Friday, September 25, 2009
Ask Liz: replace boilerplate resume language?
So Liz...you leave us hanging. Your observation of the "10 deadliest" only tell us what NOT to do...can you help those of us struggling with how to replace these?
Hiya Dan, there aren't any stock phrases to replace the boilerplate ones we're going to excise from our resumes. We want to be very specific about what we've done, and if we can talk about accomplishments that are especially relevant to the opportunity we're going after, all the better.
Let's think about the resume Summary. Here's a corporatespeak Summary:
"Results-oriented professional with a bottom-line orientation and twenty years of progressively more responsible experience in Finance and Accounting. Superior organizational and communication skills and experience leading cross-functional teams."
Yuck. Let's back up. Who(m) is this resume written for? It doesn't look as though it was written for anyone in particular. It's pure sludge. What sort of job are we going after? There are millions of different types of Finance and Accounting jobs. Our resume plan must start with our job-search direction - otherwise our resume isn't targeted to the audience we're pursuing!
Let's say we're going after Controller jobs in medium-sized manufacturing companies. We have lots of Cost Accounting and manufacturing stuff in our background, so we understand inventory turns, costed products, etc. Why do we like manufacturing so much? Here's why: Dad had a manufacturing company, and we worked there during summers through high school and college. Let's try that Summary again:
=====================================================
Since I helped out in the Accounting department of my dad's manufacturing business during high school, I've been drawn to manufacturing Accounting roles and the points of leverage that smart and nimble analysis can uncover. With six years of manufacturing Accounting for Caterpillar and a bent for spotting and exploiting cost-saving and revenue-boosting opportunities, I'm eager to help Eagle Manufacturing accelerate its growth in the Controller spot.
==================================
Notice that our job-seeker (we'll call him Jack) names the company and the job right in his Summary. Why not? He can tweak his resume every time he applies for a job. He's using a human voice in this Summary (the E-book "Put a Human Voice in Your Resume" is for sale on my site, www.asklizryan.com, if you're interested in that) and talking very specifically about what he's good at, without getting all abstract and lofty a la "I'm a strategic thinker and problem-solver yada yada yada." He's just saying, "Here's me, and this is what gets me up in the morning." Thanks Dan! Liz
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Five Waste-of-Time Job Search Activities
Here's the story on Yahoo!:
Deceptive Targets in the Job Hunt
5 Methods That Waste Your Time
by Caroline M.L. Potter, Yahoo! HotJobs
Time is money -- whether you've got a job or not. While it may be tempting to chase down every possibility when you're searching for work, don't. Many can lead you down a blind alley -- where you may lose the contents of your wallet.
A focused search using tried and true methods, especially networking, will lead to your next job, not tactics that smack of desperation.
Avoid these five job-hunting "don'ts" that will yield the poorest of results, according to leading workplace advisor Liz Ryan.
1. Spray and pray.
Don't blindly send your resume unsolicited, electronically or otherwise, to any company without first making verbal contact. Says Ryan, founder of AskLizRyan.com, "Tossing out un-customized cover letters and undifferentiated resumes in huge volumes and crossing your fingers is a job-search non-starter. That doesn't work, and it hasn't worked in 10 years, or more." Establish a connection before sending a customized cover letter and, adds Ryan, "You can even customize your resume if a job opening calls for it."
2. Stand in line for a job fair.
Admits Ryan, "Sad to say, but most job fairs are a waste of time. Avoid the huge cattle call-type job fairs where zillions of employers have booths, yet no one is taking resumes." There are some job fairs that have value. Ryan, a former human resources executive, points to company-specific open hours and college placement job fairs. Tap your network to learn if anyone can recommend worthwhile fairs. "Ask around before you head off to a job fair or risk having your time wasted and your ego dashed."
3. Earn certifications nobody wants.
It's common to feel less-than-confident in your skills if you're having a hard time finding work, but don't rush out to spend money on any additional training unless you're certain it will yield improved results. Ryan reveals, "Before you sign up for a certification training program, check the job boards to make sure that employers are asking for it. There's no sense investing time and money in a certification no one wants."
If you're getting the hard-sell from an educational institution, Ryan says, "Ask the people at the school that's doing the certifying, 'Which local employers have hired your graduates in the past year?' If they can't tell you, run away."
