Which road to take at the crossroads of your career

richm — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:48:52 +0000

What is lost in the statistics on the economy and the unemployment rate are the people who are working in cube cities and find themselves stuck in dead end jobs where they contribute very little, are micromanaged, while their employers act like it’s a privilege to be working there. At one time we all have choices to make but the choices we make can and do influence our self esteem and often shape our careers for the rest of our lives.

I can’t say how many people I know are underemployed because they needed work, any type of work. This is especially true for men who have it ingrained to them that their value is directly related to the jobs they have. Is it any wonder that the suicide rate for men 55+ is very high and related to the current economic conditions ?

I have made some good choices in the jobs that I have taken and some not so good choices but with each job I have both grown and learned more about myself and what makes me a better employee. It’s not about title and to a large extend not even the compensation. It’s about knowing that I am valued and having a manager who can mentor me and trusts me as much as I trust him, her.

When I read about what Millennials want in a job I believe more and more that they must be on to something. To them it’s not about a great office or fancy title it’s about the challenge of contributing and getting things done rather than dealing with back to back meetings all day with people who are trying hard not to rock the boat. To be happy in your job means that you know you’re contributing to your company and that your company values what you do and your contributions.

Eventually you will come to a crossroads in your career. On one road may be a substantial raise and more responsibility but will that make you happy if you have to work 60 hour weeks and have to be in constant communication with your office ? A close friend of mine consistently turns downs promotions because it would be mean being on call 24/7 and working a lot more hours. To him quality of life is more important than more money and worrying about work.

Now there are a lot of people out there looking for work and who have taken jobs that are below their qualifications. They have chosen their road but I would add that never let the road define who you are and if necessary turn off the road to blaze your own trails. Never ever compromise what you believe it and never ever give up hope that one day some smart hiring manager will recognize your value leading to a great job.

How much of yourself do you give up to get that job ?

richm — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:12:43 +0000

Last week I moved to the East Coast as a trailing spouse even though it meant that would loose the clients I had acquired for my consulting business (they were West Coast businesses). As I start to look for here in the Boston area I am reminded of two things; first the ancient process of getting hired and second, the fact that too many people are giving up who they are to get positions that, in the long term, are not going to be a good fit.

The hiring process in corporate America, for the most part, is broken. First you have to send your resume for open positions and even if you are a great fit employers probably want to see who else is available because it is a employers market. My resume has not changed that much except to update my accomplishments and the value that I can bring to organizations. I am not “flooding” the area with my resume but rather choosing which companies I would like to work for. Of course like all job seekers I understand that there is an excellent chance that I won’t ever hear back from anyone. That is the sad reality of today’s job market.

If you are lucky to get a call back and come in for interviews you will probably spend a lot of time answering the same type of interview questions that are asked by HR. These questions do little to really get inside of a candidates head and most job websites recommend the same “canned” responses. However I do something which is unheard of; I actually tend to say what I believe and what I think. For example, people don’t report to me, rather they work with me and I always question my work so that I can learn and find better ways to excel.

If you don’t answer with what you really feel how do you know the job is a good fit ?

According to the department of labor statistics Americans stay in jobs for 4.6 years yet most companies tend to look at “job hoppers” negatively when instead they should be asking “why are people leaving our organization?”. The truth is that too many of us give up being who we really are to get jobs which in turn leads to frustration on the job. I’m not saying that you should show up at work with a mohawk haircut and jeans but what I am saying is that if you try too hard to fit in than fitting is all you will be expected to do.

I believe it probably is going to take me a long time to find full employment here but I believe in myself and understand the value the I can add to any organizations marketing department. I love the field of digital marketing and I think I am quite good at cutting through the hype to deliver great online marketing. Now all I have to do is convince a brand that I can be an excellent addition to their company but first I have to enter the maze of non-responses and people who want to give up the traits that made me an excellent employee.

Beware the manager who says “we don’t want the status quo”

richm — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:49:09 +0000

There are those managers who don’t want to make waves and those managers who tell you that want you to make waves but beware because when they tell you to be a disruptor often it could lead to your demise as an employee.

When executives tell you that they need change and disruption for the better of the organization you had better be sure that they are there to back you up when you cause the disruption. If not you’re going to find yourself out on a weak limb looking for support when you need it most. Twice now I have had senior people tell me “that we need people to challenge the status quo” only to be invisible when I set out to change the status quo.

