SheMentor - Latest Blog Entries

Today - I voted

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:22:00 -0600

I did. I got up at the crack of dawn, and stood in the cold for close to an hour, but I VOTED. In fact, every single person I spoke with today voted. In fact - I don't think I know a single person who didn't vote in this important election.

I got chills when I went to "fill in the arrow" on the portion of the ballot for "Office of the President of the United States" (those of you in cities where you had to fill out paper ballots - you know what I mean about the "fill in the arrow". Those of you who don't know what I mean - be thankful that you had a more 21st century voting experience than I did).

I am hunkered down for an evening of news and speculation on the results of our votes. I hope all of you took the opportunity to make your voice count today.

Being Successful At Professional Networking

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:11:00 -0500

The concept of “networking” often strikes fear in the hearts of the timid business professional (and even the not-so-timid). And why? Because it’s an activity that requires you to step squarely outside of your comfort zone – no two ways about it. Now, perhaps you think of being at "the right place at the right time" as pure luck - and sometimes it is. However, as a famous quote goes - "it seems the harder I work, the luckier I get." So let's start creating your own luck!

I personally am a giant fan of the “one-on-one” networking effort above all other methods. This is definitely a significant “bang for your buck” proposition, because you have one small pocket of really focused, concentrated time to work on a single networking relationship, and the dividends from this effort can pay out big in the future. Moreover, you also have the advantage of being able to prepare in advance for the content and tone of your meeting, which takes away some of the fear and apprehension of meeting new people.

Here are some tips I've had success with in the past pulling off an effective one-on-one networking meeting:

1. First, chat with your good friends and close co-workers, and get names from them of leaders in your field who could be helpful.

2. Contact this individual, referencing your mutual friend, and explaining your intentions. Point out that you don’t want to take up very much of their time (15-20 minutes is a good time frame to suggest), and that you are not necessarily looking for a new job, nor do you expect them to know of any job opportunities. Emphasize that you want to focus strictly on networking and relationship-building with them. Anything more is just a bonus!

3. Before your meeting, make sure you have researched this person - and if applicable, their company - to capitalize on any common interests as additional talking points. For example, if you've read an article on the internet about the person you're meeting with that tells you they just moved into town to take on their current role, you can ask perhaps how their family is adjusting to life in the new city.

4. At the 15-20 minute mark of your meeting with your new contact, you should make an overture to “wrap up” the meeting, since you promised to keep the meeting brief. If the meeting is going well, your new contact will likely brush this off and continue talking with you.

5. Send a thank you note to this person a day or so after your meeting, thanking them for their time and for their great advice (Ideally, this should be a handwritten note as opposed to an e-mail.)

6. It is essential to stay in touch with these contacts periodically. My recommendation is to track all of your professional engagements in a software product that you own and maintain, something that stays with you regardless of your current employer. Create follow-up reminders so you reach out throughout the year, keeping the relationship alive. Examples of follow-up activities can be sending a holiday card, sending an update e-mail on your status, or sending copies of industry articles that would be either helpful to your contact or that could remind them of a subject you discussed during your one-on-one meeting.

When all is said and done, to be successful at networking, you should aim to set a weekly or monthly networking goal for yourself so that you won’t lose momentum over time.

One-on-one networking is such an effective way to meet new people in your chosen line of work, and it is less painful than walking into a room full of strangers. You have the benefit of a small period of uninterrupted time where you can quickly develop connection with this contact, and this should hopefully lead to a more meaningful networking relationship between the two of you going forward. After all, who among us doesn’t long to surround ourselves with like-minded folks who are all looking out for each other’s best interests in life?

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

Are You A Flimsy Shaker?

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:37:00 -0500

In terms of giving good advice to younger female executives just on the cusp of greatness, I find that the little things add up to make the biggest difference in affecting your career. So - I'm going to pontificate briefly about one of those little things - a good, firm handshake.

Of course you know that first impressions are critically important in the business world. No doubt you have by now "sprung" for a few really good suits, tailored to fit you very nicely. You probably made sure your fingernails were clean and neat before you left the house today. And hopefully, your shoes are polished with no scuffs. BUT...did you make sure your handshake was presentable as well? Because if your handshake isn't up to par, all the work you did on the other stuff can't bail you out of a bad first impression.

As I watch my friends who have children, I realize that most boys are taught to shake hands properly at a very young age, but most girls are not. So, it seems there comes a time in a woman's life where it's all of a sudden appropriate for them to shake someone's hand, yet they really have no experience in doing that. A proper handshake portrays good self-confidence - and this is definitely something you want to get across in the first few seconds when meeting someone new. My thoughts on approaching the world of hand-shaking:
1. If you are not sure whether or not the person you are meeting will shake your hand, don't wait for them - extend YOUR hand.
2. Once you have the person's hand in yours, look them in the eye.
3. While looking them in the eye, give a firm squeeze and a quick up and down with your hand - then let go. Handshakes shouldn't go on for more than a second or two.
4. "If it doesn't go up to your thumb, it ain't a handshake." I've noticed some people who are either weak hand-shakers themselves or who are unsure whether or not YOU are a weak hand-shaker will only grasp the fingers of your hand. You should attempt to shake the WHOLE hand - not just the fingers.
5. Don't bend your wrist. When your wrist is bent, your hand is not in the proper position to firmly shake.
6. PRACTICE. I realize this is probably a teensy bit embarrassing, but on this subject, practice really does make perfect. In this instance, practice with a mentor, or someone you know has a firm handshake. Everybody remembers how weird this practice was to pick up in the beginning and will be very willing to help.

There are obviously much bigger ways to make a first impression - i.e., being highly educated, having a lot of experience in one particular field, and so on - but I'm assuming you already have that part covered. A good handshake ought to just put a nice bow around the wonderful package that you already bring to the table, so please don't forget to make sure you get it right!

Phyllis R. Neill, www.shementor.com

"Back-To-School" Excitement For Grown-ups

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:43:00 -0500

This time of year, many of you are busy preparing children to go “back to school” – that time-honored tradition of buying brand-new spiral notebooks, crisp blue-lined loose-leaf paper, and #2 pencils. I used to absolutely LOVE this time of year, when everything you needed to use on a daily basis was brand-new, and your education slate was wiped clean, the promise of a brand-new years’ possibilities fresh on your mind. So even though I’m a grown-up now and haven’t been in school for close to 18 years, this time of year still makes me wistful and nostalgic for the smell of paste and the texture of a nice pink rubber eraser!

