All people are different and so are the forms of coaching that the consultants of Puls insert. Getting to the heart of the matter in an alternative way, thinking differently than the standard, delivering tailor-made solutions and responding to the needs of the employee, that is our way of working. This is how we put the employee first. In this article, we describe our experiences with offering creative assignments to employees, a number of examples of assignments and the vision of employees on these creative assignments.

Creativity in career counseling

What do we mean by creativity in career counseling? Researchers Hamply and Bomford answer this question. Creative ways of career counseling can include using metaphors, visualization, research, role-playing, mindfulness, drawing and digital tools (Hambly & Bomford, 2018).

Looking at things differently with creativity

A creative assignment during a career program is an assignment that allows you to consciously and concretely visualize what is important to you in your career. As consultants, we find that you learn more about yourself through creative assignments. By asking questions, you find out who someone is, what he or she can do and where they want to go. The moment you let yourself be inspired by images, shapes, colors and other input from outside, you get ideas that you could not have thought of yourself. In this way you can open yourself up to unexpected, unknown insights, goals and possibilities.

Marian (childcare worker): "While working on creative assignments you are concentrated on one subject for a longer period of time, because of this you get to know very well how you feel about it. So you get a better understanding of what suits you and what doesn't. You can also put your own spin on it."

Employees are focused longer and remember insights and goals better. We translate them into practice and go deeper. The employee experiences that he or she is central and takes action as a result.

Michael (logistics employee): "The drawing exercise visualized my career. This made me think about it differently. It helped me visualize what I actually wanted, as this is something I normally have a lot of trouble with."

Creative ways of coaching

Examples of creative ways of coaching:

• Visualize your dream career with a mood board.
• Create your own video resume.
• Visualize the steps to your dream job in a drawing.
• Create a creative resume with new templates, colors and symbols.
• Train the job interview by role-playing between consultant and employee.

Dennis (employee in process engineering): "For me, the creative assignments were effective because they were set up in an approachable way. I often find it difficult to express myself with words. With the creative assignments, I can express myself better and I can make my feelings visible. I also sometimes encountered myself in assignments where I had to step out of my comfort zone, but once I found my bearings it felt like a victory!"

A people-oriented and decisive approach with a creative twist. By focusing on the employee, positive coaching and talent development, there is more confidence in a workable and employable future!

Learn more

Are you curious about the ways in which Puls can help employees even more? Then take a look at our services. We look for the best match between work and employee.