How Employee Engagement Impacts the Bottom Line

How Employee Engagement Impacts the Bottom Line Did you know that 75% of employees leave because they dont get on with their manager? Lots of people are disengaged at work  for various reasons and one  way to address this could be implementing an employee engagement strategy. What exactly is employee engagement? Employee engagement is a workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to their organisations goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being.  MacLeod Report Bottom line impact of employee engagement: Did you realise that employee engagement can actually help the bottom of line of your company? Organisations in the top quartile for engagement (where more than 7 in 10 employees are engaged) saw a 4% increase in sales growth compared to an average company. By contrast, bottom quartile engagement companies were down -1% (Aon Hewitt). The way that employees align themselves with the companies core values has a direct effect on bottom line profits (Employee Engagement Facts). In 42% of organisations, low performers are actually more engaged than high middle performers (5 Myths of Employee Engagement). Have a look  at the graphic below from Newsweaver for more.

Sales Manager Resume Layout - Facts About the Design of the Sales Manager Resume

Sales Manager Resume Layout - Facts About the Design of the Sales Manager ResumeThere are many components to a Sales Manager resume. The skills, awards, and accomplishments are significant, but the importance of the layout of the document should not be overlooked.The most important facet to any effective sales manager resume is that it clearly shows your skills and professional accomplishments. With some expertise in resume design, this can be done effectively. A successful sales manager resume can highlight skills, accomplishments, and awards. With careful placement of key points and holding the key points, the layout of the resume is impressive. Here are a few tips.In addition to the content of the resume, one of the most important aspects of the resume is the font and layout. Since the most important feature of the resume is its appearance, the right font, and the right layout can make a huge difference. The right font for the ideal Sales Manager resume is Times New Roman. On the other hand, smaller fonts will be fine for some key points, such as the names of awards and accomplishments.The letter head should be attractive and bold, with an appealing color background. This should be a critical point. The letter head serves as the cover of the sales manager resume.What about the layout of the form, and how do you format sales managers? A clear outline of the process of the resume can be displayed in the left column of the Sales Manager resume. The main tasks of the sales manager are reflected in this area.For example, the accomplishments and skills of the sales manager in the most recent year should be included in the right column, with the time frame of the work accomplished. Remember that this includes some special abilities that should not be included in the left column. Likewise, goals and objectives should be included in the bottom portion of the page, but they should be a little less forceful than the achievements and skills.Firstly, the accomplishments and skills should stand out as the first and foremost part of the sales manager resume. Secondly, the objective should include key information, and then the goals should lead into the objective. They will be separated by a line that says 'To be considered for hiring consideration'.Finally, remember that this sales manager resume must be accurate. The goal is to get the best person the company is looking for, and if you fail to accurately reflect what you have accomplished, there is no point in the resume at all. Make sure you get all the information correct.

