Sustainable careers Archieven

What are we talking about…

For years we heard about “engagement” surveys, then “work passion” came in, and now “vitality” or “vigour” join the conversation, but “thriving” seems to be winning the game. Of course, we would have preferred “Zest” to win the game 😉, but we do understand why “thriving” wins. In scientific terms, Zest belongs more to personality whereas Thriving is a dynamic state (that can change more rapidly).

Let’s explore in more details how to define the word “thriving” and most importantly, what HR and Occupational Health professionals can learn from recent research about the conditions that lead to thriving at work.

Thriving is one of numerous constructs related to personal energy at work. Some companies, like Microsoft, came up with their own definition of thriving: “to be energized and empowered to do meaningful work.”

In Academic research, the concept of thriving is clarified by Spreitzer et al. (2005) as being

“the psychological state in which individuals experience both a sense of vitality and a sense of learning at work”

Good news for L&D Department, Spreitzer et al. established a hard link between learning & development and thriving: “people CANNOT thrive without learning and development”!

Thriving is seen as a dynamic state, a sense of progress or forward movement in the employee’s self-development. With a dynamic state, it means that employees can experience higher or lower states at any point in time.

Similarities can be found between the concept of vigour and thriving. Both concepts refer to experiencing a sense of vitality, feeling energetic, and feeling alert.

So, what factors allow one to thrive?

What was found in the literature review “Personal Energy at work: A Systemic Review”[1] review is that the main antecedents to thriving and vigour are either linked to the person (Personal Factors) or to the environment in which he / she operates (Contextual Factors) and also depend on the “strain-recovery” processes through which the person go.

So what?

Help them grow!

Competence is positively related to personal energy at work. This means feeling capable to perform your tasks. Interestingly, “Political skill – the ability to understand social and political aspects in the workplace and use that understanding to effectively influence others” has been found to enhance workplace thriving.

Cultivate the right work behaviours!

Task focus, exploration and heedful relating are work behaviours that drive thriving at work. Openness also relates to the vigour component in work engagement.

Help then know why!

Those who are more active and purposeful at work are more likely to experience and sustain vitality and learning (Paterson et al.).

Bonding is the key

Employees become more attached to their organization and experience more beneficial outcomes like feeling energized, when they have stronger relational attachment – “cumulative experience of feeling connected, attached and close to others at work” (Erhhardt et al.).

Some personality might thrive more than others

Neurotism is one of the big 5 personality traits that has a negative relationship with thriving and can inhibit personal energy at work. Neuroticism is defined by a propensity toward anxiety, negativity, and self-doubt. As with all personality traits, neuroticism exists on a spectrum, so everyone is at least a little bit neurotic…

and what else?

They don’t leave their company, they leave their line manager…

According to the Gallup studies, the line manager accounts for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units[1]. A good leader-member exchange, relationship harmony and mutual understanding are important to nurture to build a thriving environment. Conversely, leaders that cause overload or role ambiguity can negatively impact energy.

Keep them high

Creating a climate that stimulates involvement of employees, e.g., employees can make opportunities to learn and are rewarded positively, relates to thriving!

But not too high…

Personal strain (severe excessive demands on the strengths, resources, or abilities of someone) can be a negative influencer but can also serve as an enhancer of energy if there is sufficient recovery! (Techniques to switch between strain and recovery have shown to be of impact on all dimensions of energy: Check out our Energy for Life Program, that’s what you learn there!).

… and give them space to relax and recharge

Stimulating recovery through psychological, mental, or physical relaxation during work time (e.g., proper time for a lunch break). Lifestyle intervention offerings, like mindfulness trainings, are also positive contributors to thriving.

There are so many aspects that can be looked at and worked on, where will you start?

References

[1] Alexandra Francina Janneke Klijn, Maria Tims, Evgenia I. Lysova and Svetlana N. Kapova. Department of Management and Organisation, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

[2] Harter, JK ; Schmidt, F.L. ; Keyes, C.L.M.. Well being in the workplace and its relationship to business outcomes. A review of the Gallup studies.

