Radio Talking Book

By Radio Talking Book

The Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network was the world's first radio reading service for people with blindness and visual impairment. It began January 2, 1969. The signal is also heard via the interne... more

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January 31, 2017 Write Your Boss That Kiss-Off Letter. Then Press Delete By ROB WALKER
Career Corner is a program produced by the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, part of State Services for the Blind, and it is recorded for people are blind or have reading disabilities. You can listen to the stream of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network at www.mnssb.org/rtb, and the password is RTB. Your host, for Career Corner is Anne Obst.
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Write Your Boss That Kiss-Off Letter. Then Press Delete.
The Workologist
By ROB WALKER SEPT. 2, 2016
Send your workplace conundrums to [email protected], including your name and contact information (even if you want it withheld for publication). The Workologist is a guy with well-intentioned opinions, not a professional career adviser. Letters may be edited.
I was one of several people my boss bullied into resignation by collecting gossip, pressuring people to say vaguely critical things and overstating what they said — a witch hunt, basically. When I saw this happening to me, I consulted a lawyer, but ultimately concluded I had no interest in saying or doing anything to continue being associated with this vitriolic nut. I resigned and had a better job lined up five days later. I win.
Nonetheless, I was angry and resentful, I think reasonably. I composed my detailed defense, pointing out that my boss knew she was lying, and that she is an evil, disgraceful woman. I felt much better — but I did not send the email, and moved on emotionally.
Recently my separation from that employer became official (there was a delay to account for leave time I was owed). Feeling that this horrid woman could no longer hurt me, I reread my email draft and came very close to sending it — maybe with a blind copy to her boss. I believe sending it will make me feel more victorious, but maybe it risks opening cans of worms I cannot foresee. I can’t decide if not sending it will make me feel like the better person, or if I’ll be nagged by the sense that I allowed this boss to bully me. Shall I send or delete? ANONYMOUS
I am a fan of the raw, unvarnished kiss-off letter. Stating your case precisely as you see it, with absolutely no regard for diplomacy, nicety or consequences, can be a genuinely cathartic exercise.
But I’m not a fan of actually sending such notes. (In fact, make sure you never do this as a draft in your official company email system; this letter should exist only in a place your employers don’t have access to.) Sometimes it’s appropriate to submit a formal letter of resignation, but that is a separate exercise: Pour out your venom first, then start from scratch, composing yourself before you compose a statement you expect others to read.
In this case, you may be right on the facts, but it’s hard to deny, based on the language you’re using, that you are still angry and resentful. This is rarely a productive frame of mind for convincing anyone else (your boss’s boss, let’s say) that you are offering a reasonable assessment. At best, you’ll communicate bitterness; at worst, any mention of your lawyer might be interpreted as a veiled legal threat, which I doubt is your goal.
And what is your goal? It’s not clear why you need to feel more “victorious” right after declaring victory for easily proving your own worth by finding new work elsewhere. Even if you see this boss as a liability to the company and think her supervisor should know, that would be a completely different letter — focused not on you but on the organization. But I generally see little point in trying to reform a company after you’ve quit.
Maybe you’re having second thoughts about having resigned. That, too, is a different issue. You made a decision you felt was in your best interest, and there is no reason to get hung up on it. Focus on your future, not on continuing battles from your past.
Serving Up a ‘Criticism Sandwich’
I supervise an employee who I know is considering moving on. I don’t begrudge him this because I can’t offer him the full-time position he wants. But I anticipate that he may ask me for a professional reference, and I’m not sure how to respond.
He’s done decent work over all. But he’s demonstrated some frustrating traits. For example, he doesn’t respond reliably to emails while working remotely, and he waits for others to solve problems for him.
I have no desire to sabotage his prospects (he’s young and at the beginning of his professional life) by withholding a reference or blabbing unnecessarily about his flaws. But if asked directly about things he needs to improve, I would not lie. What should I do if he asks for a reference? S.S., SEATTLE
You could respond with a version of what you’ve said here. It sounds like, in general, you would endorse his work, you wish him well and you would not go out of your way to criticize him. That said (you could tell him), there are a few matters you would be honest about if asked — the ones you’ve named. End on a positive note by reiterating that you also see his good qualities and don’t want to prevent him from finding the full-time work you know he’s looking for. At that point, it’s really up to him.
An alternative that has become popular is to adopt an “only the facts” policy: Tell him you’ll confirm dates of employment and the like, but that’s it. This is nothing personal, just company rules, or even your own personal rules. That may feel like a dodge — because it is — but it’s common practice at many organizations. (Obviously, if you do this you have to stick to it.)
There’s one more option that might be more productive: a preventive strike. Have a conversation with this employee about the pros and cons of his performance before he announces he’s quitting. Start with the good points, note where he could do better, and circle back to the positive, perhaps noting his potential or some such. (Starting and ending on a high note is known as a “criticism sandwich.”) It is honest and should help him whether he stays or goes — and might even benefit you.
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January 31, 2017 Job Seekers Face Virtual Interviews -- WSJ By Dahlia Bazzaz
Top of Form
Career Corner is a program produced by the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, part of State Services for the Blind, and it is recorded for people are blind or have reading disabilities. You can listen to the stream of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network at www.mnssb.org/rtb, and the password is RTB. Your host, for Career Corner is Anne Obst.
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Job Seekers Face Virtual Interviews -- WSJ
Recruiters are turning to video meetings to speed up hiring and widen their reach
By Dahlia Bazzaz
For job seekers looking to make a good first impression, a working webcam and a tidy room might be the new firm handshake.
First-round job interviews are the latest part of the hiring process to undergo digitization as companies use video interviews to cut recruiting costs and times. Cigna Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. are among the employers now asking some applicants to log on to a website and submit video responses to interview questions in lieu of talking with a human. The method has grown in recent years as nearly everyone has access to a laptop or smartphone with a front-facing camera, and companies say it is an efficient, fair and inexpensive way to process hundreds of applicants.
Salt Lake City, Utah-based HireVue Inc., which provides video interviewing software for Goldman Sachs and 600 other firms, said it hosted nearly three million video interviews last year, up from 13,000 five years ago.
Most video-interviewing programs require applicants to click a link or install an app. Interviews begin with a prompt such as "Tell us about a time you had to deal with a conflict" that stays on-screen for about 30 seconds. Then, the camera turns on and the candidate has anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes to respond before the next question pops up.
