By Sunny Simon
January is one of my favorite months. The beginning of a brand new year symbolizes a time to implement change and seize exciting new opportunities. This month take time to analyze and decide which contracts to renew and what requires modification or ultimately cancellation. I’m not exactly talking about your contract with a pest control company. This process involves written and undocumented contracts impacting a successful career.
For example, when I lived in corporate America, each January I decided whether to re-up with my current employer or begin looking for a more exciting opportunity. I’ve recently discovered a name for this process. Talent management experts are calling it a “stay interview.” Whether you are a manager or a staffer, it is a retention tool worth employing. A stay interview is a one-on-one discussion between a supervisor and employee. It is a dialogue addressing company satisfaction. The goal is to proactively assess weak areas before talented employees decide to walk. By openly communicating what is and isn’t working, managers can adjust their efforts to retain staff.
Conversely employees can initiate a stay interview. If you are currently on-the-fence about your future with an organization, list out your concerns along with suggestions for alternative work processes or improvements. Then call a meeting with your manager and in a positive manner offer up your thoughts. Perhaps you possess skills and talents that are not being utilized in your job. Discuss the possibility of project assignments that would allow you to add additional value to the organization. In the process, you may be setting yourself up for a promotion or it may be the determining factor to initiate a job search.
The contract renewal or stay interview process is also a helpful tool for entrepreneurs. Review your marketing and business plans. Are you getting optimal service from your CPA, website developer or advertising firm? If you are overloaded, it may be time to initiate a contract by hiring an assistant or outsourcing duties crowding your calendar and preventing you from growing your business. What about networking group alliances? Are you positioned with like minded business professionals who respect and recommend your products or services, or are you just showing up, paying your dues and socializing over coffee and bagels?
This month, make it a point to take stock of all your contracts and associations. Decide when to hold them and when to fold them. Invest your time and energy wisely in 2014 to achieve ultimate career success. Sunny Simon is the owner of Raise the Bar High Life and Career Coaching. More about Sunny at www.raisethebarhigh.com
