Courageous conversations are just that.  You have to muster up the courage to  take on whatever it is that is worrying/gnawing/hurting/angering* you in the workplace.

* delete as applicable

There are a lot of conversations in life that we wish we could have, you know the saying…”If only I had said….”  thinking about it afterwards is not going to change things.  A little preparation and thought before the conversation could swing the outcome.

What to do:

We have heard the sayings – a problem shared is a problem aired or better out than in…

• Plan what outcome you want or hope for?
• Plan what you will say, write this out on paper, get all your thoughts out, then cut it down – less waffle and more meaning
• Think about the language you use – is it professional?
• What non-verbal cues can you use? Body language can support your cause.
• Plan when you will have the discussion – set up the right environment – coffee in the foyer downstairs may or may not be good depending on the message you are trying to give.
• Acknowledge your inner critic and push them to one side! (it’s at this point we normally rather eat worms!)
• Breathe – then have the conversation – breathe some more.
• Focus on the outcome, the facts.  Not the emotions inside.
• Reflect on the outcome - is it what you wanted? how did it go? what could you do next time?

When reflecting on my own career I have had to muster up courage on a number of occasions.  When I have made a mistake and had to talk to the Big Boss, when I had got the wrong end of the stick and also when I had to give negative feedback.  A friend recently had to approach her Manager to give feedback to them about their lack of …managing!  She took on this approach and had a discussion that, whilst it did not have specific outcome, allowed her to ‘put her feelings out there’ and stop building up the negativity around her role and environment she was in.

The best clue about whether you need to have a courageous conversation – well – you would probably rather not have it.  We have all said “I wish I had….” well this plan at least gives you the chance to have a go.

Let me know how you go.

Our financial expectations only grow larger. Accepting a role because of the salary can be tempting, but what about your next role? Will an equally big offer be presented? If the answer is no, then the opportunity probably isn’t as good as it initially appears. If you answer no, ask yourself why are you accepting this opportunity?
The higher your salary climbs, the harder it is to start back from base camp when you decide its finally time for that new career path or a transition.

Gaining a lucrative salary can come with pitfalls. So before you sign the dotted line consider the following.

1. If you earn $X now, what are your prospects in 18months – does it provide an attractive step up again? Be sure the options aren’t too narrow that competition outdoes you or that you become priced out of the market. If you find this is you, add responsibilities to your repertoire which will justify this level of earning externally.
2. If you are offered a lucrative salary – ask why? Does it imply longer hours, less bonus? Will the flexibility be limited? What happens if you move from this company – will you culturally be suited or will you be too conditioned to work in another work environment?
3. Diversification verses specialization – during a downturn, job seekers with very specific skills sets tend to be those who find they are more prone to restructure. As a job seeker, they also find it more difficult to find new opportunities. Firstly, demand verses supply – you are no longer in demand. It is more difficult to transition into new lines of business or gain a different skill set and finally, your salary expectations often price you out of the market for other roles. Having a good foundation and lots of “side steps” throughout your career path makes you less dispensable – you can transfer into different areas where you have recently had responsibility. You will be a more trusted resource than an employee who has fast tracked their career.
4. Consider your mindset – consider that dollars are the result of time, be patient with your returns as your career is a long term investment. Negotiations made on salary should be grounded with evidence, keep a diary of these for future reference.
5. How will your resume look? If you take this position or if make a series of quick successions how will your resume look? What will it look like to the reader? What theme or what skills do you want to be included on this document, does this position provide for these? Employers prefer to hire those whose resumes display logical progression.

Financial motivators help companies attract talent. Before you make a career move based entirely or primarily on remuneration, consider the long term returns and how sustainable your expectations will be in different conditions overtime.

Introducing mysuccess, a series of brief podcast interviews with senior level Executives to provide you with insights about how these successful executives attained their position, their responsibilities and the challenges they have faced in their career.

Michael Bradburn, Group Financial Controller, Asciano Limited

Michael Bradburn

Play interview online below

It’s performance review time. The appointment in your diary looms ever closer. Preparation is key to any successful review of your work. The more you have thought about your contributions and wins of the period the better you can influence your outcome.

