​​If you are currently looking for work, what are your expectations for your next job? If you find yourself weighted down from the pressure of the past year, here’s how to start making progress and expect more in your job search as you look ahead in 2022.Seek Out a SponsorYou don’t need to go it alone –– look for help in your next steps. According to ManpowerGroup research, women are more likely to say that relationships rather than overt self-promotion will help them get ahead. In this regard, women can be helped through sponsors or those in higher levels who move beyond mentorship and actively help promote female colleagues. Find someone who can help boost you up, and you can do the same for others.Recognize Your Transferable SkillsIf you’ve been out of work, if may feel like you are falling behind on your skills. In fact, you may be practicing transferrable skills that help in the next role. If you find yourself teaching from home or volunteering, these are skills that you can bring up in a job interview that shows your continued growth. Of all transferable skills, learnability is the foundation. Learnability is the desire and ability to continually learn and grow throughout careers, and it still applies even –– and sometimes especially –– outside of work.Gain an Outside PerspectiveYou may feel like you know yourself better than anyone else, but you’re not necessarily the most objective evaluator of your own skills. Instead, you can hire a professional skill or personality assessment and leverage the results to identify your strengths. Similarly, you can find a career coach to help you better understand your value to employers. Finally, ask a mentor, coach trusted friend to provide you with feedback on your progress and what steps you need to take next.Don’t Get DiscouragedIn any job search, setbacks are inevitable. Expect that to happen, and don’t get discouraged when it does. Psychologists demonstrate that Three P’s can stunt recovery: Thinking a “failure” is personal (“It’s my fault”), pervasive (“I’m unqualified for any role”) and permanent (“I’ll never find a job.”) If you find these thoughts creeping in, reframe and view it from another perspective – it’s just a single job, it wasn’t the right fit this time, and the right job is still out there. Don’t give up, and keep expecting more.​Remembering where your true talent lies will help nurture and grow where you have the most potential, and where you can thrive. Keep using your goals as a north star even in the face of setbacks, and your next step could land the perfect fit. ​

​​The chronic stress of facing uncertainty day after day is taking a mental toll, and 2020 is set to be one of the most stressful years in history. Workers are suffering from burnout and loneliness as they manage remote work, affecting morale and productivity. In fact, a recent survey by Oracle found that the pandemic has propelled workplace stress, anxiety and burnout.  ManpowerGroup Chief Talent Scientist, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, shares his top leadership tips around how managers can better support their teams. Check-in regularly with the teamMake an effort to schedule time in your colleague’s schedules that includes time for asking “how are you feeling?” A 21st-century leader needs to act as an employee coach and be willing to proactively reach out to employees to check on their emotional well-being. “A leader needs to act as an employee coach and be willing to have open and honest conversations where they can check in with their employees to see what their stress levels are and help support them manage these.”Be aware of manager stress levels Self-awareness helps managers understand how their own stress levels can impact the team. When someone is stressed, they tend to focus on themselves and are unable to care for or support others. Managers need to see themselves in the eyes of others, so to help grow self-awareness, make it easier for the team to provide managers with constructive feedback in a structured way.Practice self-care outside of workSleep well, eat well and exercise. If managers put their own well-being at the center of their daily routine, it will not only help manage their own stress levels but better support the team and their struggles during this pandemic. The goal should be not eliminating stress, but learning how to manage it with a balanced and supported environment. “And while it’s important to have a solid culture, creating a totally stress-free environment with no problems won’t help build a resilient team,” Chamorro-Premuzic said. The silver lining is that stress itself isn’t the enemy, if understood and managed effectively. As Chamorro-Premuzic said, “Some people see stress as a negative, but actually it can lead to many successes. In the workplace, resilience is often built through some form of stress or hardship.” In 2020, this rule is being put to the test like no other time in recent history, but it can be used to come together as stronger teams in the future.​

​Across the globe, every workforce has been affected by the changing working conditions in a pandemic. Workers on the front lines face real physical health concerns, while remote workers face isolation that can lead to mental health challenges and burnout. In response, organizations have learned how to cope and adapt to help their employees. According to a new report from the World Economic Forum, business leaders can care for the health and wellbeing of employees as we start the new year in the following ways. Adapting to the expansion of remote work The future of work has already arrived for a majority of the online white-collar workforce. Eighty-four percent of employers are set to rapidly digitalize working processes, including a significant expansion of remote work—with the potential to move 44% of their workforce to operate remotely. To address concerns about employee well-being, 34% of leaders report that they are taking steps to create a sense of community among employees online and also looking to tackle other challenges posed by the shift to remote work.[1]Providing upskilling and technology mastery Developing and enhancing human skills drives economic success, individual wellbeing and societal cohesion. That said, the past decade of technological advancement has also brought about the looming possibility of mass job displacement by technologies. What is needed is a revolution in education, and in continually training the workforce for transitions. The coming decade will require purposeful leadership to fulfill human potential, which leads to a confident and productive workforce.Creating frameworks for human capital Over time, a business may lose sight of just how valuable employees are to the organization, so the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum recommends creating a set of metrics and framework to track the value of human capital. A successful workforce investment strategy includes identifying workers being displaced from their roles, managing the displacement, funding reskilling and upskilling, motivating employee engagement in this process and tracking the long-term success of such transitions.Ultimately, the World Economic Forum asserts that “no firm can prosper for long if it proves damaging to the social fabric around it.” In a time of extraordinary challenges, the success of a workforce is the success of the organization.​1.The Future of Jobs Report 2020, World Economic Forum​

​​Moving from college to the workplace traditionally requires major adjustments, including acquiring new skills on the job and learning to balance independent projects. Right now, economic and public health uncertainty only adds to the stress on college graduates. But stepping back, slowing down and taking concrete steps can help mitigate anxieties and improve your outlook. Here are ways to help navigate the unchartered waters. ​Build a mentor relationship In college, students can easily stop by a professor’s office hours or book an appointment with your academic advisor or job counselor. The same principles of mentorship are just as important to getting started in the workplace. After you graduate, you have to be more proactive about securing your own mentor. Having a mentor will enable you to learn what employers expect from new grads and you can use the information to make yourself job ready, and also help find new opportunities in sectors that are hiring. ​Take a skills inventory Does your resume reflect all that you are capable of accomplishing? Make sure that you reflect not just your majo