Networking is an Investment

Networking is an Investment Rita Carey, career consulting and leadership coach, left a great comment on my post about networking (does it work?) post on Friday. Her entire comment is worth reading but I wanted to share her very last thought: Networking, done well, is an investment. Think about it if you have $100 and you invest it in something relatively safe you might be able to get, say $120 out later. Is later tomorrow? NO! (usually not) You might have to wait for a year before you can get the increase. Usually investments take time to mature. If networking is an investment, when do you think you can get the value out of it? Perhaps not until next year. Start now. Invest now. Network now. You need to start before you need to pull your $120 out. Networking is an Investment Rita Carey, career consulting and leadership coach, left a great comment on my post about networking (does it work?) post on Friday. Her entire comment is worth reading but I wanted to share her very last thought: Networking, done well, is an investment. Think about it if you have $100 and you invest it in something relatively safe you might be able to get, say $120 out later. Is later tomorrow? NO! (usually not) You might have to wait for a year before you can get the increase. Usually investments take time to mature. If networking is an investment, when do you think you can get the value out of it? Perhaps not until next year. Start now. Invest now. Network now. You need to start before you need to pull your $120 out.

4 Ways to Improve Employee Productivity - Classy Career Girl

4 Ways to Improve Employee Productivity Time is money, or at least that’s the equivalent in the world of business. A company’s ability to produce results in a short period of time is extremely important to the overall success of the brand. Obviously, the more work your staff can get done through the course of a day, the more value they add to the brand and its ability to remain profitable. However, a workforce of over or underperforming employees can result in less than satisfying results. Balancing Productivity and Quality It really is tricky at times to find balance with productivity in the workplace. As the owner or manager, it is your job to find ways to make your staff want to work harder â€" without feeling overwhelmed. An overworked employee in a strict environment with tons of rules and regulations may produce a lot of work, but it won’t likely be to a standard you’re used to.  Similarly, an underperforming employee in an environment that is too loose and free will produce less work, which can also be sub par. Finding balance and creating the perfect work environment for improved employee productivity will not only require you to hire top talent, but it will also require you to make changes in your business. To improve employee productivity, try one of the methods below. 1. Offer Convenient Services   How much time do you believe is wasted in the office on coffee and snack runs? As a business owner or manager, it is important for you to realize that your employees are not machines. They are human beings. Taking a quick break for a snack or to grab a cup of Joe is a common practice for employees. Managers can improve productivity by offering convenient services on the premises so their staff doesn’t have to travel to get necessities.  For instance, a company who is centered in downtown Philadelphia, PA might opt to invest in  office coffee service in Philadelphia  so that their staff doesn’t have to head down to Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks every few hours to top off their cup of Joe or grab some light refreshments to hold them over until meal time. 2. Encourage Teamwork Though you have hired each of your employees for their individual skills, allowing them to work together can improve productivity. When the goal is to complete larger projects, effective project management and team collaborations can help to get assignments completed faster. In a group setting, your staff is held accountable both individually and collectively. Setting team goals and being held accountable to the group are often motivators and incentives for employees to work to their fullest potential. 3. Upgrade Office Equipment Your employees can only be as productive as the tools and resources they have access to. If you’re still stuck in the old ages with paper filing systems, bulky computers and modems, a corded landline phone, and outdated software you can’t expect your employees to be as productive. Every now and again, businesses need to invest in updating office systems and equipment to help streamline processes and make completing tasks easier for their staff. Upgrades like laptops, mobile devices, cloud storage accounts, and more provide your staff with tools that allow them to get the job done more efficiently. [Related: 11 Essential Steps To Create A Paperless Office] 4. Incentivize and Celebrate Sure, the great pay, benefits, and time off may be what drew your star employees to work for your company, but what will keep them there? Motivating and encouraging staff to be productive can be as simple as providing periodic incentives. Some companies go with incentives that might include Employee of the Month. Employees who perform well are essentially rewarded with a photo and a day off or a free lunch. The more encouraged and celebrated your staff feels, the more they’re willing to work. [Related: How To Turn That Drab Office Into A Calm Workspace] As you can see, improving productivity in the workplace will require you to first determine where the problem lies to effectively implement the right changes. Providing things like convenient food services, encouraging and creating an environment for teamwork, investing in up-to-date equipment and software, and incentivizing and celebrating victories are all efficient solutions that should inspire your staff to want to work hard to reach your brand’s ultimate goal.