• What have you achieved?
• When is your next review?
• Make sure you are working towards achieving your career goal by maximising on your appraisal

Consider the following easy steps:

Timeframes

When is your next review? Is it done on calendar year or your employment anniversary? Does it fall before budget sign off? Are you bound to an annual calendar review?

Consider that if this is the case you may be better to request an interim, quarterly review or on-track. This will provide the opportunity to clarify your KPI’s and exceed them.

Plan for your review

It may sound obvious but do you do this adequately? What is the process? Will it be held in a neutral place where you are comfortable to have a business discussion?

Be clear on your objective and goals, practice on a friend or colleague before hand if you need to.

Evidence – quantify and qualify

What have you done that is considered above and beyond your core responsibilities? Do you need to prepare a business case? Think of the value add achievements you’ve had and how you can quantify them.

To make life easy, keep a track of your successes. Grab a win and learn journal or even a notepad! This will help you reflect on your contributions.

• How do you rate yourself against your peers?
• Qualify your work ethic to the goals and objectives of your team and the business. Questions to prompt include:
• What have I achieved?
• Where have I added value?
• What have I learnt?

Be prepared to offer such information if it’s not requested of you.

• Who is your manager?
• Can they help you achieve your objectives or do you also need a relationship with your manager’s manager?
• Do they need to be apart of the review process in this case?
• Make yourself known to the decisions makers if this is the case, how? What projects will increase your exposure?

Be prepared to give honest and constructive feedback. This includes feedback about the business, your team and future strategies or directions.

Ask for feedback and take it on board. What do I do well? What could I do better? Where do you think I need to develop?

Get a copy of your final review and make sure it is signed off appropriately. Re-read this to prevent any misinterpretations and be clear on what needs to be achieved for next time.

OK – now it’s time to go and get that promotion or pay rise.

With a volatile economy right now in Australia most individuals are ideally looking to retain their positions and maintain their bonuses. For some lucky businesses there is still opportunity to earn healthy bonuses. Here are some key steps to ensure you are successful in securing an increase in salary at the top range of your expectations.

Know the market conditions and market rates – know your value

Market conditions have a significant effect on your salary and whether it’s likely to rise or fall. When the supply of labour is high and demand poor there is a strong market pressure for salaries to fall. When the economy improves and skilled labour becomes scarce as at present the market forces push salaries higher.

It’s important to be aware and be sensitive to what is happening in the employment market and also to what you are worth in the market. You can usually find out this information from job advertisements on the internet or in newspapers or through recruitment consultancies.

Know the company position

Knowing the company’s position on salaries and headcount and its financial health will provide you with more information on how to negotiate. Understanding the company’s position will give you clues on how to approach the discussion. You always want to appear sensitive and understanding to the company’s position even if you are negotiating a rise.

Be clear on how you have performed

Quantify benefits and have examples. The single most important factor on securing a pay rise is you and how you have performed over the past year and how you feel you can add value over the next twelve months.

Obviously the better your performance the stronger your chances of securing a rise. If you have been a mediocre performer, your employer will not feel under any pressure to reward you, particularly if you are paid at the market level. Identify specific examples over the past year where you have added value and performed well both for the company and your reviewing manager.

Similarly it helps your case to be able to identify and outline specific ways in which you can add value over the coming year.

Identify additional responsibilities

Consider what you you can take on that would entitle you to a greater financial reward. If you can identify additional responsibilities that you can take on from other people and you can demonstrate that you can discharge those responsibilities effectively with out affecting your overall performance you will improve your case for a pay rise. Your employer will likely prefer to pay you more than go to the additional expense of employing someone else.

Make it a friendly discussion, not a confrontation

When negotiating in your pay review, it’s important that it is a professional and friendly discussion about your merits. You want your manager to be impressed not only by the merits of your case but the professional way you have presented yourself. While the conversation is friendly and amicable you are likely to achieve this.

