Executive Grapevine, November 2005

Betty Thayer is Chief Executive of exec-appointments.com.

As the HR Director in a large company, or a top headhunter, you will often be face-to-face with a senior executive who needs to ‘transition’ out of his/her current company but does not necessarily want another full-time role. What advice can you give? Where can they go to find the resources they need?

In the 1980s Charles Handy, management guru, predicted that people would want to move to a ‘portfolio’ way of working, incorporating paid and unpaid work into a more demanding, but more fulfilling career.

Our research, conducted with IDDAS, suggests that high-earners want more out of their career, with a staggering 97% ranking at least one aspect of life as more important than financial reward. The high-ranking factors include career satisfaction, family life and job enjoyment. In fact, money came first for only 3% of these high-earning individuals.

It is a sentiment backed up by Handy, who said: "I think the search for meaning applies to individuals and to institutions. We're all looking for why we do the work we do. It was easy in the past -- we were doing it because we needed the money to live. Now it's clear that money - for many people and institutions - is more symbolic than real. We generate more wealth than we really need to live on. And money becomes a rather crude measure of success. We're looking for something more."

Professor Cary Cooper, from the Manchester School of Management, concurs with the idea of a change to the working landscape.

"Increasingly people are looking for more quality in their working life. They are seeking a match between their own personality and the personality of their job. They are looking for a system that enables them to enjoy their work, be challenged by their role, and have enough flexibility to enjoy greater control of their lives."

Back

Our research suggests that more and more people are taking on, or would welcome a portfolio career. 70% of those surveyed are inclined to portfolio working. As the workplace becomes more global in nature, traditional ‘word of mouth’ networking becomes less and less effective. The internet is becoming the place where people connect.

Sites like exec-appointments.com provide a risk-free, confidential and uncomplicated way to start to explore new opportunities. Since we started we have offered executives the opportunity to explore full-time, Non-Executive, part-time, interim, contract and self-employed roles.

So when an executive asks the question, "What do I do next?" you can recommend going to the internet - without hesitation.

Reprinted from Executive Grapevine, November 2005