I still believe you can keep the magic alive of this fresh, crisp time of new beginnings – even if you are a grown-up. Here are some things you should consider looking into, to help you keep the spirit of a new fall season alive, even as an adult:

1. Make sure you go ahead and invest in some fancy back to school “school supplies” to spruce up your office. Old, plain manila folders are a thing of the past. Invest in some bright colorful file folders and redo your filing cabinet with panache. Or, pick up some trendy journals and notebooks to add a little spice to your daily work tools.

2. When I was a girl, all my school clothes were bought on layaway, to be “rescued” just days before the first day of school. Having that many new outfits at one time was a heady feeling! Go out and freshen up your wardrobe – now is the time that all the summer clothing is on sale, and if you live in a relatively warm climate, you’ll be wearing summer-weight clothes through November at least.

3. Have any new “students” (ok, co-workers) joined your company lately? Build up your karma points and ask them to lunch – do YOU remember what it felt like to be the new kid?

4. Take some time to clear out the clutter that has no doubt been accumulating in your office. Do you have personal items you’ve lugged up to the office but have grown tired of looking at them? Take ‘em home. How about unfiled papers, recycle bin paper to be dumped, restocking small items (paper clips, sticky note pads). Taking the time to de-clutter your office can leave you with a real sense of renewal and ready for a fresh start on all your important projects.

5. Take a look at your morning rituals and adjust if necessary. Have you gotten a little slack over the summer months? Re-evaluate your wake time. Pack your lunch the night before. Start (or resume) choosing your work outfit the night before. Little changes in your morning rituals can make you feel more accomplished.

6. Re-evaluate your work/life “boundaries”. Are you working so many hours that you don’t even have time to focus on all the extra-curricular activities that fall brings to your life? Take a look at where you can shave off time from current projects, and re-evaluate that you are working on the right things at the right time. And, if all else fails, take 2-3 vacation days to use on some Friday’s and get caught up with mundane home activities so that you can really be focused on important stuff during your off-time (like football season!).

Ok, so none of those items are “rocket science” but might just be enough to nudge you into that old feeling of renewal and “fresh starts” that fall used to bring to us as children. Allowing yourself to participate in the excitement that the “back to school” season brings provides you with a terrific mid-year “gut check” on your work goals and priorities – and might just jar you out of that work rut you’ve been in all summer!

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

How To Deal With Difficult Co-Workers

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:21:00 -0500

I’ve written quite a bit lately about dealing with problematic employees from a manager’s perspective. However, dealing with a problematic employee who is your peer – now, that is another matter entirely! In my opinion, it takes an entirely different skill set to deal with difficult co-workers when you are not their direct supervisor, because you will not be able to “make” them behave in a certain way, and you will not be able to impose consequences for their bad behavior. At the same time, much of your professional reputation will be built off of how you deal with these types of co-workers. Additionally, difficult co-workers can make for a very unpleasant work place for everyone else – try “googling” the phrase “why do employees quit their jobs”, and just about any list you pull up will contain a phrase that describes toxic co-workers in one way or another.

When I think about difficult co-workers, several different kinds come to mind (I’m sure there are others): bullies, narcissists, rudely blunt/direct, no social skills/oblivious, and passive-aggressive. In my 20+ years’ work experience, I have found the “bullies” to be the least damaging, and the “passive-aggressive” the most damaging – that’s just been my own personal experience. Why? Because oftentimes, a bully’s behavior is very black and white; that is, you can predict what they are going to do or say in a given situation. However, a “passive-aggressive” co-worker will say one thing, and then do another, so their behavior is difficult to predict and therefore difficult to prepare for. Additionally, I find that passive-aggressive employees’ behaviors are much more personally draining than the behavior of bullies.

Why do people behave this way, you ask yourself. Who in their right mind would seemingly sabotage their own work situation with these types of bad behaviors? In my experience, I have found that most of the time, people engage in this negative type of behavior because it has successfully gotten them what they wanted in the past. Therefore, you’ve either got to figure out a way to not reward them with what they want when they exhibit this behavior – OR – try to proactively learn what it is that this co-worker craves – and help them get lots of it. My personal philosophy is that you attract more flies with honey than vinegar, and indeed I have seen success in my career by really taking the time to get to know a difficult employee – observing their behaviors with different types of people in different kinds of situations, and trying to get a feel for what “pushes their buttons” in a positive way – and then helping them get those things regularly. Whether it’s admiration they seek, “expert” status, or maybe even “office technical genius” – see if it’s within your power to provide your own kinds of reinforcements for these ideals with this employee.

Now, there are always some other fairly obvious options when dealing with a difficult co-worker: complaining to management, arguing with them, complaining about them with other co-workers, etc. But how awesome would it be if you are the ONE PERSON in your office who’s found a successful way to deal with Mr. or Ms. Difficult? That’s the reputation I’m looking for in a star employee!!

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

Do I Need A Mentor?

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:57:00 -0500

Having a good mentor is critical for women executives trying to gain advancement in their careers. It is important because it’s a need that is currently not being filled for women in the business community. There is a tendency for mentors to choose mentees who are like THEM --and because there is still a much larger number of men in leadership positions, this means they will more likely mentor other men. Research shows that fewer than 25% of professional women experience real mentoring in their careers. Sometimes, you can’t wait to learn important business lessons as they come – you need an expert with specific information, life experience, and advice that will help you move forward. You quite literally need someone who’s “been there, done that” at the leadership level to which you aspire.

So, where do you turn when you are in need of a mentor? Well, the answer is, it depends on whether you seek a “Casual” or “Formal” mentor relationship. With casual mentor relationships, you can find mentors by using your connections, contacting your own company to see if they have a mentoring program, and generally finding people who are doing what you want to one day do, and ask them to mentor you! With formal mentor relationships, you would turn to a professional who makes coaching or mentoring their living. And there are a lot of good benefits to having a formalized mentor in addition to your casual mentor relationships. For example, participating in a paid, formal program removes any hesitancy that you might be interrupting or inconveniencing your mentor, and allows you the freedom to contact your mentor at any time. You can feel comfortable knowing that the mentor has been trained to make every meeting productive, and that you will receive one-on-one attention focused specifically on your goals. A formal mentoring program also has a beginning and an end date. Oftentimes in a casual mentoring relationship, mentors and protégés are often hesitant to commit to the relationship because of a concern that the relationship will never end, or it will be difficult to end. A formal mentoring program removes any obligation to one another to continue the relationship once the program has ended, especially if the relationship has not been ideal. It allows both individuals to understand their commitment to each other and be completely focused on the goals of the program.

By the way – I believe it’s important to have BOTH types of mentor relationships – each has something unique to offer you that the other doesn’t.

