If You Only Have 30 Seconds to Make a First Impression as an Individual, HOW LONG DO YOU HAVE AS AN ORGANIZATION?

Source: – Global Learning Network

While we don’t know the exact answer on this one, we DO know that it isn’t very long!

And in the aftermath of the past unprecedented year, that we believe will carry over and perhaps, even strengthen in the forthcoming year, employment trends will continue to change more dramatically based on a variety of both external and internal social, political, legal and marketdriven factors.

Getting a new employee socially networked and productive has become a vital issue that recruiting and development functions share. No matter how carefully you may have screened a Candidate to fit your organization’s culture, or how closely his or her skills match those of the position – there is a good chance s/he will leave in the first year.

WHY? There are 4 major reasons why people may be dissatisfied with a new work experience –magnified by our post-COVID environment:

1. Everyone enters work with a set of expectations about what the work and culture will be like. Mismatched expectations start the process of doubt and dissatisfaction that often leads to people leaving.
2. A lack of ‘friends’ in the organization often compounds mismatched expectations. How often do we see people following their former bosses or co-workers from job-to-job because they have that instant social network. Networks just may be the most important ingredient why people come to – and leave- and organization.
3. Study after study has pointed out that the Manager and Employee’s relationship is key to job performance and retention. Poor Managers who do not take the time to get to know their new Employees may actually drive them away.
4. Last are the Employee’s skills and competency. While we believe we hire very competent people, we may be mistaken. Often if an Employee senses that they do not have the right skills for the position, and if they see no way to develop them in a reasonable timeframe, they leave to avoid embarrassment or because they fear they will be let go.

WHAT TO DO?

STEP #1: Help every Employee build an internal social network

STEP #2: Help the new Employee understand the culture

STEP #3: Educate Managers and get the bad ones out of managerial positions! One company we know of encourages the Manager to go through part of the orientation program with the new Employee. This creates a social experience as part of the orientation process as the Manager and Employee share social interaction with each other.

STEP #4: Provide abundant training.

3 Skills to Demonstrate Executive Presence

Source: – Stacey Hanke, C-Suite Network

Have you ever seen someone whose presence takes command the moment they enter a room?
They don’t attract attention because they are loud or flashy. They exude a silent confidence seen and felt by others. They speak in a way that draws people in. Their influence encourages others to willingly act upon what they say.

Think of someone you know with executive presence. Chances are, you can’t put your finger on any one single skill they possess, rather a combination of attributes that makes them uniquely influential.

Executive presence requires work. It means admitting the skills it took to reach your current level of success are not enough to guarantee continued success. It goes beyond just wanting to get better. It requires a willingness to disrupt your old habits and a commitment to practice skills even when they feel unnatural. If you are ready to do the work, these 3 skills will help you achieve the executive presence needed to have influence.

1. Clearly Convey Your Vision
   Executive presence, like influence, isn’t granted with years of experience or a fancy title. Leaders demonstrate executive presence when they can clearly communicate their vision. Too often, leaders fail to influence others because their message is long and hard to follow. When I ramble or take too long to reach a point, my coach says to me “Commit to a lane and land the plane.” To have influence, your message must land in a way that is clear, concise, and easy to remember. Words matter. Clarity yields confidence.
2. Encourage Accountability
   Executive presence grows when leaders encourage and empower employees to prioritize their own self-development. Influence is the direct result of respect, credibility, and trust earned from others. Grow your influence by encouraging your team to grow their own. Studies show people retain only 5% of what they hear, 10% of what they read, and 90% of what they teach others. Develop your employees’ ability to influence others by creating an accountability program. Establish accountability partnerships among employees that provide productive feedback on ways to improve each other’s communication skills. Growing their influence will result in growing your own.
3. Ditch Self Doubt
   Confidence is the one word most associated with executive presence. When people consider someone they believe to have influence, they often describe them as confident; and yet, too often we allow self-doubt to steal our confidence. We allow insecurities to creep into our thoughts, resulting in our use of words and body language that reflects our deep-seated doubt. When unsure of our ideas, we tend to change our tone and rate of speech. We slouch. Our eyes dart when speaking, and we fail to connect with our listeners in a way that makes an impact. When you speak, focus on how you convey your message, even if you’re feeling insecure. Stand up tall, with your
   shoulders back and hands comfortably at your side. Make deliberate eye contact when you speak, only breaking long enough to pause between topics. You may feel unsure on the inside, but your communication skills will convey confidence.

Every professional who exhibits executive presence chose at some point in their career to become a better communicator. Use these three tips and make the choice to become better today.

IS IT TIME FOR PLAN B? (or C? or ??)

Source: Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

Whether you’ve lost your job or fallen out of love with it, many people turned to something new this year. We meet those who did.

