All About Working

• Go personal and communicate – make employees feel like “part of the family.”
• Give attention and recognition
• Give chances to learn new skills

Read the entire article here.

“Paula Abdul quits American Idol.”

Yes, this morning’s news is filled with reports that Paula Abdul will not be returning as a judge on the ever-popular American Idol television show. According to sources close to her, FOX offered her a contract and it was her decision to turn it down. Ms. Abdul has been the judge who continually provides some sort of positive feedback to the contestants when they perform on the show. She was a welcome balance between the harshness of Simon Cowell and the “Hey Dog” and pitchiness comments by Randy Jackson.

This turn of events got me wondering several things:

Was money the issue?

Did last season’s addition of a fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi change the way Ms. Abdul was able to do her work? She seemed to change parts of the style she had been using last season and perhaps it didn’t feel right?

Is Ms. Abdul losing the satisfaction and motivation for working with the show?

Although American Idol is show business, it still is just that, business. And as all businesses do, it employs people and provides them with jobs. Many of the same dynamics are at work here as we see in businesses every single day. So what can we glean from this situation?

First the money issue. Figures of 45 million dollar contracts for host Ryan Seacrest have also been in the headlines. So perhaps the value of the job being done is in question?

But is money the only reason why people work? Research has shown that it is not the highest factor on the list of why people stay at a job

Could it be that the desire to work on other things has become more important? Maybe, the motivation that Ms. Abdul once had on the American Idol set is no longer there?

How many times do we question the value of why we remain on a job?

Do we remain doing work that gives us no satisfaction because we have to keep the paycheck coming? Do we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn new skills that could lead us to a more satisfying way to make our living?

Sometimes it takes a headline in the news to look at our own situations and realize that motivation plays a critical role in our work life. If money is your motivation, then go for the job that is going to get you the dollars you seek. If deriving satisfaction from the work you do is the motivating force, then make sure you are getting the amount that you need.

Seek out opportunities that best fit the goals of your life.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that some companies are unveiling new benefits such as child-care centers, backup child care, scholarships for employees’ kids, concierge services, adoption benefits and expanded health care.

Why now in this economy?

These companies have an unusually long-term view and a refreshing note of optimism that underlies it. Staffs are already lean, and eventually the economy will rebound. If companies lose more workers, they fear being too understaffed to cash in when that day comes.

Consider this:

A study cited last year in Harvard Business Review said even a small layoff shocks and demoralizes survivors so much that many walk out the door at the first opportunity, raising voluntary quit rates an average 31% above previous levels. Source

Installing these programs now can help eliminate that concern.

A few of the companies mentioned included Intel, Discovery Communications, Brown-Forman, USAA, Yum! Brands and Cardinal Health.

With the uncertain environment in many companies today, a positive relationship with your boss is more essential than ever.

In a blog posted on Yahoo! this morning, Kip Parent says this:

So, here is a key to putting yourself in the best possible position when and if it comes to that point. I call it the “Secret of 4,” which I learned personally through the school of hard-won experience but later discovered it explained by Dr. David Keirsey, author of the bestselling books “Please Understand Me” and “Please Understand Me II.”

According to Dr. Keirsey, a renowned psychologist who has spent 60 years observing people and organizations, there are 4 basic temperaments that categorize people (think Harry Potter and the Hogwarts Sorting Hat):

The four categories are:

• Guardians
• Artisans
• Idealists
• Rationals

Read more about what their traits include here.

Yesterday Citigroup announced a very optimistic claim that the bank was profitable. The news led to the biggest day rally upwards on Wall Street this year. Today, stocks are choppy but are generally heading into positive territory again as the closing bell approaches.

The upward rally was big all because Citigroup had 2 profitable months. One has to wonder if that is the beginning of something good. Or is it just another blimp along the way.

How did your workplace respond to this news? Does the market influence where you work or is it just another piece of news?

But there are parallels here. Sometimes we have to celebrate in the midst of the doldrums. Can we find reasons at our own workplace to celebrate? I think we need to.

Yesterday, I was searching my sources for some word of people having fun at work. Those sources just aren’t coming up with anything much anymore. I had just decided to put off an article on that topic when the news broke. I guess I had my own private celebration – because I want to believe we will move past all of this.

The current economic condition is not over – not by a long shot. But I got a glimpse yesterday of a possible recovery. I’ll hold on to that.