It is important to appropriately set your expectations for what you can reasonably expect to gain from your mentor. I believe that one of the biggest mistakes people make when working with a mentor is forgetting that mentors, or coaches, are not therapists, and you shouldn’t really WANT them to be. If you go to a therapist, you’re there because of a problem you have. When you seek a coach or mentor, nine times out of ten you simply want to improve in some area.

What are some good resources you can recommend for women looking for mentorship? Well, you gotta love the internet, because it’s opened up SO many opportunities for men AND women to research, read, write, learn, and interact. You’ve got to first identify the area of your life with which you would like a mentor’s help. Then, who do you know? Talk with your company – often times, companies will set up mentoring programs to enrich the learning opportunities for their management team. One specifically good resource I would recommend is a web site named iMantri.com. Whether you want to be a mentor or a mentee, iMantri allows you evaluate your competencies, help find a suitable mentoring match, provides a framework and facilitates mentoring interactions.

How does being a mentor benefit someone that is trying to climb the corporate ladder? Well, as an example, one of my clients grew up in a household where the mom worked in the home (what we used to call housewife), and the father was a scientist, so she was never around business culture at all. Other than the fact that she had a pretty outgoing personality, she was pretty clueless on corporate politics at her first job as a result. Mentors can really just steer you through some of those waters – you know, pull you aside and say “you know, you might not want to blurt out this and that next time in a meeting with Fred’s boss, because he’s sensitive to X”.

If you are a female business executive and haven't established a mentor for yourself, there's no time like the present. Make a commitment to yourself to think through the kind of mentor you'd seek, and get the process started - it could be the difference between a good career - and a GREAT career!

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

Looking for a job?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:38:00 -0500

A former employer and dear friend of mine is looking for an Interactive Designer for her advertising agency in Auburn, Alabama. You really should check out this position, as she is INCREDIBLE to work for:

Ellis-Harper Advertising is a full service advertising agency located in Auburn, Alabama. In business for 30 years, EHA is a stable agency with a solid reputation for its creative work, ethical business practices and good work environment. We are currently searching for a talented and motivated graphic designer to fill an open interactive/web dev position. Please take a moment to read the job requirements below and contact jobs@ellisharper.com if you are interested. We will accept PDFs and portfolio website urls via e-mail. If you would like to mail a DVD or physical samples,

please mail to: Ellis-Harper Advertising, Inc., 710 Stage Road, Auburn, AL 36831. http://www.ellisharper.com

Interactive Designer

Description:

· Design solutions that meet or exceed strategic objectives

· Responsible for design and implementation of interactive/motion/web dev projects

· Provides quality assurance on creative deliverables

Interactive:

· Design interactive page layouts, wire frames, interface demos

· Analyze and implement information architecture

· Works with developers to deliver web content

· Generates and optimizes web-ready graphics

· Creates web pages using XHTML and CSS

· Creates web pages using Flash

· Designs animated banner ads

· Able to create well-organized web directories

Video/Motion:

· Design storyboards for video and motion

· Create motion graphics for broadcast and video projects

· Capture and edit video

· Produce deliverable video files

Print:

· Design for all variety of print mediums

· Color correct, retouch photos

· Illustration

Administrative:

· Maintain archives of creative assets

· Maintenance of agency website

· Interface with vendors, directors, sound engineers, developers

Requirements:

· Degree in Graphic Design (or equivalent experience)

· 1-3 years experience

· Macintosh work environment

· Expert knowledge in Adobe CS3 programs: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Dreamweaver + Quark XPress

· Advanced knowledge of typography

· Excellent written and verbal communications

· Able to articulate creative ideas

· Ability to work within strict deadlines

· Self-motivated, organized and accountable

· Understands web technologies and benefits/limitations of each

· Understands information architecture and hierarchy

· Able to generate XHTML and CSS layouts using <DIV> tags by hand-coding

· Experience creating websites using Flash and actionscript

· Experience creating motion graphics using Flash or After Effects

· Experience with video editing

Bonus:

· Experience in 3D software, photography, or sound editing

The Four Steps to Effectively Disciplining an Employee

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:33:00 -0500

When you have an employee who is underperforming for any reason, you must quickly and honestly discuss this with that employee. This discussion will be more easily directed if you have a solid, up-to-date “Job Description” document for this employee’s position, which has been reviewed at length with the employee and submitted to the Human Resources Department for their permanent file. If employees haven’t been given clear direction in their jobs, it’s hard for us as managers to understand our expectations. (But…the subject of a good “Job Description” document and how critical it can be in directing an employee’s performance will be the subject of an upcoming article.) So, we’ll assume for the sake of this article that your employee has a valid, up-to-date “Job Description” that accurately outlines exactly what the company’s expectations are for him/her. And let’s also say that this same employee is not meeting one or more of their duties outlined on the Job Description. It is time for you to issue a correction to this employee – but which route to take?

First, let me say that out of all the discipline situations you will be in as a manager, I would daresay only about 20% of them result from a very flagrant and specific action the employee has taken that very clearly violates one of their expected duties and activities. About 80% of the time, the reason for discipline will NOT be clear-cut, unfortunately, but rather an amalgam of different things adding up to a negative performance. A few examples of what I mean:

· You inherited a department which has a long-time employee with a terrible attitude. He brings everyone else on the team “down” with his complaining and negative energy. You are certain you could improve your teams’ productivity if you could either reform or terminate this one employee.

· You have a passive/aggressive employee who goes through periods of perfect behavior, and then will lapse into 1-2 month periods of utter failure in one particular area (i.e., coming in late for work, too many sick days, missed assignments, etc.)

· You hired someone for your team who has turned out to be an office bully. When confronted about his bullying, he refers to his “aggression” and “candor” as just being his style, and that everyone else is too sensitive. He claims that no one else has ever complained about it except you.

· You have an employee who is really well-liked by everyone in the company, who truly gives 110% to her job, is ALWAYS punctual and on-time with assignments – but is just not catching on to the subject matter material of your industry AT ALL, and it is causing her to make mistakes in her documentation. You’ve already had 2 different people retrain this employee, and she just doesn’t seem to be “getting it”.

In these murky situations, you must work hard to make sure you are able to set expectations for their behavior in addition to their actual job performance. It may be that the “bully” on your team is also your highest performer – but they need to understand that their attitude and behavior with the rest of the team is just as important as the high productivity behavior, and that when one of those two things is going badly, it doesn’t matter how good the other thing is (ok, folks in sales with specific commission structures might actually disagree with me here, but you get the idea).

You also must establish a precedent of “correction” with this employee such that it doesn’t come as a complete shock to them. For example, don’t give them really high marks on their annual performance review, and then 2 months’ later issue them a warning on their bullying.