Human-resources staff then review the videos and pass along promising applicants to managers for consideration. Applicants who make the cut are typically invited to a one-on-one interview. That doesn't always mean it will be in-person, though. Varsha Paidi, a software engineer hired by IBM last year, had subsequent online interviews and eventually received her job offer via text message.
Speeding up the hiring process allows recruiters to look at more applicants than before, giving companies wider reach, said Obed Louissaint, the human-resources lead for IBM's Watson division.
Applicants, however, say that computer-guided interviews take some getting used to. Amy Hall was never the type to get nervous during job interviews, but when the 29-year-old had to complete a video interview last year for an internal job switch at Cigna-Healthspring, she recalled feeling apprehensive and camera-shy. She waited until after work hours and used a computer in the IT department. With the door closed, she clicked a link to Cigna's video-interviewing site.
Replaying footage of her interview responses was "very uncomfortable" at first, she said. She resubmitted two responses, but ultimately found her stride and even preferred the video format because, she recalled, "you're not trying to perform." Last January, she got the job as a senior data analyst managing records for Medicare doctors.
Video interviews have significantly reduced travel costs for Cigna recruiters. Frank Abate, a senior recruiter there, said one of his colleagues racked up more than $1 million annually just traveling to meet candidates. Since adopting video interviews four years ago, that colleague's expenses are now under $100,000.
Companies say they seek similar traits in video interviews as they do in traditional interviews. Recruiters at IBM and Cigna said they evaluate candidates based on how well the person communicates his/her thought process, whether the person answers all parts of the question -- and whether he/she makes eye contact.
According to Mary Wilson, a Cigna hiring manager, Ms. Hall's interview stood out because her responses seemed like they were addressed to an actual person, not a camera.
"Others tend to fidget or look away, but she looked directly into the camera and answered the questions thoughtfully and completely," she said.
HireVue, InterviewStream, WePow and other vendors that make video-interviewing software say their programs make hiring more fair because all applicants must answer the same questions, placing substance over schmoozing and small talk.
Video interviews might also present some problems because managers cannot ask follow-up questions or engage candidates further on a point, said Carol Miaskoff, assistant legal counsel for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In letters to vendors, Ms. Miaskoff has suggested that companies assign more than one person to review individual videos to ensure hiring decisions aren't made hastily.
Taking robo-recruiting one step further, some HireVue customers have an algorithm review the video interviews for them. Using data about the skills and attributes companies are seeking for a given role, a program called HireVue Insights scans videos for verbal and facial cues that match those skills then ranks the top 100 applicants.
Human evaluation can help when things go wrong mid-interview. Bruce DelMonico, the assistant dean for admissions for the Yale School of Management -- which requires M.B.A. program applicants to respond to video prompts -- said that unforeseen interruptions like a roommate barging in mid-interview show how applicants think on their feet.
"All is not lost," said Mr. DelMonico. "We pay attention to how well you respond and recover."
Write to Dahlia Bazzaz at [email protected]
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6min
January 31, 2017 Working Strategies: More rules to help you win the job By Amy Lindgren
Career Corner is a program produced by the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, part of State Services for the Blind, and it is recorded for people are blind or have reading disabilities. You can listen to the stream of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network at www.mnssb.org/rtb, and the password is RTB. Your host, for Career Corner is Anne Obst.
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Working Strategies: More rules to help you win the job
By Amy Lindgren | [email protected] |
September 24, 2016 at 1:49 pm
When you’re faced with a complex or confusing process, guidelines can be very helpful. In the case of helping job seekers prepare for interviews, I enjoy providing a handful of basic mantras distilled from my experience with the process.
For the most part, these aren’t mantras that change lives or create new paradigms — no top-of-the-mountain “aha” experiences here. Just solid principles to help order one’s thinking and enhance strategy.
Last week I started my list of eight mantras by providing the three that are most fundamental to aligning the job seeker’s perspective ahead of the interview. Those three are:
1. It’s not about you;
2. Employers are interested in your future together, not your past with someone else; and
3. People hire people they like.
If those sound interesting, you can catch up by looking at last week’s column. In the meantime, here are the other five mantras, which provide instruction for the interview itself.
4. Answer the real question. Taking this advice requires you to be somewhat agile in the interview. It’s relatively straightforward (even if it’s not always easy) to simply answer a question as it’s asked. Unfortunately, the straightforward answer is often unstrategic or even damaging to the candidate.
If you can train yourself to pause while musing internally, “What do they really need to know?” then you will be better able to answer the question behind the question. This strategy also lets you provide data that an inexperienced interviewer might not otherwise elicit.
Here’s an example.
Interviewer: “On a scale of one to five, how would you rank yourself in using Microsoft Excel?”
(Pause, think about the real question. Now, instead of tossing out a number, give a strategized answer): “I’ve used Excel in nearly every job I’ve had, to a greater or lesser degree. Most recently I was creating documents that required pivot tables and other more advanced features, which I was able to teach to some of my co-workers. Can you tell me more about how Excel plays into this position?”
Why is this the answer to the “real question”? Because almost certainly the interviewer needs to know what you can actually do with the software — which an out-of-context self-ranking isn’t likely to reveal.
5. Don’t do the interviewer’s job. This mantra is inspired by all the candidates who start sentences with “Even though I don’t have the exact experience you’re seeking…”
The basic tenet here is to not point out information that puts you at a disadvantage. Simply tell the interviewer what you can do, or what you have done in the past, then leave it to him or her to ask any needed follow-on questions. It’s your job to give your best points; it’s someone else’s job to notice or ask about any weaknesses.
6. Sell your strengths. For sure you know this: Employers want to hire you for what you can do well, not for what you don’t do well. As a happy coincidence, you’d probably prefer to do something you’re good at.
Since both parties in the conversation are most interested in matching the candidate’s strengths to the job, it follows that your part of the conversation should be focused on bringing those strengths forward.
To see this in action, review mantra 4 to see what the candidate said in the self-ranking exercise. Notice how the answer focused on what the candidate could do, but did not wander over to things he or she hadn’t learned to do. This candidate earned bonus points by including a skill that probably wasn’t anticipated by the interviewer. Did you catch it? It’s the tail end of the second sentence, which mentions training co-workers in Excel. Assuming training might be one of this candidate’s core skills, that’s a nice example of slipping a strength into a sentence where it wasn’t strictly required.
7. Make it easy to hire you. You can interpret this mantra in many ways but I’m usually thinking of logistics. Be the candidate who is easy to reach, whose voicemail is set up, whose résumé links to LinkedIn and vice versa, who brings letters of recommendation or portfolio materials to the interview … you get the idea. Go the extra step in every possible way and demonstrate that you’re really interested in being hired.
