Due diligence process is a two-horse race

We recently pointed out that within the Middle East, career satisfaction is contingent upon company success for without one, you do not get the other. Some of the main issues identified include: external phenomenon such as the effect that regional growth is having within domestic markets often creating turbulence and instability, a driving requirement for re-forming operations to enable competitive sustainability, alignment with protocols such as WTO, internal problems associated with incorrect business form leading to bad hiring decisions and career needs falling short of the mark.

With the regional markets evolving at such a fast pace, it becomes increasingly difficult to establish career datum points and subsequently develop a plan to take you to the next level. In the same way that there is a correlation relating career satisfaction and company success, then so is there a direct relationship between career satisfaction and prevailing market conditions. Two of the major hurdles facing the career individual are critical issues and are outside of their control namely; the hiring environment and company positioning within the market.

As noted in the past, the long-term success of the region is dependent upon securing the right people for the job and once on board, retaining them. Not understanding the difference between a job and a career works against the interest of the individual. If you are in the wrong frame of mind when you go to market, then you are quite likely going to be shaped by some hiring agencies and those companies who do not understand their own requirements. In effect you will become a convenient fit. Long-term, this translates to career disaster and business under-performance.

It is becoming increasingly more difficult for senior executives to develop sustainable, long-term career plans and obtain satisfaction and as a result of this, the region is losing badly needed talent.

If I were to ask you what you understand by the term career position, I wonder what would be the answer. To have career success, it is vital that you know the difference between a career position and a job, because if you don't understand your basic professional need then what chance do you have of managing your campaign? A career position certainly is not a job that has been overdressed with by applying a fanciful and nebulous executive title. Importantly, this will take you nowhere longer-term. There seems to be an increasing problem with misleading job titles that have been conjured up because they sound great and yet only attract the wrong people for the task at hand.

Job titles without any substance behind them are meaningless. For example, a general manager with no signature authority or freedom to make business commitments without recourse to a line-manager, should question their role. This is often a matter of self-deception, for how can you be accountable without the commensurate responsibility.

A true career position is one where the individual works within an environment that nurtures talent by allowing them to grow personally and in a professional capacity. The ethic of the company, nature of the business, company positioning, intellectual rapport with colleagues, business challenge and, pay and working conditions, are all part of the career selection criteria.

Career advancement demands a thorough understanding of the market and the drivers that influence the way the market is moving. One of the main difficulties is that the job arena is amorphous, because the very factors that create opportunity continue to change and are doing so at an increasing pace.

Research is vital to making the right approach to market. You need to understand the benefits that the product on offer will bring to the new employer for you are the product. Where the product fits within the company implies the need to understand the market within which the company is active, including how it is positioned for future growth.

An increasingly difficult proposition has been how to develop a suitable career plan, within an arena that continues to change and with that change the uncertainty it brings. Often, senior management have set an inappropriate company form that is not capable of survival within an aggressive environment. At the very least, this frequently translates to career path disaster, because the new role does not fulfil personal requirements and will not be able to drive the business.

Over the past 18 months the region has drastically transformed to create a trading bloc that will compete with the EU and Asia. Turbulence within the region creates both openings and also throws up career barriers for many expats. Change is needed across the whole of the business process, from company form to recruitment and staff retention.

Getting the business platform wrong has a long-term implication for company and individual and there is a dual responsibility of diligence on both hiring company and job seeker. The savvy company has an obligation to ensure a sensible structure that will deliver business advantage that will keep it healthy and to offer a career oriented working environment. You have a responsibility to yourself, to ensure that this is part of the proposition on offer. Don't assume that all is good just because the other party believes it is so.

- Dubai-based, the writer (CareerPartners@ameinfo.com) is the principal of career management and mentoring specialists Career Partners in the Middle East.