4. Pay a headhunter.
Don't dole out money to any kind of recruiter or sign a contract agreeing to do so. "Real headhunters, also known as search consultants or third-party recruiters, won't take your money. They get paid by employers to fill open jobs." She warns, "If a recruiter calls or emails you to say s/he's got jobs open, and then invites you to his or her office for a counseling session and presents you with a range of career-coaching services, bolt for the exit. Real search professionals won't take a dime from their candidates."
5. Sign up with a resume fax-blast service.
This old-school -- and desperate -- tactic is a total turn-off to potential employers and smacks of spam. Ryan says, "Services that send out hundreds or thousands of your resumes might have been worthwhile 20 years ago. Today, they're worse than pointless, because it irks employers to get unsolicited resumes. Forget the fax-blast services and do your own careful research to reach decision-makers with messages they actually want to hear."
Deceptive Targets in the Job Hunt
5 Methods That Waste Your Time
by Caroline M.L. Potter, Yahoo! HotJobs
Time is money -- whether you've got a job or not. While it may be tempting to chase down every possibility when you're searching for work, don't. Many can lead you down a blind alley -- where you may lose the contents of your wallet.
A focused search using tried and true methods, especially networking, will lead to your next job, not tactics that smack of desperation.
Avoid these five job-hunting "don'ts" that will yield the poorest of results, according to leading workplace advisor Liz Ryan.
1. Spray and pray.
Don't blindly send your resume unsolicited, electronically or otherwise, to any company without first making verbal contact. Says Ryan, founder of AskLizRyan.com, "Tossing out un-customized cover letters and undifferentiated resumes in huge volumes and crossing your fingers is a job-search non-starter. That doesn't work, and it hasn't worked in 10 years, or more." Establish a connection before sending a customized cover letter and, adds Ryan, "You can even customize your resume if a job opening calls for it."
2. Stand in line for a job fair.
Admits Ryan, "Sad to say, but most job fairs are a waste of time. Avoid the huge cattle call-type job fairs where zillions of employers have booths, yet no one is taking resumes." There are some job fairs that have value. Ryan, a former human resources executive, points to company-specific open hours and college placement job fairs. Tap your network to learn if anyone can recommend worthwhile fairs. "Ask around before you head off to a job fair or risk having your time wasted and your ego dashed."
3. Earn certifications nobody wants.
It's common to feel less-than-confident in your skills if you're having a hard time finding work, but don't rush out to spend money on any additional training unless you're certain it will yield improved results. Ryan reveals, "Before you sign up for a certification training program, check the job boards to make sure that employers are asking for it. There's no sense investing time and money in a certification no one wants."
If you're getting the hard-sell from an educational institution, Ryan says, "Ask the people at the school that's doing the certifying, 'Which local employers have hired your graduates in the past year?' If they can't tell you, run away."
4. Pay a headhunter.
Don't dole out money to any kind of recruiter or sign a contract agreeing to do so. "Real headhunters, also known as search consultants or third-party recruiters, won't take your money. They get paid by employers to fill open jobs." She warns, "If a recruiter calls or emails you to say s/he's got jobs open, and then invites you to his or her office for a counseling session and presents you with a range of career-coaching services, bolt for the exit. Real search professionals won't take a dime from their candidates."
5. Sign up with a resume fax-blast service.
This old-school -- and desperate -- tactic is a total turn-off to potential employers and smacks of spam. Ryan says, "Services that send out hundreds or thousands of your resumes might have been worthwhile 20 years ago. Today, they're worse than pointless, because it irks employers to get unsolicited resumes. Forget the fax-blast services and do your own careful research to reach decision-makers with messages they actually want to hear."
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Sam Sent Me These Similes to Make Me Smile
Words to Prompt A Smile or A Chuckle!
from Sam Lloyd:
Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners.
1.Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was
room-temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated
because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag
filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
14. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
15. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
16. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
17. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
18. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
19. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
20. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not
eating for a while.
21. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
22. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
23. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
24. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
Web address:
from Sam Lloyd:
Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners.
1.Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was
room-temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated
because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag
filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
14. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
15. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
16. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
17. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
18. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
19. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
20. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not
eating for a while.
21. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
22. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
23. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
24. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
Web address:
Sunday, February 1, 2009
How to Ask for a Networking Introduction
The Savvy Networker
How to Ask for a Networking Introduction
by: Liz Ryan
Introductions are the fuel that make networking go -- and most of us
know people who know people we'd like to know. It's one thing to have
a friend whose sister plays bridge with the CEO of a well-known
company. It's another thing to ask, "Say, can your sister introduce
me to that guy?" There's an essential introduction protocol involved.
Here are some tips for wending your way through the Introduction
Jungle.
You Mean So Much to Me
The first rule of networking introductions is that it's a grave
insult to convey to a person, "You mean nothing to me, but your
Rolodex rocks." That means that you can't ask a person for an
introduction the first time you meet him. Networkers do this when
they go to a networking event and spot an employee with an IBM
nametag, for instance. They'll ask, "Can you introduce me to a hiring
manager at IBM?" Rude!
Instead, you can cultivate a relationship with a new acquaintance, if
you're willing to spend the time. Once you've helped a person out
once or twice -- with an introduction of your own, or help with a
business problem, for instance -- you can request an introduction in
return.
Be Specific
No one likes to be asked, "Do you know anyone I should meet?" That's
a tough question to answer. When you're looking for introductions, it
helps to be specific. You can ask your friends whether they know
people at specific companies you're targeting. You can ask them
whether they know headhunters who work in your functional area. These
are concrete requests that your friends can react to quickly.
Be Grateful
It is easy to forget that a networking introduction isn't just a
quick email message that says, "Frank, you should meet Sally." It's
an endorsement. When you ask someone to make an introduction, you're
asking him or her to endorse you. Don't take that endorsement for
granted.
To read the full story, please jump to Yahoo! at this link:
Please jump here.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Planning Ahead for a Downshifted Future
Dear friends,Here's a new story on LifeMeetsWork.com, about planning for a downshifted future:
Planning Ahead for a Downshifted Future
By Liz Ryan
"Downshifting" came into the workplace vocabulary a decade ago. Back then, the term was applied to go-go executives who wanted a slower pace and more work/life balance, and sought less-demanding jobs to provide those things.
Downshifting is still a term used by stressed-out mid-career executives looking for work outside the pressure cooker. But new downshifters have joined the party—parents looking to spend more time at home, veteran workers seeking jobs with fewer hours, and even young employees looking for ways to get off the treadmill and enjoy themselves before taking on the high-ticket commitments of house and family.
Can you downshift successfully, without going broke? You can do it—hundreds of thousands of people have. Downshifting is a career shift just like a switch in industries or functions; it takes planning and focus. Here are some tips for creating a downshift plan for yourself and working it to create your downshifted future.
Know your priorities, and your needs.
I've known at least a dozen parents who have announced "I'm going to find a part-time job at half my pay level, and spend afternoons with the kids" and have spent time and energy going after those things, only to learn through painful experience that part-time jobs don't tend to pay enough to cover the costs of diapers and piano lessons.
The first step in building your downshift plan is to know what you're after, and what you can afford to give up to get there. The four-hour work week is a great idea, but it's not a near-term reality for most of us.
Make a budget, and be clear about why you're looking to get out of the rat race. A generalized notion like "My job is too stressful" may not fill the bill when you can't take vacation on your downshifted salary.
Study the landscape.
Many downshifters look to part-time jobs (W-2 positions or part-time consulting roles) or to not-for-profit opportunities when they plan their downshifted futures, because of the associated reduction in hours (part-time jobs) and/or stress (not-for-profit jobs).
Here's where it pays to do your research. One mom at my kids' school earns $49,000/year without missing a classroom trip or an afternoon pick-up, and is delighted with her downshifted life. Another mom at the same school left a PR executive role to head up a local not-for-profit, and now works more hours than she did before (for half the pay).
Investigate opportunities closely; if an employer squirms when you mention "work/life balance" the shop may not be a downshifter's paradise.