For 21 years, Ian Taylor worked in the oil industry. He started his career at BP, then made his way up through the ranks, eventually becoming the chief well engineer for Tullow Oil. He worked long days; his job required a lot of travel and took him from the North Sea to places such as Angola, Ghana and Algeria. But, at the age of 43, he has just finalized his application to become a schoolteacher. “Assuming that’s successful, I’ll start the PGCE in secondary school math teaching next September, graduate from that by the following summer, and I’ll be teaching full-time in September 2022.”

Taylor was made redundant from the oil company at the start of the first lockdown. He planned to use his redundancy package to take the summer off and start looking for work later in the year. But when he and his wife ended up home schooling their two children, aged six and eight, he became one of the few parents to enjoy the experience. “I loved it, actually,” he says. “I found it really rewarding.”

The time away from his old job gave Taylor space and time to reflect. The high-powered positions he had held towards the end of his career had demanded long hours. “I was going into work as the children were getting up, seeing them for a minute in the morning, then getting home when they were ready to go to bed. I really wanted to spend time with them.” The pandemic changed his priorities. “When you’re in a role like I was, it’s very difficult to see that there is anything for you outside the job you’re doing. Taking a step back totally reinforced that this is the right move for me and for the family, and we’ll just have to make the cash work as best we can.”

In 2020, it might seem surprising to hear stories of old careers being left behind while new professional ambitions are pursued. These are anxious times, particularly for low-paid workers and the young. The Covid-hit economy experienced the deepest recession in history this year, and official forecasts now predict the biggest economic decline in 300 years. The number of people on insecure, zero-hours contracts increased by 156,000 in the three months to July, to 1.05 million. Industries such as entertainment, hospitality and aviation are shedding tens of thousands of jobs, and millions of workers are still on furlough. Positions that might previously have attracted 10 or 20 applications are now receiving hundreds. Professional network The Dots, which focuses on the creative industries and advertises positions at magazines, museums, fashion brands and social media companies, has seen a 143% increase in applications for every role it posts.

And yet, against this grim landscape, there are people who, like Taylor, have used the tumult of 2020 as an opportunity to shake up their lives, to pursue a dream they’ve always held, or used redundancy packages to retrain into another industry entirely, despite taking a financial hit. Over the last few months, I kept hearing about people who had decided to embark upon a new career, going from stay-at-home mother to teaching assistant via a college course at night; from writer to personal trainer; from hairdressing to working with vulnerable teenagers.

“We know from longstanding survey evidence that at any time, around one in three people are actively thinking about changing jobs, if not careers,” says John Philpott, a labor market economist who blogs as The Jobs Economist. He is not at all surprised that people are reconsidering their options; in more ordinary and stable times, people tend not to act on impulse, he explains, “because there is no obvious push factor”. Such a factor might be something like bereavement, divorce or redundancy; an unexpected event that overrides caution. For many, this year has been one giant push factor.

Self-employment tends to rise in the aftermath of recession. After the last one in 2008, one of the big phenomena was people pursuing their hobbies or interests in a professional capacity, Philpott says, “partly because of the type of work, but perhaps to get a bit more autonomy, and not have a boss. The difficulty at the moment, of course, is that the self-employed are probably in at least as bad a position as people in work, in terms of insecurity of income.”

In March, before the first lockdown, Felicia Kirk was working as a hairdresser in Houston. Now 38, she had been doing what she calls her “spiritual work” for six or seven years on the side, giving astrology and tarot card readings to a number of clients, many of whom told her she should be doing it as more than a side gig. “It was something I always wanted to do, but I didn’t have time. I was working as a hairdresser, seeing friends, dating.”

She caught Covid-19 early in the pandemic. “The fatigue and the brain fog and the depression was really bad,” she recalls. “During this whole process, as I was healing, I just opened up my computer and my Instagram, and said that I was pulling cards for anybody. Time zones didn’t matter. I had all this time to wake up at 4am and read to someone in Australia or wherever it was, and so people started reaching out.”

She had funds in her savings account. “I thought, OK, right. I’m just going to pull tarot and see what comes in.” As her client base grew, Kirk was able to stop cutting hair. She was about to leave Houston; in October, she was living in New Orleans, and plans to move to Mexico for the winter, where she can do readings remotely. “I just realized all I needed was daylight, fresh food, my computer, my tarot decks and a few good people.”

Dr. Pippa Grange is a psychologist and author of the book Fear Less: How To Win At Life Without Losing Yourself, which examines our understanding of “success”. She was the psychologist for the England men’s football squad during their 2018 World Cup run and is widely credited with fostering their positive mental approach during the tournament. She, too, is unsurprised to hear that, despite a worrying economic forecast, people are setting up new businesses and aiming to fulfil long-held ambitions. “We get on a track, and we just keep walking in the same direction until something makes us stop… a crisis is good at that,” she says, echoing Philpott’s notion of a “push factor”.

