how they can do better in a similar situation again. Leveraging on others’ experience & expertise is a significant learning for Future!
6. Looking back, would you've preferred having someone with higher experience and expertise to guide you in your Career?
Overwhelming majority of professionals (nearly 95%) acknowledge that having some structured guidance from people with proven experience and expertise would have added immense value to their career journey. Given the choice to have a more guided journey, most Professionals are certain to have a better story to tell in future. They also acknowledge that being able to get counsel from a wide variety of neutral industry experts is of significantly phenomenal value add v/s looking at things from a ‘One-Person Perspective’, as it might happen in case of having anyone ‘Godfather’ in the industry.
7. Would you have acted differently in professional situations if you had an expert guidance to bounce of your thoughts with and get guidance from?
There is no ambiguity in the mind of Professionals that guidance from experts and experienced people adds value to decision making. It is incumbent upon Companies & Professionals themselves to leverage on this untapped potential and improve learning, productivity and higher career ambition. In the process – bringing higher results & retention to the Company.
8. How do you take care of your learning & growth for future success?
While we have ambitions to Learn & Grow – it just doesn’t happen as much as we would like it to be, lest we take charge of it. Despite significant efforts by many Companies globally to have a learning culture, it is of common experience that most professionals find company contribution to their learning as NEGLIGIBLE. Professionals either consider their work related experience as learning or even think that any Conferences / Seminars they attend comes closest to what they do for their learning and professional growth. They, however, confess that most of this learning (on the job or by way of seminars/conferences) does not lead to any tangible impact on their professional growth & enhancement in their skills.
9. Do you spend personally on your Professional Growth & Learning ?
Spending nothing to almost nothing on the most important aspect of Career & Ambition is how it has been for more than 80% Professionals. Knowing where to spend and getting the maximum – relevant learning that adds up to Career & Ambition – bit by bit, is the Key to consistent and long-term Success Journey. Professionals must also realize that they must make their own constant learning a definite priority in the everchanging world and an ever-evolving workplace scenarios. Advent of subjects like data based decisioning, artificial intelligence, automation etc., mandates that Professionals keep reinventing themselves to not only stay relevant and important to their jobs, but also to be able to quench their intellectual thirst and be on a journey of constant self-growth.
10. Would You like to seek guidance on my challenges from others ?
The conventional reporting hierarchies, HR department and others inside the Company are a certain non-option in terms of opening up, sharing of real life situations (career & other issues) for most Professionals. They are willing to open-up and get expert guidance from those who have “been there – done that”
The new age Professionals are willing to leverage on the experience and expertise of Neutral Industry Experts
11. Would you like others to leverage from your experience/expertise?
Doing good & being good is inherent to people. The new age Professionals are keen to help others, make them more successful by sharing their own experience & expertise. It’s a proven fact that Professionals / Employees who act as Coach/Guide to others are less likely to switch jobs and more likely to be significantly higher in productivity.
Professionals who enable others’ success, become much sought-after (Business) Leaders