This Sure Feels Like A Recession

This Sure Feels Like A Recession It was funny to hear debates on whether we were in a recession or not.   For many people, this is a real recession. Not a recession for you?   Great.   Good for you. A few days ago I heard a radio ad that said if this feels like a recession for you or something like that.   I think were in for a few rough years.   Maybe we arent in a national recession. But for 50,000 Citigroup people, its a personal recession. For 60,000 post office employees its a personal recession. For businesses who didnt make it through this last year, its a personal recession. For the hundreds of homes in my neighborhood who are forced to be on the market, its a personal recession. For the guy/gal who was happily employed a year ago, and now watching coworkers drop like flies, the smell of personal recession is in the air. Last weekend a guy in Silicon Valley who got laid off went back and killed the CEO and two others.   Personal recession and major workplace tragedy. There are some who are going to be prepared, and some who are going to have their worlds rocked.   I really, really hope that you are doing the things you can to prepare for a personal recession. When can it happen?   Who knows.   I had my personal recession when it was a job seekers market.   Go figure. This Sure Feels Like A Recession It was funny to hear debates on whether we were in a recession or not.   For many people, this is a real recession. Not a recession for you?   Great.   Good for you. A few days ago I heard a radio ad that said if this feels like a recession for you or something like that.   I think were in for a few rough years.   Maybe we arent in a national recession. But for 50,000 Citigroup people, its a personal recession. For 60,000 post office employees its a personal recession. For businesses who didnt make it through this last year, its a personal recession. For the hundreds of homes in my neighborhood who are forced to be on the market, its a personal recession. For the guy/gal who was happily employed a year ago, and now watching coworkers drop like flies, the smell of personal recession is in the air. Last weekend a guy in Silicon Valley who got laid off went back and killed the CEO and two others.   Personal recession and major workplace tragedy. There are some who are going to be prepared, and some who are going to have their worlds rocked.   I really, really hope that you are doing the things you can to prepare for a personal recession. When can it happen?   Who knows.   I had my personal recession when it was a job seekers market.   Go figure. This Sure Feels Like A Recession It was funny to hear debates on whether we were in a recession or not.   For many people, this is a real recession. Not a recession for you?   Great.   Good for you. A few days ago I heard a radio ad that said if this feels like a recession for you or something like that.   I think were in for a few rough years.   Maybe we arent in a national recession. But for 50,000 Citigroup people, its a personal recession. For 60,000 post office employees its a personal recession. For businesses who didnt make it through this last year, its a personal recession. For the hundreds of homes in my neighborhood who are forced to be on the market, its a personal recession. For the guy/gal who was happily employed a year ago, and now watching coworkers drop like flies, the smell of personal recession is in the air. Last weekend a guy in Silicon Valley who got laid off went back and killed the CEO and two others.   Personal recession and major workplace tragedy. There are some who are going to be prepared, and some who are going to have their worlds rocked.   I really, really hope that you are doing the things you can to prepare for a personal recession. When can it happen?   Who knows.   I had my personal recession when it was a job seekers market.   Go figure.