8. Play to win. Yes, it’s a sports cliché but one I happen to find very useful. It’s not complicated to interpret: Don’t drop out of the process or lose heart halfway through; don’t under-prepare for interviews; don’t neglect your follow-up steps. Once you’ve laced up your cleats (or whatever sport imagery you prefer), you’re in the game. And if you’re in the game, don’t you want to win?
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January 31, 2017 How to Find Out What the Boss Really Thinks of You By Sue Shellenbarger
Career Corner is a program produced by the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, part of State Services for the Blind, and it is recorded for people are blind or have reading disabilities. You can listen to the stream of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network at www.mnssb.org/rtb, and the password is RTB. Your host, for Career Corner is Anne Obst.
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How to Find Out What the Boss Really Thinks of You
Some managers won’t give feedback for fear of angering employees; acknowledge your weaknesses, don’t overreact
How do you get honest feedback from your boss in order to improve your skills and know how well you’re doing? WSJ’s Sue Shellenbarger joins Lunch Break with Tanya Rivero with a few tips.
By
Sue Shellenbarger
The Wall Street Journal
Updated June 28, 2016 2:31 p.m. ET
Do you ever wonder what the boss really thinks about you?
Finding out can be a difficult and delicate task. While most people fear the overly blunt, critical boss, an overly nice or evasive boss can be just as frustrating.
In a previous job in software sales, Mark Phillips of Boulder, Colo., hit sales targets for two years but got little feedback—and no sense of when he might be promoted. He confronted his boss bluntly, saying, “I need to know an answer.” But his boss simply told Mr. Phillips to “trust” that the boss had his best interests at heart. Mr. Phillips accepted another job the next day.
Looking back, Mr. Phillips, now chief executive officer of HireEducation Inc., an affiliate of the Sanford Rose Associates executive-search network, says he could have been less confrontational. If he had asked more questions and tried to understand the boss’s viewpoint, he might have stayed and “it could have worked out very well,” he says.
Some managers fear they will anger employees or hurt their feelings if they are too open. Others “worry that the person will go to HR and get into a big kerfuffle,” says Peggy Klaus, a Berkeley, Calif., executive trainer and speaker. When she advised a utility-industry executive last year to give employees more feedback, he told her, “I’d rather have a colonoscopy.”
There are ways to draw out a reticent boss. Acknowledging up front that you have weaknesses can make it easier for a manager to open up, says organizational psychologist Michael Woodward. It helps managers feel emotionally safe—assured that an employee isn’t going to erupt in a rage or dissolve in tears, says Dr. Woodward. Saying “I’ve had a tough time with XYZ and I’d like your help figuring out” how to solve the problem sends a message: “It’s OK to punch me in the face, Boss, because I’m doing it to myself,” he says.
Ask questions in a nuanced way that suggests you know there is room for improvement, says Hassan Osman, OF Boston, a senior manager at Cisco Systems Inc. and author of a book on managing teams. Asking, “What would you do differently?” or “How do you think I can make this better?” shows you know a project isn’t perfect, he says. Asking, “What would it take for you to be really excited about this?” reflects genuine interest in the boss’s viewpoint.
Tie your request to the boss’s objectives or the company’s mission, if possible. This makes managers more inclined to help. Nearly all want to be seen as consistent in pursuing agreed-upon goals. It also puts your request in a context that is “bigger than both of you,” says Peter Bregman, a New York City leadership coach and author of the book “Four Seconds.” “It’s no longer just about you.”
Keep a calm, neutral expression even if you think the feedback is wrong. “Look for the nugget of value,” says Dr. Woodward.
If the boss falls back on clichés such as, “You’re not a team player,” press for specifics. One manager was frustrated by her boss’s blunt response to requests for feedback. The gist of it was: “What do you need a performance review for? I’ll let you know when you’re screwing up,” says Ms. Klaus, who coached her about two years ago. The manager finally took her manager a list of skills she wanted to develop, such as being articulate and concise during presentations, and asked him to rate her on each one.
Sometimes it helps to be specific about what feedback has been useful in the past. You can say: “When you told me I should have handled the XYZ project a different way, it was enormously helpful,” says Denver career coach Aimee Cohen.
How to Dodge a Brush-off
BOSS: You’re doing fine.
EMPLOYEE: Thanks, but my team is missing our targets, and I’m hoping you can help me understand why. Is there some gap in my skills?
THE TECHNIQUE: Admitting up-front that your work isn’t perfect eases the burden on the boss.
How to Sidestep Clichés
BOSS: You need to be a better team player.
EMPLOYEE: I know that’s important, but what does that look like? What are two or three things you’d do differently if you were in my shoes?
THE TECHNIQUE: Telling a manager you want specific action items can be helpful.
Thank the manager for whatever comments you do get. Even if you think it is mean or off-target, acknowledge that “it must have been a real risk for you to share that with me. I really appreciate it,’” suggests Mr. Bregman, adding that many bosses will soften after such a response.
If your boss is still reticent, try a workaround. Ask the boss what other managers or colleagues think of your performance, says Tyler Cowen, an economics professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. “If people hold a particular belief, they are more likely to think that others agree or have had similar experiences.” The strategy also may ease the boss’s fears that you’ll hold a grudge against him, Dr. Cowen says.
Asking for examples of work you could emulate can be helpful. Kathryn Minshew, chief executive officer of the career-development website The Muse, New York City, advises setting the stage for regular feedback soon after you begin working with a new boss. Ask the best way to check in on how you’re doing, including how often and whether via email, instant message, phone or in person.
Larry Gioia was impressed when an employee newly assigned to his team emailed him before starting work and asked to schedule a phone conversation to discuss the best ways to work together. During the call, she told him she wanted prompt, frequent feedback; he told her that was his preference too, says Mr. Gioia of Pittsburgh, a health-care technology consultant. Her behavior “shows she’s results-oriented and takes responsibility for her own career,” he says.
Amy Sinclair has asked her boss Pam Borton for a lot of feedback since starting her job as executive director of TeamWomenMN, a Minneapolis nonprofit, two years ago. Over time, the two have adapted to each other’s style. A former head college basketball coach, Ms. Borton, president of the professional-development and networking organization, is accustomed to delivering quick, candid critiques of subordinates’ work.
Ms. Sinclair used to object on the spot if she disagreed, but with coaching from Ms. Cohen, the Denver career coach Aimee Cohen, she has learned not to take it too personally or react right away, but to reflect for a day or two on a more thoughtful response.
