The Importance of Career Conversations

The Importance of Career Conversations It’s difficult at the best of times to manage one’s career but in the current constrained and uncertain business environment it’s particularly challenging. The rapid pace of change in technology and the volatile labour market mean that workers need to be self-directed in managing their career journey. We all need to be responsible for our own careers but all parties benefit when managers commit to effective careers conversations with their staff. The ability to retain and manage talent is a huge advantage, and, in this respect, employee engagement is key to business success. The organisation which doesn’t offer career development to employees will lose them as soon as they can secure another role. The worst case scenario is that they’ll stay but without displaying the commitment, energy and enthusiasm that the organisation needs. Undertaking meaningful career conversations allows the organisation to offer opportunities for development; keeping employees focused on forward momentum. Most people leave a job because they don’t feel they have the development opportunities to progress in their career. The organisation grows and develops, you’d think there was something wrong if it didn’t, and the same goes for their staff; in the current climate you’re asking them to do more with less so it’s smart to secure their engagement level. Talking talent Managers don’t talk often enough to their staff about career aspirations and development plans, it’s a shame because successful career planning requires employer and employee to have mature conversations about ambitions, aspirations, potential, opportunities and growth. Talented employees always have alternative options so in order to bypass a talent drain it’s a good idea to discuss career management with them. This involves making time for full and frank discussion and exploration around potential, aspirations and scope for development opportunities. The key is in asking staff what they want from their career and it may well reveal some surprises. This isn’t a box-ticking, year-end appraisal type exercise, 10Eighty recommend setting up career conversations about what really matters to employees, and that you act on what you learn. One of the best things you can do in terms of employee engagement is to discuss career aspirations and opportunities for performance improvement in order to establish the possibilities in terms of guidance and opportunities that will benefit all parties. As job requirements change helping employees to identify their strengths and outlining goals, assists them to think creatively about their role and to network effectively within and beyond the organisation. The aim then is to align employee motivation and aspiration with organisational needs in terms of workforce agility, adaptability in response to a complex and evolving marketplace. Motivation and aspiration In general terms the career ladder has been replaced with what might be termed a career lattice, and employees are seeking to develop new skills and to build their experience so they can take advantage of new ways of working. The nature of work is much more fluid and flexible than used to be the case and many people want lateral moves or more flexibility, they want outlets for creativity and meaningful work is a priority for many. To facilitate their career aspirations talented people need good feedback, encouragement and relevant development. Regular and meaningful career conversations should ensure that employees engage with their work, collaborate more effectively and seek career growth and longevity within the organisation. It’s important that employees feel comfortable about their career conversation, as they may be unsure about voicing their aspirations and how the organisation might help. Those employees who don’t know what they want can explore options with their manager, and those who are clear about where they want to be will want to focus more on actions are required to achieve their goals. Many managers discount the idea of career conversations, for many of the same reasons they dislike appraisals lack of training and a fear of talking about career progression with employees in case it raises expectations they can’t fulfil. Career conversation training is invaluable for all those who manage staff at any level. It’s important to focus not only on the role, but on the skills, knowledge, competencies, behaviours and attitudes the employee needs in order to be effective and productive. The key to success lies in ensuring that the discussion is documented and that employees are clear as to the next steps and potential development opportunities: Manage expectations the alignment between organisational need and employee capabilities is vital Offer clear feedback about the required skills, experience and capabilities to be developed Compile an action plan with SMART goals and milestones for development

Where Can You Find Your Next Job Using Social Media

Where Can You Find Your Next Job Using Social Media They say looking for a job is a full time job. Thank goodness there is great technology around to help us right? With a few clicks of a button we can engage with employers on social media. Sounds great, but could it be that all this social stuff simply leads to a false sense of achievement? A giant waste of time? Thats the trouble with all things social media, you can easily spend an hour clicking from one profile to another and then realise you havent done anything. Its easy to get lost if you havent got a plan. I would suggest taking a little more structured approach to your job search online. Take a deep breath and analyse your industry Before you wage your 5-front war on social media (by that I mean Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Pinterest), analyse the industry you are in. Its basic marketing think to look at your target audience before steaming into your campaign. By that I mean looking at the people you want to get in touch with, where do they hang out online? How do they behave? Whom do they connect with? What content to they put out? By listening first youll get a feel for what HR folks, recruiters and line managers are up to on social. Then plan your attack and go for the one social network that they seem to use the most. What social networks for what jobs Accountants it will come as no surprise to you that accountants and their friends in a professional services setting like hanging out on the professional network LinkedIn. Yes its strait-laced and dull at times but it is the place to be for anyone doing B2B (business-to-business) marketing and sales. As a result youll find customer facing individuals on here who are open to interact with you. Just the