What is job crafting?

In my work design research, I found some interesting insights about the well-known concept of “job crafting”. It offers another perspective on work design – from the role incumbent angle. Job crafting is defined as:

“the changes to a job that workers make with the intention of improving the job for themselves”

(Bruning & Campion 2018)

This approach is self-targeted, mainly to the benefit of the individual, and positive impact is proven! Research has shown evidence of enhanced person job-fit and motivation with positive impact on commitment, satisfaction, and well-being. And like all engaging activities, this is a win-win as the organization also benefits from higher intention to stay as well as task and contextual performance!

So how does that work?

First, it does not mean that job descriptions disappear, but that on a given role, the incumbent can make intentional change without the need for explicit or formalized authorization processes.

Tangible versus cognitive crafting

Research from Tim et al. (2012) presented the “job demand – resources” perspective on job crafting with an objective to achieve “Personal-Job fit”. This is a search for balance between the job demands and resources on the one hand and the person’s abilities and needs on the other hand. Crafting options are either to:

Increase job demands (e.g., extra tasks, projects involvement)
Hinder job demands (e.g., less emotional challenges, toxic relationships)
Increase job resources (e.g., mentoring, network, learning opportunities)

Another way to understand these options is the “Approach-Avoidance Motivation theory” from Elliot (2006).

Imagine that you have two buttons that you can turn up or down if you want to feel more motivated. You can either enrich and expand what’s motivating by pressing “plus” or reduce or limit (when possible) what’s most draining by pressing “minus”. Hopefully you can press both.

These strategies are focussed on making tangible changes to a job (tasks, processes, relationships).

What if you could simply change perspective on your role?

Another way to craft a job was indeed described in the research from Wrzesniewski & Dutton (2001). They highlighted that the job changes can also be cognitive ones. The cognitive change influences work meaning, professional identity and emotions at work. Simply said, it is a change you make in how you SEE your tasks/role, in a way that provides more meaning or positive emotions. It is a reframe exercise. For example, if you work in a flower shop, you can see your job as a salesperson, or you can view it as someone who brings joy and beauty to this world!

Job crafting image

What’s most impactful?

A recent study from Zhang and parker (2018) compiled existing research on job crafting and assessed the outcomes. What they learned is that the most impactful strategies were the proactive intentional changes as opposed to the avoidance.

They found that these proactive behaviours to enrich and expand your role were the ones that enhanced most person-job fit and motivation. They impacted:

Engagement and retention

Higher satisfaction and work motivation
Increased employees’ commitment and intention to stay

Performance

Increased task and contextual performance

Well-being

Reduced burnout, job boredom, physical complaints, and depression

Career fitness

Increased perceived employability, career competence and career satisfaction

BINGO! Sounds like a worthwhile topic to explore, don’t you think?

Written by Caroline Thomas, Partner Zest for Work

“CHOOSING has become the dilemma we face repeatedly throughout our working lives”

Many of our coaching clients come to us when they face career choices. They are sometimes paralysed about making the right choice, confused about the various options, or afraid of leaving behind well-known contexts.

The famous question: “where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?” becomes a big white page with many question marks:

Will this work for me?
What will others think about it?
Will I succeed?
What if I fail? What if this is the wrong choice?
Am I closing doors here?

It also opens up the floor to many “should” stories in their heads of how a career should be, how they should behave, what skills they should have, what they should have achieved at this stage… that are setting a bar that might not be true to themselves and who they are.

Quite paralysing then in a way! I might be wrong and not succeed so why do it indeed! Better not taking a decision at all!

According to the psychologist, Barry Schwartz, we now have too much choice and are not good at dealing with it. We reach a tipping point where having an abundance of options becomes an overload. “At this point, choice no longer liberates but debilitates. It might even be said to tyrannize.”[1] Moreover, when there are too many options, we often end up less satisfied with the result of the choice than if we had fewer options. The explanation for this paradox is that we can always imagine having made a better choice.

