Tuesday, December 23, 2008

How do we Explain Wide differences in Pay?

How do we manage a disparity in pay levels? We are raising pay rates for employees to be more in line with our competitors. However, this hasn't eased our recruiting difficulties very much. In addition, management is considering raising pay yet again for new recruits, but we are understandably concerned that such a move would make pay for new workers nearly equal to employees with two to three years of experience. This would also affect the pay of people with even longer tenure. Obviously, whatever we decide will affect both our retention of high performers and our recruitment of top talent. We don't want to get hung up on this issue, but feel caught in the middle. Is there a way out that satisfies all sides?

From how you have described your situation, it sounds as if you may need to hold off on making further pay changes until you have determined the root causes of your recruiting difficulties. It would appear that your efforts to make compensation adjustments were unsuccessful in addressing the problem. Don't compound the error by trying to fix the problem in the same way twice: i.e., by throwing good money after bad. This means stepping back, gathering a team of interested individuals and doing some basic analysis and problem-solving relative to your difficulties with recruitment and (potentially) turnover. Ask yourself some basic questions, such as:

• Is our problem with recruitment or with retention or both?

• Where are the problems with our recruiting process? Are candidates willing to stick with the process right up until they get the offer letter, or do they drop out long before this point?

• Do we have significant turnover in the first six months of employment? Do we have turnover of high-performing employees?

• Are we losing longer-service employees or is turnover mainly concentrated with shorter- service employees? Do particular departments experience higher turnover than others?

• Are employees constantly complaining about pay levels in general, or is pay
disenchantment mostly among new hires?

In asking and answering these questions, you will need to gather as much data on recruitment and turnover as necessary. Then for each question, you'll need to research why. Once you dig into this analysis, you may find that the problems are not even related to compensation; this may simply be a symptom or an excuse for deeper problems. Don't accept employee complaints about pay at face value; there may be more critical but underlying issues. Most people do not leave organizations—or refuse to join organizations—because of pay. They simply use this as their excuse as it is an easy one to use and generally shuts off any argument. The important point is to find out why each of the issues or problems you uncover has become an issue or problem. You then can move to develop effective and targeted solutions. The problem-solving process is time-consuming and detailed, but it is worth the effort and could save your company from wasting valuable resources.

The bottom line here is that your company may not have to raise pay uniformly across the organization. If you have specific new hire/experienced employee compression issues, by all means deal with them as part of the solution, but do so selectively. In addition, when was the last time your company did an organization-wide market analysis of compensation? It may be time to recalibrate your pay ranges against your labor market or product/service market competition.

You also mentioned retention of high performers. In this matter your company will need to consider several factors. Can you appropriately identify your true high-performing employees, or do your managers evaluate everyone as "exceeding expectations"? Are the high performers receiving commensurately larger pay increases than the average? Are they recognized for their accomplishments in nonmonetary terms? Are they held up as examples of the types of behavior you need from all employees? On a longer-term basis, are they provided with the right career development attention and opportunities?

Finally, your company may also want to consider a variable pay program that provides bonuses or incentives based on specifically defined corporate or workgroup goals. These are important components of any program for rewarding and motivating high performers and can assist in successfully dealing with retention and pay compression.

How Do We Coach Negative Managers?

Many of our managers have a hard time driving down decisions that are made by the corporate office. We do include their opinion prior to making many decisions. However, it seems that any bad news given to an employee by their managers is blamed on corporate heads. Most managers don't take responsibility or back up the decision. Instead, they usually apologize and tell employees they had to discipline/change process because it was a corporate decision. How can I work with managers to eliminate the perception that corporate is "bad" and they are "good"?

- Nabobs of Negativism Not Needed, human resources manager, retailing, Englewood, Colorado

A: At face value, this might appear to be a remedial management issue to clarify the manager's role in the chain of command. However, an effort to get certain managers in line will probably be a difficult task because there is likely a larger, cultural issue underlying matters.

This warrants some study before formulating a course of action-otherwise, you will be addressing only symptoms and not creating the change you probably want. In essence, if you address how mangers think, then how they stand and what they say as part of the chain of command will fall in line. Some things to explore:

1. Group dynamics
There is some sort of group dynamic present here. Even with relatively inexperienced managers, this is learned behavior that blaming corporate is acceptable. There need not be a single "ringleader," but this is stemming from someplace and others are following suit. Even if you can mentally identify the group and you believe you know who is leading and those who are probably following, you need to dig a little deeper.