Top 7 Qualities Employers are Looking for in Candidates

Top 7 Qualities Employers are Looking for in Candidates There are three Cs to getting the kind of job you want and earning the kind of money you want to earn. These three Cs basically remain constant throughout your working career. They are: Contacts Do you have enough contacts? The more contacts you have in the marketplace, the more likely it is you will find the job you want. The more people you know and who know you, the more likely it is you will uncover one of the 85 percent or more of job openings that are never listed anywhere.  This is why it is so important for you to network continually. Join clubs and associations. Ask people for referrals and references. Tell your friends, relatives, and associates that you are in the market for a new job. Make sure that everyone you know is aware that you are available and looking for a job.  Nothing is more important than your circle of contacts. The great majority of jobs that are filled in the hidden job market are filled because someone knows someone. And you can expand your range of contacts just by telling people that you are available and asking for their help and their advice. Credibility  Your reputation is important! The second C is credibility. This is made up of your reputation and your character. Your credibility is the most important single quality about you in terms of getting recommendations and referrals from your contacts. Make sure that everything you do is consistent with the highest ethical standards. Make sure that you never say or do anything that could be misconstrued by anyone as anything other than excellent conduct and behavior. Remember, people will only recommend you for a job opening if they are completely confident that they will not end up looking foolish as a result of something you do or say. Competence  Be good at what you do. The third C is competence. In the final analysis it is how good you are and how good you have been in your previous jobs that will determine, more than anything else, how good you can be at the job under consideration. Next to your character, your level of competence will be the single most important factor in determining your success in your career. This is why you must be continually working to maintain and upgrade your levels of competence through personal study all your working life. 7 most in-demand qualities: Every employer has had a certain amount of experience with both good and bad employees. For this reason every employer has a pretty good idea of what he or she wants more of. Here are  the big seven: 1) Intelligence: In every study, it has been found that fully 76 percent of the productivity and contribution of an employee will be determined by his or her level of intelligence. Intelligence in this sense means the ability to plan, to organize, to set priorities, to solve problems, and to get the job done. Intelligence refers to your level of common sense and your practical ability to deal with the day-to-day challenges of the job. The key to demonstrating your intelligence is for you to ask intelligent questions. One of the hallmarks of intelligence that is immediately evident is curiosity. The more you ask good questions and listen to the answers, the smarter you appear. 2) Leadership ability: Leadership is the willingness and the desire to accept responsibility for results. Its the ability to take charge, to volunteer for assignments, and to accept accountability for achieving the required results of those assignments. The mark of the leader is that he or she does not make excuses. You demonstrate your willingness to be a leader in the organization by offering to take charge of achieving company goals and then committing yourself to performing at high levels. 3) Integrity: Its probably the most important single quality for long-term success in life and at work. Integrity begins by being true to yourself. This means that you are perfectly honest with yourself and in your relationships with others. You are willing to admit your strengths and weaknesses. You are willing to admit where you have made mistakes in the past. Especially, you demonstrate loyalty. You never say anything negative about a previous employer or a person whom you have worked with or for. Even if you were fired from a previous job, never say anything negative or critical. 4) Likability: Employers like people who are warm, friendly, easygoing, and cooperative with others. Employers are looking for people who can join the team and be part of the work family. Men and women with good personalities are invariably more popular and more effective at whatever they do. Teamwork is the key to business success. Your experience in working as part of a team in the past and your willingness to work as part of a team in the future can be among the most attractive things about you in applying for a job. 5) Competence: We spoke about this earlier. Competence is terribly important to your success. It is really the foundation of everything that happens to you in your career. In its simplest terms, competence is the ability to get the job done. It is the ability to set priorities, to separate the relevant from the irrelevant tasks, and then to concentrate single-mindedly until the job is complete. 6) Courage: This is the willingness to take risks. Courage also means the willingness to accept challenges, the willingness to take on big jobs or even new jobs where there is a high degree of uncertainty and the possibility of failure. Courage also means the willingness to speak up and say exactly what you think and feel in a difficult situation. Employers admire men and women who are not afraid to speak their minds. And you demonstrate this in a job interview when you ask frank and direct questions about the company, the position, and the future that you might have with the organization 7) Inner strength: Inner strength means that you have the determination and the ability to persevere in the face of adversity. Inner strength means that you have the quality of persistence when the going gets rough. You demonstrate inner strength when you remain calm, cool, and relaxed during the job interview. If you are calm and cool during the interview, it is a good indication that you will be calm and cool in the inevitable crises that occur during the day-to- day operations of the company. Above all, it is your character, which is the sum total of all your positive qualities, that will have the greatest impact on whether you get the job you want. Your job now is to continue working on your character by practicing the behaviors of top people at every opportunity. RELATED: 7 Reasons Employers Will Hire You. Author:  Brian Tracy is the author of What Youre Really Worth: Maximize Your Income at Any Time in Any Market.