Frank Judd, Director of Client Accounts, answers all of our questions about finding, obtaining, and thriving in a new job or role.
HOW DO I PROVIDE MY CURRENT EMPLOYER THE OPPORTUNITY TO SWEETEN MY CURRENT DEAL?
This is important. First, you want to assess whether you are ready to make a move or not. You want to question whether the actions and tasks you are doing in your current role fulfill you. Maybe you do and maybe you don’t but you have to be honest with yourself about what are the positives and negatives for you at your current company.
You might feel that your company’s culture and your co-workers are incredible and exactly what you want, but you feel siloed within the organization. From a respect standpoint, I think it is important for you to speak with your direct manager or authority or whoever is your direct decision maker within the organization that you are a part of. Speak to him or her frankly and state what you love about the company and what you enjoy and also about where you feel a disconnect from the ideal work environment/situation for you. Explain to him or her what you’re feeling. Are you feeling not challenged or pushed? Do you feel like there isn’t a path that makes sense for you and you’d like to discuss where your future is.
When you start to feel these things, I think it’s important for you to gather data-driven examples and take that information back to your current employer and say ‘these are the situations that are getting monotonous for me or are not pushing me and I am starting to feel that I am not giving my everything” and then giving the organization an opportunity to give back to you.
Communication is key. It’s like everything else. You want to respect them and you want the organization, in turn, to respect you. Part of that is giving tangible and valuable feedback on the work you’re doing and on your role and vice versa. They can provide you with their reasoning as to where they see gaps and why you aren’t being pushed to the next steps. One thing I hear often is that someone asked for more responsibility and only received more work. Be able to articulate what the “more” you’re looking for is and what specific challenges you would like to take on, whether its work load or dabbling in another function. Perhaps you want to get exposure to a different department or someone who is doing something differently. Articulate that you understand that this is all an add on and you still will fulfill the responsibilities of your current job.
You want to give your current organization the opportunity to think about how it can make your role bigger, expand your skill sets, expand your function in a fashion that brings new life into your professional aspirations. The only way for you to potentially get what you want out of a role that may not be ideal now is to have those honest conversations with the person that is responsible for your growth in the organization. You have to be honest with your organization and the organization has to be honest with you too. The organization must be transparent about whether they are an organization that can give you want you want and if they can give you the tools and resources necessary to enhance your current situation and your professional development. Then I think you have to challenge the organization to give you a time frame of when the added responsibilities and enhancements can be done. Push them to be on a timeline. Understand that it’s unlikely that a shift will occur tomorrow, but it’s important for you and your organization to come to some sort of agreement in terms of training, enhancing, owning new opportunities, etc.
If they can’t facilitate these changes and methods of growth for you, then it should become pretty apparent that this is not that organization for you to take your next professional steps at. Once you know what the capabilities of the organization and of you within the organization are, it’s time for you to make the decision on whether the pros outweigh the cons for you. Does the work culture that you love outweigh your professional aspirations, challenges and growth you’re seeking, and the things you can’t get there? Only you can determine that.
IS A TWO WEEKS NOTICE STILL ENOUGH?
Yes. It’s more than enough. Sometimes it’s one week. Sometimes it’s more than a week.
You have to consider how much notice you think is fair to your current employer based on your tasks and functions and based on how long it will take you to transfer your responsibilities. Also take into consideration what you think is fair to your incoming employer and the goals of that employer. They are hiring you, most likely, to take on an integral role in some process or area of the organization. You should know what their needs are based on the conversations you had with them in the interview process.
That being said, you don’t owe an organization anything. Just be respectful and considerate to both parties and do what you think is fair to both. Don’t burn bridges. Keep your professional network strong. Goal is to keep as many doors as open as possible throughout the transition.