What are the common denominators of the managers who are showing dissent, and of the managers who are performing satisfactorily? What separates the two groups?

2. Be very conscious about communication As you try to address any issue, you should expect that interacting with any part of the group is going to flow to the rest. This is something to be incredibly conscious of. With that in mind, this informal network can be the most useful way to interact with the whole, but avoid the temptation to tap or manipulate the group's communication.

Your interaction with members is how you will influence this group. When speaking to one person, expect that what's being said probably will be relayed to others, so do this thoughtfully.

3. Be attentive to the feedback loop
It would appear that you are getting this feedback about the managers' behavior from somewhere outside this group. There is a cultural issue that overlaps the other, which is demonstrated by the fact that such specific negative information is common knowledge beyond this group of managers. Let's acknowledge that employees talk and someone being disciplined is difficult to keep under wraps, but knowledge of the specific discussion is different from common knowledge of the event.

Unless you are asking for this information and getting it from the original source (i.e., the employee who was disciplined), the fact that this specific negative information is flowing and how it is being broadcast need to be examined. However, this phenomenon is your primary gauge of progress at the moment and how you can track your efforts upstream. So be conscious of it, but don't tamper with it.

4. Stimulus/response
Is there any pattern to this besides "bad news"? Example: decisions that did or did not sync up with-or even request the feedback of-these managers?

What is driving this behavior? Do the managers feel they are not being heard or simply not empowered? This is the root problem that you will ultimately need to address. Although the negative culture, manager behavior and the free flow of information are things to be attentive to, the group dynamics that are present are something to accept. By taking the time to understand this cultural phenomenon better and what is driving it, you will be better prepared to manage it in the best way.

Cultural issues can be challenging, but with a little study and the right stimulus, you may find that you can tame and domesticate this beast rather than trying to fight it.

Employees Not Saving Enough for Retirement

Traveling the world, spoiling grandchildren, taking long walks on the beach: What was once known as the golden years of retirement might be a thing of the past.

According to a new study by Hewitt Associates, less than one out of five employees will be able to meet their estimated fiscal retirement needs, and that can have a bottom-line impact on productivity and engagement.

"If you look out five, 10, 20 years, there's a pool of individuals who are not going to be able to retire, who may not be able to afford health care," said Alison Borland, defined contribution consulting practice leader at Hewitt. "So they're going to continue working, and we have seen some conversations about what that means from a workforce management and talent perspective."

On the one hand, organizations are facing a talent shortage, so the fact people might remain in the workforce longer could be seen as a positive. But workers who are staying only because they can't leave financially aren't going to be as productive, engaged or creative as they otherwise might be.

"When you think about the kind of talent employers are looking for, they're not looking for a disengaged workforce that is dying to leave," Borland said.

Borland thinks many employers struggle with how best to communicate the issue of saving for retirement, since the numbers can be intimidating, and many different factors affect how various groups participate.

"Gender, for example, plays a significant role in how employees interact with their savings plan," she said. "Age: That plays a key role. And also race and ethnicity has an impact on how people behave and how they save and invest."

Talent managers must understand all of these other factors, in addition to providing modeling tools, information and guidance - including examples of what good savings and investment choices might look like - to develop custom, targeted solutions that reach each group in the most comprehensive way, Borland said.

Additionally, to drive the point home, many companies have started holding regular retirement checkups. Often, the retirement decision is included in the annual enrollment period for health care plans.

While these tools can help employees save for the future, talent managers also must help those workers facing retirement today.

One option on the table is phased retirement, in which workers can access some of their retirement funds while they're still working and reduce the total number of hours they put in each week. But the concept is challenging from a regulatory perspective. Borland said policy changes would need to take place before many companies could adopt the plan, but it could benefit both the employee and the company if enacted.

"This pool of workers who need to work and contribute might be much more productive if they can do it on their own terms," she said.

Finally, Borland said she expects as the issue becomes more widely publicized, more and more employees will be focused on learning about and participating in their employers' retirement benefits. So talent managers should take some time to brush up on their organizations' policies.

Do You Get It?

The rant began before the second glass of wine was served. I recently was dining with two marketing executives when the pair started venting their frustrations about how HR was missing the point. One person paused midway and said, "Now Kevin, understand that we like you and you 'get it;' our issues are with those HR types that don't."

I think that was a compliment, but I didn't feel great about the tone of the discussion. I've observed business executives dividing the HR community into two classifications: those who "get it" and those who miss the point. Those who get it find themselves in the highly sought-after business partnership. Those labeled otherwise find themselves on the outside looking in.

