New year, new you: How to revamp your professional goals

12/21/2015

As 2015 comes to a close, many of us find ourselves reflecting on the year's accomplishments in our work and personal lives. Regardless of whether your company requires a year-end performance review, you can benefit from taking a personal pledge to revamp your professional goals for 2016.

We've compiled a set of tips for taking your career to the next level in the upcoming year from Dr. Carla Patalano, Professor and Program Chair of the Master of Business Administration and Master of Human Resource Management programs.

Building your goals

Here are some simple steps to follow to build your professional goals in 2016:

Create tangible, well-defined goals. Recognize that these goals could change as situations arise throughout the year. Setting measurable goals makes it easier for you to see areas in which you would like to improve.
Run your goals by someone within your organization or another organization in a similar industry.
Form a relationship with a co-worker who can act as a professional sounding board. This will help you hold yourself accountable to your objectives, which will benefit your career in the short-term and long-term.
Sit down with your boss to discuss your goals and theirs. This way, you'll gain a new perspective when setting your own goals, and you will communicate to your boss that you're interested in supporting his or her efforts to improve the organization's performance.

Building your skill set

According to Patalano, taking time to build your skill set and education is another valuable way to improve your performance in 2016, and improving your education doesn't have to mean investing in an entire degree program. Busy professionals can benefit from enrolling in a certificate program offered at New England College of Business, such as the graduate certificate in financial management, or by taking one class to get ahead. Students can also accelerate their learning by enrolling in the fast-track program, which allows them to complete their bachelor's and master's in five years or less.

“Taking a single class or working toward a new certificate is always a great way to spend your time,” Patalano says. “You can't get your time back, so use it to your advantage.”

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