Negotiate on cash and benefits

Sometimes it can be easier to negotiate an increase in benefits (e.g. parking, or holiday entitlement or study support) than cash. If you think it will be difficult to achieve an acceptable cash increase then identify a benefit that is of value. It could be awarded to you because of your position that would not set a precedent for the company. If you can’t obtain a cash or benefits increase try and discuss opportunities where your improved performance over the coming year can be rewarded by way of a bonus.

Negotiate in turmoil

Sometimes when the company is in turmoil (departure of key executives, loss of major contracts etc) it can be a good time to negotiate a permanent or temporary (by way of loyalty bonus) increase. Your manager may be pleased to have some certainty and be willing to pay for your loyalty.

Review your goals

Now that you have a pay increase, ensure you conduct a career audit and identify what you want to achieve in the next 12 months.

For many of you changing roles may be what you need to do to get the exposure to build on your career. Deciding when the right time to move is often viewed as a dilemma. It is a big step and it is very important that you don’t act too rashly.

To help make this decision easier, write a list of the pro’s and con’s of your current role and aspects of your role that you feel you will not get access to.

Now look at what you want to achieve longer term. Perhaps your current role is not taking you on the path closer to your long term aspirations? Or further away? If the answer is further away making the move needs to be done sooner rather than later.

How to go about it

• You will now have a clear idea of what it is you want and don’t want in your new role. Use this as a rough guide of what you would like to get from your next role, and what you would like to achieve
• Now look at where you want to be and what role you need to secure to add another ’string to your bow’ to get you one step closer to that goal.

Research

• Time to get online and see what is out there, what is the current job market like for your skills and get an idea of your market value
• Know your resume – be able to confidently explain your previous roles at any time, in an interview, networking event, in the lift!
• Be prepared for those behavioral based interview questions at interview

You should regularly factor in a time to review and reflect where you are and where you want to be. It’s the only way you will get there.

As a part or qualified accountant with your career passport in hand, you can be confident that you will find some exciting opportunities all around the world.

Main reasons to go overseas

Career progression

For accountants who intend to remain in practice throughout their careers and work towards Partnership level, a stint working overseas is essential. Many of the Big 4 worldwide will only progress their staff to partner level once they have gained experience internationally.

Conversely, if you have chosen to take your accounting career into Commerce & Industry or Financial Services, it is likely that immersing yourself into some large-scale international projects will most definitely improve your career prospects, both overseas and upon your return home.

Moving from one country to another enables you to bring with you a whole new skill set to your new employer. This coupled with the fresh/additional skills gained in your new role will allow you to move up the career ladder quickly as your enhanced skill set is adding much more value to your new employer.

A move to another country will also add much more to your development – it could be new industry sectors, clients, peers or managers and will open up a whole new world for you. During the first twelve months your learning curve will be fairly steep and you will feel you are learning something new each day.

If you choose to move to a country which is experiencing an extremely buoyant market or has a lot of growth potential, then this will naturally give you many more opportunities to advance quicker than you would have done if you decided to stay in Australia.

Locations that are particularly appealing to many expatriates for this reason quite recently have included the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and the Middle East regions – including countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, opening up great opportunities in Practice, Commerce & Industry and F.S.

Lifestyle & Work/Life Balance

A great motivation to move overseas is the prospect of a new lifestyle.

A new culture, new set of friends and new locations to explore can make an international move so attractive.

In most cases you can also alter your work/life balance. For example, if an accountant is currently working in a busy city such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth, a move to the one of the offshore islands will have a huge impact on their work/life balance and suddenly they will find that they can hit the beach at 5pm, or make much better use of the weekends for leisure pursuits.

Travel

Most people love to travel. Moving to a new continent is the perfect opportunity to travel to places you wouldn’t have believed possible.

Some locations like Hong Kong or Singapore are perfect bases to explore S.E Asia, China and India; and New York is a great base to explore the US, Canada and US offshore (Cayman, Bermuda, Bahamas, etc) cheaply and easily.

Living and working overseas gives you a chance to get totally immersed in the culture of a country rather than just passing through when travelling for business.

Higher Earning Potential

Moving overseas won’t suddenly give you the opportunity to become a millionaire, however some locations have lower income taxes (or no tax!) or a low cost of living which therefore allows your net income to stretch much further than it would do at home.