Getting it is necessary to be a strong HR contributor. It means a leader has a firm grasp on the business, appreciates the line leader's agenda as primary and views HR work as secondary.

Three fundamental skills of HR leaders who get it:

a) They put business first.
I try to stay grounded in my role to contribute to the business first and serve my HR-learning role second. "Win, have fun and make a buck" was the slogan of one of my GE mentors years ago. His quote still resonates with me as a reminder that my job is to help the team win customers, not produce shiny new HR initiatives for their own sake. I've always been curious about business as much as the development profession. I am a constant student of investor reports, internal financial reports and business plans. Moreover, I try to start every conversation with line leaders by discussing their business: what's new, how's the new product working and how do they see the numbers going this quarter? Business first, then we move on to the HR agenda.

b) They work the map.
In my early days at General Mills, I did not have a feel for the business or how to navigate the organization. These were "new guy" challenges to overcome if I was going to have an impact in the organization. I read all the business material I could find and bought a sea of coffee while learning from every available finance and marketing manager I could befriend. I also studied those who were successful creating change in the organization. They seemed to possess an unofficial and invisible organization chart to guide their actions. In addition to learning the map, these high influencers introduced me to the concept of executive presence. When the path to organizational change placed them in front of senior executives, they had a crisp, confident and relaxed style. As I grew in the job, I found it easier to at least fake being confident and relaxed. The "crisp" part took some time as I had to temper my enthusiasm to explain everything I knew about a topic when given the chance.

c) They exercise balcony judgment.
The HR role is partly that of a trusted adviser. One of my favorite learning stories is about the new apprentice asking the old mentor how to acquire good judgment. "From experience!" said the mentor. When the apprentice asked how to acquire experience, the mentor wisely said, "From poor judgment!" Using poor judgment to create learning experiences is a recipe for career derailment rather than success, but the scar tissue of hard-fought battles is part of the professional journey.

Learn from others' battle experiences. Seek out top performers and wise counselors to share what they've learned over time. Accelerate your judgment capabilities and solidify an impressive support network at the same time. Finally, gain perspective by reflecting on what's going on and what can be learned. A friend of mine calls it "getting to the balcony" to oversee the situation, rising above the noise and distractions of the moment.

Like it or not, many leaders will divide their perception of HR into two camps: "gets it" or "doesn't get it." The former is a much more rewarding and fun place to be, but it needs to be earned. Make investments in your business acumen, organization influence and judgment. At the very least, it makes for better dinner conversation.

Do what you Love, Love What you Do

I always have enjoyed traveling to new places and meeting new people. That's good, because in my line of work, I have to fly quite a bit. The presentations I give have taken me, on separate trips, to Kuwait City, Zurich, Abu Dhabi and London in the past month. But I recently experienced my most exciting flight ever when I spent 90 minutes traveling at hundreds of miles an hour in a Navy fighter jet.

It was a blast, especially when I actually got to fly the plane. And in case you're wondering, I never came close to ejecting the aircraft - or the contents of my stomach. This was something I always wanted to try, and I loved every minute of it. I was totally present and immersed in the experience.

Here's one thing, though: While flying a jet was certainly an unparalleled rush, I almost always feel totally and happily absorbed in what I'm doing while I'm "on the job" because I love what I do.

Successful people don't always love what they do, and that's unfortunate. Take Dr. Warren Bennis, founding chairman of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California and a visiting professor at Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.

Now, Warren is one of my personal heroes. In addition to being one of the greatest teachers and writers in our field, he's also a good guy. At various stages in my career, he has taken the time to give me words of recognition, support and encouragement. His consideration has meant a lot to me. Besides being successful and brilliant, he's thoughtful. These words don't always go together.

However, at one point in his life, Warren was a practitioner of leadership, rather than a teacher of leadership, when he served as president of the University of Cincinnati. Once, when he was speaking to a university audience in his presidential role, one of his friends in the room unexpectedly asked: "Do you love what you do?"

A long, awkward silence filled the room as he pondered the question. As a president, he searched for the right answer, but as a human, he wanted the real answer. Finally, in a quiet voice, he replied, "I don't know."

That revelation plunged Warren into deep reflection. It dramatically altered his path through life. He had always thought he wanted to be the president of a university. It had not dawned on him that after he got there he might not actually enjoy it.

"Do you love what you do?" may be the seminal question of our age.

