Now, more than ever before, employees must develop and demonstrate PCBs. Okay, let me put you out of your misery. ‘PCBs’ are Proactive Career Behaviours. “PCBs refer to the deliberate actions of individuals to realise and achieve their career goals” (Claes & Ruiz-Quintanilla,1998). It includes initiatives and activities to further one’s career within the organisation, such as setting goals, exploring options, developing skills and abilities, and building interpersonal networks (Claes & Ruiz-Quintanilla, 1998).
‘Proactive behaviour’ refers to individuals' anticipatory actions to impact themselves and/or their environments (Parker, Williams, & Turner, 2006). Proactiveness is conceived of as a process that can be applied to any set of actions through anticipating, planning, and striving to impact the self or the environment (Grant & Ashford, 2008). The key criterion for identifying proactive behaviour is whether the individual anticipates, plans for, and attempts to create a future outcome that impacts the self or environment (Grant & Ashford, 2008; Parker et al., 2006).
Other terms such as ‘self-career management’, ‘individual career management’ or even ‘career initiative’ have been used to discuss the same concept. Employees who display Proactive Personal Behaviours are the most desirable and attractive during these tough times, and you want to be one of them.
“There appears to be a consensus among academics that proactive career behaviours lead to the attainment of desired career outcomes and to general feelings of career success (e.g. Sturges et al., 2002, 2005). Simply put, research proves that displaying these behaviours makes you more likely to succeed in your career. In these tough times, the gap between those who don’t demonstrate these and those who do can be huge.
Inherent to the notion of the new career is that the individual has the primary responsibility for managing his or her career (Briscoe & Hall, 2006; Hall, 2002). From many studies, two components of proactive career behaviours can be discerned, i.e. a cognitive and a behavioural component (De Vos & Soens, 2008). While the former refers to the insights individuals develop into their career aspirations, the latter refers to the behaviours they initiate to manage their careers.
So, how can you display these PCBs as a survival strategy in the workplace?
· Develop genuine relationships within and without the organisation.
· Take the initiative. Don’t wait for your managers. Go to them and propose solutions.
· Seek feedback after performing tasks and use it.
· Do not shy away from selling your ideas.
· Schedule a development discussion with you and your manager proactively.
· Anticipate the needs of your manager/leaders and meet them before they even know they have them. If you’ve watched the series Suits, be a Donna to Harvey Specter.
Your football-playing career may end if you are a professional footballer and get injured badly. But it doesn’t mean you will never have a football-related career again. You can proactively study and position yourself as a coach, analyst, commentator, stadium manager, sportscaster or sports kit designer. The list is endless.
There are two advantages to this strategy. You already have relationships in that industry and will be involved in an industry you love. Think about your industry. Where do you see opportunities? Is there a way you could position yourself in the part of your industry that is not as affected?
A word of caution. Even if you display proactive career behaviours, some will still refuse to see them. Many people don’t have the eye to see a gift that is about to explode. Don’t blame them. They can’t see what you carry. They can’t see what you see. Stop trying to convince them. Don’t be bitter. Just focus on the work. And whatever you do, don’t stop.
Siphiwe Moyo is a location-agnostic Professional Speaker. He is a Speaker Hall Of Fame & Educator Hall Of Fame Inductee.
www.siphiwemoyo.com