Nine Tips to Working with FamilyAnd Still Like Each Other

Nine Tips to Working with Familyâ€"And Still Like Each Other “ Working with family? I could never do that.”  If you’ve ever thought this, you’re not alone. So many people think that their family dynamics just could not transfer to the workplace. But I’m here to tell you working with family is possible. I founded a company that employs several of my children and their spouses. Working closely with family members has its challenges, but it’s also so fulfilling to build something meaningful together. Here are 9 things we do as co-working family members to make it work: Understand and respect each other’s true natures. I developed a system called Energy Profiling, which identifies the 4 main ways that people move through the world. This system helps us understand each other’s personalities, priorities, gifts and challenges. I know which family members on my team jump right in and which ones need time to think decisions through. By understanding one another’s tendencies and traits, we can communicate more effectively to avoid emotionally triggering each other. Keep it professional. My children never refer to me as Mom in the workplace. They call me by my first name, Carol. Respect roles and responsibilities. We recognize who has the decision-making power over certain areas in our company and we support that family member. For example, my son-in-law is the CEO. Although I am the Founder, it is important that I respect his role as being in charge of day-to-day operations. If I have any concerns or a difference of opinion, we have a weekly CEO/Founder executive meeting that I can address them in. Don’t talk about business outside of business. We have a family rule that when we are together for family time, the conversation of business needs to be checked at the door. We want to nurture our family relationships and make sure they are not just built on a business interaction. Pay employees based on their role in the business. Whether an employee is family or not, we pay them based on the role they play and the industry value of that role. They each have a chance to affect the bottom line of our financial success and be a beneficiary of bonuses Invest in resources that support better communication. At a time when we were faced with some family issues that were challenging to keep separate from business, we hired a trained psychotherapist who came to our office to teach us communication skills. We had to talk about some sensitive topics that had a lot of potential to damage our long-term family relationships. Investing time and resources into more effective communication skills made all of the difference in helping us navigate a potentially damaging experience that could have taken years to heal. State our values and strive to live by them. Our company motto is “I Love My Life.” We believe that the company is meant to support us in a healthy work-life balance and if what we do at work interferes with that, we make changes. We are all committed to living true to our company values and we hold each other accountable for that. Not only work together, we travel together. Traveling gives us a chance to experience each other in a different setting, to take off our work hats and remove ourselves from the day-to-day work and family routine. We are also able to bring along our grandchildren, which strongly reminds us to focus on our family during our trip. Learn lessons from old family patterns. I grew up in a family business. I learned what not to do and what was healthy. Being the second generation to create and build a family business has helped me avoid numerous mistakes. My father was a very successful entrepreneur who had difficulty putting aside business to be a present father. My father’s negligence has provided me a great lesson that I fortunately did not have to re-create. I am mindful as a mother that my first priority is my family. Every week, I examine my schedule to see how much time I give to work vs family to make sure there is balance. What’s the biggest key to working with family? If you look at my list, you’ll see that everything on it is an intentional choice. Through my business, I teach people that they have incredible power to create the experience that they choose. We practice that together as a family. Whether you’re considering a family business or you’re already in one, your thoughtful choices will influence how supportive that experience turns out for you. My family members and I enjoy each other’s company and I feel it’s a great privilege to work together with them. If you’re drawn to work with your sibling, parent, or child, try these tips. You may find you love working with family after all. This guest post was authored by Carol Tuttle. Carol Tuttle is the CEO of Live Your Truth, LLC.   Shes also a teacher, speaker, gifted healer, best-selling author, and pioneer in the field of personal development. For over 25 years, she has supported millions worldwide with her life-changing books and online courses, including Energy Profiling. Her sixth book, Mastering Affluence, guides you through six transformative lessons to create a life you love. Learn more at healwithcarol.com and connect with her on Twitter    @caroltuttle  

Business Startup Success Story - Classy Career Girl

Business Startup Success Story Hey everyone! I wanted to stop and share some business startup success stories! My Corporate Rescue Plan clients are knocking it out of the park these days! Yesterday, I received this video from my client, Rebecca. I was so inspired and excited for them that I decided that this month I wanted to do something special. (But first, watch these!!) Hi, my name is Rebecca, Im from San Diego and I recently launched CreativeHabitit.org with a mission to help women reclaim their time and carve out space to really develop their creative gifts and get more balance in their daily living. This is thanks to a vision I have had for a long time and also because of the guidance I have received my coach, Anna Runyan. Before meeting Anna I was a recovering perfectionist and that sometimes kept me from taking action and feeling like what I was doing wasn’t enough to move my business forward. But with Anna’s help I have really learned that big dreams are made by baby steps and many imperfect actions on the way to that big dream. What I have really learned more than anything with Anna’s coaching is that anything is possible if you are willing to put in the time if you are willing to take those baby steps and imperfect action. In the last 6 months I have started a website and a blog. I have a pilot group for 2 of the different services I plan to offer in my business . I am in the beginning stages but I know with Anna’s help and success mindset and with the tools and strategies with online marketing that Corporate Rescue Plan has, 2016 is going to be the year that my business soars. I highly encourage working with Anna. She meets you where you are at, she really talks you through your goals and she provides her story as well which I found very relatable. She also helps you overcome your perfectionism mindset thoughts that can hold you back so you can move forward. Thank you Anna. I look forward to what 2016 holds for myself and other entrepreneurs who have the privilege of working with you. (What Rebecca didn’t tell you is that she is doing all this WITH a full-time job and a 1 year old too. Not only is she helping other women find their creativity and balance but she is learning and demonstrating it herself too! Congrats Rebecca!) Alright, are you ready to make your business startup dreams happen this year? If so, join me TODAY on my free webinar The 5 Steps to Ditch Your Day Job and Transition Into a Profitable, Freedom-Based Business. Hurry and sign up now here. We even have a few spots left for today! See you soon! Anna P.S. This webinar is perfect for serious ambitious women who are ready to make their business startup dream happen this year. Ready? Lets go!