Sounds like a lose-lose exercise then?? Here are 2 suggestions from Schwartz:

Try to limit the considered options,
Learn to satisfy more and maximize less

In other words, be happy with the “good enough” option and gain some insights from the experience instead of waiting for the perfect move.

You never lose, you only win or learn!

What also works is to demystify the word “choice” itself. Make it plural: choices rather than frightening “The” choice. Take it as one of the numerous small steps you do on your personal journey. Some will go forward, some backwards, the importance lies in what you learn from each step. Roman Krznaric [2] advised :

“act first and reflect later”.

That’s a good philosophy for your professional life, your choices will then be nourished by real life experience and not theoretical assumptions.

When it comes to career choices, it also involves quite some introspection to understand your own definition of “career success”. What are your main values, motives, and needs to feel satisfied and productive at work? What are those intrinsically motivating activities that give more energy than they drain? Our Career Fitness Profiler is a great way to understand your own career drivers.

While doing that, take the time to unpack all the conventions and self-restrictions to find out what you truly want, what is truly exciting about making a change. Choices will become more obvious then, they will be calling you!

Take a broad perspective on your life, not only your working life, other important parts of your life matter to make these choices more sustainable.

And finally, don’t believe that once a choice has been made you will find a fit for life, instead, prepare yourself to reassess regularly your situation, values, and needs, and check them against the labor market reality and needs. We are in a dynamic work environment and so is your personal life! So sustaining employability and motivation will require a dynamic approach.

References:

[1] Barry Schwartz – The paradox of Choice

[2] HOW TO FIND FULFILLING WORK – Roman Krznaric

“CHOOSING has become the dilemma we face repeatedly throughout our working lives”

Many of our coaching clients come to us when they face career choices. They are sometimes paralysed about making the right choice, confused about the various options, or afraid of leaving behind well-known contexts.

The famous question: “where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?” becomes a big white page with many question marks:

Will this work for me?
What will others think about it?
Will I succeed?
What if I fail? What if this is the wrong choice?
Am I closing doors here?

It also opens up the floor to many “should” stories in their heads of how a career should be, how they should behave, what skills they should have, what they should have achieved at this stage… that are setting a bar that might not be true to themselves and who they are.

Quite paralysing then in a way! I might be wrong and not succeed so why do it indeed! Better not taking a decision at all!

“CHOOSING has become the dilemma we face repeatedly throughout our working lives”

Many of our coaching clients come to us when they face career choices. They are sometimes paralysed about making the right choice, confused about the various options, or afraid of leaving behind well-known contexts.

The famous question: “where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?” becomes a big white page with many question marks:

Will this work for me?
What will others think about it?
Will I succeed?
What if I fail? What if this is the wrong choice?
Am I closing doors here?

It also opens up the floor to many “should” stories in their heads of how a career should be, how they should behave, what skills they should have, what they should have achieved at this stage… that are setting a bar that might not be true to themselves and who they are.

Quite paralysing then in a way! I might be wrong and not succeed so why do it indeed! Better not taking a decision at all!

“CHOOSING has become the dilemma we face repeatedly throughout our working lives”

Many of our coaching clients come to us when they face career choices. They are sometimes paralysed about making the right choice, confused about the various options, or afraid of leaving behind well-known contexts.

The famous question: “where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?” becomes a big white page with many question marks:

Will this work for me?
What will others think about it?
Will I succeed?
What if I fail? What if this is the wrong choice?
Am I closing doors here?

It also opens up the floor to many “should” stories in their heads of how a career should be, how they should behave, what skills they should have, what they should have achieved at this stage… that are setting a bar that might not be true to themselves and who they are.

Quite paralysing then in a way! I might be wrong and not succeed so why do it indeed! Better not taking a decision at all!

Hope

(Self) Efficacy

Resilience

Optimism

Employees with high psychological capital

feel they have control over their future and believe things will work out in the end (Hope & Efficacy).
work hard to reach their goals and adapt to challenges and change (Resilience & Hope).
when facing failure, bounce back quickly and change their approach to make sure they don’t fail again (Resilience & Optimism).

