Jay Wren – Page 57 – Be in the Top 1% in Mindset – Leadership

Top Ten List of Why People Get Fired

Top Ten List of Why People Get Fired

Companies take risks when they hire people. Employees have access to company property, information, and in some cases, company money. In addition, employees interact with other employees and often have access to personal and professional information about other people in the company. What companies expect from employees is honesty and top performance that brings value and goodwill to the company.

The reason that companies fire employees is failing to provide honesty, top performance, and to promote goodwill. In working as a corporate recruiter, I have known of people who lost jobs for the following reasons.

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney. The information I am presenting comes from my professional experience as a recruiter.

1. Office romance can get you fired. Certainly, sexual harassment can get you fired.

2. Falsifying information on a job application can get you fired. Companies often do a thorough job of checking backgrounds, completing reference checks, obtaining copies of college transcripts, and verifying compensation. Sometimes, discovery the false information on a job application does not happen until after a person has started to work for the new company.

3. Stealing is a common cause for firing. One particular case that comes to mind is that of an employee who would make telephone sales calls and charge car mileage for driving to the customer.

4. Bringing illegal drugs to the workplace will get you fired. I have known of more than instance when a company fired a person for possession of illegal substances in the workplace. Because possession of illegal substances involves legal issues, companies need to handle the issue with help from legal authorities.
5. Drinking on the job will get you fired. Different companies handle people with drinking problems in different ways, depending on the company policy and the circumstances.

6. Losing a driver’s license may cost a person a job. Repeated speeding violations, failing to appear to face traffic charges, failure to pay traffic fines, and driving under the influence of mind -altering chemicals can cost a person to lose a driver’s license. Losing a driver’s license alone is generally not sufficient cause for termination. If losing the license prevents a person from doing his or her job, then losing a driver’s license can cost a person a job.

7. Poor performance can cost a person a job. Some companies use a forced ranking system as part of the company’s performance evaluation process. Known as stack ranking, the process creates brackets. Perhaps the best known is the 20-70-10 Employee Stack Ranking system. Companies require managers to put each employee at some level of the stack. Companies promote the top 20% tier. They give standard pay raises to the middle 70% of the stack. They fire the bottom 10 % of the employees. Industry-wide, the process of “rank and yank” has mixed reviews. Some managers consider the process as arbitrary and demotivating.

8. Damaging company equipment can get you fired. Operators of major equipment face large responsibility.

9. Using the Internet for personal use during company time can get you fired. What you publish on the Internet anytime can get you fired as well.

10. Making too many personal calls from work can get you fired.

6 Steps to a Winning Career

Here are 6 steps to a winning career.

Arrive early.

“Better three hours too soon than five minutes late.” William Shakespeare

If you cannot be at work on time, you are unemployable. That idea seems simple enough. The best way to be at work on time is to go to your work before your days starts. Arrive early. Relax. Have a cup of coffee or bottle of water. Read a newspaper. Chat with your co-workers. Do things that help you to relax. Then when the moment arrives for you to start work, you can simply turn to your work in a focused and calm state of mind.

Do your work in order of its priority.

If you have ten things to do and your boss has set one urgent deadline for one of those things, then you have one thing to do and nine things that can wait. What your boss has said is urgent is the only thing you have to do until you get it done. Then you can rank the other nine things in the order of urgency. You can only do one thing at time. Therefore, finish the work done that your boss is expecting when he or she is expecting it. Then go to the second thing on your priority list.

Focus on your work and not the personalities of people around you.

Judging other people is not the reason any of us goes to work. None of us can do our work when our mind is someplace else. It is especially difficult to do our work when someone or something is disturbing us.

Respect the space of other people.

A person’s space includes what the person sees and hears. Don’t stand in front of people who are working and carry on a conversation with a coworker. Don’t take phone calls during meetings. You may be the most important person in the room, but if you constantly interrupt other people with your phone calls, you are cheating the other members of the team with your distractions.

Wear the uniform of the day.

In the Navy, we had days on which we would wear a working uniform. On other days and in some duties, we would wear dress uniforms. Dress and groom yourself in keeping with the expectations of your employer.

Honor your commitments.

When you say that you will do something, get it done. You will have the commitment off your mind and the other person will have that commitment off their mind as well.

Focus on Work

Focus on Work: this simple principle determines my work success.

Work Focus

When I am the most successful at work, I focus on the job. I don’t focus on my issues with other people. I don’t focus on my feelings of frustration with my job or my life. I don’t focus on jobs that I will have to do later. I don’t focus Internet surfing or social media mingling.

Failure to Focus on Work

I don’t always focus on my work. I wish I could say that I did. However, I am human. I do have distractions. I sometimes goof off. Sometimes, I’d rather focus on anything but work. To quote a former business partner, “There’s a reason they call it work.” It is not always fun. Work is a priority I set for the things I need to do to experience the rewards of my work. Work is what I am supposed to do when I am at work. Sometimes work is pure fun, and I am completely focused on my work. I am completely engaged in my work.

