Preparing yourself effectively for today's workplace

Pri Notowidigdo, Amrop Hever, Global Executive Search, Jakarta

New trends have affected our lives in the workplace. Key trends include a shift from hierarchies to networks in organizations. Markets have become increasingly global.

What worked in the past may not necessarily work in these times of rapid change requiring us to shift to continuous learning.

Where the individual would excel in the past, business success today is a function of effective teamwork. A sense of job security is being increasingly challenged by the need for personal growth. Human capital has become competitive advantage.

These ongoing work trends mean that you have to make some changes yourself to manage this change and find fulfillment. What are these changes?

* Being more information-oriented. Knowing how to access information through developing networks and developing research skills will give you independence;

* Developing your people skills. With the trend toward working in teams, learning what it takes to work well on a team becomes critical. People skills will also mean enhancing your network, helping your leadership potential, your ability to work in a culturally diverse global environment and success with customers.

* Being more responsible for yourself. If companies are not offering security any more, your objective has to include a desire to learn continuously whether formally or informally.

How will all this affect you?

You may find yourself with not one but several careers. Moreover, your career may move sideways not steadily upwards. You will have to accept the fact that there is no job security. Your motivation will be less measured by status and ambition but more by freedom, health and satisfaction.

Education will be an ongoing process. If you thought about retiring at 55, this may never happen. Or retirement may mean new forms of work or new adventures. The bottom line will be to find spiritual and community fulfillment through discovering who you are.

You may feel that all this will not happen to you. And so you decide not to make a decision.

However, remember that not making a decision is a decision. And if you decide not to decide, think about what may happen to you. If you let someone else decide on your career, it will affect your life. If you don't define your future, then someone else will. And how much can you trust them? If you decide not to change with the changing workplace, then you will be left behind. Most importantly, by not changing for the better, you will lose your passion for developing what you do and who you are.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said that "The human mind, once stretched to a new idea, never goes back to its original dimensions."

What are you waiting for? (The writer can be reached at jakarta@amrophever.com)