To read the full story, please jump here.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Why Yes, I Do Blame You for Trying
My friend Ellis is a marketing consultant. "Get this," he tells me. "This woman's been asking me for marketing advice for three years. We've talked and talked; she's never hired me. Now she says 'I need your help! Naturally, with the economy how it is I can't pay your full rate.'""What did you say?" I asked.
"I told her I'd be happy to help, but it'll take awhile for my schedule to free up, since I'm busy with clients who see the value of marketing in a down economy. I told her I've raised my rates a bit for '09, and I sent her the new pricing information."
"Oh mama!" I said. "I'm used to it," said Ellis.
I heard from another friend who writes Web site copy in Chicago. "I got a call out of the blue from a not-for-profit I've never heard of," she said. "We spent 40 minutes on the phone talking Web site copy. I should've asked about budget earlier than I did, because when I broached that issue, the lady said 'We have no budget! We're a not-for-profit agency.' I don't know these people from Adam, but I'm supposed to write their Web site copy for free."
"Has that happened to you before?" I asked.
"Ten thousand times, at least," she said. "After we got off the phone I browsed their Web site -- which really does need new copy. They're building a new headquarters -- looks swanky in the architect's drawings. Guess my puny fee would have cut into the drapery budget, or something."
Eventually it was my turn. I got a call from a fellow in California who enjoyed one of my columns. He thought I'd make a great speaker for a gathering of the Old Ivy Alumni Club.
"We can't pay a fee or travel expenses, but we get A-list speakers nonetheless," he said.
"That is magnificent," I told him. "As much as I'd love to join you and the Old Ivy grads, it would be unethical of me to do that, as so many clubs and associations have paid me to speak."
"Ha!" said the gentleman. "I figured you'd say that. Well, someone will bite eventually. Can't blame me for trying!"
Ellis checked in again. "How's that lady you were telling me about?" I asked. "She's great," he said. "She invited me to a brainstorming meeting where six of her 'friends' -- me and God knows which other consultants she's never hired -- are gathering to Toss Around Ideas.
"I said I'd be happy to come and I mentioned my hourly rate. It sounded like she plotzed on the floor then and there."
"Ellis," I wondered, "with the economy being tough and all, is the lady lowering her company's prices?"
"Are you joking?" he chortled. "Bodywork services. She's telling her customers, 'If you don't need a massage now, when will you need one?' She tells them, 'It's an INVESTMENT!'"
We had a good laugh about that. My Chicago friend heard from three other writers who'd been pitched by the same writing-is-cheap, construction-fees-are-no-object agency. I wonder how the building contractor would have responded to the we-so-needy pitch. Not sure that line would carry water with a Chicago builder. Still, why not give it a go? You can't blame a person for trying.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Interview with Kyra Cavanaugh, founder of LifeMeetWork.com
Dear friends,
Before Christmas, I was happy to be able to chat with Kyra Cavanaugh, founder and president of LifeMeetsWork and the publisher of www.LifeMeetsWork.com. In this time of economic upheaval, is work/life management feasible or even on a smart business leader's agenda? Here, Kyra explains why work/life issues still matter.
INTERVIEW WITH KYRA CAVANAUGH, FOUNDER OF LIFEMEETSWORK.COM
LIZ: Kyra, thanks for joining us today. We're curious what you've been hearing about work/life issues lately -- lots of people are concerned about keeping a job or getting one, so we're interested to know what people are saying about flexibility at work.
KYRA: We recently conducted a survey of close to 700 working Americans and companies to understand their attitudes about work/life issues.
What we found was that 77% of employers said they offered flexibility programs, most often in the form of accommodation (individual flex plans) or flexible start and end times. But, when we asked employees whether they felt that employers supported their work/life needs, only 20% of them said "yes".
This presents a problem, right? If employers think they're addressing the flexibility needs of their employees with their current programs, but employees don't give them credit for it, then what? Then, employers aren't doing enough, or they aren't doing enough of the "right" things, to get recognized for their efforts.
LIZ: Why is this important?
KYRA: Studies have shown that flexibility is key to employee retention, loyalty, engagement and productivity. So, if employees don't feel employers are providing enough flexibility, then there's a business risk that your employees will leave.
LIZ: Leave? They can't leave, look at the economy.
