PRESS REPORTS
CAREER GUIDANCE WITH A DIFFERENCE
Joe Dermody, Irish Examiner, 30/8/02
Irish workers of this boom generation are far more likely to undergo a little soul searching and self-investigation than in the past, most notably when considering a change of career path or even debating whether on not to apply for a promotion.
Frank Fitzgibbon, CEO of Cork-based HR consultancy, Fitzgibbon & Associates, has seen such a shift in the way people think about work that he has created a new profiling service to help people in their quest for greater self-awareness.
"Companies are more prepared to devote time to personal development", explained Frank Fitzgibbon. "Individuals have more choice, and the work/life relationship is more important to the individual now, and more prominent in their thinking. People are managing their own careers, they are less dependent on the employer. They have also positively shifted from the notion of a job for a lifetime. Instead of coasting along, people are doing the more difficult thing, and making choices about where their lives are going.
The Myers Briggs Type Indicator is helpful in establishing career directions and life goals, and is a typical instrument used. A profile is established by one's answers to questions like : "Does the following schedule (a) appeal to you, or (b) cramp you?" Or, indeed, "Would you like to argue the meaning of (a) a lot of these questions, or (b) only a few?" Career targets have to be set by the clients so that they have full commitment to them, and the achievement of targets is a constantly developing process that may lead to changes in priorities along the route as learning continues.
The development of this coaching model is largely based on Frank's experience in outplacement, which remains a major source of business for the company. Up to the late 1990s, when jobs were made redundant, there was constant pressure to get into a new job as quickly as possible. However, in more recent years, clients are more prepared to take time to assess their career directions and develop career plans.
Many of Frank Fitzgibbon's clients now want more than an achievement-oriented CV and a job search campaign. They want their next career move to fit in with an overall plan and to be successful. The aim at Fitzgibbon & Associates has been to create a model that includes extensive psychological assessment and the establishment of life and career goals based on personal values.
"When the Pope was in Limerick, he praised people's rural, more simple lifestyle. The following Saturday the Irish Times ran an editorial saying that a more complex life model was more rewarding for the individual and was more likely to move human kind forward. Essentially, that there is greater reward in stretching oneself. There is a value judgement in that of course. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with putting your feet up, but that is rarely people's motivation for seeking my advice on their career options."
Indeed, Frank's new profiling service is anything but an easy ride for the client. Many leave his offices exhausted, often having gone through a tiring process of self-discovery. Someone might come in seething about having failed to gain a promotion due to discrimination, and leave realising that their failure was due to their poor personal skills, that without a major personal evolution they would have made a poor team leader.
By the same token, some leave Frank's offices elated, their confidence boosted by the discovery of personal skills they were hitherto unaware of. An experienced psychologist and a member of the British Psychological Society, Frank Fitzgibbon puts a great deal of emphasis on the need for a clear sense of self when dealing with life obstacles such as the failure to land a promotion.
"Your vision is very narrow when you are angry. That is a real issue when working on career decisions. You must get the anger out of the way and get a more true and accurate picture of how you are perceived in work by your team, your boss, and your peers. And if there are things that you can do better, it is up to you to decide to improve your skills.
"Sitting down to be told about what's wrong with your relationships is not something you do in the everyday run of things. I have done sessions with people here where both of us have left the office exhausted. There is self-discovery, but it is completely different to what people see as psychology or counselling. It is all about dealing with the here and now, and deciding how best to get ahead in a work context. The key to that is learning about oneself, learning about one's values, and setting targets based on those values."
While psychometric testing makes up a sizeable part of Frank's model of personal profiling, he is fully aware of the criticism levelled at the 'drive through' questionnaire approach, and agrees with much of it.
"With psychometric testing, there can be room for discrimination. For example, if you're in Northern Ireland, and one of the questions asks you do you like cricket, then that is almost certainly a loaded question. There are also real issues in terms of class preferences.
"The 16PF test, for example, can be incomplete. There is far more to a person that the sixteen factors in the test. It doesn't tell you about what motivates a person. The most frequent criticism of these tests is that they are not used properly. There is probably more control over the use of alcohol that there is over these tests. It comes back to these tests getting in the wrong hands," explains Frank. "I am using the tests for assessment and recruitment. I use the test as a support. It is part of an overall structure towards developing self-knowledge. If I say to you that you are more emotionally stable than 65% of the population, then it is up to you to decide how accurate that is.