The truth is that a lot of people talk about change but very few actually understand what that involves. There is rapid change and change that is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Often you will find people fighting you with rapid change even if your organizations survival depends on it.

I am not a person to come in and take things as they are. I ask “why” or “why not” and I often try and change processes that don’t add value to our customers. What has surprised me so much is how a lot of senior people talk about change but how few actually back up people who want to see change. As a marketer I think like a marketer and try and always put myself in the customers mind. But there are some who would rather work because of company processes than ask ”are our processes hindering creativity and innovation?

It’s been said that Millennials want to change the workplace and I can see why. It’s more important to know that you left your mark on a business and actually did something than to come in everyday and just do “work”. If an executive in your company says he wants change beware that when you start to implement change he will be there to have your back.

Sometimes a comic strip says it all

richm — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:39:30 +0000

The majority of employees are worried about job and benefits security

richm — Sun, 12 May 2013 22:03:46 +0000

The gradually falling unemployment rate is not yet providing American workers with a sense of security about their current employment status. In fact, the majority (56%) of employees are worried about job and benefits security as they watch the inner working of their employers’ daily decisions about these critical issues. These are among the findings of the new Harris Poll Job Security Index which forms a baseline score that will be measured monthly to track the changing sentiment of today’s American workers.

The new Harris Poll Job Security Index offers an internal view into today’s American workplace by reporting on the job/benefits security pulse of the worker. The online survey of 1,014 American workers conducted between March 19 and 21, 2013 by The Harris Poll, found that:

More than three in four (77%) workers believe their benefits will be reduced, especially health benefits.
More than three in five (64%) believe their salaries will not increase.
Half (50%) believe they will be asked to do more work for the same pay.

This month’s data also shows 14% of employees worry that they will lose their job in the next three months, and one in five (20%) say it is likely they will have their salary or hours reduced. In addition, 32% of American workers say that if they were going to look for a new job in the next three months, they would not be likely to find one.

A leader can see greatness and passion

richm — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:56:56 +0000

There are so many books and articles on leadership but I believe that the only way to be a real leader is through experience. A real leader can see greatness in people and rather than bail on them and give up it’s up to them to nurture this greatness, improve skills so that the employee’s greatness can applied for the good of the organization. However it’s a lot easier to throw your hands up than to work with someone to help them succeed.

I have managed a lot of people within the span of my career and there are some who I really put in extra time and some who I wish I could have put in extra time. If I feel that someone has the passion, knowledge and desire to be part of my team than I am willing to put in whatever time I can to turn that person into a valuable team member. However today a lot of organizations find it easier to just say “good bye” than to ask “what can WE do to turn this person into a corporate asset?”.

There are those that believe passion doesn’t mean a thing without the necessary business skills but I would argue that business skills without passion is someone who is just doing the job to earn a paycheck. I would rather enter a job with passion and learn new skills than have skills and lack the passion.

Then there are people who really know their stuff but for some reason they can’t channel that knowledge into critical business skills. That is where a real leader and manger comes in. They have to realize that working with these people is both a challenge that has rewards to them and their organization.

Leaders inspire people to be great. They inspire people to learn new skills and if the skills needed are too rigid than they need to be evaluated and changed.

The walking dead of job seekers

richm — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:15:05 +0000

While Wall Street cheers the latest drop in unemployment there are a lot who have been rendered the walking dead by months and years of sending our resumes only to learn the silence of looking for work is deafening. Even though some may have found work there is no doubt that their self esteem has taken a huge hit as they learn that most big companies view employees as expenses to be trimmed when sales go down.

There are a lot of people who have taken jobs that they were overqualified for just to get a paycheck and then there are people who are so grateful to have a paycheck again they will do anything they can to fit in and hold onto their jobs that they become task masters who really don’t add value to a company and its shareholders.

Unless you have been out of work you can’t really understand how people internalize being told they are no longer needed. No matter the reason most laid off employees tend to believe it was something they did, or didn’t do that put them in that position. The irony of all this of course is that companies today need people who are willing to stand against the status quo and challenge people to think outside the box. People like this, who bring a renewed vitality to the workplace are far and few between.

The biggest challenge for most of these employees is to believe that out there, somewhere, is a great job and the job of their dreams. It may not have the title they want but it will surely be working for a company that values them with a manager who wants to see them succeed. I found my dream job and I love what I do and I am learning so much from my manager. It is challenging but I would rather be challenged than just do and redo Power Points and attend meetings all day.