Ok – so getting back to the heart of the matter, there are so many different ways of approaching employee performance correction – from “verbal warnings” to “performance improvement plans” – so, I’m going to share with you what I believe to be the most effective chain of events that should take place when disciplining an employee.

1. Step 1 should always be a verbal conversation with the employee. This is a casual conversation that doesn’t produce any documentation, and is – for now – just between you and the employee. Here are the things you must accomplish in this verbal conversation:

a. Be very direct and clear about the behavior or work performance area that is not meeting your standards. The employee might be surprised, because they thought they were doing everything just right. Don’t sugar-coat the issue – speak in plain terms.

b. Make sure to have a minimum of 3 tangible examples you can provide this employee to back up your discussion, so that even if the employee doesn’t AGREE with you, they can’t say they don’t UNDERSTAND. If possible, reference either in your employee handbook or in the employee’s job description where these items are addressed.

c. Articulate the time duration under which you expect improvement. Whether immediate, by tomorrow, or in 90 days really depends on the level of seriousness of the infraction and your best judgment. But whatever the case is, be clear about when this is to take place.

d. This step is very important – make informal notes on the meeting that – for now – only you know about. Even if you tear off a piece of paper, scribble 3-4 sentences to help you remember key points of how the meeting went, and then toss it into a “miscellaneous” file in your desk drawer, you are dramatically improving your chance for recall IF you have to take further disciplinary actions. If it ends up being a one-time thing with an otherwise high performing employee, you can throw away that hand-written note after a few months.

2. Step 2 should result in a formal “first written warning” to the employee. In many companies, this is known as a “Performance Improvement Plan”, and it is really a more detailed, written version of the verbal conversation you already had. Depending on the severity of the situation, I usually only had myself and maybe the team lead in the office when issuing the first written warning. You will want to communicate the four points outlined above in this meeting, but you now will put them in writing. The first written warning should be very clear about the consequences of not reaching the desired improvement. I always required my employees to sign the written warnings, with accompanying text on the form that says the employee doesn’t necessarily agree or disagree with the contents, but that they have read it and a copy of it has been presented to them. This should be a permanent document that gets placed in the employee’s permanent record in Human Resources.

3. Step 3 would be a “second written warning”. Again, depending on the severity of the infraction, you might choose to just skip this step and go directly to step 4. In this step, you will again document all of the items mentioned in #1 above, and this time, it should be made clear that immediate improvement is required, and the consequences of not improving will be termination for cause. This warning should be conducted in the presence of the Human Resource officer, preferably in their office. This should be a permanent document that gets placed in the employee’s permanent record in Human Resources.

4. Step 4 – termination.

The biggest mistake a manager can make is not addressing performance problems quickly enough. Although never a pleasant job, make a commitment to yourself as a manager that you will not postpone that which needs to be done: not only is that the best thing for your department, but it’s really the most fair thing you can do for the wayward employee in the long run.

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

Interview

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:56:00 -0500

I did a live interview this evening with Roxanne Ravenel of www.jobsearchstrategylab.com entitled "Advance Your Career With Mentorship." You can check out the podcast of this interview from BlogTalkRadio. Enjoy!

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

10 Ways to Reward Employees

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:07:00 -0500

In times of a bad economy, when raises aren’t as high as employees would like, and job growth opportunities might be temporarily “frozen”, having a strong, effective recognition program in place can go a long way toward “tiding over” your most valuable employees. If you don’t yet own the book 1001 Ways To Reward Employees, get it now (you can get it used on Amazon for around 3 bucks). This book gives several examples (1001, to be exact) of potential rewards you could implement, and a large portion of those examples are actually rewards that cost nothing, or very little.

In addition to those ideas, I thought I would share some of the rewards that have worked very effectively for me in the past. Some of these might feel obvious; some not so obvious:

1. Time off – this could be an entire day, or it could be given in small time increments (2 hours, 1 hour). Make up a bunch of paper “slips” that designate the time increment to be gifted, and use those to present the time off, so that the employee receives something tangible from you. If you work in an environment where each of your employees’ schedules are time-dependent on each other (like, groups who work in shifts), then just make it known that you must approve in advance when the employee wants to use his time off slip, so you can plan for their absence.

2. Public recognition – call a quick team meeting randomly NOT at your usual team meeting time, but say Wednesday at 2:45 in the afternoon. Publically recognize one of your employees for a job well-done, and say a few words about what they did, and the impact to the company. It can be a 5-10 minute meeting, but do it “spur of the moment”, so no one expects it. It can be a really small thing they did, or some activity that is specific to a particular initiative you are trying to implement and emphasize. Also, keep a digital camera at your office, and have someone take a picture of you and the team member who received the recognition – you can then start a monthly “Recognition Bulletin Board”, where you place their picture for the month.

3. Hand-written note – especially in this day and age, even seeing someone’s handwriting these days is a little bit of a shock! Get some personalized stationery of your own, and make it a practice to hand out 1 to 2 handwritten notes per week. It can be something as simple as “Josh, thanks for staying late last night to finish taking care of that client. You are terrific!”

4. Food – ok, this is probably one of those really obvious ones! Whether it’s doughnuts, pizza, lunch brought in, unexpected food is ALWAYS well-received. Also, grab a bunch of candy bars one day, and randomly pass them out during times of high stress.

5. Gas card – even if the dollar value isn’t very high, employees will love receiving gas cards as gifts, because it’s recognition by the company of the hardship they face with rising gas costs.

6. Gift cards – everyone enjoys receiving a gift card, regardless of how big it is. Maybe a $5 Starbuck’s gift card for an employee who resolved that 5-hour client issue. Or perhaps a $10 Amazon gift card for that tech guy that came in and worked on your “broken” computer, only to find out it was something you did wrong!

7. Cash – handing out cash periodically has a POWERFUL impact, and it doesn’t have to cost as much as you might think. I once led a group (in a Technical Support environment) through a service initiative entitled “Whatever It Takes”, where our goal was to consistently go above and beyond for the client, as though that were the normal expected behavior. Whenever I walked past someone’s desk that happened to be displaying “Whatever It Takes”-like behavior, I handed them a $5 bill – right then and there. If I got an e-mail from a satisfied client bragging on one of my reps, I walked right out and handed them cash. Even though each reward was a really small cash amount, the impact was large – people actually started tacking their $5 bills to their cubicle walls, and comparing among themselves who had the biggest stash of cash!

8. Free trip – you could actually fund a free trip by talking to a group of your company executives who might be willing to donate airline, car rental, and hotel miles to create a free trip for someone (and their guest of choice). Some people travel so much that they will never miss some of their miles and would be pleased to have their name associated with such a cool gift.