NOTE: The Fun at Work Category was not used on this article! Anxiously awaiting the day it will be again.

Last night during his first formal address to Congress, President Obama vowed the U.S. will recover from this economic crisis.  His speech gave some interesting indications that his administration will be looking to keep jobs in the United States.  He was inspiring as he said “we are not quitters.”

Earlier in the day, the Stock Market rallied after hearing that the recession might end this year.

Two very positive things in one day.   And they came at a time when business on the whole could probably use the boost.

How does this affect people as they walk back into work this morning?  Does it give you something to think about?  Does it give you something to hope for?

Sometimes, you need to get motivation anywhere and everywhere.   Since I have started researching and writing this blog, the news has been grim for the most part.  It’s tough to not mention how bad the economy is, and how many people are hurting because of it.  Waking up to plunging market prices and new waves of layoffs is not the ideal way to pump myself up.

So I’m hanging onto what I heard yesterday, and I’m going to enjoy the ride today.  I hope it has the same effect on others who read this.  One day of optomism can lead to a ripple effect.  Keep it going, please.

It’s so important to keep that optimistic outlook when we’re working. But when deadlines are mounting and uncertainty of the times erupts, it gets more and more difficult to maintain.

Here is a terrific post on a personal development blog that is well worth reading. Titled How To Gain An Optimistic Outlook That Will Turn Your Life Around, it starts like this:

Conceivably you usually consider yourself to be in the main an optimistic person. Even so there are regular times in our lives when our views change and we get that well-known sense that our circumstances could be enhanced; indeed at times it even reaches the point where feelings of despondency overhaul us.

To read the rest of this very inspiring blog post, click here. It might be some of the most important minutes you spend catching up on your reading today.

A very interesting article was published in today’s New York Times and it is available online. This is one that is well worth reading. The title is Fear in the Workplace and it starts off like this:

The economy lost 524,000 jobs in December, raising the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent. More than 10 million Americans are now unemployed. Many more millions of Americans worry about their own job security. These anxieties are transforming the workplace. Employees may be working harder, experts say, but they may also be less productive. What is the toll on individual workers and on the economy as a whole? Our Room for Debate panelists try to answer the question.

To read the entire article, go here.

Times are tough in many workplaces right now. The end of the year bonuses that were fairly common in many companies didn’t make it to employee’s hands this year. But some companies are being innovative. They are replacing the bonus with creative alternatives that cost far less but do boost employee morale.

I saw an article about a company in the Philadelphia area that is giving a day at the spa to their employees. It is running about $120 a person for a group of 15. It doesn’t break the budget and employees get to enjoy a day of pampering. And I’d be willing to bet that spas right now would be willing to negotiate some for larger groups, especially during their quieter times.

Nationally, bonuses have taken some wallops.

The Society for Human Resource Management survey of its members in October found that half of 446 respondents expected to cut employee bonuses if “the current financial challenges to the U.S. economy continue.”

“Cash bonuses are more challenging for more and more companies,” said Jennifer Schramm, manager of workplace trends and forecasting for the society. “At this part of the recession, people are really starting to think about these issues.”

Maybe there is no need to go the Jelly of the Month Club route like Clark Griswald’s boss did in Christmas Vacation. But ideas like a day at the spa create goodwill and relaxation for busy employees.

There are all kinds of dreams that keep us motivated at work. Here are two examples of goal setting that serves as motivation.

First, a story about a man who is building his own cabin in Maine.

Right now, it’s no more than four rows of holes in the ground where I will set the concrete pillars on which the house will sit, looking down an oak-and-beech hillside to a small pond.

Still, the cabin hovers in my imagination as a finished structure — tight and snug as a cedar chest, its timber frame pegged and mortised, and a fire ticking in the wood stove.

I haven’t picked out the bedding yet, though I’m leaning toward Hudson’s Bay blankets, and I’ve decided that I want built-in bookcases in my paneled writing room. The books will lean toward field guides and long novels. The first meal I make will be a breakfast of blueberry pancakes and black coffee. I’m looking around now for a good price on a giant skillet.
Read more here.

And something for those who are working at a home based business:

This simple task will add that extra little push, that motivation to work even when you don’t want to, and to push yourself that much harder because you see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is BRIGHT! …

Home Based Business Success – Goal Setting – Set Them in Stone!
By Roger Moody