Career Reflection Practices

Are You Aligning Your Strengths with What Your Organization Values? A few years ago, a talented professional, came to me feeling frustrated. Despite her hard work, she wasn’t moving forward in her department. After a core competency analysis, we discovered the reason: She excelled in technical skills, but the company placed heavy emphasis on leadership, initiative, and innovation—areas where she wasn’t fully demonstrating her potential. To fix this, we crafted a plan to develop these core competencies. We assigned her small team projects to build leadership experience, and encouraged her to share her innovative ideas. Within six months, she was recognized as a natural leader, and new opportunities started opening up for her. 🌱 📊 Here’s How You Can Assess Your Organization’s Core Competencies: 👉Review Job Descriptions: Look at the required skills for your current and aspirational roles. Companies often include key competencies in job postings. 👉Pay Attention to Company Culture: Observe what behaviors are praised and rewarded—this is often a reflection of the core competencies the organization values. 👉Engage with Leadership: Ask for feedback and guidance on what the organization sees as vital for success in your role. 👉Study Performance Reviews: Look at what’s being measured in performance evaluations—this will reveal the competencies your company values most. 💡 Key Action Points: 🔆Assess the core competencies your organization values most. 🔆Identify where your strengths align with those competencies. 🔆Take proactive steps to develop in-demand skills like leadership and innovation. Feeling stuck in your role? It might be time to reassess your competencies and align your strengths with what the organization values. Start today and unlock new opportunities! #Leadership #CareerDevelopment #CoreCompetencies #Innovation #Initiative #ProfessionalGrowth #LeadershipSkills #CareerAdvancement #SkillDevelopment #LearningAndDevelopment

When I say Black, Latina and Indigenous women engineers are exhausted, many think I'm talking about the work or work-life balance. What I'm referring to are the barriers they encounter before they can even do their jobs. Follow me as I elaborate on 3 Barriers That Aren't in the Job Description (But Still Block Their Careers) : 1. Prove-it-again bias – Having to re-earn credibility that others are granted automatically 2. Exclusion from informal networks – Missing out on key opportunities, deals, or mentorship connections 3. Cultural taxation – Being expected to "represent" your group or take on unpaid DEI labor These invisible barriers don't show up in job descriptions, but they can significantly impact career progression. They're often systemic issues that require awareness and intentional action to address. Which of these have you experienced or witnessed in your workplace? #WomenofColorInEngineering #CareerDevelopment #Inclusion #Leadership #WorkplaceEquity

“When you empower the wrong people to lead, you inspire the best people to leave.” Bachar 💜 Naamani Before promoting your individual contributors to become people managers and leaders, do this👇🏼 ⚪️ Trial Period: Consider a trial period or project where they can showcase their leadership abilities, and monitor their performance closely before making a permanent decision. ⚪️ Feedback from Peers and Subordinates: Gather feedback from colleagues and team members on their leadership potential, and consider 360-degree assessments to capture a holistic view of their capabilities. ⚪️ Succession Planning: Assess the potential impact on the team, and consider how this promotion aligns with long-term succession planning. ⚪️ Emotional Intelligence: Gauge their emotional intelligence in handling diverse personalities. Consider empathy and self-awareness too. ⚪️ Conflict Resolution: Examine past instances where they effectively resolved conflicts, and consider their approach to managing disagreements within the team. ⚪️ Mentoring and Development: Look for instances where they have mentored or helped develop their colleagues, and assess their commitment to the professional growth of their team members. ⚪️ Team Collaboration: Examine their history of collaboration within the team, and consider if they have demonstrated the ability to foster a positive team culture. ⚪️ Alignment with Organizational Values: Ensure their values align with the organization's mission and culture, and consider whether they can embody and reinforce the company's core values. ⚪️ Strategic Thinking: Assess their capacity for strategic planning and long-term vision, and consider whether they understand the broader organizational goals. ⚪️ Leadership Skills Assessment: Evaluate the individual's ability to inspire and guide a team, and assess their communication skills, decision-making, and conflict resolution capabilities. ⚪️ Results Orientation: Evaluate their record of achieving individual and team goals, and consider their ability to drive performance while maintaining team morale. ⚪️ Decision-Making Skills: Assess their ability to make well-informed decisions under pressure, and consider their approach to risk management and problem-solving. ⚪️ Communication Skills: Evaluate their ability to communicate clearly and transparently, and consider how well they can articulate expectations and provide constructive feedback. Remember: “Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.” - Simon Sinek Agree? 💜