As you can imagine, having high PsyCap can have a lot of benefits for both the individual and the organization, especially in a VUCA world…

We feel that if you are looking for a good evidence-based capital that fits the future of work and allows mutual benefits in this dynamic environment, PsyCap is worth investing in. Recruiting people with natural high PsyCap and fostering this in your organization is a critical denominator to sustaining our human and social capital, keeping your workforce up to date, energized and employable.
For individuals, developing PsyCap provides the resources to deal with the dynamic environment we today work and live in, allowing them to thrive and adjust with confidence so they can keep being successful in whatever situation they are faced with.
Not bad in the current global Covid19 pandemic… A capital that creates win-wins!

Want to know more on the different element of the HERO within that drives the PsyCap equation? Read our article on Psycap here.

Psychological capital and beyond. Luthans, Youssef and Avolio, Oxford University Press, 2015
Psychological Capital: An Evidence-Based Positive Approach. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior Volume 4, 2017 Luthans, pp 339-366
https://positivepsychology.com/psychological-capital-psycap/

Zest can be learned and built in life!

Engagement, optimism, low levels of stress together with high self-confidence – sounds like a dream? Developing a zestful attitude at work is the standard answer to getting all these.
Zest means approaching a situation, or life in general, with excitement and energy. People who are high in zest are excited to get up in the morning, and they dare to live their lives like an adventure. [read more about what zest is here].
Here is the good news: zest can be learned and built in life!
Besides creating a culture of health to set the stage for zest, we’ve compiled 10 simple and effective approaches that you could apply at your workplace to nurture a more enthusiastic, daring and self-content workforce.

1. Focus on frequent recovery breaks to stay juicy
Stress is not the problem, but an absence of recovery is. Especially mental recovery is scarce in a world that never stops… Foster a culture where recovery, both physically and mentally is a must for people to perform. Allow employees to make frequent short breaks. Did you know outlook allows to standardly have meetings of 55 minutes? That provides 5 minutes an hour to go to the loo, nurture yourself, move around and evenly important to recharge your brain. Short breaks can also be: a short mindful walk outside, using a mindfulness app, or take a few deep breaths. Recovery and mindfulness have the potential to bring attention back to the present moment, sparkling your zest!
2. Fight the enemies of zest
Mental Health issues like depression are a well-documented enemy of zest, and its toll on productivity and physical health is enormous. There is still a massive stigma around this topic in society so training your leaders in Mental Health First Aid can be a great first step. In 4 mornings they will get the basic knowledge on how to signal early signs of mental ill-health and respond appropriately.
3. Build positive leaders
Add a module about Positive Psychology within your Leadership curriculums. Championing and encouragement will become a natural part of their conversations with staff members and nurture what naturally brings enthusiasm to their team.
4. Say Thank You more often!
Create a Gratitude wall or offer other positive psychology exercises that cultivate gratitude and savoring. There is a ton of research on the positive benefits of gratitude and if tailored to the workplace they might also bolster zest.
5. Offer meaningful work
Any strategy that helps workers see where their activities fit into the larger picture should also increase their enthusiasm and excitement for what they do. Let them work on a personal work or career mission and discuss how this aligns or falls into the broader company’s mission.

6. Find opportunities to recognize and celebrate
Appreciations are great ways to revive the energy to continue the hard work with the same zestful spirit. It does not have to come from others. People can learn to give themselves a little pat on the back for any accomplishments they have made.
7. Foster energizing relationships
Let employees map existing relationships as more versus less energizing for them and let them talk about it. Awareness and the ability to choose paves the way to increase the density of energizing relationships at the workplace while decreasing or eliminating those that de-energize.
8. Bring employee’s strengths to life
Get to know all the strengths in your team and see how to use them better. Use for example the VIA scientific survey on character strengths, or the Strengths Profile, two well studied and validated tools that help you exchange with your staff about how they can tap more frequently into their top strengths.
9. Pave an optimistic path
Try the “Imagine yourself” exercise with your staff at the start of your next meeting. This is an excellent way of boosting them and getting rid of any negativity that might stand in the way.
Here’s an example: Choose a time in the future, say five years, and imagine yourself working then. How do you see yourself? What do you want yourself to have achieved by then? Think of all the possibilities and picture yourself successful. Then ask yourself what will lead you to that position and how you can ensure you achieve it.
10. Craft adventurous jobs
Enable people to engage in exciting stuff that is not necessarily part of their role. It will spark energy and enthusiasm.
The idea is to find a space where they can still satisfy and excel in their function, but which is simultaneously more aligned with their strengths, motives, and passions.