If you want to fit in than don’t be surprised if all you can do is fit in. If you want to grow as a person and become a better employee always say what you think within bounds and challenge people around you to become better.

The damage left behind by a bad CEO

richm — Sat, 04 May 2013 15:05:26 +0000

Ron Johnson’s tenure at J.C. Penney Co. will long be associated with a 25 percent sales plunge. Lost amid the criticism since his departure last month is the $170 million it cost to install Johnson and his top three executives who are now all gone and whether JC Penney can ever recover from his poor management. Constant layoffs, a culture of secrecy, and distrust of Johnson’s management team left many employees, and even executives, miserable and getting morale back in going to be a major challenge for the new CEO.

Today most employees are treated like they are lucky to have a job at all as they work longer hours for less money. At the same time the ratio of CEO pay to the average employee has climbed to 350:1. Needless to say it comes as no surprise that over 50% of employees are looking to change jobs.

If you think it’s about money alone you would be wrong. Today’s employees want to feel that they are valued and listened to but more often than not they feel like human assembly line workers. Too many CEO’s spend too much time wooing Wall Street and not enough time really talking with employees. Keep in mind that these are the people that can often make or break your companies strategy via execution and going the extra mile.

Then there is employee pay at a time when corporate profits and the Dow are at all time highs. Most employers have passed the costs of higher healthcare premiums to workers which means that employees are taking home less money. Even when CEO’s screw up they still manage to take home platinum parachutes while the rank and file are just asked to leave.

How much is enough for CEO’s ? I mean does a CEO really need a compensation package worth tens of millions of dollars ? I keep thinking that I wouldn’t know what the hell to do with that much money but let’s face it these CEO’s are part of the 1% they are not like people who are forced to work in cube cities.

Mr Johnson left JC Penney with a package of over $150 million but in his wake he has left more than 15,000 layed off employees and other employees who were caught in the blender of management change. Not all CEO’s are of course bad but it seems that too many of them have not yet learned that the better you treat your people the better the ROI and that is language they can surely understand.

The bias against the long term unemployed

richm — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:50:41 +0000

It goes without saying that the explosion of long-term unemployment is a tragedy for the unemployed themselves. But it may also be a broader economic disaster.The key question is whether workers who have been unemployed for a long time eventually come to be seen as unemployable, tainted goods that nobody will buy. This could happen because their work skills atrophy, but a more likely reason is that potential employers assume that something must be wrong with people who can’t find a job, even if the real reason is simply the terrible economy. And there is, unfortunately, growing evidence that the tainting of the long-term unemployed is happening as we speak.

One piece of evidence comes from the relationship between job openings and unemployment. Normally these two numbers move inversely: the more job openings, the fewer Americans out of work. And this traditional relationship remains true if we look at short-term unemployment. But as William Dickens and Rand Ghayad of Northeastern University recently showed, the relationship has broken down for the long-term unemployed: a rising number of job openings doesn’t seem to do much to reduce their numbers. It’s as if employers don’t even bother looking at anyone who has been out of work for a long time.

To test this hypothesis, Mr. Ghayad then did an experiment, sending out résumés describing the qualifications and employment history of 4,800 fictitious workers. Who gotcalled back? The answer was that workers who reported having been unemployed for six months or more got very few callbacks, even when all their other qualifications were better than those of workers who did attract employer interest.

So we are indeed creating a permanent class of jobless Americans.

Job burnout may be worse for your heart than smoking

richm — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:19:04 +0000

Americans work longer hours, take fewer vacations, and retire later than employees in most other industrialized countries, so it figures that many of us are prime candidates for job burnout — the physical and cognitive exhaustion that comes from too much stress at work over a long period of time. It’s long been known that prolonged stress is tough on your health. Now, it turns out that job burnout may be worse for your heart than smoking.

Researchers at the business and medical schools at Tel Aviv University teamed up to see if they could find a link between job burnout and heart disease, they got a surprise: The most disenchanted employees developed heart problems at a 79% higher rate than their less-stressed peers. ”This is alarming and much more extreme than we expected,” says Sharon Toker, who led the study, which was published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine. The findings suggest that job burnout is “a stronger predictor of coronary heart disease than many other known risk factors, including blood lipid levels, physical activity, and smoking.

“Some of the factors that contribute to burnout are common experiences in the workplace, including high stress, a heavy workload, a lack of control over job situations, a lack of emotional support, and long work hours,” she adds. “These things lead to wear and tear, which will eventually weaken the body.

Source: Fortune Management