When talking to people who have taken the decision to overhaul their lives in 2020, one thread emerges again and again: they are seeking something that goes beyond a traditional notion of success. A recent American study suggested that nine out of 10 employees would be prepared to earn less for more meaningful work. “I so deeply believe that it’s time we re-evaluate success,” Grange says. “The way we’ve defined it is pretty linear and pretty narrow, and I don’t think it gives us the kind of reward we really crave anymore.”

Success is a ‘Squiggly’ – Not a Straight Line
How to pursue your Plan B

1. Act first, think later
   If you’re thinking about making a career change, or this year has prompted you to think
   about pursuing a passion, the best thing you can do is to start by experimenting. You will
   learn more by doing than thinking. Prioritize practicing over waiting for the perfect
   opportunity.
2. Ask for help
   It can feel hard, as we don’t want to be a burden, or feel we should find all the answers
   for ourselves. However, it’s worth remembering that most people enjoy helping others,
   so don’t apologize for getting the help you need. People can only support you if they
   know how they can help.
3. Stay optimistic
   Changing jobs is hard, and you might start to feel stuck, or compare yourself,
   unhelpfully, to others. If you need to improve your optimism, try writing one “Very
   Small Success” you’ve had at the end of every day. Reflecting on and recording our small
   successes builds our resilience by reminding us that we are making positive progress.
4. Prioritize possibilities over plans
   Be open-minded about exploring multiple possibilities, rather than fixating on a single
   plan or the perfect job. View opportunities through the lens of learning. Ask yourself
   what will open up more opportunities in the future rather than closing them down.
5. Run to, not from, a job
   We’re often motivated to make a career change because we’re unhappy with our
   current reality. This can create a sense of urgency to escape rather than focusing on
   running towards fulfilment. Before making any choices, make sure you’re clear on what
   your job must-haves and must-nots are. This gives you a useful insight into what
   motivates you and a reminder of what is most important to you as you explore new
   opportunities.
6. Success is a squiggly, not straight, line
   The advantage of the increasingly squiggly career paths we take today is that we can
   define success for ourselves. This can feel simultaneously energizing and overwhelming,
   as we put pressure on ourselves to make sure all the hours we dedicate to work are
   time well spent. Amanda Mackenzie, CEO of Business In The Community, gave me some
   brilliant advice for keeping perspective, which is particularly useful in times of transition
   and change: “Imagine you’re 90 on a park bench, what matters?” Keep an eye on the big
   picture, and pursue your goals, one small step at a time.

HOW TO GET A POSITIVE REACTION FROM NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

Does your feedback address these 3 factors?

Source: Maryanne Peabody and Larry Stybel, Co-founders of Stybel Peabody Associates, Inc.,

as published in Psychology Today. Member, CORE Group 

SITUATION: You have a scheduled meeting with a subordinate. The feedback is going to make the person squirm. Herein, we provide

Research-based suggestions to help you be more effective in giving negative feedback.

You will not be surprised to learn that providing negative feedback seldom changes behavior. As professors Lisa Steelman and Kelly Rutkowski of the Florida Institute of Technology write, “numerous studies have demonstrated that unfavorable feedback results in negative attitudes, less acceptance of the feedback, and unwillingness to change behavior.”

Researching how to improve the effectiveness of negative feedback, the two psychologists collected information from 405 employees who ranged in tenure from one year to 42 years, with an average tenure of 18 years. Eighty-eight percent were males and 12 percent were females. They ranged in age from 22 to 64 years with an average age of 45.

Their primary finding: “Contextual” factors outside of the feedback itself can mitigate the negative consequences. IN SIMPLE TERMS, prior to giving negative feedback, ask yourself three questions:

▪ Does the employee view me as a credible source of information?
▪ Have I made my intentions clear?
▪ Am I providing clearly defined achievement goals?

ARE YOU CREDIBLE IN THE EYES OF YOUR SUBORDINATE?
You may believe that you understand the employee’s job requirements and have in-depth knowledge about job factors for successful job performance. You may believe that your race, sex, and age should have no bearing.

Your self-perception may be valid—and irreverent. How does this subordinate perceive you?

For example:

A client company provides a highly technical SaaS (software as a service) for the financial service sector. The company’s vice president of IT reports to the CEO. He Is losing credibility with peers and with his boss because of a tendency to be highly critical of peers at team meetings. The CEO believes the male VP does not respect her because she came up through the finance function, is not a technical expert, and is female.

The CEO is in a dilemma. The VP’s technical contributions are so important that the CEO would like to retain him. On the other hand, the CEO cannot avoid confronting the VP about his dysfunctional behavior.

In the above case, we recommended hiring an outside consultant to conduct a 360 survey of the top management team. The rationale was to use the survey results to improve the entire top management team and not simply point to the VP. At the same time, the VP would receive the negative information from an impartial source.

