Past Five

Work-Life Balance Doesn’t Exist: Aim for Work-Life Happiness

Work–life balance. Everyone talks about it; everyone wants it….but it doesn’t exist. Realistically, it’s impossible to achieve the perfect balance. Think about it; even if you only work eight hours a day, there’s not time for eight hours of socializing and eight hours of sleep.

Consequently, searching for a career that allows for a work-life balance is fruitless. Why not focus on something attainable….like work-life happiness.

Work-life happiness can be achieved by anyone. It’s not about separating personal life from professional life, or designating certain hours of the day for work. It’s about blending the two.

Here are a few ways to achieve work-life happiness:

Do What You Love: It seems simple, but too many people are working in careers they don’t enjoy. They use the tough job market as an excuse for staying put, but the market is picking up and hiring is increasing. If you’re unhappy, make a change. Pursue your passions and dreams. As the idiom goes, if you do what you love, you never have to work a day in your life.

Value Weeknights: Instead of heading home after work to put on pajamas and catch a t.v. show, make it a point to do something outside of the box. Go see a local play, have a casual dinner party or find a place to volunteer at least once a week. You would be amazed what it can do for personal morale.

Create Friendships with Colleagues: Separating friendships and co-workers is an excuse to separate yourself from your career. Take the time to get to know your colleagues on a personal level, attend happy hours and invest in these relationships. It will make your time at work much more enjoyable.

Be Yourself: Let your true colors shine at work. Francesca Gino, an associate professor at Harvard Business School says it best, “authentic self-expression at work leads to reduced turnover and increased performance and job satisfaction.”

What other suggestions do you have to achieve work-life happiness?

Advice for Working Mothers: How to Balance Your Career and Family

For Mother's Day, I thought it would be nice to have one of LaSalle's successful working mothers share her advice on how to balance a career and family. The post below is from Jayme Schrieffer, one of our Manager of Major Accounts who has been with LaSalle for over eleven years. Jayme oversees more than $4 million per year in revenue and is also the mother of an active two-year-old son.

Balancing a career and family is difficult, and doing it successfully is truly a skill. I've found that in order to juggle both responsibilities, it's crucial to be realistic about what can be accomplished in a day or a week at work. It's important not to take on too much that a deadline or goal will be missed. It's all about time management. Making a list of priorities every morning helps me manage my day to ensure that I get everything accomplished and still leave the office at a decent time so that I can spend time with my son before bed.

Communication with your manager is also key when trying to balance home life and a career. Communicating my goals, ambitions and concerns of trying to do it all have helped me take my career to the next level, and at the same time, has strengthened my relationship with my manager. Maintaining open lines of communication, continually checking in and asking for one-on-one meetings demonstrates a commitment to professional development and proves that your career has not taken a back seat because you are a working mom.

Being a working mom is rewarding both personally and professionally. If the skill is mastered, it can
make a woman to do more in less time, produce more and exceed goals.

-Jayme Schrieffer

Advance Your Career: It’s Simple….Work Harder Than Your Colleagues

I had dinner the other night with the CEO of a $25M corporation that is rapidly expanding into new markets. He’s bright, motivated and extremely successful…and he’s only 31. After dinner, he was deciding whether to return to the office. It was after 6 p.m., and he conceded that most of his employees had probably left. Then, musing to himself, he said, “Where do they go?” I asked, “What do you mean, where do they go? They probably go home.”

He replied, “If they aren’t out with friends, are they just at home watching TV? Wouldn’t they rather be working?”

Wouldn’t they rather be working? In his mind, the answer was obvious…of course. In the minds of millions of workers, the response is probably a resounding no. This is the difference between great, successful employees and mediocre ones. Great employees are constantly working, thinking of new ideas, reading new literature and determining how events and lessons in their everyday life can transfer to their career. These are the employees that are getting promoted and receiving raises.

So if you’re wondering why your career hasn’t taken off, evaluate whether you have put in the time and effort necessary to advance your career. Would you rather be working?

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.

Are Job Seekers Above Receiving Training?

If you read "Help Wanted: In Unexpected Twist, Some Skilled Jobs Go Begging," in the Wall Street Journal, you know that Union Pacific is having difficulty finding workers with the necessary skill sets for their open positions. But Union Pacific isn't the only company struggling with this problem. Companies across the U.S. are willing to hire, but can't find candidates with the right level of experience.