What is Social Proof and Why its Essential for Recruitment Agencies

What is Social Proof and Why its Essential for Recruitment Agencies Wikipedia  describes social proof as:  â€œA psychological phenomenon wherein people copy the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation.” Robert Cialdini, the Professor of Psychology Marketing who coined the term, goes on to say that social proof  â€œis driven by the assumption that the surrounding people possess more knowledge about the current situation”. Put simply… We rely on the input of others in order to make a decision. It’s like peer pressure, but more scientific. How do you choose a restaurant? Or a hotel? How do you pick a doctor? How do you decide what to buy online? In all these scenarios you have a myriad of choices available to you. So, how do you choose? Maybe you’ll check what the industry experts think. Or maybe you’ve had a recommendation from a friend whose judgment you trust. Or perhaps, you’ll simply check online to see what other people have said about the product or service. Theres one common string that ties these scenarios together: They all involve some form of social proof. Social Proof is the reason we look up if everyone else is looking up, it’s the reason we choose a busy restaurant over an empty one, and it’s the reason  90% of people read online reviews before choosing a product or service. Its a concept inherent to human beings. An inescapable symptom of the human condition. And it’s  heavily leveraged in marketing. A powerful marketing tool for your agency Every business needs to build trust. Trust is a key requirement to attract, convert and retain customers. As a recruitment agency, your business is unique in that your main asset and your customer is the same thing: people. You’re in the business of finding the right people for your clients, who â€" until the robots take over â€" are also people. The better you are at finding, attracting and matching people with jobs, the more successful your recruitment agency will be. It doesn’t need to be emphasized then, how important earning the trust of your candidates and clients is. If your agency is trusted by the candidates and clients that you’ve worked with, then you stand to gain a better quantity and quality of both candidates and clients in the future. This, in turn, leads to an improved industry reputation, and the cycle continues. When it comes to building trust in your agency, social proof is the most powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal. Mistrust of Advertising The modern world is shaped by advertisements. They make up the lion’s share of the revenue for most media, be it digital or traditional. And most companies, big and small, dedicate a healthy chunk of their budget to advertising. It should worry businesses then, to learn that advertisements are becoming increasingly ineffective. Studies suggest  that around 69% of people mistrust company advertisements, with the figure being as high as 84% in millennials. This is a rising trend, with 43% of people claiming to trust advertisements less than they used to. The reason behind this slow demise of the advertising industry is simple: People do not find advertisements to be genuine.  People are less interested in what a business says about itself and more intrigued by what others have to say about it. Social Proof for Recruitment Agencies The best way to demonstrate social proofs importance to recruitment agencies is by example. Let’s look at a typical journey for approaching a passive candidate (this can be applied to a client approach too!). You send a message (email, LinkedIn, Facebook message, etc.) to a candidate you’ve identified for a role. Assuming the candidate opens your message, it’s highly likely their next step will be to do some research (perhaps even before reading the content of the message itself). They’ll probably look at your website and your LinkedIn profile, they may even look you up on Google to see what else they can find. And what is it that the candidate is looking for?  Social Proof. Whether or not that candidate replies to your message will be massively influenced by the results of their research into you and your agency. If their research unveils bad reviews, or an out-of-date website without any testimonials or live jobs, or no website at all (!), or an empty LinkedIn profile, the list goes on; then the chances are youll never hear back from them. To rub salt in the wound, they could even decide to apply to your client directly (if youve let slip who the company is). Afterall, why should they trust you to manage their career given what others are saying? On the other hand, if the candidates research is met with positive ratings and reviews from other candidates that have used your service, then their perception will be positive. Theyll trust you. Even if the job youve approached them about isnt of interest, youve greatly increased your chances of starting a relationship. Simply put, its essential to build trust in that early research. If youre unable to do so, youre 100% losing out. About the author: George Vincent is the Co-Founder of Preferrd, a reviews platform built specifically for recruitment agencies.