9. Bartered prizes – are there any businesses you could work with to “barter” your services back and forth? For example, if you are a furniture store, could you barter with a local radio station to get free concert tickets in exchange for some amount of furniture? Another example: if you are a law firm, could you barter several hours of a top attorney’s time in exchange for some product? Taking this a step further, there are actual barter companies that exist that can facilitate some of this for you? An example of a barter company would be Itex.

10. Trip to a client – do you have someone on your team that works “ behind the scenes” and rarely gets into the customer environment? Arrange to have that person do a “ride-along” on one of your salespeople’s appointments – not only will they learn a lot, but it’ll a treat for them to get out of the office for the day when their regular job is answering phones, or working in a factory.

The thing is, you as the manager know more about your group of employees than any book or article. Spend some time thinking about what types of things really motivate your group. It goes without saying that money is a motivator. But, do you have an employee that tacked up your hand-written note to their cubicle wall, in a prominent place? Personal recognition means a lot to this employee. Take care to ensure that what you perceive to be a “reward” isn’t embarrassing, or unimportant to the people for whom it’s intended. For example, I once managed a group made up entirely of men who HATED doing “secret pals”, and gift cards only moderately excited them. What they loved? Getting time off. This was a HUGE motivator for them, even if they got a gift of “2 hours’ time off”, and I really only learned this valuable fact through trial and error. It’s really important to focus your gifts on items that will motivate the particular group you are working with, and also for each individual within your group.

And finally – even if you are not a manager with the power to put some of these things into place, make it a point to at least share these ideas (and any others you are inspired with) in hopes that they will be implemented. Or, choose one of the ideas that is especially meaningful to you, and go request it for yourself!

Three Ways To Keep Stress In Check

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:31:00 -0500

Whether you are a senior level executive or a professional just embarking on a new career, there is no question that stress will at some point play a major role in your life. According to experts at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, stress is linked negatively to physical and mental health, which is resulting in widespread job burnout and depression levels never before seen in the workforce. We all know that getting enough exercise and eating well goes a long way toward managing stress; however, there are a handful of other things I have found invaluable throughout my career that you might think of trying:

1. Meditation – when I say “meditation”, people often conjure up strange images of men in a sweat lodge, women chanting, or some bizarre religious ritual. That is not the kind of meditation to which I’m referring (NOT that there’s anything wrong with that kind - ). I’m talking about the sort of meditation where you spend a few minutes each day reconfirming your intentions for success, and allowing your mind to be still. I find that I am not great with focus on my own and so I enjoy “guided meditation” – that is, someone gently talking you through how to focus your thoughts with soothing music in the background. I have done some guided meditations that were so corny they made me laugh out loud (which really defeats the purpose, let me tell you). I prefer not to think of meditation as a religious experience or expression but rather the opportunity to “be still” for a few minutes each day and see where the stillness takes you. OK – if the thought of meditating embarrasses you, just download one meditation to your iPod, and go sit quietly somewhere while you listen to it. No one will even know what you’re doing, and you can see for yourself if meditation might be right for you. Don’t worry – you don’t have to make any noises to correctly meditate! Here are two meditation CD’s that I go back to time and time again - you can even download them onto your iPod from iTunes:

Gael Chiarella– she is my personal favorite; she has the most soothing voice, and I find it very easy to meditate to her message. My favorite of her set of meditations is “Meditations For Emotional Freedom”. A close second would be “AM/PM Meditations”.
Dr. Andrew Weil – my personal favorite of his is “8 Meditations For Optimal Health” – his guided meditations are set to famous classical composers, which I find very soothing and makes me feel much less like a hippie than some other guided meditations (again, not that there’s anything wrong with being a hippie J)

2. Yoga – the thing I like so much about yoga is that unlike racquetball, softball or basketball, yoga is a non-competitive event. In fact – if you are competing against the guy/girl in the row in front of you in a yoga class, you’re doing it wrong. Yoga emphasizes measuring yourself against yourself, and stresses doing the best you can and feeling good about it. I believe literally anyone can do yoga and get benefit from it – whether you’re overweight, inactive, non-flexible, elderly, and so on. And like meditation, I do not think of yoga as a religious experience, but rather a period of time where I’m focused on myself, my muscles, my thoughts, and stretching. I personally prefer to practice yoga in an actual yoga studio, but there is value in the practice whether you are in a class at the gym, or you've bought a DVD for home.

3. “Me” time – this sounds like a cliché, doesn’t it? “I need ME time”. You hear this all the time. However, “me time” doesn’t have to be an hour-long pedicure, or a long soak in a bathtub (again, not that there’s anything wrong with that!)“Me time” can be 15 minutes of indulging in something that genuinely brings you joy. I learned recently that I actually really enjoy playing games and subsequently bought a Nintendo DS (my favorite game is “Lost In Blue 3”, if you must know). Even if this means sitting on the sofa playing a video game for 15 minutes after you’ve put the kids to bed, if that 15 minutes brings you joy, then you’ve gotten the desired benefit.

Hopefully other stress relievers will pop into mind for you (which was my intention for listing my own personal top three). The point is, there are times where you will need to make a conscious effort to engage in activities that relieve your stress – and the best time to figure out what YOUR favorites are is hopefully before you are stressed to begin with! Make a commitment today to decide three things that give you peace of mind or bring you joy, and that way, you’ll have ammunition in your back pocket for when the next surge of stress threatens to derail your life.

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

Four Ways Not To Ask For A Raise

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:51:00 -0500

There are few things in your career that will cause as much anxiety as the notion of asking for more money from your boss. However, most of us will find it necessary at one time or another, and it's a good idea to have a firm game plan going into it so that you can maximize the effect of your raise-inducing "pitch". So, in typical SheMentor fashion, I'm going to advise you on what NOT to do when asking for a raise:

Do not use your personal circumstances as a reason you should be earning more money. "I just had a new baby", "my wife just lost her job", "my child needs therapy" - these are all traumatic events in one's life but none are raise-worthy, and all will make you look foolish and small if you attempt to work them into a pay increase conversation with your superiors. Raises are merit-driven and as such need to be quantified by real examples of ways that you have either contributed to the company's revenue, or helped to reduce the company's expenses.
Do not attempt to draw comparisons between your salary and that of your co-workers. It may be true that you've heard through the grapevine that the lady in the cubicle next door who's been here less time than you makes a lot more money than you do. That may strike you as incredibly unfair, and depending on the circumstances, it very well might be. However, that does not make it a persuasive argument for why you should be getting a higher salary. Other co-worker's salary information is never good conversation when asking for a raise for yourself, so don't do it.
Do not use "soft verbs" to justify why you deserve a raise. "Soft verbs" such as "I feel", "I think", "I hope" aren't very decisive and they don't really properly portray the efforts you've engaged in that have resulted in your deserving a raise. Use facts and figures to justify yourself. Use strong action verbs, such as "I built", "I managed", "I won", "I secured".
Do not go in unprepared. Money is an incredibly personal subject for most all of us. In order to remain non-personal in your meeting however it's critical that you prepare yourself well in advance. Don't hesitate to take into the meeting notes you've made on specific points you want to make sure you cover, and then refer to those notes during your discussions. You might even bring in a hand-out that outlines the top x points you will be making. That not only helps you keep on track during your discussions, but in the event your boss has to think about it, or needs to get "permission" from someone else, he'll have all the information he needs at his fingertips, because you made it easy for him.

