The 5 Myths of Workplace Motivation

The 5 Myths of Workplace Motivation Disengaged employees cost businesses more than $300,000 a year. Its been proven that introducing motivation techniques can improve a workforces productivity by 44%! But theres no point in employing useless tactics to motivate employees what ways actually work? In this article, we tackle the motivation myths. Myth #1: All employees are motivated by money Theres not doubt about it money is definitely a large factor when it comes to work motivation. Theres no shame in this, but the one thing that employees often think is that  money is the  sole reason for doing what they do. A bonus is going to motivate employees in the short term, but if you want an employees long term commitment to your brand, you should not use money as the sole motivator. Myth #2: You can motivate everyone in the same way If youre looking to motivate a large team with one method, think again. One of the top ways to motivate your employees is to get to know each of them as an individual, and then tailor your approach to each of their individual personalities. Everyone wants different things from the role theyre in, so get to know what it is. Your employees will truly appreciate it. Myth #3: Encouraging workplace competition Theres nothing wrong with a bit of friendly competition, this is true. However, many brands and companies use competition as one of their main motivators, which in the long run, fails. it works short term but long term, makes the workplace less enjoyable and employees begin to resent their competitors who should simply be their colleagues. Myth #4: Some employees dont need motivating No matter how successful or how keen an employee is for a role, its important to remember that they too will need to be motivated if theyre going to continue to be as productive as they can. As mentioned earlier in the article, this is a situation where you should really get to know your employees as individuals in order to understand what will motivate them. Dont disregard employees just because they seem motivated already. Myth #5: Having a job should be motivational enough Many companies feel that a job alone is enough motivation for their workforce. But this is definitely not true. To fully motivate employees, youll need to include them in your company vision and provide opportunities and rewards for their hard work. After all, a company is nothing without the people who work in it!

Use Your Words On Your Resume

Use Your Words On Your ResumeIt is important to get out of the job application routine and actually write a few words about yourself to use on your resume. If you do not have something written, then it will seem like you are not trying hard enough to get a job. The use of your own words on a resume can work in your favor, or against you.This is important because you can simply eliminate some points that you want on your resume. Some examples of these points would be that you are an Army brat, or that you are a boy scout. Some people may feel they should not mention such things on their resume. Others may find this information to be advantageous to them when they need a job. Yet, these two positions may not be the ones that actually want them on their resume.If you are one of those people who simply can not stand seeing negative and/or positive things on their resume, then the only way to change this is to write a few words about yourself, and include these points. Another option is t o list them with your achievements, as if you were included in some other achievement that is positive.For example, in your second paragraph, you might write the following: 'I am a military brat. I used to play baseball in high school, and I have since graduated and gone on to enter the Army. There are many great things about being in the military. My accomplishments on the field are many, but I was able to go to college because of the many advantages that come from being in the military.'Use the word 'use' instead of 'write' when writing about your words to use on your resume. This way, you can actually write a sentence or two and then immediately change directions and focus on your accomplishments. Do not allow anyone to stop you from writing what you want to write. It is going to make you look less than professional.In addition, listing your accomplishments as being 'many' rather than 'positive results' is going to help you put a positive spin on your resume. Many people might se e your writing on the resume as negative, but if you have multiple accomplishments, and if you have used words that support the positives in your career, you can use that to your advantage.As well, remember to list your real name, as opposed to your first or middle names. You want to make sure that you do not get any embarrassing information in your resume. Even a single lapse in privacy can get you fired from your current job.After all of this, you can then carefully review your resume and pick the points that are good for you to mention. You should not be afraid to include your accomplishments and achievements. Doing so is a great way to put your best foot forward when looking for a job.