type of people youd want to approach for vacancies as they are happy to chat and will probably refer you to their HR team. Journalists no prizes for guessing that journos, PR folks, media types in general hang out on Twitter, a LOT. I know recruiters in this space that will only talk to candidates that have a Twitter presence and are actively tweeting. I suspect the transparency of Twitter is the main attraction to people in this industry. Twitter has a fantastic search function that you can use to find conversations about your industry and location its ok to jump into these and build relationships from there. Graduates at the moment I would say Facebook is only useful for graduates from a job search perspective. Some companies actively encourage graduates and even young professionals to apply through Facebook. If youve got more career miles on the clock the only way to find jobs on Facebook is to actually look up the company Pages and click on careers tabs. So you might as well look at a companys website and career pages. Graphic designers there is one relatively new social network which has skyrocketed in terms of traffic this year. This is Pinterest, a platform that lets you share (or pin) images and video from around the web on to you personal pin boards. If you are creative and producing content like this, Pinterest is one of the best places to showcase your work. And you can also showcase what inspires you by pinning other peoples work. Now, if you dont work in a creative capacity Pinterest will be a giant waste of time. No finance controller will ever get a job here. Java Developers another newish network is Google Plus. Its Googles 3rd or 4th attempt at social networking and it seems they actually got it right this time. Looking at the demographics we find a big contingent of tech people and companies on here. Could be that tech folks are early adopters in general or that they simply like the clean G+ interface. The fact is that its easy to search for people on Google Plus, its transparent like Twitter but users put down more information about themselves. This is of course useful for proactive job seekers who are able to identify and approach hiring managers. At this stage I wouldnt recommend using Google Plus for job search if youre not a tech person. Bottom line These types of jobs are just to give you an idea where to start. There may be niche networks that are more useful in your industry and location, keep an open mind and see what your peers are up to. Start with ONE social network and do that really well, build strong relationships with people there and you can easily connect with them elsewhere later on. Related: What Job Boards are Most Useful for Applicants? Image: Shutterstock

5 Old-School Sections to Take Off Your Resume Right Now

5 Old-School Sections to Take Off Your Resume Right Now There are many career networking opportunities available for job seekers. Networking opportunities prove useful however, at some point; you are going to be required to submit one of two documents. The documents required will be a resume or Curriculum Vitae (A typed summary of your professional and educational background). Resumes and Curriculum Vitaes are documents that should never be considered finished. These two things should be continuously updated in order to properly display pertinent information about your professional and academic careers. It is highly recommended that resumes contain no more than one page for sometimes, less is more and resume writing proves no exception. There are certain things that you should leave off your resume because they will look amateurish. The following are five suggestions for worthwhile exclusions: 1. Leave photos off your resume Discrimination suits prove rampant in the field of Human Resources and employment services. If someone presents a resume with a picture and that person is not hired, it leaves room to file a discrimination law suit claiming the person was not hired because their picture was not appealing. Most company Human Resource departments will just throw resumes with pictures away or save them to avoid the discrimination issue altogether. 2. References Available on Request This statement should NEVER appear on your resume. Hiring mangers know that you need reliable references during your job search. Ensure that you have your “reference” list prepared upon request. You want the list to be updated with the correct contact and professional information. Do not forget to update your reference sheet before job hunting. It could prove embarrassing if one of your professional references is contacted and they no longer work at the same company. This can put uncertainty into the minds of hiring managers and could cause you to not get the job. 3. Unprofessional email address Unprofessional email addresses should not be placed on resumes. Email address such as notsodumbperson (at) gmail.com or likestoparT (at) yahoo.com will not impress a potential employer. It is highly recommended before you start job searches that you create another email address. The address should include a basic first name [dot] last name. Yahoo and Gmail are popular email servers that offer free email accounts. These accounts allow for creating professional email addresses to use for job searches. See more at How To Create a Professional Email Signature for Your Job Search. 4. Posting every job you had since high school All of us remember working at the local theatre or pizza shop during high school. You should leave this point out of your resume. It proves necessary to keep your job history accounted for, but you do not have to list every job you have held dating back to your high school years. It is essential to determine what jobs in the past proves relevant to the job(s) you are applying for. Re-read your resume and you should determine if the jobs listed fall into these two categories: Recent and relevant. If a past-job does not qualify for these categories, leave it out. 5. Avoid boring and inadequate language Phrases such as “detail-oriented” and “team player” are no longer phrases that can effectively promote you. Instead, use terms that describe what makes you a team performer or how you pay attention to detail in making projects and company missions successful. Keep in mind that the “verbiage” you place on your resume is what catches the attention of hiring managers. Words do prove effective and can make the difference in obtaining an interview or a letter in the mail stating you are not qualified for the job. Further reading at 4 Vital Resume Tips from the Career Pros. Wilson Campbell is an HR expert at Headrush.in, who specializes in team building and team building activities. Also he is expert in troubleshooting the concerns and considerations of employees.