Asking for more money at your work place can be a tricky event, but you can dramatically improve your odds - and your reputation - if you are thoroughly prepared for the conversation and have enough "bullet point" accomplishments identified to back up your arguments. Whether or not the final decision results in a raise for you might be ultimately out of your control, but the path you take to get to the request is certainly NOT - so make the best of it!

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

A "Service Level Agreement" Can Be Great PR For Your Internal Department

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:06:00 -0500

You are probably somewhat familiar with the concept of a “service-level agreement”, which give you some idea of what kind of response you can expect from a service organization. For call centers/customer service organizations, service level agreements are really a “must have”. However, if you are the manager of a department in an organization – ANY department, and ANY organization – you too have customers; even if they are internal customers – and you should look into creating a “service-level agreement” for them.

For the uninitiated, a “service-level agreement” (or SLA) is a set of expectations that are published by an organization to help their customers understand how and when they can expect to receive help. For example, a call center might guarantee its customers that when they call in for assistance, they can expect to get their call answered within 5 minutes. If the call is not answered in 5 minutes, your SLA might state that they can expect to be able to leave a message and get their call returned within one hour. The SLA usually also sets out clearly what the method is for escalation if this SLA is not met. A strong SLA gives your customers comfort in knowing that, during times when they need you the most, they know ahead of time what to expect and can plan their own business accordingly.

As I mentioned earlier, every department in an organization ought to adopt and publish an SLA. The most important reason for this is that proactively producing and publishing an SLA gives you the opportunity to set the expectations of your own customers, which means YOU get to help define what “good” is! For example, if you work in the contracts department of a software firm, your “customers” are the company’s account executives who need you to draft/approve contracts for their prospective new clients. People are going to have different ideas of how soon your department ought to be turning these contracts around and will become disgruntled with you if you don’t meet their expectations. However – if you proactively issue an SLA which outlines what they can expect (and it is a reasonable timeframe based on past history,then you have effectively “set the bar” for how good can be defined. With no SLA in place, a 48-hour turnaround on a contract might be unacceptable. However, with an SLA in place that states that clients can expect a contract request to be completed and returned within 3 business days, then if you actually produce it in 48 hours, you are now “early”! You gotta love that…

Other things to keep in mind when drafting and implementing an SLA in your department:

1. Make sure you are clear on what criteria the client needs to complete in order to be compliant with the SLA. For example, is there a specific form you require that they turn in as a request? Are their certain “must have” fields in that form that, if not filled out, can delay the process? Make sure you are clear about what these are so that there are no surprises.

2. Outline what your team will do if the SLA cannot be met. For example, if you have a 48-hour turnaround in your SLA and your team can tell within 24 hours they won’t meet it, they might offer as part of the SLA to call the “client”, let them know immediately, and then proactively contact the client once a day until the project is completed.

3. What happens if the SLA isn’t met and the proper responses are not forthcoming from the team? What are the next steps the client can take to “complain” and get it resolved? This is called “escalation”, and all good SLA documents should contain an escalation path for your client. This escalation path should contain all of the names of managers for that department who have the authority to get involved and make something happen if need be.

4. You will want to be clear about how requests will be classified. You need to leave room in your SLA for emergencies, which need to be treated differently than just normal requests. However, everything CAN’T be an emergency, and your team needs to define up-front into which category a request will fall, so that there are no surprises for your clients on the back-end. Here is an example of how you might manage your classifications:

A “regular” contract request – defined by needing a contract produced for a potential prospective client. The turnaround time for a “regular” request is 3 business days.
An “expedited” contract request – defined by needing a contract produced for a potential prospective client who is on the verge of signing a contract with a competitor. The turnaround time for an “expedited” request is 2 business days.
A “911” contract request – this is defined on a case-by-case situation and must be approved by department manager. The turnaround time for a “911” request is immediate.

5. You will want to provide clarity on hours/days – if you say that your turnaround time is 2 days, clarify what that means so that there are no misunderstandings. Does that mean 2 business days? What constitutes a business day? What is someone turns in their request at 3:00 pm on Friday afternoon – when does their 2 days end in that situation? If you’ve said 8 hours, how is that calculated?

6. You will definitely want to begin tracking statistics and publishing them – this is a very important component of a good SLA program. You will want to be able to establish trust with your clients and prove to them that you are actually hitting the deadlines you’ve put into place for yourself. Publishing these statistics, and being able to demonstrate that you are meeting – or EXCEEDING – your published response times is a terrific way to further establish trust between your clients and your department.

Robert Frost wrote in his poem “Mending Wall” that “good fences make good neighbors”. Never has that been more true than with a service-level agreement! How can you brag that you went “above and beyond” for a client if the client doesn’t even know where your “fence” ends, and his “fence” begins? Take the time to put into place the necessary up-front steps to define your fences for everyone involved, and YOUR team will reap the rewards in the end!

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

How NOT To Have a Successful Job Interview

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 07:52:00 -0500

You often hear about the top “X” things you should do for a job interview: dress nicely, bring a copy of your resume, study up on the company, ask questions, and so on. However, I’ve found that it’s often the little things that candidates do – or DON’T do – that tend to make the biggest impression on me. I thought it might be fun if I shared some of my past experiences with interviewing job candidates and give you some examples of things that can cause your interview to “fail”:

1. Wear a really goofy outfit to prove you are “creative” – once when I was interviewing candidates for an open marketing position, I had someone show up for an interview in a denim leisure suit (this has been in the past 10 years mind you, not in the 70’s). This candidate had what my family refers to as “a case of the cutes”, and he thought himself quite adorable and spunky I suppose. He also wore some kind of really bright tennis shoes that I suppose he felt finished off the whole ensemble. Unfortunately, he interviewed the way he dressed. I cut the interview short.

