At [axr] recruitment and search, our purpose is to enable great career decisions, and one of the ways we achieve this is by helping candidates to prepare to have an effective career conversation.
A great career conversation between an individual and a leader can create clarity on goals, inspire action and provide an opportunity for valuable feedback. There are lots of resources available to help individuals prepare for these engagements and conduct them with skills as they are rightly encouraged to take control of their careers and drive the outcomes they desire, but what is sometimes forgotten is that on the other side of the conversation is a leader who often feels ill-equipped to conduct it effectively in the first place.
Leaders can lack confidence going into these conversations because they feel as though they need to be able to provide immediate solutions to the individual or that they need to have all the answers, but this is not the case. The leader’s role in this situation is to ask great questions that provoke thinking on the part of the individual, and to provide guidance where they can (or connect the individual with resources and/or people, where they can’t).
A powerful tool for leaders approaching these conversations is the GROW coaching model, which provides a framework from which to ask powerful questions which guide the individual towards the outcomes they’re seeking.
GROW = Goal, Reality, Options, Will
Goal
Before setting out on a journey, we need to know the destination. That might not be crystal clear at this point, but that’s ok. The purpose here is to get some clarity on what we’re working towards.
Some questions you could ask here:
- Where do you want to take your career?
- What does your next career move look like?
- Imagine we’re six months into the future. What are you doing?
Reality
Now we know where we’re heading to, we need to look at the current reality. The purpose here is to align on where the individual is right now, so that you can start to identify the gaps between the current state and where they want to get to. This is a great opportunity to provide feedback to ensure that you and the individual are aligned on where they are currently at.
Questions you could ask here:
- How do you feel you’re performing in your current role?
- What are you doing well, and what could you do better?
- How much knowledge do you have of (x) right now?
Options
With the current situation and gaps to the desired future state clearly identified, you can start to map out what steps the individual can take to get them there?
You could provoke some thinking around this by asking:
- What steps could you take to improve on (x)?
- Who could you speak to that might be able to help you?
- What else could you do?
Will
Finally, we need to close the conversation with a commitment to action. The individual and leader must leave with a clear understanding of next steps.
You can help identify these by asking:
- What are you immediate next steps from this conversation?
- When will you have (x) completed?
- How will you know you’re on track?
Remember, a great career conversation is indistinguishable from a great coaching conversation, and the key to executing it with skill as a leader is to remember that your job is not to have all the answers, but to instead trust that the individual has the answers within them and ask great questions to help uncover them.
If you would like some career coaching or to have a confidential career conversation, please reach out to Andrew or another of our specialist recruiters today.
Or you can visit his page HERE.
