Worklife guidance is a supporting process to the development process of an individual and indirectly to strengthening of the labour force. The guidance has a limited duration and is brought by experts to support the individual in better understanding and improvement of their development process in the work environment they are in.

 

The development process of an individual is an ongoing process. A person has to deal with the ever changing environment (home, work, volunteer, education, society) and personal changes. Changes in society (globalisation, demography, technology, information, economy) have urged for a more individualistic approach. People claim certain rights and feel more independent, decide more and more about their own life.

 

The process of worklife guidance helps persons to become more aware and improve of their position, their situation, the context they are in and the contribution they can make to the performance in work and life.

In this ever ongoing process the worklife guider offers his/her expertise in making the process, the outside forces and the inside competences more visible to a person. The worklife guidance process contains normally five steps:

1. Attending and planning of the guidance process

2. Exploration

3. Understanding (problem definition, assessment, goal)

4. Intervention (making decisions, solving problem)

5. Finalisation (evaluation, feedback, reporting, terminating the intervention)

The process does not have to be a linear process. It can also go forth and back, for instance when finding out that it is not a right moment or situation to make an intervention, to go back to the exploration step or to wait for the right opportunity. And steps can be done individually or in a group setting.

 

For many companies the labour force is a very important asset. The changes in society and the dynamics in the work environment requires a highly competent team of employees that is able to optimize the output of their work and able to deal with the dynamics in todays’ work and work in the future.

To get in contact with the employees in a company, the career counsellor has to show to the directors/manager and convince them of the possibilities of worklife guidance and of the benefits for their company/organization. A career counsellor can become an important (external)  intermediary HR-advisor for a the company. The steps a career counsellor in this respect can take are:

1. Gathering information (e.g. about the company, the environment of the company, ethical issues that may play a role

2. establish contact and build trust

3. negotiations and agreement of a work plan

4. informing employees

5. guidance process with employees (see steps for above)

6. feedback and evaluation

7. Reporting to the management.

 

The following webpages give insight of the steps in the worklife guidance process.