Barry Viénet from Johnson Recruitment explores the questions you should ask yourself before you decide you want to leave your employer

The last thing you want to do when changing organisations is to leave one for another and regret it. With this in mind, how do you ensure that your next move is the right one?

It can be helpful to take a step back and consider why you have decided to explore your career options. There are usually two main reasons:

• Something is lacking in your current organisation e.g. there is little/no career progression opportunities, low/no commitment to professional development
• Something is wrong, for instance your salary is below market rate, a culture of bullying, unreasonable workloads, poor leadership behaviours and so on

It is here that we would encourage you to work out the top 5 attributes that you are seeking from your next organisation, and then use this list to assess opportunities as they arise.

Here is an example  Top 5 and how you can use them to qualify an opportunity:

Under 30 minute commute

This should be an easy one to assess by confirming the location of the company and whether you can get there within 30 minutes by walking, public transport or by driving.

Flexibility

Firstly work out what flexibility means to you. Is it the ability to work your own hours e.g. early start/early finish? Is it being able to work from home where business needs allow for it? Once you know the answer, you can ask the employer whether they can offer you the flexibility you are seeking.

Professional development

This can take many forms such as formal education/qualifications, on the job training, a mentor, or job shadowing. Work out what gaps you have or skills you want to acquire, and find out if your potential employer is able to support and facilitate that.

Structured career path

Knowing that you’re working towards your next step/promotion can be really motivating so ensure that an organisation can provide this for you. Find out about their current team(s), who has progressed their career, what steps were involved and what timeframes applied. Ask if they have a formal succession plan in place for their senior roles.

Positive culture

This can be a tricky one as culture means different things to different people. You can ask your interviewers about how they define and measure the culture of their business which should provide a good insight into their cultural objectives and how closely aligned they are to yours. Make sure to ask about the average tenure of staff as this is a good indicator of how employees feel about working there.

In summary

• Consider what is working and what is not in your current role and organisation
• Make your ‘Top 5’ list of attributes that you are seeking
• Do your research and ask questions to qualify whether a prospective employer is a strong match

A good recruitment consultant will be able to give you a detailed overview of an organisation and answer any questions you may have, which can of course expedite the qualification process. The recruiter can also provide you with a list of businesses known to them that tick your Top 5 boxes, and could develop a reverse marketing strategy or make a strategic introduction to them on your behalf.

This post was first published on the Johnson Recruitment website.