Month: December 2016

When Leaving a Company: How to Say Goodbye Gracefully

Leave them with a smile.

A former employer is a future reference.  ~ www.jaywren.com

When Leaving a Company, knowing how to say goodbye gracefully is important. What are the do’s and don’ts of an exit interview?

When Leaving a Company, there are things to do and things not to do.

Using these techniques will reduce the stress for you and avoid burning bridges with the company you are leaving.  First, here are some things to do when you leaving a company.

Do prepare for the things to do in an exit interview.

Despite what some headhunters will tell when they are preparing you to leave your current company, there are benefits to attending and even excelling in the way you handle your exit interview.

Before resigning, weigh the pros and cons of leaving your current company.

Once you are committed to leaving, give the company two weeks’ notice.  Two weeks’ notice is common courtesy.  You owe your company no more.

Also, before you resign, remove your personal property from your workplace and download or delete your personal files from the company computers.  You do not want to run into your company holding your property until someone gets around to doing an inventory of what belongs to you and what belong to your employer.

Do prepare to return company property.

When you go into an exit interview, bring the company property to the interview: e.g., keys to a company car, company laptop, mobile phone, etc.  Since you have already recovered all your property, put the burden on your employer to give you an inventory of any other property they believe that you need to return.  You may not have to offer to turn over the property during the exit interview.  However, having it on hand will make things simpler if your company decides to walk you out the door.

Do prepare for questions that you have about compensation and benefits you receive when leaving.

Prepare for to discuss compensation due you upon leaving the company: unpaid vacation time, unpaid bonuses, and unpaid salary.  Your company should explain to you what money you have coming and when they will pay you.

Know the questions you need answering in transitioning or continuing your health benefits after you leave the company.

As you will discover from the DOL website, your employer owes you information on the way that your benefits extend beyond your employment.

Using these techniques will reduce the stress for you and avoid burning bridges with the company you are leaving.  First, here are some things to do when you leaving a company.

Do be positive but firm in your resignation.

Politely explain that it is time for you to move on.  Thank your employers for the support they have given you.  Ask for your employer’s’ direction about how you can transition your material and responsibilities smoothly and promptly.

When Leaving a Company, avoid some things.

There are things not to do in an exit interview to make sure that you leave on good terms.  Somewhere down the road, you may find that the company you are leaving will help you with a strong reference in seeking another job.  Avoiding these things will make you exit go more smoothly.

Don’t discuss counter offers.

One of the purposes of an exit interview is to prevent losing employees who are critical to the company at the time.  I emphasize “at the time,” because people known for disloyalty have a mark against them in future evaluations and layoffs.  Counter offers can drag out the length of the exit interview, perhaps into days.  Counter offers just increase the stress in your exit interview.  As I have written elsewhere, they are offers that are too good to accept.

Don’t make the exit interview a gripe session.

If you are unhappy with the people or practices of the company you are leaving, an exit interview is not the time to express them.  The time to express your concerns is before you start looking for another job and you can still make a difference at your current employer.

Don’t discuss your new job.

Don’t say where you are going to work or how much money your new employer is paying.  Avoid giving any details about the function of the new job or your capacity in the new job.  The information about your new job is confidential information between you and your new employer.

Don’t be rude or disrespectful.

Whether you are going through an exit interview with your supervisor or an HR person does not matter.  Remember that the person who is conducting the interview is simply doing a job.  They are not your whipping child.  They are human beings you may or may not like.  However, being rude or disrespectful will not help you garner respect from people who may read or hear about the interviewer’s experience with you.

As I said in the first paragraph, somewhere down the road, you may need the people involved in your exit interview to help you find your next job.

Negotiating Job Offers: An Outline for Getting What You are Worth

Negotiating Job Offers: An Outline for Getting What You are Worth.

Negotiating Job Offers: An Outline for Getting What You are Worth. The increase you get when you start a job compounds into thousands of dollars over time.

Negotiating Job Offers: Begin with the Facts

Employers are more open to negotiating a job offer when they can see that there is a real shortfall between what they have offered you and what you have in your current job.

The way to approach the matter is to make a straightforward presentation of the facts involved.

Employers do not want to go back and forth over negotiations. Before going to the hiring company with counter offers, you need to make sure that you understand the offer and that you understand how it compares with what you want.  List the offer items in a column.  Then create a second column to list the details of your current or desired offer.  Create a third column to list the details of the job offer.  Create a fourth column of the things you would like to change.

Items Current Job New Job Desired Change
Vacation
Job title
Start date
Salary
Bonus
Unpaid bonuses at your current employer
Reimbursement for business expenses
Benefits: deductibles, costs, coverage, start of coverage
Cost of commute
Retirement plan
Profit sharing
Stock options or grants
Other Items

Now that you have everything on paper so that you can understand how the offer compares with what you want, simply create a list of things that you want changed and present your list to the hiring company.