2. Show up unannounced – I once had a candidate show up 30 minutes early for his interview, and he actually bypassed the receptionist, wandering the hallways until he found my office (the name plate gave me away unfortunately). He announced to me that he was early but thought I might want to go ahead and get started. I escorted him back to the front lobby, and went and got him at his regularly scheduled time. I ended up cutting this interview short, too – if you think I’ve got nothing better to do than stop and interview you the minute you arrive even when you’re early, you’ll probably be that inconsiderate as an employee, too.

3. Dress for an evening out on the town – I had a job candidate come to an interview once dressed in a blouse with a really plunging neckline. It was a shame because she was fairly bright and engaging – I just couldn’t get past the inappropriateness of the outfit that didn’t even remotely match the occasion.

Anyway, I’m sure there are plenty of other things you can do to have an unsuccessful job interview – constantly interrupting the interviewer, talking about religion and/or politics, and taking your shoes off are a couple more that come to mind – but I think you get the point. In our world of casualness, you need to be “anything but” in your job interview. This saying is only a cliché because it’s so true: “you only get one chance to make a first impression”.

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

Getting a good job

Sat, 24 May 2008 17:48:00 -0500

There are so many resources on the internet regarding suggested ways to best locate your next job. They range from various free job web sites to pay subscription sites that promise lots of "hidden" jobs not available on other web sites. Then, you have online recruiters, whether retained by an actual hiring company or simply trolling for good resume "hits" in hopes they can fill any open position available on contingency. There are also recruiting firms who send e-mails that at first blush seem personally addressed to you, but upon reading further, it's evident that they've never seen your resume, and they are - again - trolling for good resumes. I have yet to see a "real" job offering that is solicited in this way.

So...what to do? Well, I will be the first to tell you I don't have all the answers. However, I do have more experience in looking for a job than I'd like to admit. I'd like to provide you with the things I was able to do that seemed successful for me personally, and the things I did that didn't seem to generate much interest. Remember that every situation is different, and the thing that worked well for me might not be effective at all for you (and vice versa). So here goes:

THINGS THAT WORKED FOR ME:

The classifieds in my local Sunday paper. Yes, believe it or not, I once got one of my most valuable jobs from an ad in the local Sunday paper. I must say, I don't know of anyone else at my "senior" level in business who was able to actually find the kind of job they'd want from the local paper, so this was probably an anomoly! I guess the lesson here is to not discount any one avenue...
Actively networking with people I already knew. During my career, I've been recommended for some really terrific positions by my network of folks I've either worked with in the past, or who are good friends. The trick is to make sure you let them all know when you are looking for a new job, and provide them with a recent copy of your resume so they are "armed" to pass you along when the right opportunity comes by. Sites like www.linkedin.com have been very helpful for me to continue to keep in touch with my active network. To this day, I try to go to lunch each week with someone in my active network -just in case.
The very detailed and personal cover letter. Wherever possible, when I have some specific details on a job that I'm interested in, I will customize a cover letter that assists the hiring manager in drawing a conclusion between what they are looking for, and what I bring to the table. After a brief introductory paragraph, I usually create a two-column table. I entitle the left-hand column "your requirements", and I entitle the right-hand column "my qualifications". Then, I list one-by-one the requirements that the ad has mentioned for the ideal candidate down the left, and then I write an example in the corresponding row on the right of how I fit that requirement perfectly. This definitely seems to help separate my resume from the pack and has gotten me in the door to a first interview before.
Making myself highly visible to my boss' boss. THIS one can be kind of tricky, but if you do not feel that you get along with your boss or even share the same ideas in common, it is in your best interest to make sure that your boss' boss knows who you are, what you're capable of, and what you're willing to do. Suggested ways of doing this: forward really focused interesting articles on your business that you're pretty sure he hasn't read but would be interested in, send him ideas on small initiatives that could either save the company money OR make the company money - perhaps that you have experience executing on from another company.

THINGS THAT DID NOT WORK FOR ME:

The traditional online job web sites - i.e., careerbuilder.com, monster.com, etc. Although I still look almost every day during an active job search, these large job web sites almost never produce the type of position that I'm looking for. In terms of finding a job on the internet, I had a lot more luck with local job websites - either sites specific to my state and city OR the web presence of local recruiters or national recruiters who focus on hiring candidates with my specialty experience.
Networking strictly to meet new people to get a new job. I realize that I am speaking major blasphemy by saying this, because I know that every career advisor in the world says that the #1 thing you need to be doing is "networking, networking, networking" and constantly meeting new people. Once, I treated my job search like a full-time job. My goals were to meet or become acquainted with 20 new people each week, and have a minimum of 2 face-to-face appointments per day with people I had just met. They were short, 15-20 minute appointments to "get advice on my resume" (i.e., prove to them that I didn't have 2 heads in case they wanted to recommend me to someone). Over a course of three months, I had accumulated around 240 new contact names, and went on 120 live appointments - and not one job offer!!! Now, maybe you're thinking - what's wrong with her? To tell you the truth, I'm a pretty darn good "catch" for an employer, and my career track record has confirmed this for me. I suppose it's possible that I did it all wrong. But focusing on this particular method to get a job, I couldn't get hired to dig ditches.
Those high-end "executive" job search boards where you "pay to play". And I admit - I go look at them again every single time I'm thinking of looking for a new job, and then remind myself the complete lack of meaningful leads they've provided me in the past.

I'd be interested in reading about some of YOUR successes and failures in the job search, so feel free to drop us a line in the Forum, or add it as a comment to this article.

Click here to join the SheMentor mailing list to receive free stuff and exciting periodic announcements!

Terminating An Employee

Mon, 12 May 2008 07:28:00 -0500

Any time you are faced with delivering bad news to an employee, the more you plan in advance, the better you will be equipped to deal with a tense but sometimes necessary situation. The following are my recommendations for properly preparing to terminate an employee:

1. Script out what you’re going to say. Rehearse it. Don't hesitate to refer to your notes during the termination meeting.

2. Keep your initial message short and sweet, and then be quiet. You might say something like "As you know, you have been reprimanded a number of times because of poor work performance, and you were put on probation 30 days ago. Unfortunately, your work performance has not improved in the manner in which we outlined for you, and as a result, today is going to be your last day with the company." When you finish, the employee is likely to have any number of reactions, none the least of which will likely be stunned silence. You might be inclined to try and fill the uncomfortable silence with platitudes, additional rationale for why you are now taking this action, or just plain nervous chatter. DON'T let yourself do this. Let there be an uncomfortable silence if need be until you get some kind of indication or response from your employee. Do not get pulled into an argument. Be prepared for what you will say if an argument is posed.

