En ce moment, à cause d'une grande restructuration à tous les niveaux, il y a un climat d'incertitude et de démotivation qui est encore plus marquant que d'habitude. Je sens cette ambiance autour de moi, et comme moi même je me retrouve dans un carrefour où je me remets en question, il ne faut pas que je cède à cette ambiance car elle me mine. J'ai besoin de garder mon énergie pour construire des projets plus enrichissants.

Je me rends compte qu'au niveau travail, la démotivation vient quand les personnes ne sentent pas qu'ils apportent une plus value. Quand la personne se sent non nécessaire, si elle sent qu'elle ne sert à rien tout simplement.

Alors notre première réaction est de chercher un responsable, généralment la DRH, notre responsable direct qui n'a pas su animer l'équipe, qui n'a pas su donner de la motivation à son équipe. Mais voilà, je pense que j'ai quand même dormi sur mes deux lauriers cette année et demi passée, et il faut que j'aie l'esprit d'un entrepreneur au sein d'une grosse entreprise comme la nôtre.

Le marché devient de plus en plus concurrentiel, et j'ai constaté que la direction cherche des personnes très ambitieuses qui avancent et rejette les autres. Donc à moi de choisir entre les deux clans. Il n'y a plus de milieu possible, soit je décide d'avancer d'un pas très dynamique et assuré soit je m'enfonce. C'est une nouvelle réalité du marché surtout dans notre secteur qui, après dix années d'euphorie est confronté à une concurrence très dure.

Voici 10 conseils donnés par Margarett MILLAN présidente de EWPN, réseau de femmes professionel et européen. J'ai laissé le texte en anglais dans sa version originale afin de ne pas en déformer le contenu:

Getting Heard

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Blow Your Trumpet
There is no point in doing a great job if nobody knows about it. Make sure management and peers know what you have been doing and what you have achieved. Set aside specific blocks of time for communicating. Always have an updated CV. Make sure that when someone types your name on Google, they find some useful - and impressive - information.

Ask for It
Recent research proves what we know instinctively: women in general do not like asking, be it for a raise or a promotion. To quote Margaret Heffernan, "Men apply for a job if they reckon they can do half of it, women apply if they can do it in their sleep." Remember that only "stretch assignments" will make you progress, so step outside of that comfort zone!

Become Bilingual
When a woman is promoted, she may say "Well thanks, I hope I'm up to the job" in a display of modesty. The man listening may well then think "She doesn't seem to think she's up to the job. Did I make a hiring mistake?" We need to get beyond these verbal traps.

Having It All

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Live Life in Chapters
We can have a fascinating professional life and a happy family life. Admittedly, it is hard to do everything at the same time, so set objectives for the different chapters of your life (20s, 30s, 40s.). Then find the company which fits those objectives (See "Having It All").

Choose the Right Company
Some companies clearly understand women's life chapters better than others. Before you accept a job, ask how many women are on the board.

Get a Head Start
Nothing beats operational experience early on. Running part of a business, even if it is a small part, gives experience of a broad set of management skills, from finance and people to marketing and sales. Do it before you have kids, and take the staff job while they are small. You will slip more easily back into line management once they are in school.

Choose Your Husband
Carefully Managing dual careers and kids is like running a start-up. The rewards can be fabulous but every day presents new challenges. Mutual respect, support and common objectives are key.

Getting Ahead

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Aim High
The big jobs may seem scary from below but they are often the most fun (just ask EuropeanPWN's VIP club!). Like our clothes at the beginning of term when we were kids, a big job is something you just grow into. There are so few women role models in the business press that we may not always feel entitled to be leaders, even though we have proven that we are as good at our jobs as the men. Getting over this ambivalence is the first step to getting ahead.

Find a Few Mentors
Figure out how your organisation really works by identifying those people in positions of real influence. Make sure you work for them, or have the chance to lunch now and then. Ask for advice. Get to know people from other parts of the company. Befriend some trustworthy seniors outside your company whose main role will be to encourage you, highlight your strengths and push you out of your comfort zone. Nobody ever made it alone.

Network
Like mentors, networks help you "think outside of the box". They keep you in touch with what is going on outside your company. They help you develop new competencies. They give you visibility. Just remember, the more you give, the more you get back.

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