My Leadership Solutions

lead·er·ship: not only for those with a fancy title. High doses can lead to success. Side effects include courage and confidence

Bored, Bitter, and Bound at Work?

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How to Untie Yourself from a Bad Work Situation

I’ve noticed there a lot of people complaining about their jobs lately.   At work, they’re disengaged and unhappy but try to fake happiness so they can get through the day.  Some don’t even try to fake it and wear bitter scowls on their faces most of the day.  In order to avoid the same fate, you almost want to shake them and ask them, “What’s wrong?  How did you turn into this person?”

Yet, they refuse to move on.  It’s as if their hands and feet are tied and they can’t move.  The job has become routine to them or their managers are tyrants or there’s some other reason that they’ve become disengaged.  The job has turned into an unpleasant necessity less pleasurable than taking out the trash.  Boredom and monotony envelop their days and they see no way out.

Sure, boredom has a way of seeping into almost everyone’s life at some point.  We all do things that we don’t enjoy doing and we realize that those things are a part of being grown-up professionals.  However, once that boredom turns into bitterness, then there’s a problem.

Do you experience any of the following symptoms?

  1. You find your job boring and monotonous the majority of the time.
  2. You would rather do household chores or any of the activities that you find unpleasant than go to work.
  3. You feel as if you have no other options.
  4. You give one-word answers or snap at people.
  5. You’ve been at this company/job for so long that you don’t know what else you would do.
  6. You feel as if you’re getting less intelligent by being in your job or work environment.
  7. You just don’t care about what you’re doing anymore.
  8. You have nightmares about your manager.
  9. You are intrigued by almost any other opportunity; however, you have lost the motivation to even put effort into finding and getting another job.
  10. You feel as if your skills are being underutilized and, therefore, wasting away.

If you find that you’re showing symptoms of turning into one of the bored, bitter, and bound employees, don’t panic.  There are steps that you can take in order to get out of the black hole of regain control of your career.

  1. Think back to what you used to find enjoyable about this job or about a previous job.  Try to find projects at work or side projects outside of work that have those characteristics.
  2. Set short-term and long-term goals for yourself and your career.  Evaluate how your current job helps you achieve these goals.
  3. Choose a skill that you want to improve in order to reach your goals.  Find a way to work on that skill in your current job or find a volunteer opportunity or mentor to help you improve that skill.
  4. Evaluate why you feel as if you’re stuck in your current situation.  What obstacles are standing in your way of making a change?  Then brainstorm as many different ideas that you can think of about what you would want to do if you lost this job tomorrow.  Talk to people you know if you can’t come up with anything.  After brainstorming the list, go through it and circle the ideas that are realistic for you.
  5. Make a list of your strengths and how you can use them in your current role.  Share this information with your manager and peers.
  6. Mix up the order of things that you do during the day if you can or add a new behavior to your day.  It can be something simple such as greeting a person you don’t know every day or finding one article a day that helps you with your goals or showing appreciation every day to at least one person.  Be creative.
  7. Find professional organizations and groups in your area that specialize in your area of expertise and network with them.
  8. Have an updated resume just in case.
  9. Talk to people about what they do and their goals.  Let them know about what your skills are and what you want your next career move to be.  It shouldn’t be a desperate I-hate-my-job-and-need-a-new-one complaint or a sales pitch, but a two-way dialogue that allows people to keep you in mind for opportunities they may come across.

Employee Recognition is Worth It

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 Recognize employees while sticking to your budget

Employee recognition is one of the keys to improving employee motivation.  But you can’t just build an employee recognition program in a vacuum.  You first need to know what behaviors you want to recognize and reward people for.

Keep in mind that the reason for these programs are not to make everyone feel happy (although it is a nice side-effect), but to encourage certain behaviors that lead to higher employee engagement.

Spending extra money in a down economy for something that doesn’t add value is not smart for anyone.  This is why you need to assess your current organizational climate and implement the employee recognition program that works best for your company.

Where’s the Proof? 

The proof is in the numbers.  A study by Watson Wyatt found that organizations with high levels of employee engagement performed better than organizations with low levels of engagement by 47 percent.

An employee can go from being “highly engaged” in the organization to being “highly disengaged” in only a year and a half.  Since recognition is an important tool for employee engagement, you need to look at ways to recognize your employees from the onset.

Employee Engagement Assessment Tools

In order to gauge where your organization is at in terms of employee engagement, conduct a survey.  Certain survey tool companies charge $100,000 in order to do a full-scale assessment of your workforce by designing and monitor employee engagement surveys, but these are not necessary.

There are cheaper options to consider.  Zoomerang is a company that conducts online surveys for businesses, including employee satisfaction surveys.  The price is as low as $500, depending on how many employees you want to survey.  If you’re fairly in tune with the temperament of your employees and need to just figure out recognition ideas, you can even design your own survey.  The Survey System run by Creative Research Systems  gives you the tools to tailor surveys for your organization and also gives free advice.

Employee Recognition Ideas  

There are many different types of recognition programs that you can put into place.  I’ve given you different options ranging from low-cost (one $) to high-cost (three $) so that you can use whichever one best fits into your budget.

1.  Manager feedback to Employees:

Put a program in place where managers and employees can send out online positive feedback cards to people who want to recognize someone for going above and beyond.  Turn it into a contest.  The person who collects the most cards will win a prize at the end of the month.

You would be surprised by how excited people get about a mention in the company newsletter for their achievements.

2.  Personal Recognition: $

Get creative with the different types of rewards and tailor them to the individual if possible.  It doesn’t have to be an expensive camera or a trip to theBahamas.  Give someone a half day off to spend time with his or her kids or if you know someone’s hobby is making candles, give them a coupon to a candle-making class or a gift card to a store that has candle-making supplies.  Employees will be grateful for the personal touch.