Don’t bury competencies in your HR portal They’re miles more than a document They’re the golden thread across your entire resource life cycle Yet when I ask to see them… ❌ They seldom exist ❌ Or they’re out of date ❌ Or they’re buried somewhere The world is changing rapidly: = Markets are shifting = Businesses must adapt = Procurement must pivot = Skills must be up to date …which means competencies can’t be static They need to be continuously upgraded and actively used Here’s how to apply them at each stage: 1. Organisational Design → Align procurement competencies to business strategy → Define roles based on required competencies, not job titles → Map capability gaps to shape team structure and layers 2. Resourcing → Forecast future needs based on competencies, not just headcount → Balance internal training vs recruitment to cover competency gaps → Allocate budget to roles that drive strategic competencies 3. Recruitment → Build job descriptions around competencies, not just tasks → Use competency-based interview questions for assessments → Score candidates against a consistent competency framework 4. Onboarding → Introduce the competency framework early → Tailor onboarding plans to individual’s competencies → Align objectives linked to competencies 5. Training & Development → Build learning pathways mapped to competencies → Tailor development plans to competencies → Use stretch assignments to develop specific competencies 6. Performance Management → Use competencies to define clear expectations by level → Provide structured feedback linked to competencies → Calibrate performance vs the competencies 7. Promotional Process → Define promotion criteria based on demonstrated competencies → Use competencies for both performance and potential mapping → Ensure consistency using a shared competency benchmark 8. Vacancies & Exit Interviews → Use competencies to give feedback for those released → Analyse exits to identify systemic competency gaps → Feed insights back into hiring and development plans They should act as the golden thread that connects: ➡️ How you design roles ➡️ Who you hire ➡️ How you develop people ➡️ How you measure success ➡️ Who you promote ➡️ And who you release Don’t bury them ‘somewhere’ in the depths of your HR Portal 🌟 Create them and use them 🌟 Frost Procurement Adventurer ♻️ If this resonates, please repost 🔔 Follow Simon Frost for more on procurement competencies & training

Recruiters! Ever had hiring mangers with different ideas of what good looks like? And all your candidates fall through the cracks because nobody can meet everyones personal criteria? Here's how to fix that 👇 First lets define terms : Success criteria are the measurable outcomes that define what it means to be successful in a role. They are tied to specific results, goals, or achievements expected of an employee. Competencies are the underlying skills, knowledge, behaviours, and attributes required to perform effectively in a role. They are about how an employee performs their job, rather than the results they achieve. 1️⃣ Requirement Gathering - You need to take the ambiguous requests and turn them into SPECIFIC success criteria. - Start with outcomes. What outcomes the successful candidate should achieve. this is more objective than "should have gravitas" so is a good place to start. - If its not outcome oriented, specific, time bound and measurable, it doesn't qualify as a success criteria. 2️⃣ Use the success criteria to define competencies - Candidate oriented. What specific skills & behaviours are needed to achieve the success criteria - Avoid defaulting to years experience. It's handy for sourcing but experience isn't a competency, its a very rough proxy for competency. 3️⃣ Questions - Design 2-3 competency based questions for each competency. - Do this with or have the hiring manager review the questions for feedback 4️⃣ Review guidelines - Create review guidelines for each question. - A RAG chart with an example of an answer that fails, meets and exceeds the expectations f the question is suer useful - Again, work with the HM for feedback on the review guidelines. - You can actually use the review guidelines as a scorecard if you don't have an ATS by highlighting each questions and your score for each answer. This gives you specific criteria, in an unbroken logical chain from the hiring manger right through to the recruiters on screening calls. Its enormously valuable, saves tons of time and money, and it's free. Oh also, there's a full video of me doing it, a link (in comments) to an example and a series of GPT prompts to help you first draft it. You're welcome. How about you? any horror stories of unaligned stakeholders schmutzing up your lovely candidate experience? Tell me in the comments! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi 👋 I’m Luke. I empower recruiters with data. Want to get data-driven for free? Link in the comments for my free weekly newsletter. #recruitment #recruiting #recruiters #talentacquisition

