I can tell when the baseball announcers are bored when the conversation turns to "Well, if they take out the catcher here, and the backup gets hurt, what do they do next?" Rarely, if ever, have I seen a situation where this needs to be addressed by the manager of any team.
This year, the Yankees have Russell Martin and Gustavo Molina, as well as former catcher Jorge Posada on the roster. This gives the Yankees that "third" option in case the announcers start worrying again.
Where in your organization do you need to worry about having a "third catcher"? Are there succession plans in place in the event of an unexpected emergency? As much as I vomit in my mouth when the announcers go on and on about third catchers, they do have a point; there needs to be readiness, even if someone is only needed once a year to fill a role.
Good afternoon! For those of you in the Saratoga Springs area, The Career Building Expo is running once again.
From their site:
"Whether you are a job seeker or a recruiter... it may be time to shake things up a bit and ask yourself... is it time for a change? All of us challenge you to find yourself a place to call your own, a place to contribute your very best and a place to shine with all of your own vibrant colors."
One of the lost arts amongst many people I come across is "schmoozing and boozing". I have to admit that I too sometimes forget the value of a social function for making some quick connections without sounding sales-y or less than genuine.
A perfect example of an effective schmooze and booze was going to a mixer event held yesterday by the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce. I had a great time having a chat with the president of the chamber and other members of the chamber, and I got to meet some really great business people in the area. Great, genuine conversation around business, Saratoga, and the area.
Even without the "booze" aspect, going to a breakfast meeting or event similar to this is so important to getting to know people outside or your circle of friends or online connections. Many local chapters of organizations as well as chambers have these events, and even if you just spend 30-45 minutes (like I did) at an event of this type, you get your face in front of a different audience and may run into someone who knows someone or knows of someone. Making a few solid conversations is better than trying to meet everyone at events like this.
I plan on doing some "schmoozing" events at my business in the near future to do exactly what I have seen some great local organizations do - bring together some unique minds for a brief event to get to know one another better.
Gary Vaynerchuk has written two amazing books called Crush It and The Thank You Economy. I've found his writing style to be very enjoyable and his insights on passion and hardwork to be very inspiring.
Check out one of his presentations below. Learn about patience and passion!
Back to work tomorrow...I haven't worked a Sunday in a very very long time...and I don't plan on it either!
When I committed to not work on Sundays (and when possible, Saturdays too) a few years ago when I started my business, it has reaped huge dividends - better health, better stamina, and better state of mind. As much as I hear from people that "I can't seem to make it work" or "business will suffer", just do it and you'll see how much better the world gets for you. Some of you may not be able to close on Sunday for one reason or another, but being able to find one day off a week each week to recharge is vital for most.
This blog post was written last week and scheduled to post automatically today. Technology enables us to have downtime. Take advantage of it!
In past articles, I have spoken of the value of internships and how to manage an internship program.
This past January, I started a Virtual Internship Program. I currently have 6 students working on a variety of projects from marketing to research and from finance to graphic design. Each student was given a series of projects to work on to assist in my business that also were focused on an area of their interest. Each works 3-5 hours a week for 3 months.
This summer, I've expanded the program to 4 months and 5-10 hours per week. I have already lined up six students from community colleges, four year SUNY schools, and one from Villanova. Each brings a unique set of skills to the team.
In addition to the work, each gets at least one one on one call per week from me going over what they want to learn, showing them new ways of doing things or teaching them business topics or software programs they want to learn more about.
I encourage any of you running a small business to contact me to see how I got this set up. Alternatively, try it out for yourself and get some great free assistance from students who have passion for what they do. You will create opportunities that students may not be able to get from a classroom, as well as give them work experience that they may not be able to get because of their lack of previous past experience.
Q: I recently left a job, and when I came my to visit a few weeks later, they didn't welcome me there. What gives? - Non Grata, What's the Matta?
A: Dear Non Grata,
When you leave a job, even if you leave for good reasons, sometimes the best thing to do is stay away. If you have friends who still work there, meet them outside of work. If you have to go to your former employer's location, go there for business purposes only.
And importantly, speak highly of your former employer, no matter the reasons for your departure.
I remember one person I hired a few years ago didn't make it through training (he quit a few weeks in to the training period). He then decided to show up at our business on a daily basis to "hang out". It was an odd situation for sure. We made it clear that shopping was one thing, but loitering was another.
Conan O'Brien got asked to move his time slot. He said no. I got asked if I wanted to move to our Syracuse campus. I said no. Conan O'Brien quit NBC. I quit SUNY Delhi. That's about where the comparisons end. However, much like Conan, I've found a new life outside of my comfort zone. Here's a great article on how Conan has adapted to a new world.
In under a year since I gave my notice (April 2010), I've been blessed with 6 wonderful interns (6 former students from SUNY Delhi and FMCC, and more starting this summer from FMCC, SCCC, Villanova and SUNY Delhi), started an online business school, grew my business 40%, and connected with so many new people.