Sometimes I have to put some effort into focusing on what I am doing at work. I have to work at working. When I don’t focus on work at work, my work suffers. My productivity goes down. Time flies by, the day ends, and I miss the rewards that I could have had from focusing on work.

Work Aperture

The aperture on a camera is the setting for how wide the shutter opens when a photographer takes a picture. The width of the shutter opening determines the distance at which objects are in focus. A wider opening will result in images at a distance being fuzzy or out of focus. On cameras with a barrel that shows the view directly through the lens of the camera (Single Lens Reflex or SLR), the setting is the f-stop on the barrel of the camera. A wider aperture setting puts the focus of a picture on things that are close to the camera. I need to use a wide aperture setting so that the work right in front of me is in focus and so that the work at a distance is out of focus.

The Productive Aperture

When I am working, I can’t allow myself to ruminate on what might happen. I have had a lot of problems. Most of them have never happened.

Therefore, when I am working on a long-term plan, I use a wide aperture setting to keep my work in front of me in focus. At work, ruminating about the future as though I am gazing at a distant mountain range in a picture is a waste of work time. To be productive, I have to focus at events in the future when I can put them down on paper or schedule them on my calendar. At work, I keep an f-stop 2.8 setting (the widest possible setting) on my lens. I only need to focus on the things on which I am taking action.

Words that Motivate

Words that motivate employees are words that create inclusiveness and extend recognition for the contribution of other people make. They are also words that create a recognition of boundaries that each person feels about receiving help.

I read an article on HBR.org about the power in the word “we” and a second article on HBR.org about the power in the word “together.” I have also read on several occasions that the word most people want to hear is their own name.

The attraction of all three of these words is that they create inclusiveness. Picture a discussion about a team’s effort in front of the team members and other people in the company. The discussion goes like this: “Bill and Sue are on our team. Together we successfully create projects that exceed company expectations. Without the great job that Bill and Sue have done, we would never have succeeded on any of these projects. Together, we are a team of winners.”

“Thank you” is a phrase with two words that people appreciate in response to the things they say or do for someone.

“How might we?” are the three words that the company IDEO states as the basis for the beginning every one of their innovation projects.

“You did a good job” come up frequently as the five best words a person can say to another person.

Again, the phrases “Thank you,” “How might we,” “I regret my mistake,” and “You did a good job” all create inclusiveness by giving recognition for the work of other people and by presenting a willingness of to admit your mistakes.

“May I help you?” is another four-word phrase that helps to motivate people through inclusiveness and by recognizing the boundaries other people may be feeling at the time.

In closing, using words to motivate employees will create inclusiveness, extend recognition for the contribution that other people make, a allow people to relax and focus on the job without co-workers or supervisors intruding on their boundaries.

Authority, Responsibility, Accountability, and Leadership

Authority, Responsibility, Accountability, and Leadership: these are four of the most discussed subjects on business forums and articles.

Authority is the power to control the actions of people and the resources of an organization and comes from a person’s position.

Responsibility is the accountability that people have in relationship to their authority. I often read articles and forum comments in which writers use the words authority and responsibility interchangeably. People with authority are responsible for the results of their actions and for the actions of the people over whom they have authority. President Harry Truman said, “The buck stops here.” In making that statement, President Truman was stating that, in keeping with his absolute authority over the executive branch, he accepted absolute responsibility for the actions of the people in the executive branch of government.

Leadership is the power to guide, direct, or sway the actions of people.

Some leaders have authority. Some leaders do not have authority. Elected officials have the authority that the law assigns to their office. Business leaders have the authority that the company guidelines assign to their function.

Writers, artists, designers, speakers, and others who have no authority often become leaders through their message, their works, or their methods. These people found nations, lead movements, set trends, found religions, and establish schools of thought as the result of the actions they took to sway and guide other people.

Titles create confusion in the relationship of authority, responsibility, accountability, and leadership.

Does a manager have authority? Is a manager responsible for performance? Is a manager a leader?

The answer to all these questions is, “Maybe.” A manager with no authority is not responsible for performance. A manager with no authority or personal influence over a group is not a leader. If a manager fails as the result of a person or group refusing to accept the manager’s authority, the manager is not accountable for the actions of the person or group. The person or group that does not obey the authority of a manager is accountable for their actions.

The Real Jobs are on Google Page 2

Are you finding that searching for jobs with Google search is fruitless? There is a reason for that. The real jobs are on Google page 2. Perhaps, it is better to say that the real jobs are on page 2 or greater.

Google ranks websites based on how many other sites link to those website not on the facts. Therefore, the search results that you get when you are doing job searches on Google will show you the listings on the most popular job boards and job search engines first.

These jobs at the top of the listing are often not actual jobs. Rather, they link to pages don’t go to actual jobs listing. Instead they go to The job listings you will see first are the jobs on Indeed, Monster, and other job listing websites.