In yesterday's world, professionals worked 40 hours a week and took four weeks of vacation. In the early 1980s, I remember visiting the corporate headquarters of one of the world's most successful companies at 5 p.m. There was almost no one there. You could fire a cannonball down the hall and not hit anyone.

Those days are gone. Almost all of the professionals I work with are busier today than they ever have been in their lives, working 60 to 80 hours a week. The feel under more pressure than ever. Cell phones, PDAs and e-mails forever tether us to our work, whether we like it or not. Put it all together and, if you don't love what you do, it can be a kind of new-age professional hell. We can waste our lives waiting for a break that never comes.

It was much easier to find meaning and satisfaction in activities outside of work when we were under a lot less pressure and worked far fewer hours. Not only did people have more time, they weren't as tired. But these days, life is too short. It's not worth it. In the new world, we don't have to love everything that we do, but we need to find happiness and meaning in most of our professional work.

As for Warren, he loves what he does now. It's scary to think what we all would have lost without his moment of insight.

Diversity in the Workplace: Search for Similarities

Want to develop effective working relationships with diverse people at work? Start with similarities, not differences, among people when you build relationships. Diversity in the workplace adds a special richness, but also special challenges. As a human resources professional, manager, supervisor, coworker, staff member or business owner, effective diverse work relationships are critical for your success.

We've emphasized honoring and appreciating the diverse needs, skills, talents, and contributions of people in recent years. While this is critical, don't let the pendulum swing too far in this direction. We are in danger of forgetting to honor and appreciate our similarities. By acknowledging the similarities and likenesses, we create a starting point for understanding and appreciating diversity in the work place.

A strong example emerges in The Human Capital Edge: 21 People Management Practices Your Company Must Implement (or Avoid) to Maximize Shareholder Value, by Bruce N. Pfau and Ira T. Kay, executives with Watson Wyatt Worldwide. In Watson Wyatt's WorkUSA research, they asked 7500 workers at job levels across diverse industries to respond to 130 statements about their workplaces. Watson Wyatt broke down the responses to look for diversity patterns across demographics including whites versus minorities, men versus women, and people over and under 30 years old.

They found more similarities than differences, especially in the categories respondents rated as most important to them. People agreed about what inspires their commitment to a particular employer. People cited the following factors as important.

a) They supported their company's business plan,
b) They had a chance to use their skills on the job,
c) Their reward package was competitive, and
d) The company acted on employee suggestions.

People also agreed on what organizations need to improve: employee input and promoting the best performers while helping the worst performers get better. Additionally, the employees want to know how their job affects internal and external customers. They want to understand how their job contributes to the accomplishment of company business goals. They want a safe work environment and highly rated products and services.

Recommendations for Diverse Workplace Success

In response to the research, Pfau and Key recommend that organizations concentrate on four areas with their employees.

a) Keep your company effective, winning, and on the right track.

b) Help people, supplied with needed resources, use their talents and skills to contribute to the overall accomplishment of organization objectives.

c) Respect and value people and recognize and act on their contributions.

d) Create an environment in which people have interesting work and enjoy their coworkers.

On the Interpersonal Level

Take a look at your coworkers or reporting staff with new eyes. Think about the factors that you share in common with them. You'll find:

a) You're all human beings with complex emotions, needs, interests, outlooks, viewpoints and dreams. Share something about yourself to create an environment in which your coworkers wants to share information with you. Listen and don't pry. Polite and continuing interest in your coworkers contributes to workplace harmony.

b) You have family and other interests outside of work. Hear what your coworkers tell you about their personal lives. Remember the highlights to demonstrate respect and interest.

c) You have similar needs from work as demonstrated above in The Human Capital Edge. Acknowledge this and note the commonalities.

Work is more exciting when you feel as if you are accomplishing mutual goals. Act as if you are part of a winning team. Emphasize, with coworkers, your common interest in your success and the success of the organization. You'll get to know people as people if you participate in any fun or team building events your organization sponsors. Better yet, join the team that plans them.

Conclusions About Diversity and Similarity

If you start by recognizing the ways in which you are similar to your coworkers, you'll build a base of understanding and acceptance that will withstand the sometimes stormy times when your differences come to the forefront.