How to Make Your Wedding Party Memorable Â

How to Make Your Wedding Party Memorable   A wedding is always memorable, even if you do not do anything special on the day of the wedding. A wedding is special for several reasons, and is talked about for years. However, if you want it to be memorable for other people as well, you will have to take a few steps. Look for wedding party favors and see what works and what doesn’t. A wedding is basically an event when the bride and the groom tie the knot, and the celebration comes afterwards in the form of a wedding party. While wedding is mostly a personal event with family and close friends, most people have a bigger guest list for the wedding party itself. You must plan intelligently to make sure everyone not only enjoys the wedding party but also remember it. Here are some tips to make your wedding party memorable: Host A Reception On An Exotic Location Hosting receptions in gardens and homes is quite mainstream. You can try something different to make sure everyone enjoys the event more. The wedding isn’t going to be memorable only for you and your partner, but for the guests as well. Throw a Reception party on a yacht or a beach. Renting a yacht will cost a lot, so you can consider other ideas too. Exchange Gifts With Your Spouse We know you’re already planning on getting a nice gift for your partner, but you can be creative when it comes to gifts. Do not just grab a ring or a necklace. Put some more effort into what you’re getting them. A personalized gift would be great. How about preparing a dance for your partner? This will take him or her by surprise and also add a zing to the party. Invite a Celeb Sounds like a strange idea? Well most of us would like to roam around celebs, surprisingly a number of people are against the idea of inviting celebs to their wedding simply because they do not want someone else to take away their sheen. However, this changes from person to person and if you’re okay with having a known name at the party, then sends in an invite to your favorite celeb. Now the chances of them attending the event are nearly zero, but they like to pull off stunts every now and then so why not see if you’re the lucky one. Remember Ethics People are going to remember and talk about how you treat them, Greet all these the attendees nicely once they arrive and arrange a lavish supper for them. Make it a point to allow your guests to enjoy their time by listening to music (you can have a DJ) and talking to each other.  Great Music A wedding can seem boring if there is no good music in it. So mix it up with music and if possible, call musicians to breathe life into your wedding party. People could have different taste in music so you can make everyone happy by making the musicians play song requests. Or you can go for a custom playlist, you know your guest better as there will be your friends, family, co-workers etc. These simple steps will make your wedding party memorable. And to make sure no body forgets the details, add a photo booth so that everything can be saved in the camera.

