Well, this is it! For the first time in more than a decade, a Labour government is leading the UK. Whether it’s the result you had been hoping for or not, the impacts of this change will undoubtedly follow for both the positive and negative, regardless of your political leaning.

Change is not always welcomed, especially when it’s a change into the unknown. From my perspective as an observer and advisor of careers, this has undoubtedly changed as in recent years; the trend in career longevity has seen a definite shift away from settling into roles for many years to moving between roles every 1-2 years in a post – not necessarily changing your employer. Whilst potentially being considered as examples of ‘flightiness’ or lack of commitment, this can equally be viewed by both the employee and employer as keeping things fresh and challenging, allowing for new ideas and innovation.

Pushing oneself to adopt new roles has proven to improve knowledge, flexibility and broaden skill sets in shorter timescales; it increases confidence in individuals to challenge the accepted norms; and it builds new networks of colleagues, therefore fostering the opportunities for more idea generation for the business to leverage.

This isn’t to suggest that there is no benefit to holding firm in a role to not only consolidate and embed knowledge, but on occasion to support the needs of the business and those around you. As often quoted, “there is no I in team” and for your own wellbeing and career enjoyment, you must remember your success is often dependent upon the team around you. However, change comes in many formats and often, the best form of change is positive progression, bear in mind that is not always a promotion or financial uplift. So, whilst change for some may be simply moving from company to company, some call upon me to assess whether that is the best option as part of their career journey. It will be interesting to see how the Labour leadership embrace their new roles the change has presented. However, I do hope there is not too much in the way of musical chairs in the Cabinet room in the short term!

We here at ABPM are experts at providing sober and informed career advice. We are on hand to support you navigate all the twists and turns in your career journey and look forward to hearing from you soon to see how we can help you.

 

Rej Abraham, Sarah Torrington, Matt Byrne, Alex Handford