Personal Branding Interview Michael Roberto - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Michael Roberto - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke with Michael Roberto, who is a professor of management at Bryant University and author of the Know What You Dont Know.   In this interview Michael talks to us about solving problems and how companies can solve problems before they even occur in the future.   He also touches upon the reason why companies ignore rising problems, why leaders encourage useful mistakes at work and more. How do companies go beyond mere problem solving to uncover emerging problems? Leaders need to recognize that problems remain hidden in organizations for a variety of reasons. In other words, barriers exist that typically prevent leaders from hearing bad news or spotting issues in the organization. Those barriers include structural complexity within the organization, which can serve like a dense tree cover in a forest, preventing light from reaching the ground. Gatekeepers serve as another critical barriers. Gatekeepers are those people who filter information on its way to senior executives. Sometimes, they do so for good reasons. For instance, they may be mindful of how busy a senior leader is, and they may be trying to package and summarize data into a more concise form. However, that filtering often causes critical news about problems to not surface as quickly as necessary. Once leaders recognize that these barriers exist, they must come to grips with the fact that bad news will not come to them. They must go out and actively seek out the problems in their organizations. The book helps identify the skills and capabilities to become good seekers â€" what I call becoming a “problem-finder,” not just a problem solver. Why do companies ignore rising problems and what impact could they have if nothing is done about them? Let’s face it. People often do not wish to be the bearer of bad news. They are afraid of retribution (i.e. will senior people shoot the messenger?). Moreover, lower level employees often worry that they will be seen as incapable if they have to surface a problem to higher levels. They often try to solve the problem on their own first. Unfortunately, they sometimes cannot solve it, and meanwhile, the problem grows and expands into something far more serious. Leaders must understand that large-scale failures often do not have a single major root cause. Instead, large scale failures result from a chain of errors. They often begin with small problems that mushroom over time… one small problem compounding upon another to form a chain which leads to catastrophe. What does it mean to become a business anthropologist? What is an “ethnographer”? Why is it important? Anthropologists employ a research technique called ethnography. That means that they observe people in their natural settings over lengthy periods of time, and they draw conclusions from intense observation. Margaret Mead, of course, was one of the most famous anthropologists who employed such methods. Ethnographers do not rely simply on large-scale surveys, interviews, or archival data. They go out and watch what people actually do. They recognize that people often say one thing and do another. Thus, observation often yields more meaningful insights than surveys, focus groups, or interviews. Leaders need to emulate these techniques. They have to do more than listen to what customers, employees, or suppliers are saying. They must go out and observe these various constituents. They have to get a first-hand look so that they can see problems firsthand. Many of the most successful leaders that I studied employed such first-hand observational techniques for understanding the true reality of their organizations. Many consumer products firms employ such techniques very effectively. For instance, Proctor and Gamble does not rely simply on focus groups to understand its consumers. It goes into people’s homes to watch them use PG’s products. Even the CEO and his senior team conduct such home visits. These moments of close-up observation have led to remarkable insights and innovations at PG. Why would a business leader encourage useful mistakes in the workplace? Problem-finding requires a very different mindset with regard to mistakes. How does creating a culture which genuinely tolerates a healthy dose of risk-taking and failure help to surface the problems and threats facing a firm? First, if people fear punishment, they will be far less likely to admit mistakes and errors. Without an understanding of where and how these mistakes are occurring, senior leaders cannot spot patterns and trends. They cannot connect the dots among multiple incidents to identify major problems and threats for the organization. Heightened tolerance of failure not only surfaces errors that have already occurred; it encourages experimentation so as to increase the pace of problem-finding. As the employees at leading industrial design firm IDEO say, “Fail early and often to succeed sooner.” When people engage in low cost, rapid experiments, they do not immediately discover the perfect course of action for the future. Instead, they gradually identify all the ideas that will not work, all the problems that can derail a particular strategy or initiative. Michael Roberto is a professor of management at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI. He joined the faculty at Bryant after six years as a faculty member at Harvard Business School. Hes also spent time as a Visiting Professor at NYUs Stern School of Business. His research, teaching, and consulting focuses on strategic decision-making processes and senior management teams. His most recent book, Know What You Dont Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen,(Wharton School Publishing, 2009) offers practical insights for managers based on this research. The book focuses on how leaders can improve become more effective problem-finders hunting down the festering issues that could erupt into major catastrophes in their organization.

