Thanks For Your Job Offer, but No Thanks

Several years ago, I recruited a candidate for a position and things appeared to be on track process-wise.

Mary (name changed to protect her identity) had the "right" resume, background, and experience for the post, those who interviewed Mary liked her, so I confidently offered her the position.

Two days later, I received a note in the mail from Mary thanking me for the opportunity, but politely declining our offer. To say the least, I was highly disappointed not being able to close our top choice, but over time I've learned that candidates tend to decline formal job offers for many of the following reasons:

Poor Organizational Reputation: After receiving Mary's "thanks, but no thanks" note, I contacted her by phone to ferret out why she declined our offer and after being initially hesitant revealed that she'd discussed our company with her friends and colleagues who dissuaded her from joining our firm.

In the past, the organization earned a reputation as being a bit of a "Wild West Show" and that gets out in an industry where everyone compares notes with one another. This situation occurred less and less over time, but it still stung to lose Mary during that search.

Testing the Marketplace: Once again, you recruit another candidate like Mary who everyone loves and you make a formal employment offer to them; an offer used as "bait" during their salary negotiations with their current employer that they had no intention of leaving in the first place.

In other words, you've been "played," which hurts, but is part of the equation when you recruit talent in a competitive marketplace.

Freddy Krueger: Another time, I had a fantastic candidate that I should have just hired and got her onboard, but at that time was being coached to spread organizational decision making and responsibility, so I had the candidate interview with several managers, hoping that things would go according to plan.

It didn't. She turned down our offer flat. Not happy about the situation, I asked the candidate to lunch to find out what scared a previously-excited candidate off. It turned out that one of our managers behaved like a jerk during her interview and she'd be working closely with this individual, so she decided not to join us.

Freddy left the organization shortly afterward by mutual agreement.

Palace Intrigues: I offered an individual who had been freelancing with us a full-time position; which he declined.

Not only did this candidate turn me down, but shared the details of his offer letter with several employees. We never used his services again.

Thankfully, this was a rare occurrence, but only underscored why a formal recruitment process was in place; which I shelved to bring this "in-house" candidate onboard. Big mistake.

Dead Presidents: Surprisingly, not being able to agree on salary terms largely hasn't been a major stumbling block when I've made job offers in the past. By the time I'd forwarded the formal offer to candidates, we'd usually had a verbal agreement in place that nearly all candidates honored.

However, every once in awhile a candidate would hold me up for an extra $1,000 or $2,000 or extra vacation time. I could usually handle those situations with little difficulty, but sometimes a "Jesse James" candidate would reveal themselves who wanted $5,000 to $10,000 more than we agreed upon verbally and formally. Those were the candidates I generally lost in the end. If a job was budgeted for a $40,000 salary, an extra $10,000 is a lot of money. The candidate's word was also suspect as well.

Changed Their Mind: This has generally been the top reason why candidates have declined formal position offers during my career; they simply decided to stay where they were.

When this happened, it was hard to be upset with someone who thought it through and made an important decision, because in the end it's their life and career, not mine or the companies I represented.

Source:Brian A

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WHY IT'S TIME TO MANAGE PROGRESS AND NOT PEOPLE

TELLING YOUR WORKERS TO BE MORE ENGAGED JUST WON'T WORK. LEADERSHIP IS ABOUT PUTTING MECHANISMS IN PLACE THAT WILL ENCOURAGE THEIR PROGRESS.

The farmer is in the business of growing plants, the physician that of curing patients, the teacher that of educating students. But the very grammar of those clauses betrays a misunderstanding.

The farmer does not grow the plant, the plant does; the physician does not make the patient healthier, the patient grows healthier; and the teacher cannot command the student to learn, that growth must happen within the student.

Instead, what these noble professions do is arrange the circumstances for the beings they are taking care of so that they may flourish.

You cannot tell a flower to grow, but you can help it to do so. The farmer is mindful of the seasons and plants seeds when most suited; the physician studies a patient’s case history and integrates treatment into that larger narrative; the teacher tailors her lessons to the lives of her students, allowing the material to be as relatable as possible.