Designing Team Incentives

Firms increasingly use teams to mange much of their work. In such cases, they need incentive plans that both encourage teamwork and focus team members’ attention on performance.
Team or group incentives to the team based on the team’s performance. One way to do this is to set work standards for each team member and then calculate each member’s output. Members are then paid based on one of three formulas: (1) All members receive the pay earned by the highest producer, (2) all members receive the pay earned by the lowest producer, or (3) all members receive pay equal to the average pay earned by the group. A second approach is to set an engineered production standard based on the output of the group as a whole: All members then receive the same pay, based on the piece rate for the group’s job. This group incentive can use the piece rate or standard hour plan, but the latter is more prevalent.
A third option is to tie rewards to goals based on some overall standard of group performance such as “total labor hours per final product.” Doing so avoids the need for a precisely engineered piecework standard. One company established such an incentive plan for its teams. If the firm reached 100% of its goal, the employees would share in about 5% of the improvement (in labor costs saved). The firm divided the 5% pool by the number of employees to compute the value of a “share.” Each work team them received two goals, and if the team achieved both goals, each employee earned one share in addition to his or her base pay. If the teams achieved one goal, they each got half a share. The results of this plan in terms of changing employee attitudes and focusing teams on strategic goals were reportedly extraordinary.
Pros and Cons of team Incentives:
Team incentives often make a lot of sense. Much work today is organized around teams—project teams publish books, assembly teams assemble cars, and new-product teams launch new products. Performance here reflects not just individual but team effort, so team incentives make sense. Team-based plans reinforce team planning and problem solving and help ensure collaboration. In Japan, one rule is, never reward only one individual. Instead, Japanese companies reward the group to reduce jealousy, to make group members indebted to one another, and to encourage a sense of cooperation. Team incentives also facilitate training, since each member has an interest in getting new members trained as fast as possible.
The other advantages of incentive payments are: reduced supervision, better utilization of equipment, reduced scrap, reduced lost time, reduced absenteeism and turnover and increased output. Further more, systems of payment by results would, if accompanied by improved organization and work measurement, enable firms to estimate labor costs more accurately, than under the system of payment by time. This would facilitate the application of cost control techniques like standard costing and budgetary control.
Apart from the benefits cited above, incentive packages are a very attractive proposition for management because they do not affect employers’ contribution to the provident fund and other employee retirement benefits.
The main disadvantage is that a worker’s pay may not be proportionate to his or her own efforts, which may de-motivate hard workers. Workers who share in the team’s pay but don’t put their hearts into the effort can be a problem. Solutions include having team members commit in writing to putting the goals of the team before their own, and basing part of each worker’s pay on individual (not just team) performance. —

Converting offices into Paperless zones

The concept of paperless offices eludes us but the initiative to create one still exists. Thankful as environmentalists are to businesses for pursuing the vision of a paperless office, this dream can only be fulfilled if there is an organisation-wide revolution. Strong the use of the word 'revolution'
is, but organisations must realise that nothing short of revolution is what they need to convert all their activities to a virtual medium. Also, since half-hearted employee participation derails most initiatives, the need to excite employees about a paperless office should become the focal point of the 'paperless' drive.

In short, ensuring a smooth and complete transformation to a paperless office would require employees to be excited about using paperless or online alternatives. This week's mailer suggests a few approaches to eliminating the use of paper.

*Failed efforts *

Committed to converting his office into a paperless retreat, the director of a mortgage unit installed the latest scanners to discourage documents being printed, photocopied and sent to clients. He also invested in state of the art systems to speed up online communication. Soon after the scanners and systems were commissioned he made an announcement in the cafeteria declaring the office as 'paper free from tomorrow'. In addition to the protests that followed his announcement, what came as a blow was when some employees threatened to quit. The lesson learnt was to be careful in introducing technology to employees.

A recent study confirms that 70 percent of IT initiatives have failed. New systems end up untouched or under-used because employees find either the hardware or the applications too confusing and even difficult to use. As a result, the old paper-centric ways remain popular. Also, as Moez Limayem, an IT professor says, *"IT projects fail not because of the technology but because human beings resist change and uncertainty." *Therefore, in introducing the concept of a paperless office, the first step should be to excite employees about it to ensure high buy-in. Here are a few initiatives to create the hype.

*Working towards the top *

Clichéd as it sounds, nothing gains momentum without top management buy-in.
But investing in technology based on top management inputs can be a big mistake. With employees as end-users, it is prudent to involve them in deciding on technologies to invest in.

While employees will 'in principle' agree to use what the management suggests `in principle', on-the-job usage is typically poor. As a technical executive says, *"Many users will nod their heads happily as the technology gets deployed. But within days, they have figured out ways around it so they can do their job the way they always did, which results in a big waste of time and money all around." *Therefore, it is a bad idea to introduce applications and systems without warming employee up to the idea of using them. The first step to this warm-up would be to conduct a survey to find out their choice. Next:

- Advertise the findings of the survey to convey the requirement of
technology
- Highlight how new technology will enhance on-the-job productivity
- Share encouraging case studies and other success stories

This warming-up initiative should create a welcoming atmosphere for new technology. The next step of course is to make employees comfortable and conversant technologically.