How to List Skills on a Resume

How to List Skills on a ResumeListing skills are a relatively important part of a resume. When a potential employer sees the list of skills, it is easy to tell if the person is a good fit for their job. A number of people have a lot of questions about what a candidate should include in their skills section. Here are some of the most common mistakes candidates make when writing skills on a resume.Some candidates leave out their summary skills altogether. These skills are usually listed in the 'other' section of a resume. For example, a candidate might describe themselves as having a high academic aptitude, without mentioning that they also like to write and draw. If a candidate has one of these skills, they should be listed under the summary skills section of their resume. Be sure to mention your summary skills when you submit your resume.When a candidate includes skills that are already in their resume, it can make the skills seem outdated. The skills listed in the 'other' section sh ould be compared to those in your resume. The 'other' skills should be compared to the skills listed in your resume. Don't forget that they also need to match the skills you would expect an employer to look for in your role. If you have additional skills beyond the ones listed in your resume, be sure to tell the potential employer about them.Some people use one or two skills that do not relate to their positions. While it is important to include your talents, the skills must relate to the job you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a retail job, it is okay to have marketing skills on your resume. However, it is not appropriate to list your skills as a graphic designer on your resume. If your job doesn't require marketing skills, you should choose a different career path.Skills that are covered in an educational background section can make a candidate appear incompetent. A potential employer might believe that a candidate with a master's degree is somehow less qual ified than someone with just a high school diploma. That might be true if a candidate had taken a few college courses in school. However, that is not true when the person has been a lawyer for many years, or even when they have a college degree in business.A prospective employer might also wonder why the skills in the resume don't match what they are looking for. If a candidate has learned Spanish, for example, they might wonder why they did not find another job that required this skill. By listing skills that match the skills they are looking for, the candidate will have more opportunities to reach their goals.Having information that is too long is a problem for all resumes. You want to list the skills you have on your resume so that a potential employer can see what you have to offer. However, a potential employer might find that a candidate's resume is quite long. Make sure that your resume doesn't get too long by limiting the number of pages it has. Also be sure to shorten your resume as needed.All resumes must contain a good amount of skills. The skill content on your resume should be short and to the point. Sometimes, it is easier to just give a brief description of the skills rather than listing each one. Listing skills on a resume is something that a prospective employer needs to know before hiring you.

Job Action Day New Economy Job Search Advice

Job Action Day New Economy Job Search Advice Im honored to be a part of Quintessential Careers 2nd Annual Job Action Day, the goal of which is to encourage workers and job seekers to be positive and proactive.  As painful as the economic challenges have been,  I am positive. People are focusing more on what truly makes them happy and fulfilled.  Going through the motions in a job is really leaving us in this new economy.Rather than just landing another job, people now need to focus on the right job for them.  They need to soul search more deeply than in the past to know what theyre passionate about, what theyre best at and what theyre truly motivated  and inspired to do with their skills and talents.  As I work with my clients through Soul Search, Research and Job Search, I see just how actionable this approach is in the new economy.Take my client Kerry for instance.  Kerry has been in a series of less-than-fulfilling jobs, not following her heart nor getting well compensated for her efforts.  Through our soul search work , it became clear that Kerry has dreams of owning a business.  I even see a marked difference in her demeanor when she talks about her job versus her dream career.  Pointing out this difference in motivation and energy has helped Kerry see why her career to-date has been so lackluster.  Its not Kerry, its the fit between Kerry and her career.To help you find a career that fits, take these steps and youll find reason to be positive:Start your own Soul Search by writing out your ideal day at work.  Include all the details you can such as a flexible schedule, a better title or role, what motivates you, and what makes for the most comfortable work environment.  (To understand your key motivators, see my recent work values blog post.)Research using sites like  TheCareerProject.org and find careers where a day in the life matches your ideal. I also conduct day in the life interviews live on my weekly SIRIUS XM radio show.  Listen in for free  this week!Job Search using unofficial ch annels like your college alumni network.  Many alumni associations offer online searchable databases where you can find contacts in your chosen field.  Take a genuine interest in the careers of your fellow alums and theyll return the favor.  After building rapport, ask for feedback on your ideal career.  Youll get ahead faster learning from an experienced mentor!More and more I hear people say they just arent falling into jobs like they used to.  They need to be the perfect fit to get hired.  The good news: you ARE the perfect fit for your ideal career.  Dont wait another day to do the Soul Search, Research and Job Search to find it.Share your comments below.  Are you following your heart?  If not, whats keeping you from going after your dreams?  Share your concerns.  Share your successes too.  Are you in a job you love? How did you find it?  We can learn from each other take smarter action with our careers!