And Ms. Borton has learned to give Ms. Sinclair more pats on the back when she performs well, she says. “Everybody wants to get feedback in different ways. It was important to me to learn Amy’s style, and what made her successful.”
Write to Sue Shellenbarger at [email protected]
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9min
January 31, 2017 Working Strategies: Start with gratitude when thinking about work By Amy Lindgren
Career Corner is a program produced by the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, part of State Services for the Blind, and it is recorded for people are blind or have reading disabilities. You can listen to the stream of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network at www.mnssb.org/rtb, and the password is RTB. Your host, for Career Corner is Anne Obst.
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Working Strategies: Start with gratitude when thinking about work
By Amy Lindgren | [email protected] |
November 26, 2016 at 4:22 pm
Thanksgiving week is an appropriate time to consider gratitude in all things. Some things are easy to feel grateful for: Loving family and friends, a comfortable home, enough food to eat … if these are gifts you’re enjoying right now, it’s only right to count them among your blessings.
Of all the gifts we might remember in our Thanksgiving rituals, one that could easily be forgotten is work. Undoubtedly, anyone who recently found a job is feeling thankful for the new opportunity. But what about those of us who have held our positions for a while — where does work fall on our gratitude list?
As a career counselor I’ve had uncountable conversations with unhappy workers temporarily blind to the bright spots in their work situations. That’s to be expected, as people don’t seek counseling to discuss what’s going well. They need perspective or perhaps solutions to problems they can’t entirely resolve on their own.
Some of the scenarios they describe would be challenging to anyone: Abusive bosses, hostile co-workers, long hours or unsafe working conditions. In these circumstances, our conversations usually focus on exit plans, with a dose of prevention to avoid repeating the situation in the next position.
Since I’m naturally optimistic, my take on things can lead to some interesting discussions. For example, it’s not unusual to talk with someone so beaten down at work that they’ve overlooked many of the advantages the position holds, including
• paid sick days or holidays, or flextime options
• opportunities for training, transfer or promotion
• prestige, or perhaps authority or leadership opportunities
• simple perks such as free coffee or an on-site health club
Identifying those pluses doesn’t shift my attention from the need to strategize the exit. But ignoring them feels wrong as well. When we as workers slip away from recognizing the good things in any circumstance, we become easy prey to a host of unproductive mental habits including entitlement and self-centeredness. Those aren’t exactly appealing traits, and we’re never as good at hiding them as we think we are.
Over the years, I’ve discovered a number of ways to redirect thinking from what a position doesn’t have to what it does have, and from a feeling of deficit to one of abundance. Achieving this mindset is gold to me because the world starts feeling like a place of opportunity, rather than a place that repeats the word “no” at every turn.
One of my favorite ways to create this turning point in myself and others is to use the magic combination of empathy and perspective. Take empathy, for example. When it seems that someone’s boss couldn’t possibly be less supportive or more abusive, I change the conversation momentarily to explore what might be going on with the individual who has power over my client.
Learning that this supervisor has been stalled in his or her own career or has been divorced three times doesn’t excuse the behavior. But it can provide clues that help the suffering employee avoid internalizing their abuse.
To apply perspective, I like to think about my client’s full career path to date. If this is a seasoned worker, they’ve likely developed coping skills that we can revisit and activate for the current situation. And if it’s a young worker, I can sometimes identify the current problem as one of the challenges everyone needs to master at some point — which lets us re-cast the situation as an opportunity.
Another way to utilize perspective is to place the current job in context with other roles that don’t hold as many advantages. The idea isn’t to convince someone to stop complaining because others have it worse. Rather, I want them to recognize what they do have so they can redirect energy from complaining to problem solving.
For example, one can gain a sense of perspective by comparing employees and the self-employed: People in employee roles often have access to things that many self-employed people lack, ranging from paid leave to on-site technical assistance for their balky computer. Meanwhile, self-employed people usually enjoy the ability to control their days and their projects — something employees often find missing in their positions.
One thing I’ve discovered is that the lessons of thankfulness, empathy and perspective seem to need frequent re-application. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’ve decided to challenge myself until the end of the year to view my work through a single lens: Gratitude. Regardless of the small annoyance or the big-picture challenge on my desk, I vow to start by being grateful for the opportunity it presents — even if I find myself grinding my teeth while doing it. If you’d care to join me in this challenge, I’d be interested in hearing your perspective.
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7min
January 31, 2017 Top Workplaces: Minnesota employers want you By Katy Read
Career Corner is a program produced by the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, part of State Services for the Blind, and it is recorded for people are blind or have reading disabilities. You can listen to the stream of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network at www.mnssb.org/rtb, and the password is RTB. Your host, for Career Corner is Anne Obst.
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Top Workplaces: Minnesota employers want you
With a tightening labor pool and below-average unemployment, Minnesota companies are offering unusual incentives to attract and retain qualified workers.
By Katy Read Star Tribune
June 24, 2016 — 3:45pm
Want to make an extra $100 every month, indefinitely, for doing nothing?
Well, almost nothing. You just have to find a plumber and refer him or her to Bonfe Plumbing, Heating & Air Service in St. Paul. If Bonfe hires your candidate, the company will pay you — you, random member of the public who doesn’t even work for Bonfe — a cool Benjamin a month as long as that plumber stays with Bonfe.
Tempted to round up a bunch of plumbers and turn it into a nice little side business?
Good luck with that. The human resources professionals whose whole job is recruiting plumbers — or electricians, health-care providers, construction workers, financial specialists, truck drivers and many other workers in a wide variety of industries — are having a tough enough time of it themselves these days.
“We’re always recruiting, always looking for people, always working through the process and interviewing,” said Betsy Senarighi, Bonfe’s human resources manager, who is also in the market for electricians, appliance technicians and HVAC installers. Bonfe’s current limited-time deal applies only to plumbers, but the company frequently offers other recruiting specials. “It’s pretty rare that our needs are full at any given time,” she says.
Bonfe’s program is more outside-the-box than most. But as Minnesota businesses — even companies that, like Bonfe, are on the Star Tribune’s 2016 Top Workplaces list — face an ever-tightening labor market they’ve had to up their game for hiring and retaining qualified workers.
Companies are enticing employees with such incentives as signing bonuses, flexible schedules, opportunities to work remotely, and paid parental leave. Not to mention employee appreciation programs. Pizza parties. Casual Fridays — along with casual Mondays through Thursdays. Dog-friendly offices. Yoga classes. Donut Thursdays.