3.  Employee of the Month or Competition: $$

It’s best that you only implement this type of program in cases where competition isn’t going to lead to behavior that is going to hurt your business practices.  In addition to this, you should also give recognition to employees who did reach certain goals instead of just the one person who surpassed everyone.

4.  Outsource Recognition: $$ – $$$

Michael C. Fina has an employee recognition program that ranges from medium cost to high cost, depending on how you tailor it.  They help you set up a program based on the employee behaviors, anniversaries or special accomplishments that you want to recognize and reinforce.  Every behavior is worth points and once the individual collects a certain number of points, he or she can choose a prize from the catalog.  Because Michael C. Fina is a luxury gift retailer, you can guarantee that the prizes are all quality, name-brand products.  http://www.mcfawards.com/

Define Your Purpose

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I had the pleasure of attending the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) 2012 Conference held in Denver, Colorado this past year.  It was a great conference, but one seminar in particular my attention.

In his seminar, The Achievement Addiction, Dr. Jim Loehr, performance psychologist and co-founder of the Human Performance Institute, talked about why there are many people who have a long list of impressive accomplishments yet fail to feel fulfilled.

He used the example of a world-famous tennis star, who was also one of his clients.   From the outside looking in, it looked as if this star had all the fixings of the perfect life.  However, people who knew him noticed that he had become angry, unhappy, and difficult to work with, which is why he needed help.  He had started to actually hate tennis, the sport that had propelled him to be the ultimate sports star who was raking in millions of dollars per year.  The problem was that he hadn’t defined his purpose and was instead putting his energy toward a path different from what he really wanted.

After defining his purpose he decided that he wanted to repurpose tennis to help kids be happier and healthier and started charter schools.  The anger and unhappiness lifted once he started to work toward his purpose.

These days, people are succeeding, setting records, and producing great results.  Now more than ever, stress, depression, and anxiety threaten to take over our lives.  It’s as if achieving has become a goal in itself, which we keep chasing, without ever fully reaching the goal.

By no means are these researchers advocating sitting on our butts and having no ambitions.  They propose that we first define our purpose.  Then we can go after the successes we seek.  Take a truly honest look at yourself and your accomplishments.  Do you know your purpose?  Are your accomplishments aligned with your purpose?  If not, here are some steps that may help you.

  1. Brainstorm talents and skills that you have.  Ask yourself “What do I enjoy doing?  What am I good at doing?  What will people pay me to do?”  Once you have an answer that fits into all 3 questions, pursue it.
  2. Define your mission in life and write it down.  What do you want people to remember you for?
  3. Define your values that you will adhere to while you work toward your mission.
  4. Create short-term and long-term goals that tie to your mission.
  5. Put together a plan and place it where you can see it.
  6. Tell someone about your plan and have that person help hold you accountable.
  7. Take action.

Never Underestimate the Power of the Company Break Room

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Almost every company has one.  It offers a brief, yet much-needed reprieve from the cubicle – a chance to fill up your coffee mug, eat your lunch, chat with colleagues, or escape after a tough conversation with your manager.  It’s the break room.

Most employees don’t take time to express gratitude for the break room, but they would sure notice it if it disappeared.  But it is more than just a place to hang out during a break.  What happens in the break room can possibly (key word ‘possibly’) help make or break your career.

How to break your career in the break room (In other words, these are things not to do in the break room)

1)      Be overheard talking negatively about your manager, someone else’s manager, or the company.  After all, you’re on company time and the break room isn’t exactly private.  You never know who may be listening to your conversation.

2)      Discuss your office-inappropriate weekend escapades.

3)      Argue loudly on the phone with your spouse, lover, mother, or basically anyone.  You don’t need other employees to hear the personal details of your life and see your ugly side.

4)      Cut in line to heat your food in the microwave.

5)      Steal someone’s food from the refrigerator.  No one likes a lunch stealer.  Plus people may assume that a person who steals lunch also could steal company supplies or data.  Just pack your own lunch.

6)      Take the last of the coffee and “forget” to refill the coffee maker.

7)      Make a mess and don’t clean up after yourself.

8)      Spend so much time in the break room that your manager is constantly looking for you or you’re not getting the job done.

9)      Interrupt someone who is eating, reading, relaxing or chatting with someone.

The good news is that the break room is also brimming with opportunities that can help your career.  I started a conversation with a Director who I had never worked with in the break room.  He later told me about and urged me to apply for a job opportunity that had opened up in his department

How to help your career in the break room

1)      Hear about potential new job openings before they’re posted online.  Keep your ears open.

2)      Strengthen relationships with colleagues you already know.  It’s a chance to talk about subjects other than work.

3)      Hear about who’s leaving a job that you’ve been interested in.

4)      Help others. If someone complains to you that they’re struggling with a project that you have the experience and time to help with, offer your help.  Otherwise, just offering a listening ear helps too.

5)      Discuss your current projects and interests.

6)      Meet people.  People can help your career, but they have to know about you first.  Especially in larger companies, the break room is a place where you can meet people you wouldn’t normally come into contact with.  Learn about them and their jobs.  If they’re from a department that you’re interested in transferring to, ask if you can set up a time to talk to them.

7)      Relax. If you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, a short break can help you recharge.

8)      Let someone who is in a hurry cut in front of you to use the microwave.   Doing a good deed for someone will make you feel happier, which will hopefully translate into a better work day.

The seemingly innocuous break room is actually a hidden haven of opportunities or a chance to sabotage your career.  Use at your own risk and tread wisely.