Ask yourself whether you will accept the offer if the hiring company changes the offer to fit your needs.   If the answer is that you will accept the offer, present your list to the hiring company and state that you will enthusiastically accept their offer if they can adjust the offer.

Delegating Authority in Large Organizations

Delegating Authority in Large Organizations

Cruise ships are complex organizations.  Examining the operations of a cruise ship presents an operating to see the necessity of delegating authority.

Delegating Authority in Cruise Ship Operations.  What can we learn from the operation of a cruise ship?  How does it compare to other complex organizations? Just because you are the captain doesn’t mean you can make every decision.

Delegating authority is not abdicating.

On the contrary, it is the personal power of becoming bigger by letting go.

Cruise ships have come a long way in comfort and complexity since the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower.

In a large organization, each person has a role in the success of that organization.  A cruise ship is a complex organization that relies on a wide range the skills.  In fact, the range of skills on a cruise liner is wider than the range of skills in most organizations.

Additionally, hiring and training people who can make good decisions is important for any organization.

As an organization becomes more complex, executives must learn how to delegate authority to people at every level of responsibility.

Furthermore, executives learn how to empower people with the knowledge and confidence to use authority and accept responsibility for their decisions.

There are nearly 60 cruise lines currently operating around the world.  There are literally cruises to the Arctic Circle, Antarctica, and everywhere in between.  You can cruise major rivers and waterways, including the St. Lawrence River, the Mississippi River and 8 of the major rivers in Europe.

Cruise Ships: Floating City Centers

Cruise liners are like city centers or floating malls.  The services on board a cruise ship include clothing stores, tuxedo and formal rental stores, barber shops, beauty parlors, dry cleaners, laundries, souvenir shops, liquor stores, jewelry stores, convenience stores, luggage shops, restaurants, snack bars, ice cream parlors, nightclubs, casinos, movie theaters, television stations, Internet services, doctors, dentists, print shops, athletic and fitness centers, a post office, spas, beauty treatments, photo services, and multiple swimming pools.

Delegating authority over each of these operations enables the site managers to do their job.

Businesses on a Cruise Ship

Cruise ships make money from their room and board fees.  They make extra money from ship-board sales.  Cruise ships rarely stay in port overnight.  Every port is a competitor to all the businesses that run within a cruise ship.

Mind-Blowing Size and Operation

Cruise ships are 800 to 1200 feet long and 100 to 155 feet wide.  The largest ships have 14 to 18 decks and each deck is the size of 2 to 3 football fields

Cruise ships board and feed 4000 to over 8000 passengers and crew.

The captain of a ship must rely on the cruise lines company to provide highly trained people who have the ability to make good judgments and quick decisions.

These people must have the skills and the authority to make decisions as they interact with the thousands of passengers.

Behind the Scenes

Before a ship goes to sea, a navigation department lays out a course and speed for the ship to go from port to port.  Navigators control the ship as it crosses the waterways and passes other ships.

Engineers operate the systems to produce electricity, distill fresh water, and maintain the ballast to keep the ship stable.

The purser oversees supplies such as food and drink, clothing, bedding, and passenger comfort. He or she is the face or liaison of the ship to the passengers on board.

In Conclusion

In a large organization, each person has some role in the success of the organization.

A cruise ship is more than thousands of people floating across the ocean. It is a large and complex business.

The training and performance of the people who work on the ship determine the ship’s success.

An important part of that training is teaching the crew how to use authority and to accept responsibility.  People who fail to make good decisions affect the success of the ship’s business.

Likewise, the failure of the captain to empower people with the knowledge and authority to make decisions undermines the success of the ship.

On the other hand, captains who empower a well-trained crew to make decisions can do a better job of running the total operation.

For the captain of a cruise ship, delegating authority is not abdicating.  On the contrary, it is the personal power of becoming bigger by letting go.

Auftragstaktik: Empowering Site-Based Leaders

Auftragstaktik: Empowering Site-Based Leaders. What is Auftragstaktik? What are its limitations and risks? How does it free leaders for greater success?

The German word Auftragstaktik is coined from the phrase: Auftrag (assignment) taktik (tactics).

The idea is that everyone in an organization needs to know how much authority they have and how to use that authority.

Simple Example

NOTICE: In the event of a fire, the person closest to the fire extinguisher has the authority to use it.

Auftragstaktik and Practical Disobedience

Frequently studied as a form of military command, the concept has its roots in Prussian and German military training.

Frederick II, also known as “Frederick the Great,” was the King of Prussia between 1740 and 1786.  Under his rule, Prussia expanded its territories and became recognized as a military power in Europe.