What about plain old money? Nationally, that hasn’t been happening, at least not so far. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, employee compensation (including wages and benefits) as a percentage of gross domestic product peaked in 1970 and has been declining pretty steadily since then. It’s currently near 60-year lows, barely budging since the latest recession. During that same period, corporate profits have zoomed to nearly 60-year highs.
A tightening labor market could start to push wages up. With the baby boomer generation entering retirement age — 10,000 people a day turn 65, and will continue doing so until about 2030 — the number of available employees is shrinking across a wide variety of industries.
Surprised? You’re not alone. For many people, memories of recessionary unemployment are still fresh.
But that’s so 2009. The market turned between 2010 and 2015, when the labor force grew by less than half a percent a year, the lowest rate since World War II, according to a report by the Conference Board, a business research organization. The report warns of shrinking labor supplies, even labor shortages, in the United States and other countries.
Nationally, the tightest job markets, according to the report, include occupational and physical therapy, math and science occupations, health care, religious workers, skilled labor (plant and system operators, transportation workers, machinists, installation and repair specialists), social scientists and construction workers.
State’s labor pool is shrinking
Minnesota’s May unemployment rate of 3.8 percent was lower than the national average of 4.7 percent. That trend will continue, the Conference Board report said. The number of people currently 13 to 17 years old compared to people between 50 and 64 — that is, people who will enter the workforce over the next decade versus those who will make their exit — is fewer than 1:1, the report said. That’s great news for job seekers, but not for employers, or for the state’s economic growth. A stagnant labor force also erodes tax revenue, just when an aging population needs more public services.
Demographic trends shape the overall labor market, but hard-hit industries struggle for specific reasons of their own.
For example, trade jobs are misperceived as dirty and low-paying work, Senarighi said. She pointed out that actually those workers can match new graduates’ wages without shouldering burdensome student loans. Similarly, the construction industry is hurting because so many workers left it when the market crashed.
Financial, technology and home-health businesses are growing fast and sprouting more jobs than there are candidates. Truckers are disappearing as older drivers retire.
“At one time, the truck driver was looked at kind of a cowboy out on the road, seeing the country, highly respected,” said Megan Gaffney, director of marketing for Transport Corporation of America in Eagan. “Over time that perception has fallen away.”
But truck drivers still play a vital role in the economy, Gaffney said. “If you bought it, a trucker brought it.”
Home health care services face “absolutely a battle between companies trying to get the best people,” said Sara Collison, director of human resources at Cardinal of Minnesota, a Rochester-based home health service. “We don’t want to fill the position, just because we need to, with somebody who can breathe.”
To attract skilled candidates, Cardinal concentrates on creating an appealing culture. Its “when work works” program offers flexible scheduling. “We get Monday 3-5, Tuesday 8-3 — really bizarre schedules,” Collison said. “Our schedules look really funny because we try to keep the people we have instead of denying their request.”
Also popular are accelerated training programs that let people fresh out of school catch up with more experienced colleagues. People Incorporated, a St. Paul nonprofit offering mental health services, has traditionally hired people with a few years’ career experience, but has started offering trainee positions to new graduates. “We really liked their energy and their enthusiasm and their preparedness,” said Sarah Gasparini, People Incorporated’s talent acquisitions specialist. Even people without bachelor’s degrees can train into professional-level roles over three years.
In the burgeoning technology field, “boot-camp”-style training equips people with job skills without their having to spend four years getting a computer science degree. Some companies have instituted in-house training programs.
“Even if they’re lacking some of the skills, we can train on the skills,” said Terah Ramaekers, director of talent acquisition for PowerObjects in Minneapolis. “I think a lot of organizations are starting to look at that model in general, if you find good people and they fit your core values.”
Free beer!
Employee incentives in the tech industry are also famously colorful. Minneapolis-based sports software company Sport Ngin is among a number that celebrate Fridays with in-house happy hours.
“We have free beer taps flowing,” said Jim Dahline, director of marketing. “That may extend to some of the other days of the week, but I’ll leave that to the imagination. It’s an incredible workspace.”
But wait, there’s more! Sport Ngin offers an attractive benefits package, doughnuts every Thursday and, perhaps most enticing, good salaries that stretch further than they would in, say, Silicon Valley — employees needn’t “pay $8,000 a month for an apartment in San Francisco or whatever it goes for,” he said.
Dahline has noticed the labor pool shrinking a bit over the past couple of years, but said Sport Ngin hasn’t hurt for hires — with the relative scarcity of retirement-age workers in the tech industry possibly as important a factor as free beer.
Meanwhile, some companies focus on retaining employees by simply showing them they’re appreciated, reminding them they’re integral to the organization’s success.
Cardinal of Minnesota starts all meetings by going around the room and recognizing individuals’ achievements. Transport Corporation of America authorizes truck drivers to make their own decisions on the road; if bad weather threatens driving conditions, the drivers make the call to pull over rather than being ordered to ride it out.
“We all rally around that idea that as an entire organization we’re making their lives easier, creating a positive culture, treating them with respect, calling them by a name and not by a number,” Gaffney said. “We’ve won a lot of awards for our customer satisfaction, but they’re closely related. If we can keep our drivers happy they’re going to do a better job of serving our customers.”
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11min
January 31, 2017 Bad Job Interview? Ask for a Do-Over By Sue Shellenbarger
Career Corner is a program produced by the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, part of State Services for the Blind, and it is recorded for people are blind or have reading disabilities. You can listen to the stream of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network at www.mnssb.org/rtb, and the password is RTB. Your host, for Career Corner is Anne Obst.
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Bad Job Interview? Ask for a Do-Over
Get second chances by admitting mistakes, offering more information; ask for feedback often and always follow up
By
Sue Shellenbarger
Updated Nov. 15, 2016 4:03 p.m. ET
You’ve blown a job interview or presentation. What if you could get a do-over?
A humble plea for a second chance sometimes reopens closed doors if it strikes just the right note: Email new evidence of your qualifications for a job. Apologize when you’ve misinterpreted a question, or send more information to clear up a misunderstanding.
Do-overs for job seekers are rare, and the few who get a second chance make an argument that is both highly persuasive and humble, says Susan Peppercorn, a senior consultant with ClearRock Inc., an executive-coaching and career-consulting firm in Boston. “The key to any redo is, what can you do for the company?” Ms. Peppercorn says.