Zest can be learned and built in life!

Engagement, optimism, low levels of stress together with high self-confidence – sounds like a dream? Developing a zestful attitude at work is the standard answer to getting all these.
Zest means approaching a situation, or life in general, with excitement and energy. People who are high in zest are excited to get up in the morning, and they dare to live their lives like an adventure. [read more about what zest is here].
Here is the good news: zest can be learned and built in life!
Besides creating a culture of health to set the stage for zest, we’ve compiled 10 simple and effective approaches that you could apply at your workplace to nurture a more enthusiastic, daring and self-content workforce.

1. Focus on frequent recovery breaks to stay juicy
Stress is not the problem, but an absence of recovery is. Especially mental recovery is scarce in a world that never stops… Foster a culture where recovery, both physically and mentally is a must for people to perform. Allow employees to make frequent short breaks. Did you know outlook allows to standardly have meetings of 55 minutes? That provides 5 minutes an hour to go to the loo, nurture yourself, move around and evenly important to recharge your brain. Short breaks can also be: a short mindful walk outside, using a mindfulness app, or take a few deep breaths. Recovery and mindfulness have the potential to bring attention back to the present moment, sparkling your zest!
2. Fight the enemies of zest
Mental Health issues like depression are a well-documented enemy of zest, and its toll on productivity and physical health is enormous. There is still a massive stigma around this topic in society so training your leaders in Mental Health First Aid can be a great first step. In 4 mornings they will get the basic knowledge on how to signal early signs of mental ill-health and respond appropriately.
3. Build positive leaders
Add a module about Positive Psychology within your Leadership curriculums. Championing and encouragement will become a natural part of their conversations with staff members and nurture what naturally brings enthusiasm to their team.
4. Say Thank You more often!
Create a Gratitude wall or offer other positive psychology exercises that cultivate gratitude and savoring. There is a ton of research on the positive benefits of gratitude and if tailored to the workplace they might also bolster zest.
5. Offer meaningful work
Any strategy that helps workers see where their activities fit into the larger picture should also increase their enthusiasm and excitement for what they do. Let them work on a personal work or career mission and discuss how this aligns or falls into the broader company’s mission.

6. Find opportunities to recognize and celebrate
Appreciations are great ways to revive the energy to continue the hard work with the same zestful spirit. It does not have to come from others. People can learn to give themselves a little pat on the back for any accomplishments they have made.
7. Foster energizing relationships
Let employees map existing relationships as more versus less energizing for them and let them talk about it. Awareness and the ability to choose paves the way to increase the density of energizing relationships at the workplace while decreasing or eliminating those that de-energize.
8. Bring employee’s strengths to life
Get to know all the strengths in your team and see how to use them better. Use for example the VIA scientific survey on character strengths, or the Strengths Profile, two well studied and validated tools that help you exchange with your staff about how they can tap more frequently into their top strengths.
9. Pave an optimistic path
Try the “Imagine yourself” exercise with your staff at the start of your next meeting. This is an excellent way of boosting them and getting rid of any negativity that might stand in the way.
Here’s an example: Choose a time in the future, say five years, and imagine yourself working then. How do you see yourself? What do you want yourself to have achieved by then? Think of all the possibilities and picture yourself successful. Then ask yourself what will lead you to that position and how you can ensure you achieve it.
10. Craft adventurous jobs
Enable people to engage in exciting stuff that is not necessarily part of their role. It will spark energy and enthusiasm.
The idea is to find a space where they can still satisfy and excel in their function, but which is simultaneously more aligned with their strengths, motives, and passions.

Zest can be learned and built in life!