Effective, easy, fun things to make yourself happy at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Effective, easy, fun things to make yourself happy at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Happiness at work comes from the things you and I do here and now. Not from whitepapers, committees or corporate mission statements. There are so many things you can do the important thing is that you do something. This chapter has plenty of things you can start with, and focuses especially on things that are: Basic so they work for most people in almost any job Important so they make a difference Easy so they dont stress you out Effective so they give you quick results Contagious so they spread once a few people start doing it Fun so youll actively enjoy doing them Imagine the opposite: A book that tells you, that the road to happiness at work is long, difficult and unpleasant. It would be best to drop such a book very quickly indeed. With that in mind here are some great, easy, effective and above all fun places to start. Make others happy Patricia was leaving work after a long day. She was one of the last to leave, and she had to admit that she hadnt enjoyed her day much. People seemed so intent on their jobs and nobody seemed to care about the people around them. When Patricia went into the break room to wash her coffee mug, she noticed Lisas, a co-worker, mug by the sink, unwashed. She quickly washed both mugs, and then, on a whim, wrote a post-it note saying Have a great day, drew a smiley on it and stuck it on her Lisas mug. Then she went home. The next morning Lisa walked through the entire department with a huge smile on her face saying Who did this? What a great thing to do? Who was it? This totally made my morning! Once Patricia admitted it was her, Lisa thanked her profusely, and could be found smiling broadly for a long time after. Patricias one-minute gesture made a colleague happy at work not just that morning but that entire day. It cant be said too often: The very best way to make yourself happy at work is to make others happy. It works because: Making others happy at work is a pleasure in itself. Happiness is contagious, so more happy people around you means more happiness for you If you make others happy at work, theres a good chance theyll get back at you and make you happy Its easy too. You could: Bring someone a cup of coffee without them asking. Write a nice message on a post-it and stick it on their desk or computer Offer to help with their work Or just about a million other things. Try it, it works wonders! Be positive In chapter X we saw how important it is to be positive at work. But how do you do that? You cant really walk around all day mumbling gotta be positive, gotta be positive under your breath. That might make your co-workers slightly anxious. But there are some simple, specific things you can do, that make you and the people around you more positive. Here are some ideas. Open meetings with a positive round Psychological experiments can be very devious and this one was certainly no exception. The focus was meetings and the format was simple: Groups of people were asked to discuss and reach consensus on a contentious topic. Heres the devious bit: Unbeknownst to the other participants one member of the group was an actor hired by the researchers. The actor was told to speak first in the discussions. In half the experiments he would say something positive while in the other half he would start by saying something critical. After that he simply participated in the discussion like the other group members. The experiment showed that when the first thing said in the meeting was positive, the discussion turned out more constructive, people listened more and were more likely to reach consensus. When the first statement was critical the mood became more hostile, people were more argumentative and consensus became less likely. The researchers concluded that the way a meeting starts has a large impact on the tone of the discusion and on whether or not the group will eventually reach consensus. Ah meetings. The most energizing, creative and fun activity in the workplace. Whats that you say? Theyre not? Well they can be. In fact they should be. Heres a monday tip that can help your group take a step in that direction. Many groups, projects or departments open their meetings with a round where each participant can say what he or she is working on, and quite often this ends up as a litany of complaints and problems. But as the experiment cited above shows, this is likely to affect the whole meeting. So do this instead: Open staff meetings with a round where each person answers one of these questions: What have I done since the last meeting that Ive been proud of? Name a person who has helped you since the last meeting. What are you looking forward to the most in the coming week/month? Whats the funniest thing someone has told you in the last week? Pick a new question for each meeting and make some up yourself as long as they focus on something positive. Dont spend a lot of time on this, just give each participant 30-60 seconds to share something positive. It can change the entire mood of a meeting when you start with something positive instead of with a round of collective and individual moans. Keep a happy at work log At the end of every work day, just before you go home, write down five things that made you happy at work that day. Do it in a text document or just on a piece of paper, thats not important, but what matters is that you take a few minutes at the end of every work day to remember what was good about that day. Big or small, doesn?t matter, as long as it made your day a little better. Meat loaf day at the cafeteria. Making a deadline. Talking to a nice co-worker. Anything. If you can?t come up with five items for the list, that?s fine, write