3. Spend a few minutes thinking through possible responses the employee might have, and what your response will be. The thing to remember is that once you have reached the point of termination, the time is over for continued in-depth discussions of the issue, because presumably you've spent much time and effort having many in-depth discussions up to this point with them. (you HAVE done this, haven't you? Read my article on Employee Performance Issues). You want the meeting to be polite but short, to the point, and finished quickly. Below are some examples of reactions I've heard through the years during various terminations, and the responses I prepared for those reactions:

"I can’t believe you’re terminating me, after all my years of service". My response: "I realize this must be difficult news to hear and process. However, this is a final decision."

"You’ve hated me from the very beginning". My response: "I am sorry you feel that way." That's it - stop talking after that.

"You can’t fire me. I want to speak with your boss." My response: "This was a decision made in conjunction with my boss and with the HR department. This is a final decision and unfortunately there is nothing left to discuss."

"Please give me one more chance". My response: "I am sorry, but the time for extra chances are past. This decision is final."

"I don't understand why you're firing me - what did I do wrong?" My response: "The time is past for us to review again the conversations and documents that have comprised your performance improvement plan over the past x number of months." Depending on the situation, you could stop there, OR add:"You were told clearly at the end of each step that improvement was expected immediately and that a lack of improvement could result in your eventual termination. I encourage you to re-read the documentation that you were provided at the time of these meetings."

"I am not leaving until I get to discuss this with your boss/president of company/HR/someone else." My response: "I realize this is an upsetting situation for you. I have known you to be a person of integrity in the past. Please don't behave in such a way that I am forced to assist you in your departure in a less than dignified fashion." If they persist in this line, and continue refusing to leave, call your building's security guard and ask that they be escorted from the property. In all my years' experience, I've only had to do this one time.

4. Once you have concluded your termination, the quicker you can allow the employee to leave, the better off you’ll be. I strongly recommend allowing the employee to simply gather their purse or coat, and go ahead and leave and offer to have their personal items packed up and delivered to them. You may then employ the aid of a courier service to deliver the personal items to them. Make sure the courier who drops off their items gets a signature, confirming that they received all of the items you’ve delivered.

In the end, it is possible that your employee will ask to spend a few brief moments double checking e-mail, saying good-bye to co-workers, and making copies of any documents they'd like to take with them. As cruel as this may sound, I strongly discourage this. If the employee expresses an interest in getting any of this, you may offer to secure it for them after they are gone (i.e., e-mail copies of any pertinent files off of their laptop). In my experience, the quicker the employee is able to leave the building, the better off the situation is for them - AND for your remaining co-workers. The longer they stay in the building around their computer and around other co-workers, the better the chance for them to become angry, and do things they might not normally do (i.e., such as sending out a mass e-mail to all clients and former co-workers about what a jerk the company is to do this to him/her).

Now - this said, there's no need to make a big show of escorting the former employee out by waiting armed security guards (unless you and your HR team truly suspect that the employee could be violent or pose a threat to the other co-workers). If and when appropriate, offer to walk with the former employee back to their desk and allow them to get their purse, coat, and other easily reachable personal items. If you can, stay a discreet distance back from them, so that they can maintain whatever dignity they have left at this point, and then walk them to the elevator.

5. Present paperwork and/or last minute details. This will depend on the situation of course, and please prepare with your attorney and/or your HR representative on what is appropriate here. However, you will likely have a list of items you'd like to get back from the employee before they leave (i.e. key to office, Blackberry, company laptop, that sort of thing). Additionally, you might be required to present them with Cobra paperwork, so that they know their options on health care after their termination. Finally, it could be that you are offering some amount of severance, and this is the appropriate time to discuss this. Again - make sure you take the advice and direction from your HR representative and/or your legal counsel on exactly what should be done during this step.

And the final piece of advice I will give you when conducting a termination - and possibly the most important piece:

6. It's OK if you are nervous. In fact, if the day ever comes where you don't get nervous and a little sick at terminating an employee, you should find another job. Regardless of how well documented and/or deserved the termination is, it still represents a disruption of an employee's whole life. This will affect their marriage, their children, their future career, their financial well-being, their self-esteem, their relationships with friends, and the list goes on. I'm not asking you to rethink whether or not termination is the right solution here - no need to second-guess yourself. I'm only suggesting that it's not a bad thing to allow the implication of this disruption to the soon-to-be-ex-employee to weigh heavily on you. They deserve at least that much.

Is It Time To Look For A New Job?

Mon, 05 May 2008 19:32:00 -0500

Unfortunately, this is a question each of us will ask at some point in our work career (and some unlucky saps will ask more than once!) Just how do you know when it's time to look for a new job, versus perhaps just you suffering from burnout and/or boredom with your current set of tasks OR by any events happening in your private life instead?

First, here are some questions you might want to try and answer for yourself:

Are you bored with what you're doing and genuinely can't figure out any way to add additional tasks and/or responsibilities to your daily workplate?
Have you spoken candidly with your boss about these issues and asked for help, only to get half-hearted answers, or worse, no sympathy and/or acknowledgement at all?
Have you recently felt marginalized at work by your boss? (the exact definition of being "marginalized" is to be relegated to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group).
Are you feeling bored, dissatisfied, and depressed both at work AND with your home life? If yes - you might possibly be clinically depressed, which could be masking any potential joy you could be deriving from your work.
Do you no longer feel that you know clearly what your career growth opportunities are at your company?

Ok, now that you've done some self-evaluation, if you answered "yes" to many of the items above, you might continue your assessment by now answering true/false to the following statements:

I no longer have "allies" who can assist me in my battles at work, either because they were terminated in a reorganization, they left for other companies, they moved to other departments, or they have simply stopped watching out for us because of other reasons (increased demands on their time, for example).
Over the past six months or more, my company has been taking jobs that used to be done out of my office, and training people in other geographical office locations to take over those tasks.
Over the past six months, my company has undergone a reorganization that has resulted in either me getting a new boss, or me having responsibility removed from my plate.
During my last performance evaluation, I got an "average" or below rating.
Recently there has been a company-wise movement to slash expenses.
(If you are a publicly traded company), there has been speculation in the marketplace that your company is about to be acquired in the coming months.

My thought is that if you answered "true" to 3 or more of the true/false scenarios above, your job is probably at risk right now. But, knowledge is power, right? At least now you can take steps to ensure that you don't get blindsided by unexpected news of a termination or layoff. Be sure to read my upcoming note on "Getting A Good Job" for some hints and tips on how to prepare for your next career move!