KYRA: Well, yes and no. Right now, in this economy, in this job market, employees can't change jobs. They're going to hunker down and ride out the storm. But, when you look back at recent history, you'll see what I mean. At the end of the last three recessions, there's been a mass exodus of employees to new companies.
LIZ: Why is that?
KYRA: There are a number of reasons and flexibility is part of it:
1) Layoffs erode employee morale and employee loyalty. There is a pervasive sense on the part of the employee that the company doesn't care about them. Even though they can't take action at the time, they file that away and when they can make a move at the end of a recession, they do.
2) There's little room for advancement during a down economy. That hunker down mentality applies to companies too. Opportunities for promotions, new projects, and other career advancement opportunities slow down. Raises and company bonuses are cut back and workers' earning potential is squelched. So, when the job market rebounds, so do career advancement opportunities with other companies.
3) Forward-looking companies recognize that flexibility is a competitive advantage. It goes beyond just the benefits that are being offered to something deeper. The only way you can run a successful flexible workplace is to TRUST your employees. When employees know that they're trusted, productivity improves and word hits the street about their culture: think Google, Southwest Airlines, and Microsoft in their day (remember how astonished we were that employees could work in the middle of the night and bring their dogs to work?)
So, when the economy turns around, where do your best employees want to go? To cool companies where the pressure to perform is intense, but where employees are given the freedom to succeed without having the "how and where" managed by the company.
LIZ: But, there are always people in an organization who complain and want more than what we’re able to do for them, isn’t that the case here?
KYRA: It would be easy to pass off as whiners employees who desire increased recognition and acknowledgement of their flexibility needs. Or, to think that they have unrealistic expectations. But, the problem is that the labor market is tightening. In a recent SHRM Workplace Forecast survey, six of the top ten trends for 2008-2009 involve threats to the current workforce: baby boomers retiring, shortage of skilled workers. Companies acknowledge that they need to find ways to retain their employees (that was trend number 5 in the SHRM study).
LIZ: So, what's a company to do, if they feel like they're trying but it isn't enough?
KYRA: We offered a number of ideas in our webinar which you can get by watching the rebroadcast on our website. But here are a couple of ideas:
1) Consider new technology solutions without spending an arm and a leg:
Replace desktops with laptops when the leases are up.
Consider cloud computing (migrating file sharing, project management systems, calendars to the internet)
2) Rethink the FTE default. What I mean is: we tend to automatically define every job as full-time, onsite.
Before you post to fill a job, think about whether it could be cut in half and performed by two part-timers by dividing up the accounts, or responsibilities in some other way.
Consider whether the job requires the employee to be onsite at all times.
3) Rework position descriptions to be performance and measurement based. Describe the results that you expect from that position (and how they'll be measured) rather than documenting what the position does.
Once you’ve made these sorts of changes, then you've laid the groundwork for going flex. Looking at the examples I just mentioned, let's follow it through:
--Employees can work from home because they have the technology in place to do it.
--Employees will be able to maintain their same job-level when they want to work part-time.
--Managers won't have to see their employees everyday because the performance expectations have been laid out and the employee will have agreed that's how they'll be evaluated.
I think it goes back to that old question, “How do you eat an elephant?” “One bite at a time.” It’s too intimidating to say "today we’re going to start converting to a flexible workplace". No one has that kind of time, energy or luxury.
But, by examining how your company functions, and then taking small steps, in the course of your daily business to move your company toward becoming more flexible over time is much more realistic.
Given the economic and demographic realities companies are facing, I’m not sure you have a choice.
Before Christmas, I was happy to be able to chat with Kyra Cavanaugh, founder and president of LifeMeetsWork and the publisher of www.LifeMeetsWork.com. In this time of economic upheaval, is work/life management feasible or even on a smart business leader's agenda? Here, Kyra explains why work/life issues still matter.
INTERVIEW WITH KYRA CAVANAUGH, FOUNDER OF LIFEMEETSWORK.COM
LIZ: Kyra, thanks for joining us today. We're curious what you've been hearing about work/life issues lately -- lots of people are concerned about keeping a job or getting one, so we're interested to know what people are saying about flexibility at work.
KYRA: We recently conducted a survey of close to 700 working Americans and companies to understand their attitudes about work/life issues.