down as many as you can. If you can?t think of a single one, then either it?s been a bad day, or it?s time to look for a new job. Why is this a good thing? Well, let?s say you?ve had ten good experiences at work today and one bad one. If you go home, thinking only of the bad one, you will remember this as a bad day. It will even feel as a bad day. And most people do have a tendency to remember negative experiences better than positive ones. This makes it a good idea to take extra care to remember good experiences, in this case by writing them down. The good stuff first rule At Enterprise Systems, the IT company I co-founded, we suddenly discovered that wed become extremely critical of everything. This is no wonder, as IT developers a large part of our job was debugging and finding errors. Furthermore, we were mostly engineering types, a profession trained to think of everything that can go wrong. The problem was that our discussions and meeeting got unpleasant, and in a few cases even nasty. Nobody could agree on much and people were constantly nitpicking on each others ideas. So Martin, another co-founder, came up with a simple rule: The good stuff first. When someone makes a suggestion, you dont have to agree. But you have to first say what you agree with in the idea, and then the stuff you disagree with. This made discussions much more constructive and fun. It also opened our eyes to the fact that where wed previously thought that we were completely disagreeing, we were often 80-90% in agreement, and only disagreed on a few details. Consider making this a rule in the workplace: First say what you agree with. Then say what you disagree on. And even if you cant make it a rule, you can always practice it yourself. Praise Kjaer Group, a company that sells cars in developing nations, instituted the order of the elephant a few years back. Its a huge plush toy that any employee can award to any other, along with an explanation of why that employee deserves the order. The praisee gets the elephant for a couple of day, and the thing being two feet tall its kind hard to overlook standing on that persons desk. Other employees stopping by immediately notice the elephant and go Hey, you got the elephant. Whatd you do? which of course means that the good stories and best practices get told and re-told many times. This is an excellent, simple and cheap way of enhancing learning and happiness at work. Praise may be the single most effective method to make people happy at work and the great thing is that it takes no money and almost no time. Remember that good praise is: Relevant Dont praise just to praise, but make sure to praise whenever theres a reason Timely Praise as soon as theres a reason Personal Tailor it to that particular praisee For extra bonus points: Praise someone you dont talk to often. Its a great way to establish contact. Praise your manager. Managers often hear very little praise from their employees. But: Dont kiss butt only genuine praise counts. If you really want a challenge, praise someone you dont like much or someone youre currently having a conflict with. It can be a great way to get un-stuck. Cant think of anything positive about that person? Try again theres always something. Some companies practice a philosophy of Catch people making mistakes and punish them quickly, but Catch people doing things right and praise them quickly is much more likely to make people happy at work. This does not mean that you cant criticize people and correct them when they make a mistake. In fact, if you routinely praise people when they get it right, theyre more open and positive towards criticism. Some great ways to praise include: In person Dont make a big production out of it, just go up to a colleague, deliver your praise and then get back to work. Do not hang around waiting to be praised back :o) Also do not add a but you really need to improve your after the praise that kinda ruins the whole point :o) Use a token Like the elephant that Kjaer Group uses. If you can find something with relevance for your company even better. Chain letter Pass around a piece of paper with Things we appreciate about Linda at the top around your department or team. Let everyone write down all the things they appreciate about Linda. Then give it to her. Poncho This is an exercise we developed for our Happy At Work Workshops, and it never fails. It takes about 15 minutes and works in groups of up to about 40 people. All you need is a flipover chart and a marker pen for each person. Ask each person to tear a whole in the middle of the sheet of paper and then put it on like a poncho. Give each person a marker pen. Once everyone is wearing their poncho, give people the following instructions: Go around and write on the back of other people. Write the stuff you like and appreciate about the person. The stuff they excell at and do well. Write on as many people as possible. Then give people timeto write on each other. Groups of 10-20 people will need about 5 minutes, larger groups may need 10. Once people have finished writing on each other, give them these instructions: I bet youre all wondering what people have been writing on you. Please keep your ponchos on and sit down. Now for the next minute, youre not allowed to speak. Youre only allowed to read what it says on your poncho and to enjoy it. Please, take them off and read them now. Give them a minute or so to read their ponchos then end the exercise and thank them for participating. Weve done this exercise with leaders, employees, government workers, school teachers, social workers, secretaries, lab workers, prison guards, kitchen staff and many, many other groups and it works every single time. Participants especially enjoy that: Its easy to give praise Its easy to receive praise you dont have to respond to it, only to enjoy it They learn what