Counselling sessions can lead to employees deciding it's time to change jobs by Virginia Matthews. Most career counselling workshops organised by employers are intended to increase staff motivation but according to SKAI Associates, a leading business counselling specialist, employers should anticipate at least some members of staff deciding to leave after attending a course. SKAI director Kate Lidbetter believes that, in the long run, dissatisfied or frustrated senior staff are better off leaving and sometimes the issues raised within a counselling session are so life-changing that for some of the participants, a new career path is the only sensible option. Sunday Business quotes the case of a 36-year-old employee development manager who - within weeks of attending a course - had left to set up her own business. But Lidbetter believes that, even if the employers risk losing their highest-flyers, the overall benefits are still unarguable. Intensive career development sessions can persuade the "temporarily jaded" that they are best off where they are and for most staff, career counselling focuses the mind more sharply and results in more, not less, commitment.

back to press articles