Career Development in the GOC

Why should I grow my career horizontally? Or more importantly... why not?

These days, when you open the newspaper or click through your favourite news site, it's becoming more common to see articles about looming public sector layoffs, with predictions of more to come in the next several years.

With layoffs on this scale, opportunities for advancement may dry up or become fewer. And for the public servants who remain, it may be harder to remain positive, productive, and motivated.

One approach is to focus on developing your career horizontally, rather than vertically, at least for now. Exploring your chances of moving on or ahead horizontally opens a whole new world of possibilities.

Taking the time, for example, to develop your professional skills/competencies is one way you can build for the future now &mdash by thinking and acting horizontally.

What are competencies and why should I develop them?

Competencies are the skills, attributes and knowledge you may want to acquire as your career develops. In broadening your professional competencies you will also better understand your strengths &mdash and weaknesses &mdash thereby helping plan what you need to learn as your career develops. A strong breadth and depth of skills also demonstrates the range of abilities you have developed, which helps when applying for jobs or making career decisions.

In other words, to effectively build competencies you not only need to increase your knowledge and broaden your skill set, but also beef up your understanding of how these competencies can be used, your skills in applying them, and the right attitude to maximize their effectiveness in your career.

Think you can multitask?

Computers can. People can't — at least not the important stuff.

At Y2 Consulting Psychologists, we know that when people are asked to multi-task, they are — in reality — being asked to do the impossible. It's like suggesting that someone juggle several balls in the air, even though they have never done it before.

And people who claim that they can multi-task are doing no more than focusing their attention first on one task and then — in rapid succession — on another and another.

Simply put, when you try to do two (or more) things at once, chances are that you will do none of them very well.

And so while you can sing while you take a shower in the morning (something routine and familiar) or fold laundry (something routine and familiar) while you talk to the neighbor on your cell, other types of multitasking can be downright dangerous, such as texting while driving to work, or blow-drying your hair while taking a bath.

Teamwork – Is it Underrated or Overrated?

It depends...

If it means working collegially and listening to — and understanding — other members of the team, in order to determine best approaches, then it is.

If it means "toeing the corporate line", "not upsetting the apple cart", or "maintaining a civil workplace", then it isn't.

How do team leaders build dynamic teams?

Sound leadership is a key element in building sound teams. Through example, team leaders should be able to establish and maintain positive working environments, and to motivate and invigorate team members.

Open communication is a vital factor in the interpersonal interactions of teams. Team members must be able to articulate their thoughts and feelings, contribute ideas, resolve professional differences, and assess the viewpoints of the other team members.