Writing a Perfect Resume Regardless of College Major - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Writing a Perfect Resume Regardless of College Major - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard some variation of the phrase, “I majored in _______, therefore I feel my career options are limited.” That statement is not only illogical, but it couldn’t be further from reality.   Regardless of what it says on your degree, you could and should still relentlessly pursue your professional interests. Though, if you want to be successful in chasing those dreams, you are going to have to learn how to write an above average resume. Below, I am going to touch upon a new way to approach the process. Prior to diving into the topic, I’ll give you one fact.   If they’re smart, hiring managers and recruiters tend to care more about character, future potential, knowledge and work ethic more than your major. Your Job Search is a Business and Your Resume is Your Marketing Material Many entry-level job seekers are unsure whether their resume, college major, internship experience or expertise (or combination of the four) is preventing them from getting the interviews they want. The majority of the time, it’s not their major or internship experience that needs improvement, but rather it’s their resume or the skills they possess. To pinpoint if it’s you or your resume or knowledge (i.e. skill-set) that requires alteration, it’s most effective to think of your job search as a business. In order to achieve success, a business must have a product that is in demand and a strong as well as a compelling marketing message or sales pitch. In this case, that product is the skill(s) you offer to employers.   Your resume is the equivalent of your marketing pamphlet or sales pitch. Prior to formulating marketing material (i.e. your resume), you must first understand the needs and concerns of your target clients. Once you comprehend what they want, you can determine if your product needs improvement (i.e. you need to learn more skills) or your marketing message (i.e. your resume) needs tweaking. Going Into an Unrelated Field The more unrelated your major is to the job you desire, the more you are going to have to learn on your own.   For instance, let’s assume a psychology major is seeking an entry-level marketing job in the pharmaceutical industry. It’s likely that the individual is going to have to teach themselves skills such as search engine optimization, PPC as well as become familiarized with content management systems (i.e. WordPress). At that point, their resume could say, “Strong knowledge of key online marketing facets such as SEO, pay per click modeling and content generation.”   By gaining key knowledge in those areas, they put themselves on the same level (if not above) the students who majored in that area. 99% of the time, a hiring manager will be less concerned with someone’s major and more concerned as to whether they can do the job.   Your resume should reflect that you have the skills to do that work. Your knowledge should be displayed front and center in easy to read, bulleted and occasionally bolded text. The Steps to Writing the Perfect Resume Like I stated prior, the entire foundation of writing a strong entry-level resume begins with knowing who your audience is and what they want. In order to write the perfect resume, there are 5 simplistic steps: 1. Define what kind of job you want and what industry you want it in. The more specific you get, the easier it becomes to learn an industry as well as become familiarized with the skill and resume preferences of the employers. 2. Carefully read the job descriptions associated with that job and vertical. The majority of the time, this document will provide you insight into how the employer thinks, whether you are a potential fit for the position as well as how to tweak your resume to get their attention. Never skim, rather closely examine the document. Utilize your critical thinking skills in order to gain insight from the perspective of the employer. 3. List the skills those employers desire. Take the time to write down (or type) the exact areas of knowledge necessary. When you focus on one industry at a time, you will quickly see which skills are of top, medium and low priority to target employers. Then, proceed to #4. 4. Take the time to study and learn the skills you don’t possess.  For instance, many marketing jobs will want CMS (content management systems) experience or knowledge. Hit the books and learn how to program WordPress. By doing so, your resume will have the right skills and will put less emphasis on your college major. 5. Put those skills front and center in your resume. At this moment in time, begin to alter your resume.  Using bullet points to clearly point out your acquired skills.  Put your major at the bottom of the resume so the hiring manager can focus more on what’s important to that employer and less on your school major which is not an indicator of your success potential at the majority of organizations. In the End In the long run, your college major does not matter as important as many recent graduates take it to be. It will only prevent you from getting the job you want if you let it.

How to Write a Resume - Some Tips for Getting a Job

How to Write a Resume - Some Tips for Getting a JobHow to write a resume is something that is asked by many people when they are applying for jobs. This is because it is so important to have the right information in your resume. Just the wording can help determine whether or not you get hired. The best part is that if you are doing this yourself, then you will be able to handle this quite easily.When someone is asking about how to write a resume, one of the things that they want to know is the importance of the cover letter. They want to know that this will really help to get them a job. Of course, the cover letter can have an impact on your resume as well.It is one of the most important parts of a resume when someone is asking about how to write a resume. You will have to provide the employer with all of the information that they need to know in order to hire you. The cover letter is how they are going to know what kind of personality that you have and if you fit in well with their business. The cover letter should also tell them how you were able to fit in the position that they are trying to fill.You will be doing these two things when you are writing the resume. If you are going to focus on the resume, then you should also try to focus on the cover letter. If you cannot do both of these, then there is no way that you will be able to get a job in the field that you are applying for.You should also not be too quick to offer up your resume if it is rejected. You will have to wait until the applicant has seen it to decide if you should get another shot at them. The easiest way to go about this is to send them a resume through email. Then you can reply to their email asking them to call you back.Another thing that you need to remember when it comes to the proper format for a resume is to keep it easy to read. Be sure that you include all of the important information such as your education and work experience. However, you should also make sure that it is easy to read. You will be able to see which ones of the information on the resume that is important and which ones are not.At this point, you will have all of the information that you need to be able to get a job in the field that you are applying for and it is a good time to add the extra details to the resume. This is a great time to put in all of the things that are pertinent to getting the job. These should be in the first bullet points that you add.When someone is asking about how to write a resume, they are mostly focused on the first page and the actual resume itself. If you can follow these tips, then you should be all set. You should also be able to get this information from the employer without having to ask for it.