Engagement, optimism, low levels of stress together with high self-confidence – sounds like a dream? Developing a zestful attitude at work is the standard answer to getting all these.
Zest means approaching a situation, or life in general, with excitement and energy. People who are high in zest are excited to get up in the morning, and they dare to live their lives like an adventure. [read more about what zest is here].
Here is the good news: zest can be learned and built in life!
Besides creating a culture of health to set the stage for zest, we’ve compiled 10 simple and effective approaches that you could apply at your workplace to nurture a more enthusiastic, daring and self-content workforce.

The impact of Zest

Even though sources of happiness differ from person to person – what makes you happy may not evoke the same emotions in another person – people with zestful traits can derive pleasure and fulfillment more often than others – maybe for different reasons, but with the same effect.

According to the character strength review by Seligman and Peterson, zest brings with it the opportunity to:

Experience a state of ‘flow’ at work (state of supreme motivation, enthusiasm and top results)
Be productive – utilizing our skills and abilities to the fullest
Develop secure and long-lasting interpersonal connections – both personally and professionally
Align their values and belief systems to their actions, so that they derive maximum pleasure and satisfaction from anything they do

Zest comes with a lot of additional benefits: besides making people high on life-energy, it makes a significant impact on the ways we perceive failures, face adversities, and bounce back on the right track. [Read more about Benefits of Zest at work]

Measure the Zestyness of your team

Simply start to check how zesty are your staff or your team!

A self-report measure of zest actually exists as part of the VIA inventory of strengths (VIA-IS). Sample items measuring zest include:

I want to fully participate in life, not just view it from the sidelines
I look forward to each new day
I cannot wait to get started on a project
I awaken with a sense of excitement about the day’s possibilities

We’ve also compiled simple tips for you to boost Zest in your work environment [read more]
Wishing you a lot of zestful days!

Resilience:

Bouncing back and beyond

Resilience refers to the ability of an individual to bounce back from adversity, uncertainty, risk or failure, and adapt to changing and stressful life demands (Masten & Reed, 2002; Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004). Resilient employees do well under difficult circumstances. They have the ability to positively adapt during or following stressful events, failures, and also during positively challenging events that ask a lot of us. They handle stress effectively, work through negative experiences and changes happening around them. Most people call these types of people ‘strong’ after seeing them come back from a challenging situation.

Optimism:

Realistic and Flexible

Optimists have a completely different coping approach than pessimists, they keep trying, focus on what is within their control, frame situations and challenges positively and accept what is outside their control. Simply, those high in optimism believe things will be ok in the end, they generally attribute positive events to personal, permanent and pervasive causes. And on the negative events in life they phrase them as external, temporary, and related to the situation. Optimism goes beyond accuracy and optimism essentially is a thinking error. The research however is clear that the motivational effect is more beneficial than the calculation accuracy of pessimism.

The good news is that those positive- psychological states are open to development! You can build more of these resources in your organization and help your employees to be their best selves and their best with each other! You will have a strong impact on desired employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance. You can also nurture these resources so that they are not eaten away during turbulent times, or personal difficulties.

If you are interested to learn more about this topic, let us know, we’re passionate about it and can help out in this field.

References

Psychological capital and beyond. Luthans, Youssef and Avolio, Oxford University Press, 2015.
Psychological Capital: An Evidence-Based Positive Approach. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior Volume 4, 2017 Luthans, pp 339-366
https://positivepsychology.com/psychological-capital-psycap/

“CHOOSING has become the dilemma we face repeatedly throughout our working lives”

Many of our coaching clients come to us when they face career choices. They are sometimes paralysed about making the right choice, confused about the various options, or afraid of leaving behind well-known contexts.

The famous question: “where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?” becomes a big white page with many question marks:

Will this work for me?
What will others think about it?
Will I succeed?
What if I fail? What if this is the wrong choice?
Am I closing doors here?

It also opens up the floor to many “should” stories in their heads of how a career should be, how they should behave, what skills they should have, what they should have achieved at this stage… that are setting a bar that might not be true to themselves and who they are.

