Coinciding with Canada Career Month, CERIC published a series of four articles throughout the month of November exploring the value of career development in The Globe and Mail’s Leadership Lab. As the featured expert, CERIC Board Chair Dr. Candy Ho provided career advice and insights for employers as well as employees at all stages of life.   

How to recruit young millennial and Gen Z workers amid a talent shortage, Nov. 2: In this first article, Ho – who is also inaugural Assistant Professor for Integrative Career and Capstone Learning at the University of the Fraser Valley in BC – addresses the challenges that employers are having with recruiting early career talent at a time of historically low unemployment. Ho advises: “The first shift employers need to make to better engage young talent is to see an individual’s career as more than simply their job or their work.”  

Exit interviews are common, but to really help retention, firms should conduct stay interviews, Nov. 9: The second article in the series examines the opportunity for employer to inform recruitment and retention strategies by undertaking “stay interviews.” As Ho writes: “A stay interview is more than a simple check-in with loyal employees. It’s a career conversation between managers and staff that helps organizations understand their employees’ personal ‘why’: What is keeping them motivated at work and what their employers can do to keep them engaged.” 

Thinking about changing jobs? First, you should develop a career mindset, Nov. 16: In the third article in the series, Ho reflects on the pandemic disruptions of the past 2.5 years and how this had led many people to reflect on where they are, what they want, and what is possible. She counsels the development of a career mindset for individuals to be able to intentionally shape their futures. A career mindset includes: understanding your value, understanding your options, and understanding the winding path of life.  

The lines between professional and personal are blurring – and that can be a good thing, Nov. 23: The fourth and final article in the series argues that given current labour market issues – a skills shortage, an aging workforce and an anticipated recession in 2023 – executives can’t afford to ignore what employees need to thrive, both inside and outside their jobs. “Taking steps to understand what workers need to thrive enables organizations to exhibit empathy and address employees’ needs and challenges at the intersection of their work and life roles.”