*Training *

Seventy percent of fear of technology stems from unfamiliarity and only training helps de-demonise technology! Most companies put their employees through a short course on how to use a new application or system but such training has proved unhelpful in making those conversions. The better approach to training is to over-expose employees to new technology. The more training they receive the more comfortable they get.

Another approach to training is to get a handful of tech-savvy employees to master a particular application and make them subject matter experts. Other employees can then upgrade their knowledge gradually and use the technology under the tutelage of the experts. This informal approach to training has a better success rate.

*Motivators *

While it is the employee who gains the maximum from the use of technology, organisations still have to motivate them to use it. What works best are monetary incentives. A sales organisation encouraged the use of technology by tying commissions to sales generated by use of technology. A salesperson with maximum online clients and interactions took home the largest bonus. As the use of technologically-intensive processes continues to remain low, monetary incentives work well.

Converting an organisation or office into a paper-free place is not an overnight effort. But since paperless offices are the need of the hour, organisations must expedite their efforts towards it. The above- mentioned suggestions should help in that pursuit.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Get the Recognition you Deserve

Imagine this: You stay late at work, consistently win accounts that your co-workers only dream of, never miss deadlines, and never show up late – and to top it all off, you finish even your worst projects successfully and ahead of schedule.
You'd think that by doing all of this, you would, at least once in a while, get thanks and recognition from management? Well… you wish. Unfortunately, your boss is busy dealing with a "problem" member of the team, and as a result, she forgets to show any gratitude to her stars. That includes you.
Have you ever been in a situation like this? Working hard and getting ignored by your boss can be rough. That's why you sometimes have to take matters into your own hands.
Boasting of your own accomplishments can feel awkward. But look at it this way: If your boss doesn't notice your hard work, and you don't point it out to him or her, then what happens when you ask for a raise? How will he or she know you're ready for that promotion, or if you can handle that huge-but-fascinating project?
Things don't have to be like that. We'll show you how to get the recognition you deserve without looking like you're seeking attention. Believe it or not, there is a way to do this.
There are many types of recognition, so decide what type you want.
Step One: Decide What You Want
Companies often thank staff with awards, certificates, or bonuses. However, people often just want simple praise. We want to know that our work is meaningful and that we've made a difference. An "Employee of the Month" certificate, or a cold, hard check doesn't always communicate that.
So, what exactly are you looking for? It's important to really define this, because everyone wants something different. Do you want a simple "thank you"? An award ceremony in your honor? A raise?
Step Two: Define Why You Deserve Praise
Don't walk into your boss's office with no advance preparation to say what a great job you've been doing. Why? Firstly, it would seem odd. Then, if you're a bit nervous, you might forget something important that you've done. You might forget the help a co-worker gave you, and leaving out that person could speak poorly of your character. Be sure to make yourself look good, but also share credit where credit is due.
Make a list of the accomplishments you'd like to discuss. Beside each one, list the value that accomplishment has brought to the company.
Step Three: Praise Yourself
This is where you've got to get creative. You know your boss and your business environment, so think of ways to let your boss know how hard you've been working.
If you tell your boss directly, then do it carefully and tactfully – in a private area. You know that list of accomplishments you just created? Read that over a few times before your meeting. As you talk, emphasize how you had help and how your co-workers should be rewarded for their hard work as well.
If this feels a little too much like bragging, then think of ways to let your boss know what you're doing without being so obvious or bold. For example, send your boss an email every time you win a new account, or when you're finally able to please your company's worst customer. These little "progress reports" keep your actions in the open in a delicate, not-too-obvious way.
You can also praise others in front of your boss. By bringing their hard work and accomplishments to your boss's attention, she may also notice the great job that you've been doing. Keep it genuine and honest, however. If you appear insincere, then people may notice, and you may look bad. If you have something good to say, then say it, but don't speak up if you don't really mean it.