It’s a Small World

The advancement of technology has enabled us to stay in touch with family and friends from around the world at little or no cost, making the transition to another country a lot easier.

Some people set up their own websites or blogs, or use social networking sites to keep those ‘back at home’ informed of what is going on in their lives – sharing special moments such as the family growing up.

The internet not only keeps you in touch with your family and friends abroad, but also helps you to reach out to other expats through online forums. Use these connections to build your social and/or your business network.

Meet New People… Fall In Love?

It may sound far-fetched but it is true that going overseas as an unattached person gives you the perfect opportunity to extend your social circle and even start a new romance!

Popular locations with enticing benefits

Middle East

Expatriates can expect to receive a base salary plus great benefits such as an accommodation allowance, travel allowance, excellent bonus scheme and a generous relocation package. This tax free package allows you to lead an extremely comfortable lifestyle.

Russia & Kazakhstan

Low tax (between 10-13% depending on the location), base salary, housing allowance, schooling, travel allowance and a relocation allowance make this a very lucrative region to work in. The CIS region is probably the best in terms of accelerated career progression which is the main reason why many expatriates are choosing to work there.

Canada

Salary packages are competitive, however what makes this one of the best destinations is the cost of living and the quality of life on offer. Many Canadian cities are consistently voted each year into the Top 10 of The Economist’s World’s Most Liveable Cities list. Vancouver is number one in 2008 and for the past three years it has been in the top two.

Developing your career within your current organisation can be one of the best career decisions you’ll make. Although the prospect of an external opportunity can sometimes be more exciting it shouldn’t automatically be your first choice.

Every day you are showcasing your talents to your colleagues and managers and are investing your time and energy in the organisation and learning how it works and how it can work for you.

Top ten strategies to get that promotion

1) Get on-track

Do you know what is expected of you day-to-day, month to month etc. If not, check in with your manager and make sure you are on the right track with your performance. A little effort goes a long way.

2) Ask for more

If you are smashing through your workload what support can you offer to your immediate manager? The term ’support’ is often referred to from Manager to staff member but turn the tables, the dynamic of the relationship immediately changes. Put your hand up to get involved in more projects.

3) Be seen

Interact and network across the business as much as possible. It is important to be seen in any organisation and to be known to many different stakeholders. When the opportunity comes along, the more people on your side the better!

4) Adopt new skills

Volunteering with youths or running a touch footy team. Being able to expand on your skill set will be viewed upon favourably.

5) Look around you

Who has been promoted within your organisation? Talk to them. What tips can they give you about the process?

6) Get a mentor

Having someone who you can bounce your ideas off will aid you in your quest for a promotion. Read mroe about how to choose a mentor?

7) Groom a successor

in order to make the process a smooth one, can you identify somebody who can fill your shoes? The pain of replacing you could be preventative to your success?

8) What’s your career plan?

Will a promotion within the company fit your ultimate plan. If you don’t have one – get one.

9) What do you know?

The intellectual property you build up during your career with an employer is priceless. Put it to good use.

10) Act up

Observe your colleagues and managers around you. In meetings, corridors – chit chat. Can you adopt their behaviours?

Possessing these ten qualities will greatly assist young executives in becoming a career success. It is interesting to note that anecdotally when recruiting junior executives organisations place much more emphasis on academic and technical skills and creative output rather than management and leadership skills just because that reflects the nature of their work. In both cases however, passion and positive attitude would rate as the most important quality.

In order of priority (1 being most important), the required qualities were:

1) Passion and positive attitude

Whatever the position and level of seniority, a positive attitude is the key quality required in a successful executive. Organisations believe that a positive attitude and a passion for one’s work can override deficiencies in experience or knowledge. There is also a belief that in the current poor economy passion is infectious and hugely beneficial to the morale and well being of an organisation.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this is that passion and attitude are something that is not exclusive to those with an education or those working for the biggest and best companies. Indeed it is a quality that any of us can acquire and adopt.