Why HR Leaders Should Stop Glorifying Gamification CareerMetis.com

Why HR Leaders Should Stop Glorifying Gamification â€" CareerMetis.com Source â€" DepositPhotos.comJust a handful of years ago, gamification was a hot topic in the HR world, and a trend to watch in other disciplines such as education and healthcare. Heralded as a “win-win” situation by large companies like Deloitte and GE, gamification elements were integrated with enthusiasm across the business spectrum.Coming in the form of incentivized contests for which the goal is to learn material or complete tasks, gamification usees fun exercises to create more skilled, knowledgeable employees and a healthier company.The past years have seen an increasing recognition of gamification systems as a method to architect human behavior, and success stories like those of SAP demonstrate how the concept can induce innovation, productivity, and engagement.SAP’s Streamwork system, for instance, is a gamified collaboration platform that was deployed to its internal brainstorming sessions and helped produce 58% more new ideas.evalSimilarly, firms like Galderma have us ed gamification to train employeeson their entire product line, and despite the game being voluntary, it was so fun that 92% of employees participated.Is gamification really everything it’s made out to be?evalThese benefits take some of the burden off HR but are mostly hype. Trendsetters pushed gamification hard due to its unique experiential elements, but now that it’s had time to sink in, its flaws are exposed.One of the biggest issues with gamification is that it simply takes too much time and removes employees from a productive mindset in exchange for more thorough training. Not all employees may need this training, but for the purposes of competition, there must be a variety of participants, which also makes sense if you’re trying to get as much ROI from your gamification investment as possible.Time-Crunched Employees Exasperated by GamesUnfortunately, this is difficult when employees already lack time for new things outside of their regular scope of work, and it’s near ly impossible to design a valuable gamified business flow that is relevant to all employees’ daily tasks.Deloitte estimates that employees can only spare 1.00% of their regular workweeksto focus on training and development outside of their normal tasks, which are already optimized to add to the bottom line. Removing them from the “assembly line”, as it were, will result in lower output and fuel a harmful notion called context switching.Context switching is a type of project fatigue that is exhausting for workers because it forces them to interrupt what they were doing, shift gears, and absorb themselves in something else.This is the same reason why companies are hesitant about onboarding new software, given that reports on the true cost of multitasking indicate a full context switch takes 25-30 minutes before regaining focus. Moving from one context or interface to another might not seem difficult, but now that the real cost of gamification-induced multitasking can be measured , companies have shied away from it as the end-all be-all solution.Introducing Inter-Workflow EducationevalSo how can HR act to better train employees, both new and tenured? The best bet is to reduce focus on the game aspect and increase attention on the material, but also to blend the material better into typical workflows. It may not be as immediately engaging for employees as a game, but firms won’t feel pressured to recapture development expenses through participation and will therefore avoid the costs of this engagement in the context of a regular workday.The new alternative HR method for training is called “learning in the flow of work.” Learning in the flow of work involves integrating educational guides and knowledge bases into the tools that employees use for their daily job.Also called microlearning or performance support, the idea is that instead of subjecting employees to macrolearning concepts such as a standalone training game or course, they have helpful resourc es built into the systems that they’ll use even after they’re trained.It could come in the form of a question mark button in the company’s internal workflow that reminds employees of tips and the tool’s nuances. AI is also assisting microlearning platforms to recognize user behaviorand prompt struggling employees to acknowledge tips and supplementary content in the form of popups before continuing with their interaction.evalThis type of contextual learning was described over a decade ago in a breakthrough article that should have also been evidence of gamification’s insufficiency. Entitled “Repeated Retrieval During Learning Is the Key to Long-Term Retention,” the piece published in the Journal of Memory and Languageshowed that learning in the flow of work does wonders for knowledge retention, reducing the need to fruitlessly disrupt people for the same purpose in a more inefficient manner.With the fun aspect of gamification gaining attention just a year or two later, it took a while for employers to get off the wagon, but now most recognize that different solutions are needed.In the Flow of Work, and In the ZoneLinkedIn’s 2018 Workplace Learning report came to the same conclusion, with the astonishing statistic that over 58% of employees would prefer to learn at their own pace and 49% in the flow of work, assuming that they had time for it at all. Employers in the report cited this lack of learning time as the No. 1 most common problem facing their employee training efforts.There are already workflow learning tools being released for the most popular platforms like Salesforce, which automatically provide employees with short curated how-to videos when they log on and before they do certain tasks, depending on their past exposure to these tasks, the length of their employment, and the frequency of their time in the system.By taking a “learning in the flow of work” approach, you can decimate the time to competency for employees, improve empl oyee engagement, reduce frustration with unfamiliar technology, and help employees become meaningful participants faster.As training technology continues to evolve, the most effective examples will be those that promote learning in the flow of work, not gamification or others that take the scenic path to employee competence rather than the most optimal one.

