Case Study - Claire

Claire (not her real name) worked as a middle manager in a large organisation. She decided to undertake a Career Check when her application for a more senior role in her department was turned down despite her long service

Her recent history had been fairly traumatic with a breakdown in her relationship and some chronic health problems but she felt she had recovered from all of these issues and was ready to move onwards (and upwards). The inventories deployed in the Career Check helped her to re establish her own view of her areas of strength and to pin down where she wanted to go with her life now that she was free to make some significant changes. More importantly it helped her to clarify her areas of weakness and, through the feedback section, to clarify others’ in the organisation’s perception of her. Her recent problems had undermined her self-confidence and this had lead to an over assertiveness on her part. This tactic was interpreted by more senior individuals as aggressive behaviour and therefore making her not appropriate for more senior managerial roles.

Identifying her strengths and preferences helped to balance her own view of her self and she gained greater confidence. The internal view of her was more difficult to change although she moderated her behaviour, some progress was made but she determined the future would have to be outside of the organisation. The analysis she had done of her responsibilities and (more importantly) her achievements helped her to structure her job applications appropriately. Her redeveloped confidence helped her to put a good case to the recruiters and she found a new job appropriate to her personal development plan in a short period of time.

The organisation gained an opportunity to review the structure of the department and to undertake other promotions and manpower planning activities, gaining time to do this because Claire was prepared to work out her full three months notice.  It is clear that Claire having undertaken the Career Check process brought considerable benefits to her and to the organisation