Like any job departure that comes out of nowhere, my students were surprised, but a year later (seeing the results above), they realize that I quit for all the right reasons.
Life throws you lemons, you make a lifetime supply of lemonade!
I'm thankful to the opportunity SUNY Delhi gave me to start my career in teaching, and grateful for the wonderful students that walked through my doors and made my life exciting. I'm glad so many of them keep in touch and keep me motivated!
Workplace bullies and incompetent, tyrannical bosses cost companies millions in lost productivity, decreased morale, and turnover. Robert Sutton has written two great books called The No A**hole Rule and Good Boss, Bad Boss.
Sutton describes in these books just how toxic environments can become when people spiral out of control and become tyrants who thrive on nothing but making others miserable.
A couple of the most telling quotes from these book are as follows;
"To
qualify as a certified a--hole: a person needs to display a history of
episodes that end with one "target" after another feeling belittled, put
down, humiliated, disrespected, oppressed, de-energized, and generally
worse about themselves." Robert Sutton
This next quote resonates with me - I've worked with people a few times in my career who match this description exactly!
"Two-faced
backstabbers like my colleague, those who have enough skill and
emotional control to save their dirty work for moments they can't get
caught, are tougher to stop - even though they do as much damage as a
raging maniac." Robert Sutton
Businesses need to be more keen on weeding out these type of people BEFORE they join an organization. Once they are in, its hard to extricate them unless you can document, discipline, and then dismiss them.
"The
difference between how a person treats the powerless vs the powerful is
as a good a measure of human character as I know." Robert Sutton
What drives you to do your job well? I'm not talking financial reasons or climbing the job ladder, but what genuinely excites you about work?
As a HR professional, you need to be able to understand where your motivations exist in order to encourage those around you. Persuade managers to initiate conversations with their staff to discover what motivates individuals. Recognizing what motivates your employees will allow work to be delegated properly. Guide managers in designing work that incorporates theses motivations to prevent boring, mundane jobs. Creating a motivational and stimulating environment directly affects the overall image your business portrays.
Some tips for promoting happiness and motivation: -Set a good example. Your attitude and work ethic is contagious. Be a good listener and involve your teams members. -Share company success with the employees. Remind them of their value in the business and acknowledge their accomplishments. -Encourage workers to voice complaints. Fostering unhappiness is a toxic occurrence. Make sure there are resources available, and promoted to be used to contribute criticism of management or their company's culture.
I get annoyed every time I hear baseball announcers say "well, he's up to 100 pitches now, I wonder when they are going to get someone up in the bullpen." No pitcher is created equal, and I find the arbitrary number of 100 pitches to be one of those statistics that is used inappropriately to assess the wear and tear and ability of a pitcher to continue to perform at a high level.
For example, a pitcher may throw 100 pitches, but may spread them out over 9 innings. Another pitcher may throw 60, and 52 of them came in one inning. Still another could throw 120, but each inning from innings 1 through 7 managed to throw less and less pitches each inning.
Similar in business, basing your employees performance solely on sales dollars can be very inaccurate - one employee's sales profit margins may be much higher than anothers, yet their sales volume is much lower.
Don't look at one figure to make your decisions on your employees; much like in baseball, how they got to the results may be much more telling than one number can indicate.
Learning is something that has really evolved for many over the past few years. Reading from a text, listening to a lecture, or traveling distances to meet with representatives of other divisions for a training seminar have moved effectively (in many cases) to online, asynchronous or real-time training.
While some schools and businesses may not have the experience in working online, having a second set of eyes to deliver your content effectively is possibly the best solution.
Check out some of the course development opportunities we have available at Braathe Online Education. We can design and/or deliver courses for your school or business that will give a fresh perspective to content and give students and trainees an exciting new platform and way of learning.
I am proud to announce an addition to the writing team here at Robert Braathe's HR and Career Guide, Tiffany Kowalski. TIffany is a former student of mine who is pursuing a degree in Business and Technology Management from SUNY Delhi at SCCC in Schenectady. She is interested in Human Resources and is pursuing opportunities in Human Resources.
She'll be contributing posts each month regarding topical HR issues.
I came across a great article from HR Magazine Company, overviewing basic fundamentals of building your business.
It's easy to lose sight of the your most valued asset - people; your colleagues, customers, and suppliers. Understanding the diversity amongst your network can help compliment your business. The relationships you form with a person, and the expectations derived from them are important to understand how they affect your business. Creating a healthy communication channel will not only improve productivity, but your profit margin.
Invest in your employees. Change is inevitable, implement the necessary resources to engage future change to derive success from it. Getting your network involved will help ease the fluctuation in your business.
Manage your expectations in close consideration. Never over-promise what you can provide. Misrepresentation can significantly damage relationships with your network. Be honest with what your company can deliver. "It is far better to exceed expectations than to fall short of them." (Brannen, 2011)
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