3 Mistakes That Will Kill Your Farming Business Before It Grows

3 Mistakes That Will Kill Your Farming Business Before It Grows Starting your own farm is a big decision and there are a lot of challenges to face along the way, but there is also a lot of government assistance available to help you get it started. It’s also a very good industry to get into if you’re fed up with the business world. If you can build a sustainable farm, you can make a decent living from it fairly easily. Everybody needs to eat after all. However, farming is a skill that you have to learn and there are a lot of things that you can get wrong in those first few months and years. If you’re considering starting your own farm, make sure that you avoid these basic mistakes. Buying The Wrong Farm Choosing a farm to buy is the first step and if you get it wrong, you’re never going to get anywhere. Finding somewhere that has a good amount of land and a decent property (if you plan to live there) is the bare minimum. What a lot of people don’t realize is that they need to find out what they’re actually going to be able to grow there. You can’t assume that every farm is fertile because it might not be. Before you agree to anything, you need to have soil testing carried out on the farm. That will tell you which crops are going to thrive on your farm, if any. Then you need to look at the markets for those crops and make sure that you can actually build a business on them. If you just blindly buy a farm without checking the soil, you might end up with a very expensive plot of land that you can’t do anything with. Location is important too because you need to think about how you’re going to distribute your product once you’ve grown it. It’s always a good idea to find a farm that has a town or city fairly close so you’ve got a local market for your produce. Disease Prevention If you’re farming livestock, you need to be aware that they’re prone to disease. Outbreaks of disease are one of the biggest causes of financial disaster in the farming industry so you need to know how to prevent it. Usually, it comes down to how you manage your livestock; keeping them indoors is a more cost effective way of farming but it does increase the chances of disease outbreaks. Spreading Yourself Too Thin You might think that it’s a good idea to start planting 3 different crops and farming cows at the same time. For an experienced farmer, that’s manageable, but for a beginner it’s going to be tough. In most cases, if you spread yourself too thin like that, you’re not going to end up with a good end product. Start slowly with one simple crop for the first season or two and then gradually build it up as you become more confident. Any one of these mistakes could kill your farming business before you even get it off the ground so make sure that you avoid them.

Get Noticed With a Professional Resume Writing Service Near You

Get Noticed With a Professional Resume Writing Service Near YouCan you imagine the easy life if you could just have a resume written by an executive resume writing service near you? Maybe, it might not sound like a very good life, but it really is a great life. If you want to get ahead in your career, you need to know how to prepare your resume so that it stands out from the others and gets you the interview that you need.There are various things that you need to keep in mind when writing your resume. Most importantly, you need to make sure that your resume looks professional, that it speaks to the hiring manager. And it needs to be consistent in its design and content.You will need to have a resume for multiple positions. Because you will be able to write about each position, you need to make sure that you are able to spell it out clearly so that the hiring manager knows exactly what you are applying for. You also need to make sure that you can convey that you have expertise in your job. This is a big factor because hiring managers don't want to hire someone who is a jack of all trades.You will want to write your resume in an organized way so that it doesn't look like a random jumble of information. That way, you will be able to better describe your strengths and weaknesses and apply them to each position. For example, you can list your skills as a team player and be very specific about how you perform under pressure.You need to write your resume quickly so that you can get it down on paper. Just think of how much time it would take to have your resume professionally written and then printed for you by an executive resume writing service near you. You will save so much time.You should write your resume for the person that is reviewing it. If you take too long or you put too much thought into the writing process, then the person reviewing your resume may not be impressed. And since you can't take any risks, you will be glad that you did your work on time.You ca n find many types of executive resume writing services, so do your research before choosing one. Find one that fits your needs. They should be able to meet all of your needs and ensure that you get the results that you need.Executive resume writing service near me will help you get noticed and your application reviewed faster. It will allow you to get the interview that you deserve and the job that you want. If you're ready to get back to working and doing what you love and finally get the recognition that you deserve, consider using a professional resume writing service.