The podcasts to listen to on your commute - Debut

The podcasts to listen to on your commute - Debut This post was written by an external contributor. Lydia Wilkins has some podcasts for you to pass the time on your dreary commute.   Podcasts are everywhere right now. According to Ofcom, almost six million adults in the UK tune into them weekly, and the number of weekly listeners has nearly doubled in five years. It’s almost estimated that one in five people, aged fifteen to twenty-four, are now listening to podcasts weekly. Its no wonder that podcasts are so popular now, as you can listen to them on the go. They’re especially good for passing the time you spend travelling. Whether you drive, take the bus or even a train, the commute to university/work can be dull. So, what podcasts should you listen to on your commute? Dial M For Muller One of the biggest stories recently has been the Cambridge Analytica saga. Added to this, there’s an issue with ‘tech platforms’; how our data is collected, and what levels of privacy we are entitled to. Dial M For Muller is an educational podcast  that discusses all these issues, and then some. Comprised of partnership between Observer journalist Carole Cadwalladr and Byline CEO Peter Jukes, this show takes a deep dive into what’s going on behind the headlines. Ctrl, Alt, Delete Ctrl, Alt, Delete is hosted by journalist and author, Emma Gannon, who chats to guests about their relationship with the internet. There are a huge amount of topics dissected: Jodi Picoult talks about abortion, Bella Mackie chats about jogging and mental health and Pandora Sykes analyses how much of our lives we share on social media. My favourite so far is an earlier episode with Dolly Alderton, where she discusses how powerful female friendship can be. SCILENCE Have you got an interest in STEM? If so, this is the podcast for you! SCILENCE began in June 2018, and is focused on hearing from women within this sector.  They give an overview of what the day-to-day work is like in STEM industries, as well as what it’s like existing in an environment typically dominated by men. How To Fail with Elizabeth Day We often think about failure as the be-all-and-end-all. However, what if it actually makes us better at what we do? Author and journalist Elizabeth Day uses this premise, chatting to guests such as Farrah Storr, Deborah Frances-White and Lily Allen (possibily one of the coolest podcast hosts In my opinion) about their own faliures. This is useful, as it reminds us that were all human. TBD with Tina Brown TBD is a fairly new weekly podcast, hosted by Tina Brown. Each week they feature a special guest, with past ones including including Micheal Douglas, Gretchen Carlson, Allison Janney and Margot Robbie. These are the people who are behind newspaper headlines, often in a creative, artistic way. No topic is left unspoken, even if they’re controversial. Bitchin’ Remember Germaine from Channel 4’s Raised By Wolves? Helen Monks and Tilly Steele have teamed up together to dismantle what could be termed everyday hypocrisy. I personally enjoyed the episodes that featured Tommy Robinson, as well as Zoella. If you need to laugh, or want to be distracted from the daily grind of studying, this is the podcast for you. The High Low Described as the weekly current affairs and pop culture podcast; The High Low is hosted by journalists Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes. Taking its name from Tina Brown, who coined the term ‘high low journalism’, The High Low is like a broadcaster’s news bulletin. Every topic is dissected and analysed, along with sophisticated humour thrown in. As a recent graduate, I’m grateful for a podcast that considers all sides of a situation,   allowing listeners to make up their own mind. Download Debut  and  connect with us on  Facebook,  Twitter  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.