How to Place a Value on Your Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Place a Value on Your Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Many professionals and business owners find it extremely difficult to assign value to themselves and their brands. For some reason, in many peoples’ minds, discussing money “cheapens” relationships. I recently observed a conversation between several Facebook friends who are business owners. The conversation started  when a friend with a growing business, already boasting celebrity clientele, posted that she didn’t enjoy assigning value to her services and wished to only focus on her craft. One of her friends then stated that she also hated charging people, and wanted to focus on building real relationships, not just those based on money. Whether you’re a business professional or a business owner, your brand has value. If you do not assign a value to it, someone else will, and I guarantee that it will be much less than the amount that you bring to the table. How to set your value and stick with it Review your expenses (including the cost of your own timeâ€"time is money), and ensure that your margins are in line with your industry. If what you offer is revenue generating, keep in mind the average ROI that a company/person will receive by working with you. When I started a marketing firm in 2006, I realized I was seriously undercharging when clients were making, as a result of my services, sometimes more than twenty times what they were paying me. Determine what the competition charges, and charge more. Whether you’re entertaining job offers or assigning value to your business’ services, if you are offering at least as much as your competition, you do not want to compete in price. Those who will hire/work with/ buy from you based strictly on low prices are not brand loyal. Have an honest inner or team dialogue about your MNA (minimum not angry) fee. This is extremely important for solopreneurs and professionals in careers. Make sure that you are charging enough so that you do not feel upset or taken advantage of. Believe in your pricing. If you charge $500 for manicures, and know that they are worth it because you use real diamond shavings, then you need to be able to quote your pricing without flinching. If someone asks you in person, by phone, email, or social media, you should feel very comfortable quoting your pricing without apology or long explanation. Be willing to turn away opportunities/business that does not value your brand as you do. Once you set a price, opportunities will come along that test your commitment. While negotiating a lower price with special concessions that add up to your fee is fine, taking less simply because someone doesn’t have the budget is not. Be consistent in all branding. If you are charging a premium, all print, web, and social media branding should be polished and in alignment with your fee. Knowing your value and discussing fees does not cheapen relationships or take away from your craft. In the end, a mutual respect for money will only strengthen your brand. Be sure. Author: Crystal Washington  is a social media marketing strategist, speaker, co-founder of Socialtunitiesâ€"a social media instruction brand that trains Gen Ys-Boomers on the strategic use of social media, and the author ofThe Social Media WHY: A Busy Professional’s Practical Guide to Using Social Media Including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+ and Blogs for Business. She is hired by corporations and associations around the globe to provide keynotes, workshops, and webinars.

5 Things to Watch Out for When Conducting an Interview

5 Things to Watch Out for When Conducting an Interview The interview is the part of the recruitment process where you really get to know the candidate. What motivates them? Can they think on the spot? Are they a good cultural fit? However, to figure out whether they’re right for the job it’s not enough just to listen to their answers. You have to make sure you’re asking the right questions, and you also have to watch how they give their answers. Here’s a quick guide on what to look for: 1. How are they behaving? You want your candidate to appear relaxed and quietly confident. After all, while job interviews can be stressful for prospective employees, employment also has its stresses and you need someone who can cope outside of their comfort zone. What does ‘relaxed and quietly confident’ look like? At the very least, they should be sitting up straight. Ideally, they will even be leaning toward you a little. This shows that they are engaged in the conversation and present in the moment. Slouching or leaning back, by contrast, shows a lack of self-confidence and is usually a sign of defensiveness. It’s fine for them to be fiddling a little with their hands, provided it’s not so noticeable as to be distracting. Second, they should be capable of making eye contact with you both when listening to your questions and when giving their responses. Just as importantly, they should also be capable of breaking eye contact with you. An inability to do either suggests that they will be unable to connect well with other people and are likely to make those around them a little uncomfortable. Third, they should be speaking at a sensible pace and volume. Too slow or loud and people will want to walk away, too fast or quiet and people won’t understand them. Confident communicators are able to find that perfect balance. 2. Have they actually answered the question? Of course, you want candidates to come prepared, but you don’t want pre-prepared answers to questions you didn’t actually ask. If a candidate gives a brilliant response to a slightly different question, this suggests they lack the ability to think on their feet or listen attentively. Quite often, pre-prepared answers sound slightly unnatural and robotic and contrast to how the candidate usually articulates themselves. 3. Do they ever give evidence? If the candidate helps themselves to positive adjectives such as ‘hard-worker’, ‘problem-solver’, ‘team-player’ and so on, are they capable of giving evidence to back up their claims? Press them for details â€" can they give an example of a difficult problem they overcame at work? If they’re clearly struggling, this indicates that the candidate is all talk. 4. Do they possess a quality your team currently lacks? It’s easy, when conducting an interview, to favor candidates who answer the way you would. And certainly, sometimes the way you would answer is clearly the best way to answer. However, on occasion, there can be a number of acceptable responses and it can be a good idea to hire someone who thinks differently to you or the rest of the team. After all, someone who thinks differently is more likely to spot those problems you’ll miss. 5. What questions do they ask you? The candidate should anticipate that you will give them the opportunity to ask any questions they may have, and so failing to prepare any shows a serious lack of foresight. Moreover, what questions they do choose to ask can tell you a lot about what motivates them and how interested they actually are in the role they’ve applied for and the company as a whole. If their first question is about salary, you know money is on their mind. Ideally, they’ll be interested in something like the daily life of the office or whether the company is undergoing any substantial changes in the near future. About the author: Oliver Hurcum is a freelance writer who writes for Inspiring Interns, which specializes in finding candidates internships in London.