HAVE YOU MADE YOUR INTENTIONS CLEAR?

The researchers found that “the recipient’s perceptions of the source’s intentions in giving feedback have stronger impact on reactions than negative feedback itself.” In the above case, we recommended that the CEO be clear that the purpose in giving feedback is not to collect data to justify firing termination. The CEO does not wish to fire the VP but will if forced to.

We recommend that you be clear in your conversation. Back it up with a written note to the employee.

FOR EXAMPLE:

“On a scale of 1-5, your C-suite peers and I gave you an average rating of 2. When we measure how you are perceived by your peers this time next year, my goal is that you move the scale to 3.

“In other words, I expect you to be perceived as an “average” contributor to C-suite meetings and not below average.”

ARE YOU PROVIDING CLEARLY DEFINED GOALS?
What positive behaviors do you wish to see? What is your timeline? How will you measure success? What resources are you prepared to offer to help the employee succeed?

In some jobs, success is easy to quantify. Sales is the most obvious example. In the case above, the CEO needs success about managing stakeholder perception.

FOR EXAMPLE:

Six months from today I am going to evaluate you on the following measures:
I have observed the VP looking at issues from an enterprise-wide perspective:

0 = Never
1
2
3 = Sometimes
4
5 = Always

The goal is to achieve an average rating of 3.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Providing negative feedback to subordinates is one of those important yet uncomfortable responsibilities of leadership. Based on the research conducted with over 400 employees, you can increase your effectiveness by making sure three key issues are addressed in addition to the negative feedback: credibility of feedback source, clarity of intentions, specificity in measures of improvement.

GEN ZERS . . . ON THE HORIZON!

Predicted to comprise 1/3 of the workforce by 2025.

Source: Korn Ferry article “New Kids on the Block”
As posted in RDC “Views You Can Use” – rdcinc.com

The Z Wave! Born 1997 – 2012
Why it matters: Defiant / Unprofessional / More Hype than Hustle! Don’t believe that for a
second. If your goal is to reach more people, hire a GenZer! They are known to reach out to
thousands in a matter of seconds!

Korn Ferry shared a great article, “New Kids on the Block,” a great read to encourage us to take
a closer look as we prepare our marketing efforts to reach out. Email doesn’t cut it with these
folks!

Our communication plans need to extend its umbrella to reach out. Texting on a variety of
apps the wave. Catch it before it’s too late!

SO. . .WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?

“Which way do I go?” seems to be a common theme these days. Unemployment down,
voluntary quits up, shortages, higher prices, potential war in Europe and Washington in gridlock
. . . not to mention COVID and its domino-effect of consequence

There are many considerations these days – adding staff or bunkering down in case of quick
drop in demand. It’s tougher to hire when applicants have so much leverage. Hybrid work
environment is debated as companies and employees figure out what works best for both.

So many issues – and limited time to react.

Uncertainty prevails – and we need to keep our eyes on many fronts – because WHO KNOWS WHICH WAY TO TURN?

Agility and flexibility can help. Organization structures are being recreated to ensure that as
times change, the company and its employees can react quickly.

STAY FOCUSED. Keep your eyes on your staff. Build strong relations to keep your workforce
flexible with the agility to identify and address changing needs.

Everyone Is Quitting.Here’s the Right Way to Do It.

Source: New York Times

From understanding why you want to leave to tackling health insurance and retirement plans, here’s your guide to a graceful exit — without leaving money on the table.

Everyone, sometime or another, dreams of quitting. For millions, the fantasy is real.

More than 4.5 million Americans voluntarily left their jobs in November alone — the highest one-month total on record. Much of the turnover has been in hospitality, retail and other lower-wage jobs that have been particularly challenging during the pandemic. But the desire to move on — whether quietly or with a very public flourish — cuts across industries.

“Everyone was playing musical chairs and constantly in motion, and in 2020 the music stopped and people looked around and said: ‘How did I even get here? I didn’t even know I was playing this game,’” said Jess Wass, a Career Coach and Consultant, “They are coming to me more because they are miserable — they hit their breaking point and figure there must be another way.”

Switching jobs is usually a reliable way to secure a meaningful raise, more rewarding work or an improved worklife equilibrium, but rushing down that road could lead to poor decisions.
Consider this your guide to making an exit — gracefully — without leaving any money on the table.

Begin with introspection.
Before you start mentally crafting a resignation letter, FACET suggests starting with some questions: Ask yourself

– What’s motivating you to leave and what do think you need to thrive?

“What is the core essence you are looking to change?” said Gala Jackson, Director of Coaching and Lead
Executive Career Coach at Ellevest, a financial management firm for women. “We know that when you are doing aligned work, or mission-focused work, and you feel honored and respected, you are more likely to stay in that role.”