Quite paralysing then in a way! I might be wrong and not succeed so why do it indeed! Better not taking a decision at all!

Coming up

25/09

Next online Career Fitness Profiler Certification

Join our practionner community! Sign up for our next online cohort starting in September 2023!

Register

What is the Career Fitness Profiler used for?

At the individual level, data can be used for one-on-one conversations or group development interventions such as:

Conducting career dialogues with employees
Individual or group outplacement programs
Coaching young talent in developing clear career visions
Coaching people at a crossroads in their career from a value-driven perspective
Hiring new employees, taking into account organizational needs and culture

Although the instrument applies to beyond outplacement and traditional career guidance, it should never be used for evaluation purposes.

At an organizational level, data can be used as HR analytics to make data-driven policies and interventions such as:

Prevention of stress-related issues and maintenance of employee energy and motivation
Quantitative succession planning in which the individual perspective is included
Guidance and empowerment of employee mobility
Engagement strategy balancing the interests of the organization with those of the employees
Boosting internal mobility

What data is being measured?

This scientifically validated questionnaire offers measures of three contemporary career management frameworks:

Career Values: What drives people in their careers, what motivates them? This model uses 12 subjective career motivators, categorized based on the most influential contemporary motivation theory. They will highlight the conditions to make future career moves a success and pitfalls that the respondent shall be warned about.
Career Attitudes: The attitudes that individuals require to take control of their own career. This involves adaptability, goal orientation, self-initiation, and mobility. They are important predictors of personal career success and enhanced wellbeing.
Energy-stress balance: To what extent does existing work put pressure on your employees? Long-term “over stretching” or “under stretching” of individual capacities are recipes for burnout or motivational challenges.
The Energy-Stress balance provides a snapshot of the current career energy and identifies areas where adjusting pace up or downward will sustain long term performance and energy.

Based on these three models, the Career Fitness Profiler can also make a statement about the general Career Fitness Index of a respondent in the form of a % and three underlying constructs:

Career focus: the extent to which the respondent has a clear career orientation
Career strength: the extent to which the respondent is able to manage their own career
Career energy: the extent to which the respondent has the energy to take their career one step further

What reports are available?

There are four types of reports available that all have a specific objective:

1. Participant’s report: a lot of explanation is given about the concepts used, the specific scores for the respondent are limited. This report is ideal for forwarding before the feedback interview. The respondent can prepare himself by becoming acquainted with the various measured concepts.
2. Participant’s report -detailed: this provides both an explanation of the concepts used and in-depth information about the respondent. This report is intended to go through the feedback conversation with the respondent and to provide it as a reference work after the conversation.
3. Career Fitness Report: This report is the same as the previous one, the Career Fitness metrics are also shown here.
4. Coach report: in this report no explanation is given about the concepts. More extensive information is, however, provided. This report allows the coach to prepare thoroughly for the interview. This report is not intended to be given to the respondent.

It is possible to download the various parts of the report in partial reports. This can be useful should the career guidance practices and processes of the key account require it.

Questionnaire and reports are available in 4 languages: Dutch, English, French and German.

Data can be reported for all indicators, or separate sub-reports are available to boost your HR analytics for better decisions regarding your personnel policies.

Click here to download a sample report.

Scientific details

The questionnaire has been validated by Dr. Wouter Van Bockhaven and Prof. Dr. Jesse Segers at the University of Antwerp. Here are more scientific details about the 3 sections of the questionnaire.

Career Values

Items and questions: 12 factors in 56 items
1. Personal growth
2. Social drive
3. Need to contribute
4. Intellectual challenge
5. Entrepreneurial ambition
6. Professional autonomy
7. Personal goal attainment
8. Reward and recognition
9. Managerial Ambition
10. Professional stability
11. Work-life balance
12. Self determination

There are 55 possible pitfalls that warn respondents about possible career risks.

