What’s the Connection Between Career Building and High Performing Teams?

The title of this article asks the question about the connection between career building and high performing teams. Here’s the answer, in a word, everything. Some may think of building one’s career as an egotistical endeavor as in the old trifecta of power, prestige, and profit. However, career building is important for both the organization and employees. Here’s why.

Personal Career Building

Many people do not realize the value of building a career over just having a j.o.b. Some of your employees prefer to go to work, do their job, no more, no less, go home at the end of the day, leave everything about the job at the job, rinse, and repeat. Isn’t doing your job, not causing trouble, and feeding your family a noble endeavor? Indeed, it is. There’s a significant difference between just having a job and having a career and that that building a career can provide greater benefits for both you and your family.

• Building a career allows you to make greater contributions to both your employer and your family.
• You take on greater responsibility and have a greater feeling of accomplishment.
• In terms of money, yes you will make more because of taking on that greater responsibility. As a result, you and your family have a more comfortable life.
• Having more income not only supplies plenty of money to pay bills, but also disposable income, and more money to contribute to charities and to help those in need.
• In terms of prestige, this may or may not be important to you. However, when you have a career, you have greater visibility and are in a better position to be a role model for many rather than just a few.
• In terms of power, that is the control you have over both your professional and personal life. And yes, you are in a better position to solve more complex problems and make more impactful decisions for you, your organization, and the community.

There are certainly obvious benefits to have a job, there is no doubt about it. However, building a career provides more benefits. Yes, the responsibilities are greater, but that is the price we all enjoy for being willing to step up to the plate.

Organization Career Building

While everyone has the responsibility for his or her own career, aiding, pathways, and tools can provide an important pay off for the employee, the organization, your customers, and the community.

• Career building programs don’t have to be expensive. There is a plethora of programs online, books, white papers, and even people who will come in and do a Lunch and Learn program at no cost.
• Career building programs help keep employees engaged. Employees who are engaged, have greater retention records helping to reduce turnover costs
• People whose careers you help build are perfect additions to your succession planning goals.
• Offering career building to new hires helps you attract more dedicated and ambitions employees.
• The more resolute and engaged your employees are, the better they will serve customers and clients.
• People with meaningful careers have a better ability to see the big picture and understand how to better serve the community. this means both your internal community and the community in which your business “resides.”
• Career builders have a better perspective of where they fit into the organization and the importance of the role they play in business growth.

The “bonus” to career building is that high performance team members embody the characteristics that career builders learn as they build their careers. Therefore, the connection between high performing teams and career builders is an important one for individual employees, building high performing teams, your organization, your customers, your community, and your bottom line. What’s in your career building program?

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