Designing your career in the digital age
I realised a dream of mine last year when I spent a day in a design thinking workshop at Stanford’s D.school. Our project was how to attract next generation talent.
On campus I met Parker, a Chemical Engineering student about to graduate. Parker already had a job lined up, not at one of the big pharmaceutical companies, rather with a marketing consultancy.
Parker demonstrated to me how more and more people are defining their own pathways to a successful career. Parker eschewed the well-trodden pathway to career success – become an employee at a large company and work your way up the corporate ladder. Instead Parker chose a path that he sees will provide experiences, opportunities to keep developing, enabling him to make a difference, and a connection on values and purpose.
I was reminded of this when reading Chapter 3 of Rethink Success: Working for success in the digital age, which shows how Australians of all ages are embracing new possibilities in their career. It also shows while work and career are important for Australians when defining success, the top measure is happiness.
I’ve been at NAB for 12 years now. I didn’t set out to join NAB and didn’t expect to stay so long, but what I found at NAB was exactly what Parker went looking for – varied experiences, opportunities to develop, a connection on values and purpose, and able to make a difference. I work now to ensure that others at NAB have that same experience.
People want opportunities to redefine their own success and create their own path. Technology is playing a big role to shape this labour market of the future.
In a time where careers are dynamic, where we are increasingly multi-skilled, where technology has enabled us to create businesses overnight and where we believe that success is in our own hands, large companies need to look differently at how they attract and retain talent.
I believe, like many Australians, that our future success at work depends on ongoing training to help us keep up with technology. Technology is in all roles, not just those who work in IT, and it’s great to see that more Australian businesses are embracing technology to be more flexible and agile to better achieve their success.
I'm proud that NAB fosters a learning culture that gives people opportunities to create their own path.
Our Connecting Women in Technology program is a great example that brings all of this to life. The group was founded in 2014 with an aim of creating sustainable change for gender diversity in technology across four pillars - develop, experience, connect and community. The success is tangible with an increase in women in senior roles from 18-27 per cent, over 300 of our women participating in quarterly forums, and over 1200 participants in our online forums and awards including the NAB Chairman’s Award and the #TechDiversity industry award.
I encourage everyone to read Rethink Success: Working for success in the digital age and reflect on your perception of career success and on what opportunities are there for your taking to make your career fun, fulfilling and meaningful.