“A lot of people have merely absorbed what others’ visions of success look like, rather than their own,” Ms. Wass said. She tells clients to evaluate several areas. Look at the work you do daily; what do you enjoy the most? Look at relationships with managers and colleagues, which play a significant role in job satisfaction. Are you using your strengths, which can make you feel more engaged and fulfilled? Is your work aligned with your values?

“We often do things based on expectations we have of ourselves and others have of us,” Ms. Wass said. “It’s really important to take a step back and ask yourself, ‘What is most important to me?’”
Sometimes those answers lead to an awakening — and a complete career change. Others find that their
dissatisfaction can be remedied with a thoughtful conversation with the boss, including about pay.

OK, you’re leaving. Do a financial checkup first.
The safest route is to have another job lined up before you quit — and many people can’t do it any other way.

But if you plan on jumping without knowing where you’ll land, you should start by figuring out how much it costs you to live.

Make a list of your nonnegotiable monthly expenses — mortgage, rent, food, utilities, insurance, car payments, other debt, childcare — and a list of what you can do without. If you don’t already have an emergency fund, you should save at least three to six months’ worth of expenses. Even if your job search doesn’t take that long, that sum doesn’t account for costs you can’t anticipate.

If you own a home, applying for a home equity line of credit before you quit (and lose your pay stubs) can
provide added security. “You may not need it, but it is a nice thing to fall back on for extra cash because it is much cheaper than drawing on credit cards,” said Laura Rotter, a financial planner in White Plains, N.Y.
A Roth individual retirement account can also act as backstop: Contributions, but not earnings, can be
withdrawn without penalty.

Take advantage of flexible spending accounts.
Before you leave, be sure to use (or lose) the money you’ve set aside in your flexible spending accounts,
whether for medical or dependent care expenses. Expenses must be incurred before you leave.

There’s good news for employees here, and it may surprise you: You’re entitled to the full health care F.S.A. amount you elected to set aside — even though the money is taken out of your paycheck over the course of the year. If you elected to set aside $2,000 for medical expenses but have had only $1,000 taken out of your checks by the time you leave, you can still spend the entire sum. And your employer can’t make you pay back the difference.

“An employer is stuck with the bill,” said Karen Burke, an adviser with the Society for Human Resource
Management, SHRM, a trade organization.

Dependent care accounts are different: Employees can be reimbursed only for expenses up to the amount that has been deducted from their paychecks.

Health savings accounts, which are typically used in conjunction with high-deductible health plans, aren’t use-itor-lose-it. That money is yours to keep even if you don’t spend it; the account isn’t tied to an employer.

“The account would stay put and could still be used to reimburse or pay for qualified medical expenses,” said Frank Fiorille, Vice President of Risk, Compliance and Data Analytics at Paychex. But you can’t make new contributions, unless you open a new high-deductible plan elsewhere.

Tally up vacation time, bonuses and more.
Check to see how much vacation or other paid time off you have not yet used and may be owed, and whether it can still be used or paid out; that could help cushion your job search fund, if you’re creating one. Also be sure you know when other perks, including bonuses, may be paid out or become available, such as soon-to-be-vested stock options.

If you’re holding any stock options that allow you to buy shares at a discount, find out how long you have to cash them in after you leave, Ms. Rotter said, adding that it’s commonly three months from your last day. For any options that aren’t vested, however, you’ll probably be leaving money on the table.

Have a plan for health insurance …

If you’ve been putting off appointments, it may make sense to book them before you start over with a new deductible and possibly a new provider network. The next order of business is to find out when your coverage ends: It could be cut off on your last day, for example, or it may last for the rest of the month.

Then, review your options carefully. “Everyone needs their health coverage right now, more than ever,” said Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

If you don’t expect to have employer-provided coverage for a while (or you’re going to be your own boss), there are a few possibilities. COBRA — a continuation of your employer’s plan, usually for up to 18 months — is costly because you’ll generally be picking up your employer’s share of the premium.

If you’re married or have a partner with access to an employer-provided plan, your loss of coverage generally should entitle you to a special enrollment period for your partner’s plan — whether your quitting ends coverage for one or both of you.

And then there’s coverage made available through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Compared with more robust employer-provided coverage, marketplace plans “are not what you are used to,” Ms. Pollitz said. “But there will definitely be something out there if you leave your job. ”
For the rest of the year, marketplace plans have enhanced subsidies, which means more people will qualify for cheaper coverage than they would have before a March 2021 stimulus package, sometimes for no premium.
And if your income drops to less than 138% of the poverty level, you are likely to qualify for Medicaid in most states.

… and a catastrophe.

You’ll probably be giving up any insurance perks that came with the job, such as life or disability insurance.

Life insurance can be supplemented with a term policy, which is easier to do (or at least cheaper) when you’re younger and in good health. But disability coverage is usually much more expensive and harder to set up, and many people tend to go without it.“Unfortunately, when you leave, it goes away,” Ms. Burke of SHRM said. “With another employer, you start from scratch.”