What we found was that 77% of employers said they offered flexibility programs, most often in the form of accommodation (individual flex plans) or flexible start and end times. But, when we asked employees whether they felt that employers supported their work/life needs, only 20% of them said "yes".
This presents a problem, right? If employers think they're addressing the flexibility needs of their employees with their current programs, but employees don't give them credit for it, then what? Then, employers aren't doing enough, or they aren't doing enough of the "right" things, to get recognized for their efforts.
LIZ: Why is this important?
KYRA: Studies have shown that flexibility is key to employee retention, loyalty, engagement and productivity. So, if employees don't feel employers are providing enough flexibility, then there's a business risk that your employees will leave.
LIZ: Leave? They can't leave, look at the economy.
KYRA: Well, yes and no. Right now, in this economy, in this job market, employees can't change jobs. They're going to hunker down and ride out the storm. But, when you look back at recent history, you'll see what I mean. At the end of the last three recessions, there's been a mass exodus of employees to new companies.
LIZ: Why is that?
KYRA: There are a number of reasons and flexibility is part of it:
1) Layoffs erode employee morale and employee loyalty. There is a pervasive sense on the part of the employee that the company doesn't care about them. Even though they can't take action at the time, they file that away and when they can make a move at the end of a recession, they do.
2) There's little room for advancement during a down economy. That hunker down mentality applies to companies too. Opportunities for promotions, new projects, and other career advancement opportunities slow down. Raises and company bonuses are cut back and workers' earning potential is squelched. So, when the job market rebounds, so do career advancement opportunities with other companies.
3) Forward-looking companies recognize that flexibility is a competitive advantage. It goes beyond just the benefits that are being offered to something deeper. The only way you can run a successful flexible workplace is to TRUST your employees. When employees know that they're trusted, productivity improves and word hits the street about their culture: think Google, Southwest Airlines, and Microsoft in their day (remember how astonished we were that employees could work in the middle of the night and bring their dogs to work?)
So, when the economy turns around, where do your best employees want to go? To cool companies where the pressure to perform is intense, but where employees are given the freedom to succeed without having the "how and where" managed by the company.
LIZ: But, there are always people in an organization who complain and want more than what we’re able to do for them, isn’t that the case here?
KYRA: It would be easy to pass off as whiners employees who desire increased recognition and acknowledgement of their flexibility needs. Or, to think that they have unrealistic expectations. But, the problem is that the labor market is tightening. In a recent SHRM Workplace Forecast survey, six of the top ten trends for 2008-2009 involve threats to the current workforce: baby boomers retiring, shortage of skilled workers. Companies acknowledge that they need to find ways to retain their employees (that was trend number 5 in the SHRM study).
LIZ: So, what's a company to do, if they feel like they're trying but it isn't enough?
KYRA: We offered a number of ideas in our webinar which you can get by watching the rebroadcast on our website. But here are a couple of ideas:
1) Consider new technology solutions without spending an arm and a leg:
Replace desktops with laptops when the leases are up.
Consider cloud computing (migrating file sharing, project management systems, calendars to the internet)
2) Rethink the FTE default. What I mean is: we tend to automatically define every job as full-time, onsite.
Before you post to fill a job, think about whether it could be cut in half and performed by two part-timers by dividing up the accounts, or responsibilities in some other way.
Consider whether the job requires the employee to be onsite at all times.
3) Rework position descriptions to be performance and measurement based. Describe the results that you expect from that position (and how they'll be measured) rather than documenting what the position does.
Once you’ve made these sorts of changes, then you've laid the groundwork for going flex. Looking at the examples I just mentioned, let's follow it through:
--Employees can work from home because they have the technology in place to do it.
--Employees will be able to maintain their same job-level when they want to work part-time.
--Managers won't have to see their employees everyday because the performance expectations have been laid out and the employee will have agreed that's how they'll be evaluated.
I think it goes back to that old question, “How do you eat an elephant?” “One bite at a time.” It’s too intimidating to say "today we’re going to start converting to a flexible workplace". No one has that kind of time, energy or luxury.
But, by examining how your company functions, and then taking small steps, in the course of your daily business to move your company toward becoming more flexible over time is much more realistic.
Given the economic and demographic realities companies are facing, I’m not sure you have a choice.
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