The experience of trying to sort through job listings on the first page or even page or 2 of Google is that you keep finding the big job boards are just in the way of your search.

Google wants to rank pages based on the accuracy of the facts and has a process in development. (New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530102.600-google-wants-to-rank-websites-based-on-facts-not-links.html).

For now, job seekers will need to dig deeper into the back pages of search results to get the real job market and not just the bundle of highly linked websites that smother the top of the list.

As an illustration, I entered “product manager Houston TX” without the quotation marks. I found ten job listings, none of which came from Indeed, Monsters, Career Builders, or Simply Hired.

As a matter of practice, try beginning your search on the back pages of the Google results. You will be amazed at how many more jobs than what you have seen from continually conducting searches and reviewing what you find on page one of your Google returns.

For an in-depth look at conducting job searches on Google instead of going strictly to job boards, please visit an article I posted at this link: https://jaywren.com/google-job-searches/.

Things To Do In An Exit Interview

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.

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.

Prepare for questions that you have about compensation and benefits.

Prepare for a discussion of 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.

“COBRA generally requires that group health plans sponsored by employers with 20 or more employees in the prior year offer employees and their families the opportunity for a temporary extension of health coverage (called continuation coverage) in certain instances where coverage under the plan would otherwise end. Department of Labor (http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra.htm)”

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

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 employers’ direction about how you can transition your material and responsibilities smoothly and promptly.

Things Not to Do In An Exit Interview

Don’t burn bridges.

There are things not to do in an exit interview to ensure 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.

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.

How to Get Contacts on the Inside

Knowing how to get inside contacts is important.

Do you feel there is a wall between you and the jobs you are seeking? You go to apply for a job on a company website and find that you have to complete an application. When you have completed the application and submitted your resume, you are not even sure that a human will ever see it. Are you sending your resume to countless companies? Are you getting no interviews and do not know why?

It is important to know how to get an inside contact, because people inside a company can get you a direct connection with the people who are hiring.

Suggestions for Finding inside Contacts

Identify a company where you want to work. Go through your contacts to see the people you may know at the company.

Review your contacts for people who might know someone at the hiring company. Begin to show an interest in those people.

As you are developing your files at this one company, ask the people helping you find contacts at that company whether they have contacts at other companies where you might find work.

Continue to search for places where you want to work. Don’t just focus on one company. As you develop your list of potential hiring companies, you will be able to make greater use of your contacts.

Building New Relationships

Offer to help people. Show an interest what they are doing. People are more willing try to help you when you have helped them. As you build new relationships, those people can introduce you to even more people. By meeting with people who work in jobs that interest you, you may also meet other people who share their interest and, therefore, meet people who share your interest. Networking is more than getting email addresses and phone numbers. It is making friends and developing relationships.

To make a friend, become a friend. Reach out your hand and introduce yourself to people. Smile and ask them small icebreaker questions. For example, it you are at a conference, ask the person how they are enjoying the conference. Ask them whether they find that this conference help them meet new contacts and strengthens their relationships with established connections.

If you want to work in a particular industry, go to where people in that interest work and meet. Do they attend conventions? Do they go to trade shows? Do they support a specific charity? Do they do volunteer work where you can get involved

Don’t forget LinkedIn, but don’t rely on it as your main source of inside contacts.

LinkedIn is not like Facebook. On Facebook, people connect with family and friends. On LinkedIn, people connect with a few friends, but LinkedIn is a business network where the relationships you have are less likely to become an inside contact. Getting connections through LinkedIn can help you expand your contact list quickly. Therefore, don’t forget LinkedIn, but understand its limitations.

Does Your Boss Hate You?

Does your boss hate you or is your boss just cranky? What are the signs? What are your options? Should you just ignore the situation? Should you take action?

What are the signs?

Your boss focuses on problems with you. Your boss criticizes you more than your boss criticizes anyone else. Other people get glowing performance reviews. Can you discuss the situation with your boss? Your performance review is full of criticism. Other people are getting pay raises. You are not. Other people are getting promotions. You are not. Your boss has begun to give more of your work to your coworkers.

Can you discuss the situation with your boss?

If you can talk with your boss about the situation, explain that you want to do a great job. Ask for advice on how you can do a better job.

When the problem is real, what should you do?

Document your work. Build a record of your daily performance to show that you are doing a great job. List the tasks your boss gives you. List the results of your work on these tasks. Communicate with your boss in writing.

What are your job options?

Can you find a job at your current company working for a different supervisor? Should you start looking for another job? Is you resume polished and ready to go? Have you explored the jobs that look like a fit for you at other companies?

What do your confidants tell to you to do?

Turn to the people you trust and ask for their advice. Ask the people you trust about what they think about your situation. Ask these people for their ideas on job options and confidential referrals. Get their advice on the best way to protect yourself in your current situation.

Subscribe to career newsletters.

Most career websites, including this one, have newsletters that can help you with advice and information on how to deal with your current situation. Subscribe to those newsletters. Search these websites for additional articles on dealing with a difficult boss.