people appreciate about you They can save their ponchos and take them out and read them when the need a boost My favorite part of the poncho exercise is when you get chains of 5-10 people, each writing on the back of the next one. Meaning A traveller is walking down a hot, dusty road when he passes three men chopping up stones. The first one looks unhappy, and clearly has the look of a man wishing he was anyhwere else. No wonder, its hot, hard, unpleasant labor after all. The traveller asks him What are you doing?. Cutting stones the man replies. The second man looks fairly happy with what hes doing despite the hot air and hard work. What are you doing? the traveller asks him? Im cutting stones to make money to support my family. The third stone-chopper looks happy verging on blissful. Hes giving the stones his full attention, attently and carefully cutting them into smaller rocks. When he stops for a sip of water, the traveller asks him What are you doing?. In a proud voice he replies Im building a cathedral. This story is old and corny and youve probably heard it a thousand times but it aptly illustrates the three levels of meaning you can find at work: No meaning. Work makes no sense to you. Work makes sense because it supports yourself and your family Work makes sense in itself youre making something great or making the world better Im not telling you that every job has meaning or even that your job has it. Some jobs do, some jobs dont. Some people see that meaning, some dont. What I am saying is that meaning is important to making us happy at work, and its much easier to be happy when your job has meaning and you keep that meaning in mind. Knowing how your work contributes to the companys success, to your local community or even to a better world makes you proud of what you do. To uncover meaning in your job, if its not already clear to you ask yourself Who am I making happy in the company? Who am I making happy outside the company through my work? Who is the company making happy? How am I contributing to this? George Bernard Shaw had the right idea when he said that: This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. Finding your purpose at work, one you recognize as mighty, is a great way to become happier at work. To paraphrase Shaw, This is the true joy in work. Relationships at work Get to know the people around you at work. You dont need to make friends with everybody, but positive relationships are one of the most important factors for happiness at work. And remember: Positive relationships can be with co-workers, employees, customers, suppliers or even competitors. It doesnt take much to build and maintain good efforts, but it does take a consious effort for most people. Its something you do need to focus on or relationships can atrophy so co-workers end up as mere strangers sharing the same office building. Say good morning and goodbye I was once a consultant at a company that had a strange practice: All employees greeted each other with handshakes in the morning. Every time you ran into a co-worker in the morning, up till around 10 AM, you greeted that person not just with a Good morning but with a handshake as well. As an outsider and newcomer I felt weird about it at first but soon it became perfectly natural and even something I looked forward to. Greeting people became not just a mumbled mornin' from behind the computer screen, you had to get up and give that person your full attention. It was also interesting to see how it worked to break down barriers between people and to re-establish good relations every day. Its a little harder to be mad at a person whom youve greeted with a firm handshake that same morning. When you get in in the morning, make a round of your department and greet everyone there. When other people arrive after you, take a moment to greet them with your full attention. Do the same thing when you leave. Its such a simple thing to do but it makes a big difference to relations at the office. People feel more connected to each other and establish better communications throughout the day. Learn one new thing about a co-worker every day What do you know about your co-workers? Do you know who has children and how many? Who has what hobby? Where was their last vacation? Take an interest and absorb at least one new fact every day. Work-free lunch hours Outlaw all talk about work during lunch breaks and other breaks. They are, after all, breaks so treat them as such. Go bowling Or go to a pub, a caf?, a dinner at someones home, to the park, have an office party. Anything that gives people a chance to see each other outside of work and to get to know each other as people rather than only as co-workers. Whichever type of event you choose dont make it too traditional and dont make it fancy or expensive make it personal and memorable instead. Kirsten Gehl, the HR manager at Accenture Denmark, and her party team were forced to get creative. Accenture in Denmark had had a rough year in 2003 and were forced to rethink their usual annual company summer party. Normally this was a huge affair at some fancy hotel or restaurant were talking traditional and above all expensive. That was out of the question this year, so what would work? How could she give the people at Accenture a much needed positive collective experience on a much more limited budget? First the party team decided to have the party at a smaller, cheaper and much more cozy venue. And then they had a brilliant idea: They would get the partners to staff the bar. At first some partners were apprehensive. These guys (and theyre almost all guys) are known more for their dedication to work, dark suits and businesslike manner than for their ability to get down and party. Kirsten and her party team cornered a few senior partners and got their support and that convinced the others to give it a