Should these subpar candidates be hired merely to lower the unemployment rate? No. However, if companies find strong, hard working candidates, why not offer the position at a lower compensation rate for the first 6-18 months while the "A" candidates (that are lacking a few of the job requirements) are trained in the desired skills? Not only will this help the unemployment rate, but it will also eliminate the lack of qualified workers in the job market. Training is effective, builds loyalty and protects a company from turnover. And the best part is that training can be given to all employees in any division of a company.

But there's always two sides to a coin. While companies need to be willing to offer training programs to augment the desired skill set, employees and candidates need to be willing to take the pay cut and accept training. Job seekers today need to realize they don't have the skills companies are looking for. They need to realize they aren't worth the salaries they were making one, two, three years ago. They need to appreciate an opportunity to be invested in and trained. They should be the first ones in the office and the last ones to leave. If they can do this, then companies should be expected to train and develop hard working, intelligent people.

Now is the time for companies to train their own, at any level, and create their own stable of go-getters. The question is, are there people out there willing to commit themselves if this opportunity arrives?

Benefits Abound for Temp-to-Perm Employment

Today, many companies are opting to hire new employees on a temporary-to-permanent basis instead of diving right in to direct hire. However, at LaSalle we are finding that job seekers are hesitant to accept these positions because of negative connotations associated with temporary hiring.

If you are able to disregard the so-called, "stigma," associated with temporary work, you will see there are many benefits of temporary-to-permanent employment.

Test Drive: Temp-to-perm employment allows you up to 12 weeks to experience everything the job has to offer. Perhaps the position is exactly what you are looking for, but maybe your micromanaging supervisor is too much to handle. In either case, it's a win-win situation. If you don't like the position, you can end the assignment and search for other opportunities. If you love it and work hard, there may be a job offer at the end.

Expand Your Knowledge: A temp-to-perm position is a great opportunity to learn another line of business, acquire a new set of skills or absorb information that could be useful in the future. Many companies also offer training programs for their temp-to-perm employees. In these instances, if an offer is extended you will have all the tools to succeed on the job. If an offer is not extended, you will have added to your skill set and increased your wealth of knowledge, escalating your market value as a job seeker.

Potential Pay Increase: If you work hard and collaborate well with staff, it's possible you will be extended a permanent offer. Not only will you now receive company benefits, but you will also earn a pay increase. The amount will vary depending on the company and position.

Other benefits of temporary-to-permanent employment that stress the temporary side include:

Boost Your Resume Experience: If you have minimal work experience, a temp-to-perm position is perfect for beefing up your resume. Although the position may not be your ideal career, you can include newly acquired skills on your resume that may help you snag your dream job.

Pursue a Variety of Careers: If you are uncertain of your career path, a temp-to-perm position allows you to dapple in a variety of fields in order to find the perfect fit.

Earn Money: If you are unemployed and job searching, a temp-to-perm position allows you to earn money while continuing your job search on the weekends.

How to Revive a Dead Career on Halloween

Tip #1: Rise at the witching hour

Set yourself up for success before stepping into the office. Resist hitting the snooze button and wake up a few minutes earlier to do something you love. Run outside, cook a healthy breakfast or meditate as the sun rises; instead of feeling drained before you start the day, you will have more energy to power through it.

Tip #2: Carve out a relationship with your manager

Every employees main purpose is to make their boss's life easier, so work independently and anticipate your manager's needs before he or she asks about them. Connect with your manager on a personal level; ask about his or her passions outside of work, and find the opportunity to engage those interests in conversation. The extra effort and positive attitude you put into the relationship will not go unnoticed.

Tip #3: Enchant your co-workers

Everyone likes to be acknowledged for their hard work or a job well done, and your co-workers are no exception. Speak up when a colleague closes a big deal or completes an extensive project. Although their work may not directly affect you, the buzz of sharing praise can foster positivity in the workplace and a feeling of camaraderie among staff.

Tip #4: Brew something new

While you may be comfortable in your routine, it may also be the source of your dissatisfaction. Bring excitement to your job by asking for assignments outside of your job description. Challenge yourself everyday to say or do something that feels out-of-the-box. Not only will your employer be impressed with your initiative, but the change of pace and new variety of work will be a stimulating addition to your everyday tasks.

Tip #5: Don't be afraid to say, "Boo!"

If you are usually a wall flower in meetings or brainstorming sessions, it's time to break out of your shell. Don't let fear hinder you from contributing to your company's missions, and in turn, your career satisfaction. Voicing your ideas will gain respect from your peers, increase your enjoyment and make a difference in your career.

How to Ask for a Raise

In this economy, is it even possible to ask for a raise?