Frank Fitzgibbon - IPD NEWS - JULY 1998
Two significant factors which are influencing careers at present are the move towards individuals at work being required to and wishing to take responsibility for planning their own careers and the continuing frequency of job redundancies.
The difficulties in career planning and career decision making were highlighted many years ago by Thompson (Organisations in Action, 1965):
"Thus depending on his initial position in the social system and his exposure to socialising agencies, the individual typically acquires awareness of and preparation for a small range of occupations. With these he learns one or few career prototypes which set limits and give direction to his aspirations and provide him with a set of expectations regarding the kind of career it is possible for him to build."
It is also been frequently stated that it is difficult to make a career choice before you are 30. This refers to the need to have learned about one's skills, abilities and motives through work and life experience.
It is largely in the psychological processes of self-esteem and identity development that career paths and life paths cross over and merge. Our need to establish worthwhileness to ourselves and others and to establish values and the unique meaning we intend to give our lives is worked out along these paths.
In 1974 when I was 33 I made the decision to leave a secure banking position to join a pharmaceutical manufacturing company as Personnel Manager, and in 1985 set up my own consultancy business. Both of these decisions were career decisions but they were also significant life plan decisions particularly since I was married with a family.
Many people will have a career plan in their minds however vaguely and infrequently it may be looked at. We may also have elements of a life plan such as a change to a simpler lifestyle, enjoy our family more, or retire early.
A large selection of my work over the past 10 years has been focused on careers. I have counselled employees at all levels and in many different industries in dealing with the experience of job redundancy and learned that career decisions and life decisions are closely linked and inter-related.
The process of outplacement provides an excellent opportunity for making career assessments despite the prominence of financial and status concerns at that time. Our job is part of our identity and being stripped of it leaves us vulnerable and exposed. This however is also a time when skilful counselling and advice have a real impact.
The issue of intrusiveness is very important for the counsellor and it is very useful if he or she can paint with conviction and sincerity a range of scenarios for the client. This assists in overcoming the difficulty stated by Thompson of a limited range of options being perceived. The client will interpret these scenarios in light of their own experience. In discussions, motives and consequences can be teased out and approximations towards decisions developed. This approach can include opportunity to discuss life path decisions.
Can the client expect a blinding flash of inspiration to remove all of the confusion, uncertainty and complexity surrounding the decision? I have not seen this happen in my experience. However, I have seen considerable clarification of life goals and values, more realistic assessment of one's own skills and competencies, and improved acceptance of limitations and restrictions.
For the career counsellor using his or her skills and knowledge to support a client in moving through this process successfully is extraordinarily satisfying. To experience career transitions for oneself is a bonus and adds credibility and confidence to the process.
In 1994 I saw an advertisement for a round-the-world sailing rally. That advertisement crystallised a life goal for me and also pointed a way of achieving it. Following a family discussion, my wife and I made the decision to sail around the world. We set about the planning, preparation and organising involved. We did not join the organised rally advertised, but set out on our own from Crosshaven in August 1995.
Two years and two weeks later we returned, having achieved what was described in Yachting Monthly as an "exemplary" circumnavigation, and found to our surprise that we were the first Irish couple to do this. It was two years of excitement, adventure, learning new skills, and, above all, developing relationships with each other, our family, and friends.
What do you do after that! Within six months I have settled fully back into work with greatly renewed energy and enthusiasm. During the two-year period of absence, job opportunities have improved hugely but job redundancies continue to be a fact of everyday life. However, there is today potential for a better career decision to be made as redundancy packages for compensation for job loss reduce financial worries during the decision-making period. The provision of outplacement services by employers provides support in career decision-making and profession. Redundancies are now so familiar and commonplace that the impact on status of losing one's job is less severe, and there is a great range of choices available to the client.
I still don't have the courage to recommend to a client that he or she should take a two-year sabbatical, but at least I can threaten to bore them with tales of the high seas if they don't get out there on the job market and join with everyone else in maintaining the tiger economy.
The Fitzgibbon & Associates career-coaching model is based on three steps. Firstly the coach assists the clients in getting to know themselves through establishing what are their talents, capabilities and aspirations. Secondly, career targets are then identified, together with projected dates for achievement. Thirdly, the coach supports the client in achieving these targets and in developing further options. Part 1 usually takes the most time to develop, typically about 6 hours. A range of psychometric tests is used in the assessment, which is, in fact, a personal audit.ONE MAN'S DECISIONS - IN LIFE AND CAREER