Business Goals For Freelance Resume Writing

Business Goals For Freelance Resume WritingBusiness goals for freelance resume writing are an important part of a successful search for a new job. If you know where to look, you can get plenty of interviews. However, you should not expect to be given an interview without using a proper business plan. Resume writing and business goals are two sides of the same coin.A resume is a tool used to help businesses in a particular market segment build a profile of the person. If you create a resume and your career goals for freelance resume writing are lacking, the person running the screening interview will not understand what makes you so desirable. That lack of understanding will lead to a person getting your resume without the screening interview ever knowing it was there.One of the best tools for beginners is to use free government resume sites like Plumtree.com or Freelancer.com. These types of sites will list all the available positions, from entry level all the way up to management. B y including your goals, you will be more likely to be noticed by employers who may be searching a certain field for a specific candidate. While you could write your own resume on your own, this is another opportunity to talk about your experience. You are doing a lot more than just saying that you are a great writer.You can also include a little bit of how you can help improve a company's content marketing strategy in your freelance resume writing. That can be done in one of two ways: as an objective statement or by talking about your current tasks in that field. The objective statement is a way to identify the type of writing that you offer.In addition to that, you should be able to provide a list of any previous jobs you have done for freelance resume writing. Not only can this be used as a reference point but also as a way to show potential employers how you can help grow their business. There are many types of freelance writing. There are articles, blog posts, and corporate web sites that require multiple revisions.That is why it is essential to be able to use major search engines to locate these websites. If you have been writing for someone in the past and they are looking for someone in the future, that is exactly what you can do. If you are looking for a new job, this can be the start of a mutually beneficial relationship.Once you start seeing some work come through your writing, you can continue to make money by advertising yourself. It is very easy to let ads on your website run every once in a while. But this is just a way to get backlinks. Once you start having high volumes of people looking for work with you, that is when you can go into advertising yourself through the sites that help you get better quality links to your site.Using a combination of your existing skills and abilities as well as past work on the Internet will be one of the most effective ways to land a new job. You can take your skills and gain another income stream to supplement y our original income. That is something that everyone should take advantage of.

INFOGRAPHIC 3 Ways to Quantify Your Accomplishments - Sterling Career Concepts

INFOGRAPHIC 3 Ways to Quantify Your Accomplishments INFOGRAPHIC: 3 Ways to Quantify Your Accomplishments We talked last week about phone interviews. During any interview â€" phone, Skype, or face-to-face â€" the key is to get the breadth of your accomplishments across to the interviewer. This should start on your resume and then continue through to your interview answers. This infographic shares the three most common strategies.

Todays danish language lesson Arbejdsgl - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Todays danish language lesson Arbejdsgl - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Ive been going on about how theres a danish word for happiness at work, the word arbejdsgl?de. John of uneasy rhetoric had the great idea to put up a pronunciation guide and here it is, todays lesson in danish: The word arbejdsgl?de and how to pronounce it. (2 Mb mp3 file, 2 minutes). In english it would be something like: Ah bites gleh the. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related