 

We can add leaders to that list of helpers.

The people we work with are not so unlike the plants the farmer grows--we can’t simply tell them to grow.

The growing happens within them, and for people to want to work rather than having to work is actually a matter of managing progress, not people.

PROGRESS PRINCIPLE

Teresa Amabile is a professor and a director of research at Harvard Business School. She began her career researching the nature of creativity, though as of late her focus has shifted to the inner lives of people at work.

She studies how we relate to our achievements both as individuals and within organizations. Her research, including a study of 238 individuals making nearly 12,000 diary entries, skewers the widely held idea that fear and high-pressure cultures are what ensure achievement.

Instead, as she writes in one essay for HBR, people are more creative when they have a positive experience of work, when they think well of their organization and colleagues, and when they find their work meaningful and thus intrinsically motivating. When they are achieving, they see themselves as making progress.
The progress doesn’t need to be monumental. Although there are indeed heroic moments within a career, Amabile notes that a more commonplace victory can be enough, like if you’re a programmer rooting out a difficult bug, the nonprofit director making a draft of a grant application, the high school teacher finishing a day without having to raise his voice, or the executive wrapping up her tasks in time to have dinner with her family.

A HOLISTIC LEADER

When people have these slow, steady daily markers of progress, they feel fulfilled and end the day looking forward to the next one rather than walking out the office door like a zombie. Workaholics aren’t addicted to work; they crave the validation that comes with success.

With that in mind, a humanistic, holistic leader arranges for such moments of progress. In the same way that a farmer tills the soil to help seeds germinate, a leader may till the workflow to allow meaningful progress and the engagement that follows to take root.

Source: FC

TOP 5 REASONS WHY PEOPLE QUIT THEIR JOBS [INFOGRAPHIC]

If you’re an employer, you need to know what will make your employees quit.

What could be the deal breaker? What could cause them to leave suddenly?

Takeaways:

1. Your boss doesn’t trust you – and you want more trust, but you aren’t getting it.
2. The work you are doing is not flexible and you want more space to move.
3. Do you have difficult co-workers? They could make you quit!
4. Has your boss blamed for things that aren’t your fault?
5. Does your job have expectations of you during your time off?

Source: UR

The 7 worst mistakes people make in their 30s

Your 30s are typically a time for settling down, after using your 20s to take risks and find yourself.
Many 30-somethings are busy raising a family and rising through the hierarchy at work.
Those who have already been through that decade say that as their responsibilities accumulated, it became easier to neglect relationships and ignore opportunities that they would never get again.
Quora users discussed lessons they learned in the thread: "What is the biggest mistake you made in your 30s and what did you learn from it?"
We've collected some of the best responses:

They abandon their loftier aspirations.
Twenty-somethings are often willing to settle for a job they are not passionate about, but before they know it, that job turns into their career. An anonymous poster writes that the biggest mistake they made in their 30s was that they got "addicted to a monthly salary," in the sense that they settled for job security over career satisfaction.
If you've ever wanted to start a business or pursue a side project, it will only get more difficult as your responsibilities increase.
They put their career ahead of family and friends.
"Don't just work. Make memories. The older you get, the harder it is to make meaningful relationships. Foster those while you're young," writes Microsoft product designer Michael Dorian Bach, who is now in his late 30s.
They neglect their health.
Bach writes that the pursuit of a career can also be a drain on your health. "Be healthy. That is priority 1. Don't get into your 30s being slow and tired all the time. It sucks," he says. Develop an exercise routine, and enjoy your mobility while you're still young.
They miss the chance to have kids.
CEO coach Alison Whitmire shares a personal story about how she took getting pregnant for granted in her 30s and chose to pursue a new career opportunity instead of trying to have a child. Years later, after a failed pregnancy and then a failed marriage, she remarried and had a baby at 43. She realizes now that no one is ever adequately prepared to have a child, and if you want one, it's best to do so before it's too late.