The mistake: Abhijit Phadnis was rejected for talking too much about team accomplishments and not enough about individual achievements. How he fixed it: Wrote an email asking for another chance. Related his individual work to the job’s demands. Photo: Abhijit Phadnis
Abhijit Phadnis was excited as an M.B.A. student years ago about landing a financial-manager position at a consumer-products company. He was deeply disappointed when he was rejected. At Ms. Peppercorn’s suggestion, Mr. Phadnis emailed the hiring manager thanking him and asking for feedback. He was told that his interview answers focused too much on his past work on various teams, and failed to explain how his individual skills fit the job.
Mr. Phadnis fired off an impassioned email asking the hiring manager for a second chance. Hoping the job hadn’t been filled yet, he admitted he hadn’t done as well as he should have in the interviews, explained that he had admired the company and used its products since childhood, and promised to offer additional information. “If you give me another chance, you won’t be disappointed. I’ll show I can do what you’re looking for,” he wrote.
A brief email soon arrived, suggesting he get in touch. After a phone call and another round of interviews, Mr. Phadnis got the job.
It isn’t enough simply to ask a stranger for a second chance. “You have to give them something new,” such as work samples or examples of past accomplishments, says Robert Hellmann, a New York career coach with the Five O’Clock Club.
To gauge whether you might need a do-over, try to get a sense of the impression you made and what interviewers saw as your weaknesses. Mr. Hellman suggests asking at the end of interviews, “How do you feel about moving my candidacy forward?” and “How do I compare with others you’re considering for the job?” You can also ask for such feedback by email immediately after the interview. Then provide information aimed at filling those gaps.
Even the most logical do-over requests may fail. A job interview was going well for Greg Zippi until he told the hiring manager travel wasn’t his favorite thing, though he was accustomed to it and entirely willing to do as much travel as needed, says Mr. Zippi, president of DecisionWise, a Springville, Utah, organizational development consulting firm. He soon learned he’d been rejected because the hiring manager “heard me say I didn’t want to travel,” Mr. Zippi says.
In a follow-up email, “I fell on my sword, saying, ‘I apologize if I confused you,’” and insisted he was willing to travel. But the door was closed, Mr. Zippi says.
Getting a do-over takes luck. After doing well in six interviews for a job years ago, Tom Borghesi assumed he had it locked up. He mistook an important talk with a senior executive who would be the final decision maker for a casual meet-and-greet. He showed up in khakis and a sport coat and was caught off-guard when the executive peppered him with questions about his résumé. The executive walked him out after only a few minutes, leaving him thinking, “That did not go well,” says Mr. Borghesi, chief operating officer of Open Systems Technologies, a New York staffing firm.
Mr. Borghesi called the executive and apologized, blaming himself and asking humbly for another chance. The executive said yes and Mr. Borghesi showed up for the second interview dressed “as if straight off a magazine cover,” taking pains to show respect, stand up straight, make eye contact and offer a firm handshake. He got the job.
It is different to ask a boss or a colleague for a do-over. You might make a case that a second chance will benefit your team or department. A do-over can also be a quick way to recover from a misunderstanding.
Shaun Eli Breidbart was shocked when a boss told him in a performance review that he wasn’t showing enough initiative on his job as a bank employee.
Instead of waiting a year for the next review, he asked for another review in three months. He also began taking more initiative. The next review was much better, says Mr. Breidbart. Even so, he has since changed careers and is now a comedian and producer of comedy shows living in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Recovering from a failed presentation isn’t an easy fix, but it can be done. Mr. Hellmann coached a newly promoted marketing director whose boss criticized her after a presentation for finding fault with other departments and straying from the strategy he had set. She became defensive and walked out of the meeting.
Mr. Hellmann urged her to set aside her pride. She apologized to her boss, admitted she shouldn’t have been defensive, repeated his criticisms to ensure that she understood, and asked for a second chance to do a similar presentation. Her boss agreed, and her next performance was a success.
It isn’t wise to ask for a lot of do-overs at the same task, managers say. Jonathan Wasserstrum, chief executive officer of TheSquareFoot.com, a New York real estate technology company, grants them freely “as long as employees are trying to push the ball forward and challenge themselves,” he says.
Write to Sue Shellenbarger at [email protected]
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8min
January 31, 2017 Working Strategies: Are you enjoying your work? By Amy Lindgren
Career Corner is a program produced by the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, part of State Services for the Blind, and it is recorded for people are blind or have reading disabilities. You can listen to the stream of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network at www.mnssb.org/rtb, and the password is RTB. Your host, for Career Corner is Anne Obst.
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Working Strategies: Are you enjoying your work?
By Amy Lindgren | [email protected] |
September 3, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Is your work life fun? I’d quote statistics from any one of the kazillion surveys on this topic, but what’s the point?
The ones sponsored by a job board will tell you everyone hates their work (and should immediately use the board to find new employment) while the surveys sponsored by … hmm. Who exactly benefits from us being happy at work?
That’s part of the problem, I think: We’re a culture that knows how to cash in on the negative emotions, so we tend to study them, discuss them and just generally convince each other that everyone else is unhappy — so we probably are, too.
I don’t have evidence to the contrary, but I do have an odd observation to report. When I meet with people who need new work, it’s very common for them to refer back to an earlier job that was their “favorite,” or even “the best ever.”
Which leaves me wondering: How could we have so many terrific jobs in our individual backgrounds, but so few in our current lives?
I suppose there are a number of possibilities. Perhaps we don’t recognize a job’s better aspects until we’re no longer immersed in it. Or maybe we’re on a collective downhill slide, and our past jobs really were much better than our current work. It’s also possible we delude ourselves into thinking the past was better, conveniently ignoring all the difficulties we faced at the time.
Maybe we were just younger then and our knees didn’t hurt.
I guess I don’t know how to account for this quirky bit of trivia, but it does lead me to a resolution: Knowing that the days I’m living now could turn into my “good old days” later, I’m determined to enjoy them right now, in real time.
To make good on this three-quarter year resolution (it’s not New Year’s anymore, but I’m slipping one in), I think I need to divide my daily experiences into a few categories.
I’m considering a category for gratitude, so I can remind myself to be thankful for (or even just cognizant of) those little graces that slip into each workday unannounced.
Another category would be for small victories that aren’t large enough to be a metric, but which still represent a step forward on my larger goals.
And of course, there needs to be a category for fun. While the other two categories are about recognizing positive events as they happen, this one would require more intention — as in, How will I create some fun today?
Here’s how a set of the three lists might look for a typical few days in my worklife.