Reliability: alpha> 0.755; CR> 0.703
Validity: CFI = 0.925; TLI = 0.914; RMSEA = 0.048
Scoring: STEN
Duration: the session takes an average of 15 minutes

Career attitudes

Items and questions: 4 factors in 26 items
– Adaptability
– Purpose and values
– Pro-activity
– Mobility
Reliability: alpha> 0.655; CR> 0.65
Validity: CFI = 0.966; TLI = 0.933; RMSEA = 0.059
Scoring: STEN
Duration: the session is takes 8 minutes on average

Energy Stress balance

Items and questions: 4 factors in 24 items
– Professional Self-confidence
– Resilience
– Optimism
– Hope
Reliability: Cronbach alfa> 0.645; Composite reliability (Rho)> 0.761
Validity: CFI = 0.977; TLI = 0.968; RMSEA = 0.031
Scoring: STEN
Duration: the session takes an average of 7 minutes

The three areas of focus can be used together or separately.

Jolanda Schilt | Training Advisor and Career Coach

As far as I am concerned, this tool is indispensable in a career path. It provides insight into:
Do you know what you want?
Are you getting what you want?
How is your energy level?
This combination gives participants an insight into where they stand in their careers and what they need to do to take the next step.

Check all stories

Do you want more information?

Contact us

“CHOOSING has become the dilemma we face repeatedly throughout our working lives”

Many of our coaching clients come to us when they face career choices. They are sometimes paralysed about making the right choice, confused about the various options, or afraid of leaving behind well-known contexts.

The famous question: “where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?” becomes a big white page with many question marks:

Will this work for me?
What will others think about it?
Will I succeed?
What if I fail? What if this is the wrong choice?
Am I closing doors here?

It also opens up the floor to many “should” stories in their heads of how a career should be, how they should behave, what skills they should have, what they should have achieved at this stage… that are setting a bar that might not be true to themselves and who they are.

Quite paralysing then in a way! I might be wrong and not succeed so why do it indeed! Better not taking a decision at all!

“CHOOSING has become the dilemma we face repeatedly throughout our working lives”

Many of our coaching clients come to us when they face career choices. They are sometimes paralysed about making the right choice, confused about the various options, or afraid of leaving behind well-known contexts.

The famous question: “where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?” becomes a big white page with many question marks:

Will this work for me?
What will others think about it?
Will I succeed?
What if I fail? What if this is the wrong choice?
Am I closing doors here?

It also opens up the floor to many “should” stories in their heads of how a career should be, how they should behave, what skills they should have, what they should have achieved at this stage… that are setting a bar that might not be true to themselves and who they are.

Quite paralysing then in a way! I might be wrong and not succeed so why do it indeed! Better not taking a decision at all!

Partner with us

We are a scalable Business. We can face both local time-limited projects and worldwide ones impacting several hundreds of people. We are always looking for certified career coaches to expand our international team, check if our story inspires yours, and if our services match your strengths, and reach out!

“CHOOSING has become the dilemma we face repeatedly throughout our working lives”

Many of our coaching clients come to us when they face career choices. They are sometimes paralysed about making the right choice, confused about the various options, or afraid of leaving behind well-known contexts.

The famous question: “where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?” becomes a big white page with many question marks:

Will this work for me?
What will others think about it?
Will I succeed?
What if I fail? What if this is the wrong choice?
Am I closing doors here?

It also opens up the floor to many “should” stories in their heads of how a career should be, how they should behave, what skills they should have, what they should have achieved at this stage… that are setting a bar that might not be true to themselves and who they are.

Quite paralysing then in a way! I might be wrong and not succeed so why do it indeed! Better not taking a decision at all!

Do you get it?

Please consider the next four (out of sixteen possible career types) When the body part is dark, the person has the career attitude it represents. When the body part is light-colored, this person might want to start developing that body part. What kind of career behavior do you think these types will show and what risks do you see? Can they help themselves to career success?

Written by Lesley Vanleke, Zest Academy Partner TalentLogiQs

Thriving: the new buzzword?

Thriving: the new buzzword?

What are we talking about…

“the psychological state in which individuals experience both a sense of vitality and a sense of learning at work”

So, what factors allow one to thrive?

So what?

and what else?

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