Numbers Talk In Job Search

Numbers Talk In Job Search There are many job seekers out who think their job search is measured only by number of interviews theyve had.   This couldnt be farther from the reality of things.   Job search is a sales cycle.   It will take a lot of activities to generate interviews and you need to be able to measure what is working FOR YOU and what is not. Additionally, securing your next job will take you longer than you want or expect.   Most of that is out of your control.   Employers are taking longer to make their hiring decisions.   Factor that in.   Know that and be prepared for the long haul.   While there are certain metrics that are more successful than others, job search is individual.   You may have success in one area and not another.   Lets look at some of the numbers you must be tracking. HOURS Recently the Department of Labor stats stated that the average job seeker spends only 18 minutes a day in search.   At that rate, no wonder people are unemployed for over a year.   The more hours you commit to your job search, the faster you will land a job.   This is a full time job. Make it easy to track your hours.   Keep a log with you job search folder.   Use categories of hours if you really want to understand where you are spending your time.   Here are some thoughts: Computer time Face time Phone time You time ACTIVITIES What are the activities that have the biggest bang for the buck?   Networking activities.   Yet there are other things you should be doing.   Start keeping track so you can increase or decrease activities based on their results.   Like Weight Watchers setting goals or targets weekly will hopefully drive you to meet these goals. Perhaps you will make one more call or attend that one meeting that will net you a great connection. On-line job postings Networking in person: one on one Networking in groups On-line brand management (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or other on-line networking) Research (company, person, industry) Administration (resume tweak, marketing plan update, cover thank you, applications) Professional development (workshops, reading, professional associations) Volunteer Connect with recruiters/search firms INTERVIEWS There are phone screening interviews, first interviews and second interviews There should be a conversion rate here.   If you are getting first interview but not second interviews, that means you will need to work on your interviewing skills. Phone screen First Interview Second Interview Ive been told many times that tracking this stuff is a waste of time.   My belief is that is critically important to know this stuff.   How can you do an analysis?   How can you improve what you are doing or change what you are doing if you cant tell exactly what you are doing. From my experience working with job seekers, it is going to take hundreds of hours, networking contacts and 100% of your commitment to make your next job happen. There is a progress chart used by Orville Pierson which can be helpful in setting up your tracking system.   You can learn how to fix your search and access an Excel version of the progress chart here. Plan and Execute Your Job Search Using Gantt Charts from CareerRocketeer, also lays out a plan for tracking your search efforts!

Are you ready for an Encore Career - Hallie Crawford

Are you ready for an Encore Career How to prepare yourself for working beyond retirement age: Part 1 If you’re over age 45 and have been at the same job or in the same industry most of your life, you may be thinking that a “change of scenery” is something you want to do before you stop working completely. If you do, what you’re looking for is an “encore career”, or a career that you switch to as a sort of 2nd Act to your working life. Also, you would not be alone as hundreds of thousands of men and women all over the country are starting encore careers as we speak. It’s quite the emerging trend, to be sure. Marc Freedman, the CEO of Encore.org, made the phrase “encore career” popular in his book Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life. That was way back in 2007 and since then the term has definitely become quite popular. As people are living longer and staying fitter and healthier, many have come to realize that there’s no need to limit themselves to one career path or stay in one particular industry until they are ready to retire completely. The Internet has certainly helped to fuel the growing encore career trend as it’s now easier than ever to not only learn a new skill or trade online but also build a following, advertise and start a business doing something that you love or have a great passion for. For someone who’s looking to embrace an encore career there are a number of different things that should be done in order to make the transition easier and smoother. One of the most important is to treat your encore career like any other type of career change and put in the time and effort that you need in order to do it right. Learning as much as you can about what you plan to do or create, including taking online classes or “real world” classes at your local community college, is a must. There are also plenty of other activities that can and should be done like volunteering, taking an apprenticeship with someone who’s willing to teach you and even moonlighting while you’re still working. One of the reasons to do all of this research and engage in all of these activities is to truly find out if you want to change careers and, more importantly, if it’s something that is going to replace the income that you are now making. If you have planned well and have had a well-paying career, taking on an encore career that pays less may well be a possibility, especially if you already have a well-funded retirement nest egg. On the other hand, if you are still depending on a steady paycheck and taking a big pay cut would not fit in your lifestyle, an encore career might be something that you have to forgo, at least until you are financially more capable of doing it. Again, starting your encore career while you are still working in your first career is definitely a possibility. As with most things, an encore career is simply another opportunity that, if you’re lucky, life will open up to you. If you are ready to leave your first career behind but don’t want to stop working completely or wish to do something completely different, an encore career may be just the ticket. Indeed for many people, their encore career has turned into the highlight of their life. and Katie Weiser Certified Career Coaches P.S. Get one of the most information-rich career newsletters on the web delivered straight to your email inbox! Check out our  Free Newsletter  to help you along your career journey today!