A Few Tips
•Look closely at your boss's actions – he or she may be praising you, and you don't even realize it. For example, let's say you spent hours writing the annual message to shareholders, and your boss only quickly glanced at it before passing it on to be copied. Before you get upset, consider that her actions may really say that she trusts you to do top-notch work, and she doesn't have read every line to know you've done a great job. Yes, a "thank you" for a job well done is nice, but this kind of trust is also a compliment.
• In your work environment, perhaps all the problem behaviors get noticed, and all the really great ones seem to be ignored. If so, then you may have to do something bold to get management's attention. Tell your boss honestly how members of the team need some recognition. Keep the focus off yourself, and help your boss understand how everyone would be more motivated if they just got a little praise now and then.
Key Points
Although not everyone is comfortable talking about their accomplishments, you might harm yourself if you don't speak up.
If your boss doesn't see the great work you've been doing, he or she might give that promotion or special project to someone else without knowing any better. It's up to you to prove that you can handle the added responsibility – and to do that, your boss has to know what you've already done.
Think of subtle ways to get your boss's attention by talking privately, sending emails about small accomplishments, and praising your teammates when he or she is around to hear it. Even if you keep the focus off yourself, it may get him or her to notice what you've been doing as well.

Apply This to Your Life:
Ready to put this into action? Here are some easy ways to use this tool in your life right now:
Begin by recognizing the accomplishments of others. If you notice co-workers doing something great, send them emails praising their efforts, and send copies to your boss. This can show your boss that you're leading by example..
Don't forget that your boss might need some praise and recognition too. Send him or her an email when she's made a difference in your day, and consider copying that email to his or her boss.
If you're a team leader, keep your eyes open for activities and co-workers that deserve praise. Whenever someone does something that's earned a heartfelt "thanks," send that person an email and copy it to your boss.
These are just a few ways you can "raise the bar" in your workplace to get other people thinking about praise and recognition. When you recognize the efforts of your team, you should steadily earn your own praise as well.

Daily Motivation

Every experience that a person has impacts him or her positively or negatively in a daily basis. All of the positive moments most likely enhance our daily motivation. Daily motivation is what enables us to strive to be better people, to work towards goals, and to lead fulfilling lives.

Setting goals:
Many of us set goals for ourselves. In turn, these goals motivate us to work harder to achieve success. Goals drive an individual's daily motivation. Goals such as getting a Master's degree, having a high-paying job, getting married, purchasing an expensive car, or mortgaging a home drive a person to succeed. When setting a goal, a person must remember that taking small steps to achieve it helps keep up a positive attitude. It is best not to get overwhelmed with attaining a huge goal quickly; but rather one should take small steps to get it done. The desire to accomplish a goal is what keeps people going, even on bad days.

Attitude:
A positive attitude is a source of daily motivation. Believing that one of your goals is too difficult to achieve will eventually prevent you from achieving it. Having a negative attitude will cause you both internal and external stress. A negative attitude will de-motivate you, and put you on the road to failure. To achieve your goals, you must be able to tell yourself that every goal can be attained with hard work. If you tell yourself that you can do it, chances are that you will. Never underestimate the power of the mind. Daily motivation is all about attitude and outlook.

Religion:
While not all of us are religious, many people who are will agree that religion helps improve daily motivation. Religion can be used as a great motivational tool for people from all walks of life. Religion - no matter what kind - encourages mindfulness and internal motivation. The religious persons depend on their beliefs to strengthen them mentally.
People often depend on their religion when things are going downhill. Prayer and meditation inspire those who might otherwise turn to drinking, food, or drugs to nurture their spirits. Religion may help some people to be more mentally and physically healthy. Therefore, religion is a positive source of daily motivation.

The desire to live:
Daily motivation also comes in the simple desire to live. Whether children, a job, or money inspires someone to get out of bed in the morning, that person is motivated by something in life.
Even things as simple as nature can motivate someone to maintain a positive attitude about life even when times get hard. One can take pleasure in nature's beauty by taking time to smell the roses or listen to the birds sing. Studies show that people who live in warmer climates have a more positive attitude about life in general. These same people also have the tendency to go outside and exercise more often. This exercise brings about a sense of inner peace and positive feelings, thus becoming a daily motivation for many people.

Co-workers: The Instigator

"Last week we had our annual company picnic..
Everybody always really enjoys them and appreciates them. The company picks up the tab for everything, and even brings in entertainment. This year, though, Allan (not his real name) began circulating a petition saying that, because it is a company event, we should be paid for the time we spend at it. He got everyone so riled up that we just got a memo telling us that there would be no more company picnics. The thing is, everyone was fine until he decided this should be an issue. He's done this on several other things too. We're all getting annoyed, and management is painting us all with the same brush..."