Understand your retirement plan.
Are you borrowing money from your 401(k) or 403(b) retirement plan? You may have to pay it back quickly. Otherwise, the balance may be treated as a taxable distribution (with a 10% penalty, usually if you’re under 55).

Loan rules vary by plan: Some will require you to pay the loan back within 45 to 60 days, according to Fidelity, one of the largest plan administrators. Contact your plan administrator for specifics
Don’t lose hope if you fail to pay it back on time, though. You can avoid taxes and penalties by instead putting the missing money into an I.R.A. This is technically a rollover, and is a good solution — as long as you do it by the time you file your tax return the next year.

If you don’t have any loans, you’ll still need to decide what to do with your retirement account. You may be permitted to keep the money in your old employer’s plan, though you will want to evaluate whether it’s worth rolling it over into an I.R.A. or a new employer’s plan. (Smaller balances, often under $5,000, may be sent directly to you instead.)

Giving notice and plotting your exit.
Two weeks’ notice is still common practice; the initial conversation should be with your direct manager. You’ll probably need to write resignation letters to your supervisor and human resources; there’s no obligation to provide a reason.

And you may be asked to leave right away, whether you’re going to a close competitor or not. So be prepared for that possibility well before you give notice.

It should go without saying, but leaving on a positive note keeps your options open, which is particularly important for people who are early in their careers. “You may need this job for future references,” Ms. Burke said, or “you may need to come back to them after you have grown.” Tempting as it may be to post an “I quit” video on Instagram or #QuitTok, save the feedback for your exit interview.

FACET suggests putting together a transition memo about your responsibilities for your manager, which will garner good will with the former colleagues taking over your duties.

Nurture relationships, and yourself.
After you’ve alerted your manager and human resources about your plans, inform the people you’ve built relationships with, perhaps over coffee or lunch.

Ms. Jackson of Ellevest also suggests setting up chats with other senior leaders or colleagues you’ve always wanted to connect with before you leave. Those relationships “supersede the organizations we work for, especially if you are staying in the industry,” she said.

Perhaps most important: Take time for yourself.

FACET’S ADVICE: After two years of pandemic disruptions, everyone is burned out. Give yourself a break between gigs, if you can afford to. Then you can begin your new job feeling refreshed, ready to do your best work

How to Hire the Right Consultants for Your Company

• Article by Gloria Martinez of WomenLed.org
  
  

As a business owner, there will be times when you have to solve problems that are outside your area of expertise. You may not have the time or specialized knowledge required to effectively address the issue. When this happens, you should consider turning to a consultant. FACET shares how to hire the right consultant to ensure your investment is worth it.

Why Work With Consultants?

Even if you know that you need support to deal with a particular business problem, you might be wondering why you should bring a consultant on board rather than delegating to a current employee or hiring a new full-time team member. LegalNature states that by hiring a consultant, you’ll get an outsider’s perspective with external market knowledge, and you’ll only need to work with them for short-term projects, so you can avoid the expense and paperwork that come with hiring employees. However, it’s important to identify what kind of consultant you need before you start searching.

Marketing Specialist

Do you feel like you should be reaching more customers or clients with your marketing strategy, yet you’re not sure how to improve your reach? A marketing consultant can give you valuable strategic insights to generate new leads and ultimately increase your sales. Whether you’re struggling with social media marketing, brand development, email marketing, or digital ad campaigns, a marketing consultant can help you with every aspect of your strategy.

If you want to get your business in front of more customers, consider hiring an SEO specialist to improve your rankings and create an overall digital plan. You can find local SEO services through freelance job platforms where you can vet candidates based on their experience, reviews, delivery time, and rates.

IT Expert

Although practically every modern business runs on technology, not every business owner is a tech whiz – and that’s okay. When you need someone with technical know-how, hire an IT consultant. IT consultants will often specialize in a particular niche, such as setting up cloud services, implementing cybersecurity protections, or disaster management. Therefore, getting specific about your needs before hiring an IT consultant is crucial.

Outplacement Services Consultants

Many large companies will bring in outplacement consultants to help employees transition to new careers after a corporate restructure or layoff. They can help a company do right by their workers, whether it’s a small business or a brand. Outplacement services can lower the cost of severance, unemployment insurance, and boost morale for the remaining employees. When vetting outplacement consultants, make sure they offer the right strategies for your company.

Hiring Consultants

Hiring the ideal consultant for the task at hand can be a long process. You need to determine your budget, outline the projects you need completed and figure out which skills they should possess.

You’ll want to interview several consultants for the job – while it can be helpful to get referrals from others, every company is unique and the right consultant for one business might not be the right one for another. Look for someone who is results-driven and can demonstrate their positive impact on the companies they worked with previously.

Hiring a consultant who can take your company to new heights is well worth the time and effort.