The answer is, maybe. But, it’s not that simple. There are certain steps you must take before you even consider asking the question.

1. Evaluate Your Company. Is your company profitable? If not, then the answer is a definite no.
2. Be Realistic. Don’t just go to salary.com, you must look at yourself comparatively to people doing the same job as you. Are you doing better than them? Are you bringing extra value to the role and company? If so, consider asking.
3. Assess Your Worth. Have you taken on slack for an employee who recently left the company? How have you affected morale? Do you add or take away from the culture? What tangible results have you produced for the company?

If you can positively answer these questions then you should consider asking, but first you must master the “art” of asking for a raise.

1. Be Confident, Not Cocky. When asking for more money, your tone of voice matters. Make sure to be confident, yet not come across as demanding.
2. Know When to Ask. The best time to ask for a raise is during a performance review or when feedback from your manager is positive. If you’re continuously delivering at high levels and receiving consistent positive feedback, this is a clear sign a raise may be in sight.
3. Have Good Reasoning and Tangible Examples. Outline your job description in comparison to what you are doing on a day-to-day basis. Make sure to provide in detail the tasks or initiatives you independently began or what you did that was above and beyond management's expectations. If you’ve directly helped or developed a product to increase profit, revenue, or the customer base make sure to mention it.

Remember even if you do all the steps above, make sure you’re mentally prepared if your employer says no. Instead of becoming upset or quitting, ask your boss how you can improve and what steps you need to take in order to receive a raise in the future. If you’re proactive and positive, your chances of a raise will one day be in sight.

For more information, see LaSalle Network's segment on NBC's Smart Money

 

 

Going Back to Basics

Last month I had the opportunity to see Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz speak at an Entrepreneurs' Organization event. Schultz spoke about his 2008 decision to shut down every U.S. Starbucks for a few hours in order to re-energize and re-educate his employees on how to make the perfect espresso. The goal of the closure was to revisit their standards of quality and improve the "Starbucks Experience."

I thought this was brilliant. And I decided to do the same.

Last Wednesday, LaSalle had a four hour hands-on meeting to re-gain our focus and re-educate ourselves on LaSalle's basic principles, values, and core competencies. 

We went over the basics of our business: recruiting, interviewing, and selling, but most importantly, I wanted to emphasize the importance of empathy, LaSalle's primary core competency. Whether it's client, candidate, or employee relationships, understanding what the other person is going through is key to success.

As I told all our staff in Wednesday's meeting, I have had their jobs. I audited time sheets, processed invoices, made collection calls, stuff envelopes, licked envelopes, did reference calls, recruited permanent candidates, cold-called companies for five hours straight, the whole nine yards. I did it all. I empathize.

Whether you're a new salesperson, a longtime manager or an office assistant, the key to success is putting yourself in the other person's shoes. Your livelihood depends on others success and theirs on you. While it's easy to get caught up in your day or your duties, your individual successes will come from having empathy for your co-workers, clients, customers, and in our industry, candidates.

Though 2011 is shaping out to be one of LaSalle's best years, as a CEO it's important to continually motivate and re-engage your staff. Whether it's re-teaching the basics, empowering employees to make a difference or instilling the value of empathy, as a leader it's important to take the time to re-instill these values. And if it takes shutting down the business for a few hours then so be it. The long-term gain is worth the short-term loss.

Are Women Better Bosses?

Are women better managers, bosses, leaders? Well, since four fifths of my executive team are women, I would say err toward the side of yes.

Throughout the past few years, I’ve been overly impressed by the performance of LaSalle’s female leaders. They successfully build consensus to reach decisions, openly communicate, and inspire their team for continuous achievement and accomplishment.

While some people say that women bring emotion into the workplace, I say “Of course they do!” but that’s a good thing. Give me passion or give me death!

The stereotype is that women experience more emotional extremes than men, but emotion, if positive, will create a constructive and supportive environment that is good for the workplace and critical for business success.

Throughout the day, regardless if an employee accomplishes a large goal or a small task, I hear these women cheering and outwardly congratulating their team. I see the Director of Human Resources become infinitely more excited for an employee’s birthday than her own. And I’ll see our Vice President of Sales jump up and down when a business development manager receives an order.

These women worked hard for their successes and have pushed through barriers to get there. Not one of these four women were handed opportunities on a golden platter; they worked hard and earned to be where they are today. Because of their perseverance, they equally push and elicit this out of their team.

Not only are these women great bosses, but they are role models. Without the women of LaSalle, our company would never be where we are today.