Instigators.
People who just don't seem to be happy unless there's some sort of drama in the workplace. They're more than just complainers - instigators are action-takers. They have a compulsion to try and get everyone else involved in their crusades. And while their drive and perseverance are admirable, their obsessions can often be counterproductive to the rest of the team. If you have an instigator who is forcing his (her) own agendas in the workplace, here are two important things to do:

1. Let your boss know your position. If you don't agree with the instigator's issue, or the way he is going about it, make sure you and your coworkers tell your bosses. Squeaky wheels do get the attention, and if you don't speak up, your boss is likely to assume that everyone else feels the same way. This also ensures that you don't get painted with the same brush, should the issue have negative consequences.

2. If you don't agree with the instigator's position, tell him. He will be less aggressive in his approach if he knows he doesn't have complete support. Most people don't confront instigators, they just complain about them behind their back. You don't have to be nasty about it - just make your feelings clear.

In many ways, as a coworker, you actually have more control over this person's actions than if you were his boss. You can say some things a boss can't (or shouldn't) say. You also often have a better feel for how this person's actions are effecting others in the team. Don't be afraid to take action to ensure that you maintain a positive work environment.

Basic Tips to Keep in Mind when You're in the HOT SEAT

Months of hard work and waiting have finally paid off - you've got an interview for your dream job lined up first thing tomorrow morning. You've pressed your best business suit, researched the company, looked over your resume, and mentally prepared answers to several standard interview questions. What's next?

Despite all the energy that job seekers typically pour into pre-interview preparation, most of what you've learned will likely fly out the window as soon as you walk into the meeting room and shake hands with the hiring manager. While the time you spend on pre-interview preparation is always beneficial in the end, it's easy to get carried away with overly complex strategies and systems that are too vague to really come in handy when push comes to shove.

Back to Basics: An Interview Checklist

Rather than trying to understand and assimilate book-length treatises on interview theory, it's better to boil down all of the elements of success into the form of a basic checklist of interview objectives. If you're the type who tends to get nervous and flustered in stressful situations, it's particularly important to keep your interview strategy simple and easy to remember.

Just as Mission Control runs astronauts through a basic "all systems go" evaluation in the moments before takeoff, you can avoid job search disasters by getting into the habit of mentally running through a few simple goals and strategies as you begin the interview process. Here are a few basic guidelines to help you get started:

a) Arrive early. Get reliable directions the night before, and do everything in your power to show up ten minutes before your scheduled appointment. Nothing says "unprofessional" like being late to your first interview!

b) Make a good first impression. The right attitude is equal parts warmth, politeness, humble gratitude, sincerity, and enthusiasm. Lavish your full attention on everyone you encounter at the interview site, from the parking attendant to the receptionist. Greet your interviewer with a big smile and a firm handshake.

c) Sell yourself. Sure, the hiring manager has had a chance to look over your application materials, but you can't rely on your resume to help you land the job. They need to know exactly how you can help this organization succeed. Make the most compelling, persuasive case for yourself that you can muster.

d) Keep tabs on your body language. It's important to relax, but don't let yourself get too comfortable. Maintain good posture and eye contact, keep your gestures limited and controlled, and try to eliminate nervous tics.

e) Speak professionally. Try to sound like you're a natural for the job. Avoid immature-sounding speaking patterns, such as peppering your speech with too many "likes" and tilting the end of your sentences up so they sound like questions instead of statements.

f) Project poise and confidence. Walk into the room like you deserve to be there, and imagine that you've already landed the job that you're after. Try not to appear desperate to land the position, even if you really are!

g) Show what you know. You've done your research, so don't forget to show it off. Work a few key facts about the company into your answers in a natural, unpretentious way. Also, if you have experience in the field, don't be afraid to use a few technical terms if the discussion turns to shop talk.

h) Avoid negativity. Projecting an air of professionalism means staying poised and positive at all times. If you have to describe a negative situation, frame it in the most diplomatic way possible. Try not to denigrate your current or past employers or coworkers.

i) Ask smart questions. Come prepared with a few good questions about the position and your responsibilities. Also, you can highlight your ability to analyze and think quickly on your feet by posing questions about key issues that emerge during the interview.

j) End on a high note. Go out the same way you came in - with a big smile and a firm handshake. Add a sincere thanks for your hiring manager's time and consideration, and don't forget to ask about the next step in the hiring process before you make your exit.

If you have any particular issues or challenges that tend to trip you up during interviews, feel free to develop your own straightforward checklist item to help keep you on track. Then, memorize the drill and practice running through it each time you interview. Good luck!