You mastered Figma. Cool. Now what? Want to grow as a designer? No-brainer! Of course I want. We all want • more ownership, • more impact, • a shiny new title, • the chance to shape products that matter. So why do so many talented designers feel stuck? Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Most growth blockers don’t look like blockers at all. They often show up disguised as “𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴.” • Spending hours perfecting pixels?   That looks like craftsmanship.    • Avoiding feedback until the final round?   That’s just “wanting to impress.”    • Not challenging the brief?   That’s “being a team player.”    • Avoiding boring work like documentation or QA?   “I’m focusing on the big picture.” We rationalize. We avoid discomfort. We build careers that look polished but feel stagnant. The real danger isn’t a lack of skill. It’s a lack of 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. Your blockers don’t feel like mistakes. They feel like effort. But effort alone isn’t what moves your career forward. Intentional effort does. Strategic effort. Uncomfortable effort. The truth is, growth happens in the gaps: • Between feedback and ego. • Between aesthetics and usability. • Between what’s asked of you,   and what you choose to take on anyway. The first step is to see the blockers for what they are: Not failures. Not flaws. But fixable. So take a breath, zoom out, and ask yourself: What am I doing that looks like progress, but might actually be keeping me in place? Because once you see the blockers clearly, you’re no longer stuck. You’re 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. ✌️ P.S. Here is a list of blockers I recognized in myself during the years. Hope it helps! P.P.S Share the blockers you encountered.

Master the art of scorecards: here’s how to make hiring more data-driven Hiring based on gut feelings alone? That’s risky business. The key to smarter hiring is a well-designed scorecard—and here’s how to build one: 1. Identify key criteria Start by defining 4 essential competencies or skills for the role (e.g., business acumen, leadership, or communication). Be specific. For instance, “management” might refer to “team leadership” or “business oversight.” The more precise, the better. 2. Create targeted interview questions For each criterion, craft 2-3 questions that directly assess the skill or competency. These questions should reveal how candidates apply their expertise in real situations, helping you move beyond surface-level answers. 3. Establish a rating scale Use a simple 1-5 scale for each question, with 1 representing unideal behavior and 5 reflecting excellence. This keeps evaluations consistent across candidates, allowing for fair comparisons. 4. Tally scores & decide on advancement Whether you do this manually or use software, compile scores to objectively rank candidates. Decide in advance who moves forward—whether it’s based on a score threshold or advancing the top candidates. This ensures clarity and alignment across the hiring team. A well-built scorecard isn’t just a tool—it’s your safeguard against biased, inconsistent hiring decisions. Want to see this in action? Comment with your job title and 4 key criteria (and feel free to share a JD), and I’ll create a mini-scorecard for you—complete with 2-3 tailored questions per criterion. Let’s put data-driven hiring to work for you! –––– 👋 I’m Thibault, fractional talent partner helping hiring managers and founders solve recruiting challenges. Follow me for daily insights, or if you’re looking for expert support, let’s connect and chat. Link in bio.

Your most reliable client just got passed over for promotion. Again. You've seen this pattern dozens of times: the person everyone calls in a crisis is rarely the one who gets the corner office. They excel at keeping the ship afloat while someone else gets to steer it. The conversation always starts the same way: "I don't understand. My performance reviews are stellar. My boss loves me. But I keep watching people with less experience get promoted ahead of me." Here's what they can't see from inside their own situation: High performers accidentally trap themselves by being too good at the wrong things. That's it. That's the rub. If you're coaching high performers, watch for these 5 patterns that may be blocking their promotion: 1/ The office fire department Every crisis lands on their desk because they handle it brilliantly. But their reputation becomes "problem-solver," not "strategist." 💡 Crisis management doesn't scream executive potential to decision-makers. 2/ The urgency addict Their calendar is a monument to other people's priorities. Packed solid with urgent requests while strategic work gets pushed to next quarter (i.e., never). 💡 Urgency feels important, but it's often the opposite of advancement-focused work. 3/ The human filing cabinet They've become the keeper of institutional knowledge. Every system, every workaround, every piece of tribal wisdom falls at their feet. Result? They're too valuable to move. 💡 Knowledge hoarding feels like job security until it becomes a career ceiling. 4/ The boss whisperer They've mastered the art of managing up. Their direct supervisor thinks they walk on water. 💡 An excellent support staff does not equal future leader when relationships aren't being built across the organization. 5/ The silent superstar While your client is heads-down delivering excellence, others are heads-up showcasing wins, building visibility, and having strategic conversations about the future. 💡 Spoiler: Good work does not speak for itself. These clients aren't failing. They're succeeding at maintaining the status quo while someone else gets promoted for potential. The shift is about working differently, and your job is to help them see that being indispensable in their current role is exactly what's keeping them there. The promotion path requires becoming known for where they're going, not just where they've been. Want more frameworks like this? Grab my weekly newsletter for career coaches: https://lnkd.in/eJ6WdeWB. ___ Follow Dr. Heather Maietta - Coach for Career Coaches for tips that will help your clients breakthrough.

