Developing a 4-Year Plan This Leap Year

By: Express Employment Professionals

At the beginning of the year, businesses are working on their strategic plans and refining their goals. They are evaluating both short- and long-term goals and where they want to be in the future. In the spirit of leap year 2016, it might be a good time for you to develop a four-year plan.

A Look at the 2020 Workplace
A leap year occurs every four years because an extra day is added to the calendar in February to keep it aligned with Earth’s revolutions around the sun. By the time we experience the next leap year in 2020, the opportunities for advancing your career are endless.

There is no better time than the present to start planning what you want to accomplish by 2020. And to help you with career choices, here’s an overview of what the employment landscape will look like by the next leap year. The workplace will be more mobile and flexible, with more than 7.6 million people working in on-demand jobs, according to a study by Intuit Inc. and Emergent Research.

write-593333_640An article from U.S. News and World Report indicates that fields more likely to flourish in 2020 range from data crunching to computer engineering to management and finance. Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects an increase in employment by 14% during the 2010–2020 decade. By 2020, more than half a million new jobs are expected for registered nurses, retail salespersons, home health aides, and personal care aides. The BLS expects the fastest growth to be among healthcare, personal care, and community and social service occupations.

Althoug
h the World Economic Forum, through its report on “The Future of Jobs,” states that five million jobs will be replaced by robots in 2020, there is still great opportunity for honing one’s skills in technology and automation.

Questions to Get You Started on Goal Setting

Knowing where the jobs are is only part of developing a plan. You will need to establish goals to guide you if you want to be successful. However, if you don’t know where to start developing your goals, here are a few questions to consider asking yourself:

  • Where am I now in my career or education?
  • How well do I know my job?
  • Where do I want to be in four years?
  • How will I get there?

Developing S.M.A.R.T. Goals for Your 4-Year Plan
Now that you have an idea of where you want to be in four years, it’s time to develop specific goals to get you there. Numerous businesses use the concept of SMART Goals and encourage their employees to use them for personal development. These are goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and possess a time-frame.

  • “S” means the goal is Specific. It should answer the question, “Where am I going and how will I know when I get there?” It qualifies or quantifies so that there is no room for misunderstanding.
  • “M” means that there is a quantifiable way of Measuring the goal. Some examples of measurement may include: time, percentage, quality, money, or quantity.
  • “A” means that the goal can be Accomplished and that you have control over the outcome.
  • “R” means that the goal is Relevant to the person creating the goals. It should be meaningful and relevant to your current growth and development.
  • “T” means that the goal is bound by Time. It determines when the goal will be completed and includes checkpoints or milestones along the way. In this case, the deadline for completion is February 2020.

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