Try these SMART Goal Steps

Source: Leading Edge Personnel

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time Lined

Setting goals with these attributes in mind will make them easier to reach and will help
focus your efforts.

👣 START SMALL: REVISIT YOUR RESUME.
If you’re looking for a new job or a career change, start here. Using the SMART mindset, pick a date by which you will update your resume. Whether you chip away at it little by little or dedicate a big block of time to it, this is a specific goal that can be achieved in a set amount of time. It’s relevant to your job search. compared to other goals, it won’t take too much time, and you’ll know you’ve achieved it by
having it completed.

👣 NEXT STEP: DECIDE HOW MANY POSITIONS YOU WANT TO APPLY FOR
Looking for jobs can be exhausting and can feel overwhelming. A SMART goal can be really helpful here! For example, if you want to change jobs, determine how many jobs you want to apply to each week, or each month. Start a list and write down every resume you send out. Decide that, if you want to apply to 20 jobs in a month, you’ll apply to at least one job each weekday. This specific goal allows for both the occasional off day (if nothing new has been posted that strikes your interest) and gives you the chance to exceed your goal.

👣 KEEP GOING! EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS
Suppose you’ve been thinking about adding to your skillset and knowledge base, either for personal enjoyment or professional advancement. In that case, you can set a goal of taking a certain number of courses in a year. If you want to take five classes in the year, decide that you’ll enroll in your first by March, your second by May, and so on. Set aside time to look for courses that appeal to you — you’d be surprised how many free tutorials and instructional courses are available on YouTube or through LinkedIn, not to mention things offered by local colleges and adult education programs — and keep a list of what you’ve enrolled in or applied for. They don’t have to be college-level courses, it might be a six-week certification program, but this is a goal that can be easily accomplished, measured and will be
relevant to your life.

👣 EXPAND YOUR CIRCLE
Socializing of any kind has been kind of tricky the past year, which makes getting out more an excellent goal for 2022. How is this a SMART goal? Easy: Decide that you want to attend five networking events in a year, for example. Start looking for groups that interest you and sign up. Circle the dates on your calendar. That’s it! Keep a running list to make sure you’re meeting your targets — and keep those business cards and names of people you’ve met handy, you never know when you might be able to help each other out!

👣 R-E-A-L-Y THINK ABOUT YOUR FUTURE
Most interviews ask where you want to be in 5 years. But have you asked yourself where you want your life to be? Give it some thought and start setting your own goals for yourself. Would you like to save money? Start an automated savings account with a few dollars each week or month automatically deducted, with a goal of raising a certain amount by the end of the year. If you reach your goal earlier, so much the better! Decide what you’d like to use that money for and start daydreaming. If you want to move to a different house or a different city, take steps to make that happen, like looking at real estate listings or taking a trip to see if you’ll feel at home there.

Goals are great things to have, but making them measurable, and holding yourself accountable for achieving them, is a different story. Making incremental progress is, in itself, a victory! It will also help you stay on track to achieving whatever it is you’re working toward. Break big goals down into little👣 and keep track of your actions and see how much more manageable it is.

🥳BEST WISHES FOR A SUCCESSFUL 2022

HOW TO SET STRONG CAREER GOALS FOR 2022

& actions to help you achieve them

Source: Lizzie Thompson – METRO

FIRST – REMEMBER that achieving your career goals require ownership, hard
work, self-discipline and sacrifice to maintain an action plan to keep you on your
path forward. – Carolyn Greco, FACET

It’s a great time to consider where you are in your life and where you’d like to go!
As you look back on the past 12 months at the things you’ve achieved and the
areas you fell short on. And, as a result, set more positive resolutions for the year
ahead.

Work is a key area that many of us plan to shake up when the new year hits –
even though setting career goals can feel a little daunting.

Career coach Natalie Trice tells Metro ‘As you head towards 2022 you may be
feeling somewhat fatigued and tired – after nearly two years of pandemic
working.

Setting resolutions and goals might feel pointless given the ongoing uncertainty,
but this could actually kick start action and put you on track for a successful year.’

SO, how do you go about setting these goals? And how can you make sure you
actually achieve them in 2022?

Here are 6 key pieces of advice from the experts:

❗️ Think ahead and work backwards
‘To get started, look at where you are now and where you’d like to be this
time next year,’ explains Natalie.

It could be you want more managerial responsibilities, or maybe you want to
go freelance, or even retrain completely.

In other words, it’s a good idea to think ahead and work backwards with an
action plan.

Natalie adds: ‘Find what it is and then put steps in place to make those things
happen.

‘Sprucing up your resume, putting yourself forward for more senior projects,
scoping out networking opportunities or reading up on that teaching course
are all starting points you can build on each day.

‘That resolution then becomes a reality that you can achieve over time, rather
than a milestone that feels too far away and could get left behind come midJanuary.’