He was King of Prussia during the Seven Years’ War.  This war pitted England, Prussia, and their allies against the allies of the French and Russian alliance.

The people of Prussia admired their “War King.”  His people and his soldiers affectionately referred to Frederick the Great as “Old Fritz.”

The Micromanager

In battle, “Old Fritz” was a micromanager.

His most precocious and creative general was Friedrich von Seydlitz.  This general was unconventional and independent in his tactics.  His independence on at least one occasion ran counter the “Old Fritz’s” command.

In the Battle of Zorndorf in 1758, the king ordered the general to attack the Russian front.  Instead the general attacked the Russian flank.

“Old Fritz” ordered his general to return to the king’s camp and explain himself.

The general, still engaged in battle, ignored the order.  “Old Fritz” again ordered the general to report to the king’s camp.  A second time, the general ignored the order.  In a third attempt, the king sent an order to the general that he would either report to the king immediately or the king would lop off the general’s head.

The general replied, “After the battle the king can do what he likes with my head, but during the battle will he please allow me to use it?”

Seydlitz tactics worked to win the battle against the Russian army. He went on to become one of Prussia’s greatest generals. King Frederick became one of his friends.  Operating under the thumb of a micromanager, he succeeded through the success he achieved with this mission tactics.

Empowering Others: Leadership and General Patton

Empowering others is not a concept that people often associate with George S. Patton, Jr.  But at what point does success depend on empowering others?

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” General George S. Patton, Jr.

This quote from Patton gives us some idea of what he expected from the people who worked for him.

Iconic, hard-driving, relentless, Patton was strict in managing the people under his command. He fined soldiers for uniform infractions. He said, “It is absurd to believe that soldiers who cannot be made to wear the proper uniform can be induced to move forward in battle. Officers who failed to perform their duty by correcting small violations and in enforcing proper conduct are incapable of leading.”

Empowering Others to Achieve Success

Based on his reputation for strict command, it may seem surprising that Patton ever delegated authority to anyone.  However, he demanded that people under his command respect themselves in the way they dressed, in the way that they prepared for duty, and in the way that they performed their service.  With this respect for themselves, he instilled in them a respect for their abilities as well as demeanor.

Patton recognized the importance of delegating decision-making to the officers who managed the thousands of men under his command.

He insisted on people pushing forward the ideas they believed to be correct.  This Patton statement shows how much he depended on the input of other people in his command.  “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking,”

He could not be everywhere at the same time.  He could not make thousands of decisions on the spot during the action on the battlefield.

Of necessity and common sense, he empowered the soldiers under his command to have the authority to make decisions that led to success.

Hiring the Best People and Empowering Them to Excel

Hiring the Best People and Empowering Them to Excel

Hiring the Best People and Empowering Them to Excel: How do great leaders build great companies? Here are some of the things great leaders say.

Hiring the Best People

Lee Iacocca – Automobile Executive

“I hire people brighter than me and I get out of their way.”

Bill Gates – Co-Founder Microsoft

“The competition to hire the best will increase in the years ahead. Companies that give extra flexibility to their employees will have the edge in this area.”

Steve Jobs – Co-Founder, Apple

“I noticed that the dynamic range between what an average person could accomplish and what the best person could accomplish was 50 or 100 to 1. Given that, you’re well advised to go after the cream of the cream. A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.”

Jim Collins – Business Consultant, Author

  • “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.”
  • “The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you’ve made a hiring mistake. The best people don’t need to be managed. Guided, taught, led–yes. But not tightly managed.”

Edwin Booz – Consultant, Founder Booz Allen & Hamilton

“Often the best solution to a management problem is the right person.”

Brian Tracy – Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International

“As a business owner or manager, you know that hiring the wrong person is the most costly mistake you can make.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – Author, Scientist, Philosopher

“A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.”

Theodore Roosevelt – President, United States of America

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

Malcolm Forbes – Publisher, Forbes Magazine

“Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do.”

David Ogilvy – Advertising Executive

“Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.”

Akio Morita – Co-Founder Sony

“When I find an employee who turns out to be wrong for a job, I feel it is my fault because I made the decision to hire him.”

Warren Buffett – Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

“Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”

Paul Russell – Paul Russell Consulting, LLC

“Development can help great people be even better–but if I had a dollar to spend, I’d spend 70 cents getting the right person in the door.”

Red Adair – Oil Well Firefighter

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.”

Robert Bosch – Founder Robert Bosch GmbH

“I don’t pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a lot of money because I pay good wages.”

Highly Successful People: 7 Quotes to Live By

Conquering Self-doubt

Highly successful people experience self-doubt.  Sometimes life is uncertain.  But highly successful people find ways to conquer self-doubt.