THINGS TO BE GRATEFUL FOR
• Staff meetings that run short instead of long
• Payments that arrive early
• Co-workers and clients who are kind and supportive
• Traffic lights that turn green when I’m running late
SMALL VICTORIES
• Clients who like their new resumes
• Financial records that balance on the first accounting
• Workshops that run smoothly, with participants mastering the material
• Difficult interpersonal situations that resolve without drama
FUN
• Heading to the State Fair for a half-day when there’s no reason not to
• Posting new cartoons on my office wall
• Taking a dance break when I need to stay late for a project
• Riding my bike to work so I can take a longer ride on the way home
As you can see, these aren’t very high-test items. No “winning the national sales contest” or “receiving a telephone call from the President.” Just a series of the mundane, everyday things we mostly overlook in our hurry to be upset about something.
As someone who works a lot of long hours without many tangible benefits, I have one more very powerful tool for ensuring I stay engaged and satisfied with my work. Ready? It’s a mantra I’ve made up for myself: “I’m living the life I’ve chosen, and I can choose another life if I wish.”
What this means to me is that I’m never trapped, and that if I’m unhappy with any aspect of my work life, I can make a change. Most of the time, just reminding myself of those key points is enough to help me recover from a particularly aggravating day or situation. Well, that and an adult beverage consumed while watching stupid reruns on television. But that’s another story.
It’s Labor Day weekend, the time we set aside to remember the struggles of earlier workers who helped secure our most basic rights in the workplace. It’s a good time to reflect on what’s going well in our work lives.
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7min
January 31, 2017 10 Things Managers Should Never Ask Employees to Do By Suzanne Lucas
Career Corner is a program produced by the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, part of State Services for the Blind, and it is recorded for people are blind or have reading disabilities. You can listen to the stream of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network at www.mnssb.org/rtb, and the password is RTB. Your host, for Career Corner is Anne Obst.
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10 Things Managers Should Never Ask Employees to Do
Avoid These 10 Actions to Create a Satisfying Workplace for Employees
By Suzanne Lucas
Balance.com, dated December 21, 2016
In the United States, unless you have an employment contract, a manager can require an employee to do just about anything that's legal. But, should they?
Sometimes accidents happen in the workplace—water leaks, copy machines break, infestations occur, the internet goes down, among other unexpected messes that can make the office environment unhealthy or interrupt work—and someone has to clean up. So what should a manager do?
And, what are ten things that a manager should never do?
Anything You Wouldn't Do
Let's talk about cleaning up dirty messes. They are unpleasant tasks, and you likely have maintenance services or building staff to take care of them. But what happens when you are stuck with a mess in the middle of the workday and that service or staff can't take care of it?
If there is someone who has that duty as part of their job description, fabulous. If not, you have to assign it. Don't assign work like that out if you aren't taking your turn. Sooner or later, in a small business, everyone has to do gross things. The boss gets to do it first, otherwise, don't ask your employees.
Cancel a Vacation
Sometimes the world comes to an end, and you truly do need all hands on deck. However, most crises are caused by lack of planning. Don't ask an employee to cancel a pre-planned vacation, especially if there are other friends and family members counting on that person and they have purchased tickets.
Sure, if Bob asked if he could take Tuesday off to clean out his basement, it's okay to ask him if he can take Wednesday instead, but otherwise, vacation time is sacred time. It's part of the compensation package, so don't require an employee to cancel.
Work Off the Clock
This one should be obvious, but it's not.
So often managers are required to reach certain payroll targets and they get punished for authorizing overtime, for instance. This means that a manager can be tempted to tell employees to clock out and then finish mopping up for the night.
Don't do this. Not only is it illegal—all of your non-exempt employees must be paid for every hour worked—it makes your employees bitter and angry. Not a good idea.
Falsify Records
Again, an obvious no-no, but it happens all of the time. It's rarely big things, like falsifying documents to embezzle millions of dollars (although that does happen).
It's usually the little things—like the date received on a document, or sending a vendor an email saying that the check is in the mail when it's not. You and your employees should strive for 100 percent honesty. Don't ask them to lie for you. They will lose all respect for you.
Take the Fall for You
You tell your employee to do X, and it's a failure. When your boss calls you on it, do you say, “I'll speak to Jane about that and make sure that it never happens again.” Or, do you say the right thing, which is, “It was my idea.
I take full responsibility.”
So many bosses do the former. It's understandable—it's a self-preservation reflex—but it's wrong. Your mistake, your consequence. And, that goes for a lot of things you didn't specifically authorize or request either. Your department is your responsibility. It is never okay to throw employees under the bus—even if they made the error.
Work Crazy Hours
Some businesses have crazy hours, especially cyclical ones. Every tax accountant knows that they won't see their families between late February and April 15. But, that's part of the job. It's okay to have a deadline that requires an extra push from time to time, but it's not okay to push your employees to the brink by making them work more hours than they had signed on to work.
If your department isn't getting things done within 40ish hours (or whatever the standard is for your industry), you either need to get approval for a new employee, or change priorities.
Put Up With an Abusive Customer
Every manager should familiarize themselves with harassment laws that make a business liable for sexual, racial, or gender discrimination within the workplace. But, those laws don't stop if the perpetrator is a customer. If you have an abusive customer that is either violating the law by harassing your employee or is just a jerk, you shouldn't force your employee to deal with that person.
Either allow your employee to turn and walk away, take over the customer yourself, or kick the customer to the curb. If it's a business to business relationship, you can often quell the problem by calling your customer's boss, but if not, your employees deserve respectful, professional treatment. See that they get it.
Put Up With a Bully Coworker
Bullying isn't illegal in the US, as long as the reason for the bullying isn't race, gender, or some other protected class. But, no manager should allow bullying in her department.
Work hard to make your department a place where people act with respect. If your departmental bully can't be nice, kick her to the curb—even if she is a top performer. No one deserves to have to work with a jerk, and as the manager, it's your job to get rid of the jerks.
Work While Truly Sick
Yes, if you sent everyone with the sniffles home, everyone would be out of sick days by January 10, but for illnesses with fevers, vomiting, or other contagious conditions, let your employee recover. This is especially true in food service, which is notorious for not allowing sick days.
If you force employees to come into work while sick, they will spread the germs, and everyone else will get sick too. Send them home; they'll recover, and the rest of you will avoid the newest plague (hopefully). Good managers let employees use sick time (and provide sick time in the first place).
Donate to Charity
Yes, charity is fabulous, and many companies want their employees to participate in charitable giving. However, if your employee does not wish to donate part of her salary to the company's cause (or even United Way, which has many causes), do not force her.
When you offered her a salary, the employee was counting on that being her actual pay. Requiring her to donate is docking her salary. You may think her salary is generous and she should be grateful, but you have no idea what her situation is.
