Introduction

Choosing a career pathway is a significant long-life decision requiring careful consideration. Being sure of your aspirations in life can guide you in making the right decision.

Know yourself!

Being in tune with your personality, values, and aspirations can help you unpick your thinking and select a career that suits you. Are you someone who is comfortable with working with groups of people or whose work involves meeting clients and talking to strangers? Or are you someone who prefers to work alone or in the background?

Decide how you prefer to work - whether you are happy to work shift patterns, including night work as well as in a fast-paced environment, or prefer to do meticulous work on long-term projects. For instance, if you are someone who does not like working night shifts, it does not help to try to become a nurse or doctor. While it is understandable that some doctors or nurses do not work nights, as part of your training, you would be expected to work nights.

Reflect on your motivations for a career, such as helping people. Think about jobs that provide platforms for you to thrive as an individual.

Health Status

Think about your health or health challenges that might impact your functioning in a career. Although there are legislations that encourage organisations to consider work adjustments or adaptations for people with certain chronic health issues, at times, it is not that straightforward as your health and safety, as well as that of your colleagues or the public, may outweigh a decision to offer the role you are seeking.

As an individual, consider your health issues and any accompanying functional limitations in light of the tasks you be asked to undertake in a career. If you are unsure, find out more about the inherent tasks of the role. Think about the organisation you are intending to work with; what do you know about the organisation? Are they disability-friendly organisations? What values do they hold about equality and disability?

Earning and Career Progression Potential

Consider the earning potential when choosing a career. A well-rewarded job will ensure that you can support yourself and your loved ones comfortably and thereby reduces the risk of stress.

It is important that money is not the motivating factor for considering a career path. Nevertheless, your earning potential would likely have a big impact on your quality of life.

You can research the earning potential of different careers through websites such as Glassdoor. You could speak to people who already work in the industry to get an idea of what they earn.

Your earning potential ties into career progression. A dead-end career is one that leaves little or no opportunity for progression. This means that no matter how experienced you are in the role, you will always remain on the same level with little or no opportunities for promotion.

Educational Background

Working in certain jobs requires extensive higher education and specialised training. Think about how long you are willing or able to spend in education before starting your chosen career path. Your learning style could help in determining what career pathway is suited to you. For instance, if you enjoy learning in a classroom environment, you may excel in a career that is heavily dependent on academic learning. Whereas, if you prefer to learn through hands-on experience, you might choose to pursue a trade or look for a career with growth opportunities from entry-level positions.

Final Thoughts

Don’t be afraid to set new career goals if your current career is not progressing. Today’s work environment presents various opportunities available. Evaluate your skills and look at the kind of work that will make you happy. Age should not be a barrier to changing your career or retraining for a job offering you the emotional and financial rewards you deserve.

Dr Toyin Adewunmi

Director, Workplace Health Consultant and Coach

Emerald Organisational Health and Wellbeing Solutions

 

Whether your organisation is a small-, medium-sized or large enterprise, the goal of every business is to ensure an optimum level of productivity and profitability. Employees are the key business asset within organisations as they are essential to meeting business goals. This knowledge demands that employees are treated with the highest level of care and protection. While it is understandable that businesses might lack the expertise to ensure the health and well-being of their workforce, there are occupational health specialist provisions to meet this need.

Occupational health is an aspect of medicine that is concerned with the relationship between health and work. Occupational health teams advise and recommend to organisations measures that can be taken to ensure the physical and mental health of their workforce. By utilising relevant workplace, health and safety legislations, they can advise on how to manage any risks in the workplace that are likely to give rise to work-related ill health.

Below are three reasons why organisations should engage the skills of Occupational Health Professionals:

1. Good health benefits businesses and better workplaces have better financial results. Therefore, it is of paramount importance for organisations to engage with workplace specialists, such as occupational health, to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of their workforce as well as minimise the risk of developing occupational diseases or sustaining work-related injury.
2. Soaring sickness absence levels. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), nearly 149 million days were lost to sickness or injury in 2021, an average of 4.6 days per worker. These current statistics show an increase in sickness absence levels in the past decade. Further, the ONS found that the sickness absence rate in the UK in 2021 rose to 2.2%, from a record low of 1.8% in 2020, making it the highest it has been since 2010 when it was also 2.2%. These statistics suggest that most of the improvement made in sickness absence levels over the past decade has been lost.
3. The cost of sickness absence to individuals, businesses and society. The Government’s Black Review of the Health of the working age population highlights that managing sickness absence costs the economy approximately £100bn each year. Evidence also shows that the longer people are off sick, the less likely they are to make a successful return to work. There is only a 50 per cent chance of someone making a successful return to work after being off work for six consecutive months.

Final Thoughts

Given the above challenges, it is essential for organisations to develop and monitor their health and wellbeing goals for their workforce. Having explicit business goals is not enough, a good business should also develop its health and well-being goals for its workforce in order that business goals can be attained. Occupational Health Specialists can help to take this burden off the organisation’s shoulders, meaning that you can continue to focus on business needs while OH manages the health and well-being of your workforce. You use the contact details below to explore the health and wellbeing of your workforce with an OH specialist today.

Dr Toyin Adewunmi

Director and OH Specialist

Emerald Organisational Health & Wellbeing Solution Ltd

E: t.adewunmi@emerald-oh.co.uk

W: emerald-oh.co.uk