Past Five

Relocation: A Viable Option for the Long-Term Unemployed

The Congressional Budget Office recently announced that as of January 2012, 5.5. million workers had been unemployed for six months or longer, and nearly 2 million of those had been jobless for 99 weeks or more. So what can the long-term unemployed do to find a job? In my previous post I mentioned being willing to make sacrifices, such as taking a pay cut. One highly overlooked avenue is relocation. However, few people consider this option due to the poor housing market.

But why not call in the moving vans? If your job search is fruitless and you live in an area where jobs are scarce, it might pay to relocate.

History has taught us that people go where there is opportunity. Europeans immigrated to America in search of a better life and settlers ventured out west chasing the promise of riches, both with measurable results.

But today we have the mentality that we can’t uproot our families; the reality is people move all
the time with few (if any) long-term detrimental effects to themselves or their children.

Constraining a job search to geographic locations limits the number of potential opportunities
available and creates another hurdle to finding a job if you are unemployed.

Trapped in Unemployment or Trapped in a Selective Search?

Last night I watched “Trapped in Unemployment,” a segment which appeared on 60 Minutes. Although the show detailed Joe Carbone’s educational program for the long-term unemployed in Connecticut (Platform for Employment), it was overshadowed by the students who were interviewed.

One participant shared his unwillingness to accept work he felt was below him, such as part-time positions and working at a local grocery store; yet he bemoaned his inability to find a job for over two years. Ironic. Strangely enough, this is too often a sentiment shared among the unemployed. While some of those who are out of work are willing to do anything to support their families, others remain selective in their job search.

Those who are unemployed need to realize there are jobs available, they may be part-time positions or positions with a lower compensation rate, but nonetheless, they are opportunities.

Unemployed job seekers must be willing to make sacrifices to secure a position, such as taking a pay cut, learning new skills, and volunteering their time to expand their business acumen. If they do this, I believe they will find themselves among the ranks of the employed.

While there are instances where it is acceptable to wait for a higher offer, when you are collecting unemployment is not the right time. No matter how much money you end up getting, waiting for a position with a higher salary is not as important as having a job.

Keys to Being a Successful Manager

I’ve always said that people join companies but they quit managers. If a company has ineffective or incompetent management, they threaten losing valuable employees. LaSalle Network’s most successful managers share a few traits.

First and foremost, they know their team on a personal level and enjoy spending time with them. Our manager’s invest a great deal of time getting to know their employees and understanding their strengths, weaknesses, passions and desires. This allows them to delegate tasks according to the team member’s abilities.

LaSalle’s most successful managers are also always available. I believe this “on-call” mentality originates from the top down, as I would never ask my managers to do what I wouldn’t. I’ve made it a staple of my career to always be available to my staff beyond working hours. This helps permeate the
organization as intelligent staff can differentiate genuineness from a hyperbole.

At LaSalle, we stress the art of over communicating. Our managers are constantly talking with their teams, troubleshooting problems and answering questions. Each business unit meets with their manager formally twice a day and informally multiple times.

LaSalle’s managers also set ambitious goals for themselves and their team. They have a vision of the product they want to achieve and a plan for how they are going to accomplish it. At LaSalle, we use metric-driven goals to constantly evaluate our performance. Our managers are continually pushing their teams to achieve these goals, while challenging their objections and engaging them in new ways of thinking.

I strongly believe that a great manager can be crafted, and that all of these skills can be honed to perfection. It just takes time, persistence and a strong work ethic.