In my article, I want to point out how important it is to pay attention to the impact of having the right operational environment when in a career/job change process.
Career planning, career change and job search are always challenging. In a career change situation, you think about why you want to change jobs, your professional expertise and potential, and what you want to do next. You then fine-tune your cover letter and CV, develop, and polish your “story” and interview questions, and check for interesting jobs to appear on your radar. In a situation like this, one tries to present oneself favourably. However, if you focus too much on just saying, “What an excellent candidate I am”, and if your interest is focused only on the target position, there is a risk that you may overlook the rest of the company’s operational environment.
In my work as a Headhunter, I met several business leaders who, when entering their new job, sowed the seeds of failure by entering the wrong operational environment, which they should have understood in advance not to do. The higher you want to go in the organisation, the more important a good understanding of the operational environment becomes for a successful job change. The less attention you pay to this issue, the greater the risk of accidentally getting into a company or job where you don’t feel comfortable or can’t cope.
The concept of “wrong operational environment” does not always mean something is wrong with the environment or the person who went there and didn’t make it. The fact is, not all operational environments are suitable for everyone. The pieces of the puzzle just don’t fit together. And it’s foolish to risk making a career move that may be doomed to failure just because you didn’t check the operational environment well enough beforehand.
What do I mean by operational environment?
If you are an executive-level business leader, the operational environment includes all external and internal factors relating to your company’s business activity. That influences your business decisions and has the potential to advance or hinder the company’s success (as well as your own). Below is how I see the operational environment.
In the big picture, I mean the business world in general, its structures, business practices, technologies, trends, business cycles, market factors, customers, suppliers, and competitors, political factors, also factors like COVID and global warming etc. and how they impact on a company’s business activity. On the company level, things like ownership structure, strategy, targets, success factors, profitability, market position, and employee turnover. Values, corporate culture, leadership style, personal chemistry, business tempo, decision-making praxis, and business views are also essential parts of the internal operational environment. Sometimes, it is also worth getting more broadly acquainted with the different functions of a company – instead of only focusing on the job/function you are interested in. When you, e.g. are considering the position of Sales Director of products manufactured by the company itself, you should, in addition to checking out the Sales Director job, at minimum, find out how production, marketing, customer service, supply chain and financial performance monitoring functions, and also what kind of people manage these functions.
For me, the operational environment is a broad concept. How this is seen probably varies a lot from person to person. Everyone must, therefore, figure out what factors in the operational environment they feel are essential for them in their career/job change process. No one should do this carelessly. Sometimes, when you really want a particular job, things like a well-known company, a great brand, and a great title, combined with a good salary, may reduce the questions you may have wanted to ask, the factors you may have wanted to check, because you don’t want to seem a too difficult a person and thus ruin your chances of being selected. Then, chances are that soon after you start your job, something so disturbing may come up that if you had known this in advance, you would have said no thanks for this job. I think quite a few people may know someone for whom this has happened.
When I have presented company target lists to people, I have noticed surprising gaps in the general knowledge of the business world, even at the executive management level. Well-known brands and company names are pretty well known, but understanding what a company actually does can be surprisingly limited, even if the company is well-known. Many small companies (this concerns Finland) have undergone major changes in recent years and grown significantly, with today a turnover up to 500–1,000 million €, but are still seen as they were 3–5 years ago. A kind of illiteracy in the business world. We think we know, but this is not the case when you ask more precisely. I believe it is important for every business leader to have a good general knowledge of the business world. After all, we are talking about their operational environment. Otherwise, various market signals may be overlooked, and suddenly, out of the blue, comes a new competitor, technology, product, or some other change that takes away his customers. On a personal level, a good knowledge of the business world increases career options when that time comes.
It is individual in what kind of issues each person has gaps in their knowledge, or what should be checked when changing jobs. However, I don’t think the problem is that people don’t want to check things. This would probably be fairly easy for most people. I believe people just do not recognise the impact and importance of the operational environment for a successful career/job change. Therefore, they do not pay sufficient attention to this.
Not everyone is an extraordinarily talented top performer who just lets the Headhunter know when the time has come for a new challenge and then leans back in their chair waiting for suitable proposals. For most of us, a successful job change requires a clear goal and a thorough, well-thought-out and executed plan. This plan should always include a sufficient analysis of the operational environment of the target positions/companies we are interested in. We must ensure we have a good enough understanding of all relevant factors impacting our success in our target job. Without these analyses, we may not always correctly perceive what kind of operational environment or job we fit into and where we can be successful. When so, our career change planning process may not be as valuable as we think. Chances are, it may even be contradictory to a successful career move.
Everyone has their background and starting situation, but most of us probably have a pretty good understanding of what a career change and job search process is about. However, when we are in a career change situation, either voluntarily on our own initiative or out of necessity, because we have lost our job, suddenly things are not always as obvious and easy as they seemed before. If we suddenly become unemployed, perhaps even more so. Even if we think we know all the right questions, we may be unsure of the answers. In reality, I guess we don’t always know all the questions, let alone the answers, many of whom, I believe, relate to the operational environment.
Even if you are an experienced business leader, sometimes what is easy for you, even obvious, can be surprisingly difficult for someone else and vice versa – sometimes, what might feel like an opportunity for another person can be a problem for you and vice versa. What is complicated, easy, obvious, unclear, essential, or irrelevant is always individual. Sometimes, things are left unexplored by you because they seem so obvious to you – sometimes, you assume everyone already knows this; therefore, you don’t dare to ask even if you would like to. I think both options are bad. If the matter is important, which is always the case when changing jobs, it is always worth double-checking all the essential things. If, on the other hand, you don’t know but don’t dare to ask something, even if you would like to, it is an even worse option.
Operational environment factors like technology, social media, and artificial intelligence nowadays add their spice also to executive-level career changes and job searches. Automated recruiting processes, systems, channels, databases, etc., are routine in the recruitment market. If you are not entirely on the map here, it is worth familiarising yourself with these things if you want to operate effectively in the executive-level job market. Especially if it has been a long time since you last changed jobs, the tech-savvy younger generation has a skill advantage in these matters, which should not be underestimated if you belong to an older generation.
Most people tend to focus timewise and attentionwise on their job and area of responsibility. But no company is a one-person show. In a successful company, everyone must know their job, and different functions and people must work together. This applies to all jobs and positions but is particularly important in management team positions. Should you consider moving to a management team position, you should always check the background, professional competence, atmosphere, dynamics, and the working and decision-making methods of the members of the management team—essential dimensions in your operational environment.
In summary, a successful business leader must have a good knowledge of the business world and how companies work, understand the goals and motivation of the company’s different functions, and know how to motivate people to achieve their goals. The better you know these factors, the better you can understand the interdependence and significance of different company functions and take this into account in your work – and in your operational environment analyses when the time has come to move to a new job.
When considering your career, it is good to remember that the higher you climb in the organisation’s hierarchy, the fewer career options you will have in the future, and career planning or changing jobs may not always be easier. It’s also worth remembering that it can be challenging at the very top. A rather significant number of CEOs seek new jobs because they are first fired. This seems to be an essential factor in the CEO’s operational environment.