And, even if you know that she's buying a brand new sports car every year, it's still her money. Do not punish anyone for not supporting the company cause.
If you take care of these 10 workplace issues—or better, never let them get started in the first place—you will have taken major steps to create a workplace that employees will appreciate. You'll reduce voluntary turnover and have happier, more satisfied employees.
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9min
January 31, 2017 The 10 Biggest Misconceptions About Remote Work, trello.com
Career Corner is a program produced by the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network, part of State Services for the Blind, and it is recorded for people are blind or have reading disabilities. You can listen to the stream of the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network at www.mnssb.org/rtb, and the password is RTB. Your host, for Career Corner is Anne Obst.
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The 10 Biggest Misconceptions About Remote Work, trello.com
Remote work is on the rise. Believe it or not, employees are opting for 30 more minutes of shut eye over 30 minutes in traffic. Turns out they prefer home cooked meals at a kitchen table over microwaved frozen meals in the breakroom. They’re also choosing impactful co-worker collaboration over water cooler gossip. In short, remote work is working.
According to a 2015 Gallup poll, 37% of the US labor force works remotely, and that number is only rising. Yet, misconceptions and stigmas persist about remote work—things like work attire (Do remote workers even get dressed?) and level of commitment (If they can’t be bothered to get to an office, they can’t possibly care that much).
It’s time to put stereotypes to rest. For the naysayers of remote work, here are 10 debunked myths about this growing sector.
Myth 1: Remote Work Means Productivity Decreases
It’s easy to assume that someone who works remotely is more distracted because they don’t have a boss within earshot to keep tabs on them. But, a study by the Harvard Business Review proves the contrary, noting some companies saw worker productivity increase by 13.5% after permitting remote work.
Someone working outside of the office has fewer distractions to contend with, like the common breakroom effect—the idea that workers are being pulled away from their desks to chat over coffee or share a piece of cake for a colleague’s birthday. Remote workers avoid these interruptions and the time needed to refocus after the interruption.
Myth 2: Remote Workers Are Out Of Contact
Just because remote workers are not in an office doesn’t mean they’re off having a picnic somewhere. Their work is likely tied to a business that operates during regular business hours with a team clocking in a fairly standard eight hour work day. According to Maren Donovan, CEO of Zirtual, “Business thrives upon other people's deadlines and needs.”
In a survey conducted by TINYpulse on the satisfaction and productivity of remote workers, a whopping 52% reported having contact with their manager at least once daily, with an additional 34% reporting once a week interactions with managers.
So, it’s unlikely that a remote worker can take three hours in the middle of the day for a spa appointment without repercussion.
Myth 3: Remote Work Means Your Data Is Unsafe
Many worry that transferring company information and data to computers on unsecured servers will lead to breaches in confidentiality. This is simply not true. Technology has advanced as such that a qualified IT team can keep these types of issues to a minimum.
There are a wealth of safe solutions being leveraged by IT teams everywhere. Setting employees up with cloud-based applications means the security is outsourced to vetted software programs, and IT teams can monitor version control without needing access to an employee’s physical machine. In addition, good security practices like setting up two factor authentication and virtual private networks (VPN) ensures that information is locked down and unable to be breached by unauthorized people.
As many would argue, someone who intends to steal information will do so regardless of their work location. This, like many issues with remote work, are people problems, not location problems.
Myth 4: Communication Suffers
When someone works remotely it does not mean the quality of communication goes down. Telecommunication removes in-person nuances and helps employees to dive right into the meaningful work. Yet, for this to work, managers need to outline clear expectations and tools for communication should someone choose to work remotely.
There’s also a growing trend of remote companies going to great lengths to provide digital methods of socialization. Setting aside intentional blocks of time for casual “breakroom talk” via video calls, non-work related Slack channels (pets, kids, and sports channels are always a hit), and offsite meetups are all ways that remote teams foster communication and feel connected.
Myth 5: Meetings Are Ineffective
Like other forms of communication, meetings actually become more effective when conducted via Skype, Zoom, or other tech.
When the people needed to accomplish a project work in the same space daily, there’s a feeling that the attention of the team and ability to work on this one initiative are unlimited. Remote teams, however, are more conscious of different time zones and workloads when there’s a specific time allotted for a particular project.
Myth 6: Remote Workers Are Lonely
Working remotely does not mean being holed up in a silo all day. It’s true that someone who works remotely may choose to work alone in their home on occasion. But that’s not their only option. Coffee shops, libraries, and coworking spaces are exceedingly popular among these “office-less” workers.
New sites like Workfrom are aggregating the feedback of remote workers to curate the best public locations for getting stuff done. There are even startups focused on bringing remote workers into unoccupied spaces, like restaurants, during work hours.
The social aspect of work is more deliberate, but certainly not diminished in a remote work setting.
Myth 7: Remote Work Increases Costs
Some people assume that the IT concerns actually increase the cost of employing a remote worker. Overall, this is simply not true. Admittedly there are added initial shipping costs to provide desks and equipment to someone wherever they’re located. Overall, however, remote workers end up being cheaper.
Overhead costs actually decrease because larger office spaces are not needed, reducing money spent on sky-high rent, furniture, maintenance, and in-office amenities such as coffee, food, and copy machines. Not to mention the reduced carbon footprint of the company due to employees’ lack of commutes.
Myth 8: Company Culture Suffers
It’s a valid claim that office camaraderie is not the same when some of the team works off site. But what makes a company great is not the water cooler gossip--which can actually make your company culture suffer--but the way employees are treated and the value they are shown. Simple tweaks to communication strategies ameliorate this issue entirely.
Managers do need to make a conscious effort to show the importance they place on each team member if they’re not available for a daily stop and chat, but it’s not seen to ruin positive cultures.
Myth 9: Remote Workers Are Working 24/7
Just because someone does not physically arrive at and leave an office each day does not mean that they never clock out. Remote workers keep similar schedules to their office counterparts and the same expectations of work-life balance should be placed upon them.
Similarly, for friends of remote workers, just because they work from home--or away from an office--does not mean they are the go-to person for an early happy hour drink or last minute airport ride. There’s still a job to get done.
Myth 10: Netflix Is Streaming All Day
Remote workers likely enjoy the same background noise as office workers--be it keeping the radio or Spotify on in the background. However, this group also tends to overcompensate for their lack of facetime by placing more structure in their days.
Remote workers report that they do actually put on pants every day and find it just as hard as office workers to focus and remain productive while watching their favorite show.
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9min

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