Let's talk about Competency Based Hiring ... Competency-based hiring is an innovative recruitment strategy that focuses on evaluating candidates based on the skills, behaviors, and attitudes required for a role. Unlike traditional methods that prioritize resumes and qualifications, this approach emphasizes a candidate’s ability to perform effectively and align with organizational culture. Why Competency Based Hiring is important? 1. It assesses past behaviors and skills to predict future success in the role. 2. Structured evaluations ensure fair and inclusive hiring. 3. Candidates aligned with role competencies are more satisfied, leading to lower turnover. 4. Focus on adaptable skills ensures long-term success for both employees and organizations. How can we Implement It? 1. Define technical and behavioral skills crucial for the role. 2. Create assessments like behavioral questions or role plays to evaluate these competencies. 3. Equip hiring teams with standardized evaluation techniques. 4. Use tools like ATS or AI-powered assessments for efficiency. Competency based hiring is a strategic method that improves hiring quality and aligns talent with business goals. It ensures the right fit for roles, making it a crucial step for organizations to stay competitive in today’s dynamic job market. #TalentAcquisition #competency #RecruitingStrategy #TalentMapping #WayToWin #interviewing #Skills #SkillUnlocked

A couple of months ago, I asked: “What’s your biggest hurdle to becoming a financial advisor? Or what’s your hurdle right now if you’re working to become one?” The responses were honest, vulnerable, and incredibly insightful. And they aligned exactly with what we’re seeing from our Externship data. Here are the biggest themes that emerged: 1️⃣ Education → Experience Gap The leap from coursework to client work is real. “There’s a significant gap between education and experience.” “Most ‘entry-level’ jobs still require 1–3 years of experience.” 2️⃣ Financial & Career Risk Getting into the profession is expensive — especially for career changers or those without financial support. “Hard to find entry-level roles that pay a livable wage.” “Coursework, exams, and dues add up fast.” “As a single mom, I need flexibility — starting my own RIA is scary but necessary.” 3️⃣ Lack of True Entry-Level Jobs Many jobs say entry-level, but don’t act like it. “Very few firms are willing to be the first to train someone.” “Are there really that many CFPs applying for $70k associate roles?” 4️⃣ Bias Against Career Changers Even with relevant experience, many feel overlooked. “Firms love the idea of career changers, but don’t want to take the ‘risk.’” “Only 10% of firms offer an entry ramp — that says a lot.” “After 30 years in another field, I wonder: ‘Am I too late?’" 5️⃣ Mentorship, Representation & Training Matter People want to see a path forward — and people who reflect their values. “Mentorship is essential.” “Women need to see other women succeeding.” “Programs should be built for working moms.” “A residency that helps both firms and candidates would go far.” 6️⃣ Structural & Cultural Barriers A lack of clarity and outdated systems slow progress. “Job descriptions and training are inconsistent.” “Corporate incentives often override what actually works.” “‘Fiduciary’ is a title — but many feel boxed out.” 7️⃣ Internal Hurdles Confidence, mindset, and growth are often overlooked barriers. “The biggest hurdle has been internal.” “The learning curve is steep — but so is the purpose.” “I struggled to network... until I joined the Externship.” “Breaking old habits is hard — but necessary.” These aren’t one-off issues. They’re very real patterns, and they’re shaping how firms should attract, train, and retain great talent. We’ll be sharing more about what we’re learning from our Externship research and focus groups soon. In the meantime, though, I hope these insights are as interesting to you as they were to me! If you're leading, hiring, mentoring, or just rooting for the next generation of planners, it definitely gives you something to think about.