❗️ Do a career health assessment
Just like your mental and physical health, your career health can have a
dramatic impact on your life and your relationships – so it’s important to
invest time to do this assessment properly.

Select a career assessment that looks at four main areas:

1. your level of job satisfaction
2. strength of your career progression strategy
3. the perception of your professional brand
4. your work/life balance.
   

❗️ Establish specific areas to focus on
Thinking about your career and where you want to go can be incredibly
overwhelming.
So break it down – and get specific.

EXAMPLE: Based on your reflections and career health assessment, you may
perceive the actual work that you do to be meaningful and enjoyable, but
don’t like the way you are being managed, for example.

OR – You might be very satisfied with the opportunities for promotion within
your former – or current company – but realize you receive far less
recognition than you feel is appropriate for the level of your contribution.

Once you’ve got to specifics of what you want to improve, you can go about
forming a plan to achieve it.

❗️ Be realistic
Be honest with yourself and make a distinction between your goal and your
dream.

• A dream is something you can aspire to reach
• A goal requires ownership, hard work, self-discipline and sacrifice to
  achieve it.

❗️ Don’t go it alone
A real goal will be a real challenge, otherwise it’s just a boring task. If you
think you don’t have the willpower to achieve your challenge, ask for support
from your FACET Career Strategist.
It’s always much easier when you have someone you can share your path
forward with.

Having a Coach/Friend in a supportive and encouraging role to help you boost
your motivation.

❗️ Look to past experience
WHAT LESSONS have you learned to date and what you could be doing
differently to achieve your new goals?

With the new year, there’s never been a better time for self-reflection – and
coming to terms with those truths that could really help you move forward
and break cycles of behavior from the past

FACE YOUR FEAR THIS HALLOWEEN

IT’S ALMOST HALLOWEEN! – and there are spooky things everywhere you look. From decor to horror movies, we are face-to-face with frights and fears 24/7. Though this time of year is often intentionally scary, don’t let fear control you, especially when it comes to your career.

Sometimes fear of what’s waiting around the corner, or the big scary unknown, can stop us dead in our tracks and keep us from pursuing goals and habits that we know are good for us. But in fact, a study published in Behaviour Therapy showed over 90% of the things people worry about never even happen!

Think of fear as an acronym:

False Events Appearing Real

So, what’s the best way to quell that worry and move forward unafraid? Arm yourself with knowledge and a good plan of attack. And you’ve got that. You can take confidence in the strategy we’ve created. And remember, every great accomplishment comes with some risk, and you are up to the task.

If you have any questions at all, don’t be afraid – just reach out. Your FACET Coach and entire staff are here to help you overcome your job search and career management fears – and chase your dreams.

Following is an interesting article about events in the news that may pertain to your career strategy. Enjoy and share … if you dare.

BEWARE! ‘Skeletal Resumes’, ‘Being Wicked’, or ‘Hiding Behind an Online Cape’

Jessica Schaeffer with the LaSalle Network in Chicago

Don’t be fooled this Halloween. Job seekers should beware and avoid “scary” search mistakes. Such as:

🎃 Skeletal resumes. Sending a resume and cover letter that’s bare-bones and generic is the fastest
way to land in a hiring manager’s “no” pile. Customize your resume for every job you’re applying to.

👻 Staying in the dark. Regardless of your time spent in the workforce, you should be reaching out to
industry professionals or employees of the companies you’re applying to, to gain insider knowledge on
how to succeed in both the company and industry you’re targeting.

🎃 Not sharing the thrill. When looking for a job, candidates should tell everyone they know, friends,
family, friends’ parents, etc. Even if their companies aren’t hiring, these people may know someone who
can help. It’s important that job seekers don’t overlook the obvious.

👻 Not getting into character. It’s scary how many people go on an interview but didn’t research how
that department operates or what it produces. A great example is someone interviewing for a marketing
role who has no sense of the company’s marketing campaigns or awards it has won. You should research
the role and be ready as if you’re starting that day.

🎃 Being wicked. People vent during an interview and don’t realize they’re doing it. You should never
bash previous employers or articulate any hint of frustrations during an interview. It shows
poor judgment and poor attitude.

👻 Not looking to the past. You should ask yourself what your previous co-workers are doing now. You
should be reaching out to your college guidance counselors or professors. Anyone, from any stage of
your career, can help you build or expand a network.

🎃 Spooked by change. Candidates pass up great opportunities because they have blinders on during
the job hunt regarding a specific job type, title, pay, etc. One of the biggest blinders, however, is
education. Someone with a history major can be a great salesperson. Don’t let your degree limit you.

👻 Hiding behind an online cape. This seems basic, but so many people think they’re invisible
online. Whether it’s an overly aggressive comment or an inappropriate picture, if you have even the
slightest hesitation about posting something, don’t do it or make it private.