2) Leadership and management skills

Not surprisingly the ability to manage and motivate people and to lead an organisation are required qualities for senior executives. In both small and large organisations where the greater part of the role is managing a team of people to achieve corporate goals, it’s obviously vital that the person has the charisma and respect required for people to want to follow them. They also need to possess the skill to deploy corporate resources including human resources in such away to be able to maximise efficiency and output.

3) Quality of experience

When recruiting senior executives organisations look for evidence that the executive can perform at the highest level. Inevitably, they examine the executive’s track record as the most accurate indicator of this.

This will include the quality of one’s experience as demonstrated by responsibilities and achievements and their relevance to the new role. The stature and reputation of past employers is also vital as a valuable reference point to judge the quality of the experience.

4) Soft or personal skills

It’s important for a senior executive to be able to communicate their message clearly and concisely to colleagues’ clients and suppliers alike. The more effective their communication, the more likely they are to be able to relate to their team.

Soft skills include oral and written communication skills, presentation skills and importantly social skills – the ability to relate to people in non work environment.

Interestingly listening skills and empathy are key components of communication and those who rate highly in this category are usually able to relate very well to their staff and colleagues.

There is a growing demand in Asia for multi -lingual executives as it’s increasingly important to be able to communicate in numerous languages especially English and Cantonese/Mandarin/Japanese.

5) Occupational skills – Technical, technological and operational skills

Relevant occupational skills are obviously very important in any job although less so in a senior executive position. The ability to manage and motivate is usually considered more important. However relevant technical technological and operational skills are still required so they are able to understand the issues and make the right decisions along with teaching and guiding junior staff.

For more junior and operational positions technical skills are vital and probably would be #2 in the list of priorities. Also one’s ability to use technology is becoming increasingly important not only for personal efficiency (mobile phones, email, personal organisers etc) but also in understanding how technology impacts on your organisation’s business and operations.

6) Creative outputs

In any role, the ability to be effective and add value to the position and the organisation is vital. This is certainly so for a senior executive where much of the momentum in the business must emanate from them .Organisations require them to be efficient creative and organised and to ensure that they set the pace for their team. For this reason it’s important to have high levels of work output and to be able to demonstrate the same.

7) Evidence of strong moral conduct and values

Many of the respondents highlighted values as a separate issue from leadership and management skills. Respondents believe evidence of values such as humility, trust, integrity and respect are an important foundation stone in a senior executive’s make up. If an executive can truthfully demonstrate these values to their staff they gain immense respect, which is vital in both bad and good economic times. People want to work with and for people they respect.

8) Knowledge and intellect

Knowledge and sound conceptual ability is important as a foundation stone in every successful executive’s profile. This is often evidenced through academic achievement although the two aren’t automatically connected. If one is intellectually and conceptually bright then this can be a tremendous aid in understanding complex commercial and technical issues. It remains a key selection parameter although a deficiency here can be overcome if one’s track record of experience and leadership skills are sufficiently strong.

One of the key trends in the current market is the number of middle and senior managers in mid career (aged mid thirties – late forties) who are taking second degrees or MBA’s. While gaining such a qualification isn’t an automatic passport to career success it certainly helps as it demonstrates not only inherent conceptual ability but also the desire to remain up to date with current issues and techniques.

9) Learning ability

Organisations like to recruit senior executives that are still developing and progressing. One who will be able to continue their career with the organisation rather than perhaps viewing themselves as the font of all knowledge and this as a “resting place” in their career. They will seek evidence of one’s desire and ability to learn new techniques and methodologies. In this way the executive has a much better chance of harnessing the talents of the people who work with them.

10) Persistence

Perhaps surprisingly many organisations singled out persistence as a quality they looked for when recruiting senior executives or indeed any staff. Reasons given were related to the ability to see projects through to completion and the possession of a longer-term view that could then be communicated to those people around them.

While this may have appeared slightly strange there is no doubt that when meeting senior executives, the majority demonstrate this quality not only in their current work environment but also in their career to date.

As you will appreciate some of the qualities highlighted do overlap but we have tried to group those that were almost identical and separate those where we felt different qualities were required.