try. The result: this became Accentures best party ever. Not only was it more fun than the traditional parties, but suddenly the partners were approachable to all employees who could simply step up to the bar and order a gin and tonic from them. The employees loved it and, maybe most surprisingly, the partners loved it. Each of them had to be forced to leave the bar when their shifts were over. Even after the party the effect was felt through better relations and communication between Accentures partners and employees. Watch your working hours Watch your working hours. As we saw in chapter X, there is a clear connection between working too much and stress, depression, heart disease and a number of other conditions guaranteed to maek you unhappy at work. Dont work too much. Its that simple. What is too much? Experiment and find out. You may find that you get more work and higher quality work done in 40 hours a week than you do in 60. Reduce your expenses This may appear totally unrelated to work at first, but one of the biggest threats to happiness at work is having too many fixed expenses at home. When youre completely dependent on bringing home a pay check (or two!) every single month, youre vulnerable. If work turns out to be unbearable you cant simply up and leave and take three months without income or on unemployment benefits until you find a better job. This means youre trapped and ironically that makes things much worse. A bad situation is unpleasant. A bad situation you cant escape from is excruciating. If you reduce your personal spending to a level where you can quickly decide to not work for a while or to work at a lower pay, youre much more free and will have a much easier time becoming happy at work. This may of course mean a smaller house or appartment than you would prefer, no 40-inch flatscreen TV, no second car, etc The question you must ask yourself is this: Are owning all these things worth it? It may well be worth it to you, in which case staying in a job that does not make you happy is the right choice. Or you may decide that since your work makes you unhappy youre not really enjoying all the things your salary buys much anywyay. In which case it makes sense to reduce your expenses to a level that affords you more freedom at work. Remember that you have a body Physician Claus Hyldahl, an expert in work-related stress and diseases, rarely pulls any punches. In fact his style involves provoking working professionals to direct their attention to the fact that their lifestyle is bad for them. Says Hyldahl: Many of the people who think that theyre suffering from stress are just out of shape. Thats why theyre sweating, breathing heavily, their heart is pounding and theyre feeling weak. Not stress, simply bad physical shape. They dont need to reduce their workload they need to increase their physical load. He goes on to talk about the fact that the human body is designed to be used. Human beings evolved from nomads and consequently evolution has optimized our bodies to a nomadic lifestyle ie. one that involves a lot of walking. Walking 10 km a day is what were built for and sitting still is bad for us. In fact, walking less than 10 km a day is as bad for your health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. More and more work today is knowledge-based and goes on mainly inside peoples heads. In many workplaces the body has been reduced to to that thing that carries the head from meeting to meeting. Thats not good. Your physical well-being has a huge influence on your mental state, including your happiness at work. I can tell you nothing new about how to tend to your body at work, you already know what it takes: Exercise even mild exercise a few times a week makes a difference Stop smoking or cut down Eat right Watch what you eat and how much As for eating right, the most important tip may be this: Eat between meals. Its a well-known fact that when peoples blood sugar drops they get grumpy. I have noticed this in myself often I start getting cranky, even the smallest things annoy me and I snap at people. An apple later, Im fine. (blood sugar graph) The book The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz advices us to eat five to six low-calorie, highly nutritious meals a day to ensure a steady level of blood glucose. Sustained performance depends not just on eating at regular intervals but also eating only as much as you need to drive your energy for the next two to three hours. Snacks between meals should typically be between 100 and 150 calories and should focus on low-glycemic foods such as nuts and sunflower seeds, fruits, or half of a typical-size 200 calorie energy bar. Fun Fun matters. And any job can be a platform for fun. Even in the most serious situation, fun can be the tool that makes it bearable. Patch Adams is a doctor with a very different view of how to treat patients. You may remember the movie where Robin Williams plays him. In his excellent book Gesundheit! Patch tells this moving story: I remember an eleven-year old girl who had a huge bony tumor of the face with one eye floating out in the mass. Most people found it difficult to be with her because of her appearance. Her pain was not in the dying but in the loneliness of being a person others could not bear to see. She and I played and joked and enjoyed her life away. Make room for fun at work. Give up the idea that fun is somehow unprofessional and frivolous. Even if youre not in the mood for fun that day, let others have theirs never ruin it for them. Just as importantly: Dont force people to participate. Some are up for it that day, som arent. Dont worry too much about what is appropriate or proper. Fun is about being spontaneous and open. Try some things out here are a few ideas: Ideas needed!!! Send me some! Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related