“We are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible. We grow up with this idea, and as the years accumulate, so too do the layers of prejudice, fear and guilt. There comes a time when our personal calling is so deeply buried in our soul as to be invisible. But it’s still there.” – Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist

Staying Positive

Highly successful people find ways to see opportunity through difficult times.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill

Tuning Out Distractions

Highly successful people find ways to stay focused to get their work done.  They stay on task.

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” ― Steve Jobs

Learning from Mistakes

Highly successful people learn from their mistakes.

“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” ― Richard Branson

Finding Courage

Highly successful people find courage when life becomes uncertain.

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. – Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Bouncing Back

Highly successful people know that life has its frustrations and disappointments.  When they get knocked over, they bounce back.

“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven’t.” ― Thomas A. Edison

Making Great Choices

Highly successful people make great choices.  Every one of us only has so many hours in the day.  Highly successful people make great choices in how they use their time.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…” ― Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

Profile Cloning: Is Your Identity Being Stolen by a Copycat?

What is Profile Cloning?

Profile cloning is different from profile hacking.  When someone hacks your profile, they gain access to your profile by getting your sign-in information.  This information is usually your password and username or your password and email address.

However, when someone clones your profile, they make a duplicate copy of your profile.  A cloned profile is easy to create.  The person simply downloads you profile picture from your profile.  Then they upload the same picture to the cloned profile.  They use your name.  Therefore, the profile looks the same as your profile.

Why is Cloning a Problem?

When someone hacks your profile, you usually see them posting things that you did not post.

However, when they clone your profile, you may never see what they are posting.  Sometimes, cloners will block you from seeing the cloned profile.  Therefore, you may not know that you profile is cloned.

Then the cloners invite people who trust you to connect with them.  From there, the cloners can phish for information and work various scams.

How do I report a cloned account?

Go to the cloned account.  To the right of the message box you will see three dots.  Click the dots.

In the dropdown menu, select “Report.”  Follow the instructions from there.

But what if the cloner has block me?

If the cloner has blocked you from reaching the cloned profile, have a friend report the clone to Facebook.

How do I know that the cloned profile report reached Facebook?

The person who reported the clone will get this nice card in their Facebook feed: “Thanks for Making Facebook Better.”

They will also get a nice email from Facebook:

“Hi _________,

Thanks for letting us know about someone impersonating your friend on Facebook. Reports like yours are an important part of keeping Facebook a safe and welcoming community.

Since this is happening to your friend, we’re going to close your report and follow up with your friend directly once we’ve reviewed the account.

Thanks again,
The Facebook Team”

The procedures are similar on LinkedIn.

Inspiration: How Successful People Find Joy at Work

Do you find yourself depressed about your work?

Do you have trouble concentrating?

Is it difficult for you to finish your work?

Were you excited when you landed your current job and now you dread doing your job?

During the decades that I worked as a recruiter, I went through easy times, tough times, and times in between. However, there was no other job that I wanted to do.

For me, the swings in business were difficult mentally and emotionally.

There were also some parts of my job that I found boring.  For example, I would receive calls from job seekers I simply could not help.  They were talented people.

However, their experience did not match the experience of people my clients would hire. Sometimes, these job seekers pressed me to hear them out on why I should spend time on their job search.  I would hear phrases like this countless times:  “If you can sell one thing, you can sell anything.”

Explaining that my clients wanted people who could sell anything and who also were experts in the consumer-packaged goods industry, took patience.

At other times, doing what I did was very stressful.  Hiring companies wanted jobs filled right away.  Sometimes job seekers became frustrated and wanted to vent their frustrations.  Deals where I spent a great deal of time would fall apart on one phone call.

Finding Inspiration

At one point, I had been in recruiting for over a decade and American industry was going through a recession.  As a recruiter, I found this period very difficult.  I began to go through a state of depression.

I was sitting in a line in a car wash one day during this period.  It was a beautiful day.  I was driving a new car.  I was in line to have the luxury of having professionals vacuum and wash my car.

And yet, I was really depressed.

I had a Zig Ziglar tape sitting in my car, but I had never taken the time to listen to the tape.  I inserted the tape into my cassette player.  As I listened to the tape, my mood changed.  My depression lifted.  I realized that I had reasons to feel grateful. For starters, I had the privilege of having a new car and the convenience of having other people wash it.   I had a terrific family and a terrific life.  My day brightened.

I realized that the inspiration was in me all along.  I just needed to find ways to awaken it.

Today, I continually look for new ways to find inspiration and I act on these ways.

  • Hang out with inspiring people.
  • Make gratitude lists.
  • Pause to meditate.
  • Act in small steps.
  • Watch, read, and listen to inspiring people.
  • Follow the positive things and avoid the negative.

Today, I know that sometimes, inspiration simply does not simply happen.  However, I can do things that make inspiration happen.

error: Content is protected !!