Helping Employees Own Their Careers, Time Autonomy, and Dealing with Workplace Conflict

The past several years have inspired a large portion of the workforce to explore a different relationship with their work – one that supports broader life priorities. According to James Neave, Head of Data Science at Adzuna (a job search engine), this isn’t a blip but a legitimate shift in sentiment. He points to TikTok's “5 to 9 before 9 to 5 ” trend with users waking up at 5 a.m. to do things like working out, food preparation, journaling, and meditating well before their workdays begin as evidence of today’s employees’ commitment to finding the time to enjoy life beyond their jobs. And while it would be easy to pass this off as a Generation Z phenomenon, Neave suggests that the desire for time autonomy is age-agnostic. While the motivations may differ, employees across the generational spectrum want more control over the hours of their day. Gen Z seeks out flexibility for lifestyle purposes while Gen X and older employees want to leverage time for greater work-life balance ,?save commute time, and address childcare issues. ?

Recognizing the trend, many organizations are leaning into this need, finding ways to offer the time autonomy that their employees crave. And, according to Neave, these organizations are enjoying a range of important benefits – from ease of hiring, greater employee happiness and productivity, enhanced loyalty, and reduced churn of talent.

Everyone knows that career development doesn’t operate as it has in the past. The classic, traditional, sequential climb up the corporate ladder is not the only – and certainly not the most accessible – way for people to advance. So the question on the minds of many employees is: then what?

We are answering this question with our new OWNing Your Multidimensional Career workshop. In fact, I’m just back from conducting a very successful first facilitator preparation workshop so that internal trainers can deliver a three-hour learning experience that taps the abundant opportunities that are available when employees embrace an updated approach to development. It’s based on the same easy-to-apply, research-based Multidimensional Career Framework as our manager workshop – and includes three actionable strategies and tools employees can use to ensure the development they need and create the experience of work that they want.

This workshop for employees works well on its own – and even better when teamed with the manager workshop. If you’re interested in learning more, please reach out . This is one of my favorite things to talk about!

My friends, Karin Hurt and David Dye, help human-centered leaders find clarity in uncertainty, drive innovation, and achieve breakthrough results. As CEO and President of Let’s Grow Leaders , they are known for practical tools and leadership development programs that stick.

Their latest best seller,?Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Workplace Conflict , is an essential resource for anyone who is looking for help on how to navigate frequent workplace conflicts, including with their boss and other difficult people, so they can rebuild trust, collaboration, and ultimately enjoy more influence at work.

Care-filled words make all the difference, and this book provides 300 actual phrases to de-escalate common workplace conflict situations, build trust, and make better decisions. ?Find a free excerpt from the book, here ! This is one book we all need in our personal libraries.?

Given the change, complexity, escalating demands, and mental health challenges in today’s workplace, creating a space of psychological safety has never been more important – nor in some cases more challenging. How can busy leaders and executives embrace the moment and take the steps needed to cultivate a culture that supports sustainable and humane results?

Join me, Hanna Hasl-Kelchner , and David Moerlein , experts in the field, as we explore the reality of today’s situation – and offer real ways forward.

HR Virtual Summit is the world’s largest virtual event dedicated to connecting and uplifting HR professionals. Join me on May 22 for transformative insights from experts, thought leaders, and visionaries, and learn how to elevate your work. Plus, it’s 100% FREE and accredited by HRCI and SHRM! There is still time to register and you can do so here .

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Thanks for reading,

Julie