The Towards Successful Seniority® group method has been developed to promote the career management, expertise and mental well-being of employees and supervisors in today’s rapidly changing world of work.
The method increases participants’ opportunities to discover successful career-related solutions and strengthens their ability to cope with potential setbacks.
The goals of the Towards Successful Seniority® group method are to
- develop career management skills
- develop change management skills
- encourage participants to plan career-related goals and solutions
- promote mental well-being and the continuation of one’s career
- prevent burn-out and depression
- prevent early retirement, especially due to work-related mental problems
- reinforce lifelong learning
- help people successfully carry out their work
- act as a tool for people in charge of matters related to the maintenance and development of occupational health and human resources.
The Towards Successful Seniority® group method is a tool designed to be shared by HR management and occupational health services. Its guided team- work and implementation at workplaces offers opportunities for actors to share information, for example, when anticipating the impact of organizational changes on human resources and in needs assessments.
The programme offers participants the opportunity to learn about the role of the workplace in maintaining occupational health and work ability, in facilitating work arrangements and in participants’ career planning. It also offers guidance in directing the participant to other health services if necessary. Plans made during the group process can be used during performance appraisals to support career-related issues, self-development and well-being at work.
According to the tailored programme, group work begins by examining the participants’ career goals and identifying their personal strengths. At the end of the programme, every participant compiles an action plan to promote their own career management and well-being in the immediate future.
The goal is that the participants make an action plan that has concrete stages and that they commit themselves to carrying it out.
The career is seen as a process in which it is possible to rise to the challenges of changing situations through, for example, training and learning. During the programme, participants learn about the idea of lifelong learning, identify their own ways of learning and their development needs, and set their own development tasks. In addition to learning throughout one’s life, the concept of lifelong learning also means learning across one’s life: that is, skills and knowledge learned in different environments can be transferred and adapted to new situations.
In this programme we pay attention to change management and setbacks at work. Research results show that preparing for setbacks can prevent depression connected to career problems. When participants prepare for potential problems in advance, they are able to act constructively even when their original plans are not realized. Preparing for setbacks helps us see changes as opportunities. To help people prepare for difficulties, we have chosen problems related to burn-out as examples in this programme.
We also seek solutions for promoting a balance both between work and rest and between work and leisure time in a way that will improve people’s life control and overall well-being. Because self-fulfillment and the realization of our own goals boost our well-being, work can, at its best, be a significant resource for this.