They don't spend enough time with their aging parents.
Entrepreneur and blogger James Altucher, who is now 46, writes about a particularly difficult memory for him: "When I was 34 I hung up the phone on my dad in an argument and never returned his calls. Six months later he had a stroke and died. A week before that he had emailed me to say hello but I didn't return the email. I'm sorry, Dad."
It can be easy to forget that your parents grow older as you do. Don't take them for granted.

They don't set up a financial foundation for the future.
Altucher writes about the many times in his 30s he bet practically all of his money on a business venture and then lost all of it. Altucher is doing well now, but he looks back on his failures as the result of recklessness.
As your responsibilities grow, it can seem like what you put into savings won't amount to much come retirement, but it will only become harder to start saving in your 40s.
They stop having fun.
Just because you're not in your 20s anymore doesn't mean you need to give up enjoying life. Bach says he spent the early half of his adult life chasing money, and it only made him unhappy and more cynical about life.
Go on dates with your significant other. Take your kids on trips. Go to concerts with your best friends. Just don't forget that the money you work to make is useless if you're miserable.

Source: TOI

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How to Stop Taking Things Personally

Does someone else's bullying personality make you feel worthless? Do you mistake people's antics for subtle insults? This article will highlight some ways to remain unaffected by how others treat you, whether it's a weird look, a teasing remark or direct criticism.

1.Give the benefit of doubt. If you have a habit of taking things personally, it means that you're apt to assume someone is directing some form of aggression towards you when they could be just joking around or having a bad day. It might be your instinct to react emotionally, but pause for a second. Maybe it's not about you. Learn how to control your emotions. Don't jump to conclusions.

2. Refocus your attention. When you take things personally, you shift your attention from what someone said or did to how you feel. Unless you move on from that point, it's likely that you'll ruminate on the negative feeling and amplify it. Instead, focus on the other person.

• Look at how the person treats others. They might tease or insult everyone they meet. Some people are just antagonistic like that.
• Consider the person's insecurities. Could they feel threatened by you in some way? If so, don't feel bad for being your awesome self. Think about how you can help this person feel better about themselves.
• Keep in mind that the other person may have poor communication and emotional management skills. Imagine that there's an inner child acting out, because the person hasn't learned how to deal with things in a mature way. It's much easier tobe patient and feel compassionate when you visualize a learning child at the helm of their behavior.

3. Remind yourself that you don't need anyone's approval. If you're especially sensitive to how people treat you and you often overreact, you might have a strong radar for rejection. You worry that you're doing something wrong if you pick up on any kind of displeasure, and you want to fix it. But just because someone isn't happy with you doesn't mean you've done something wrong. In many cases, it means that person isn't happy with themselves and expects you to fill in the blanks (which is impossible).

4. Speak up. Let the person know how you are feeling. They might not realize how hurtful or aggressive they seem and how it is affecting you. Use "I" statements. If this is recurring, use nonviolent communication to try to end it and resolve any underlying issues.

5 Stop taking compliments personally, too. If you base your self-worth on how often people compliment and validate you, then you're allowing others to decide how you feel about yourself. If someone compliments you, it's no more personal than a direct insult.^[1] They're simply calling it how they see it, and that may or may not be accurate--only you can be the judge of that. If someone compliments you, that doesn’t make you a better person, it makes them a better person because they're taking the time to be supportive and encouraging. Your value remains unchanged, because it's something that comes from within.

Tips:

• Don't act too worked up when you're upset at someone. It gives people more reason to believe the criticisms.
• Sometimes taking things too personally could stop people from joking with you completely and it could lead to a feeling of isolation. No one likes to be left out and felt like others have to tread on thin ice when around them in fear of how they will react.
• Sometimes negative criticism can be constructive criticism which can improve yourself and make you stronger.

Warning:

• When following the step Speak up:, be sincere. If you're seen as patronizing or implying criticism, it might detonate an aggressive response in the other person and further complicate the situation.
• Don't stop taking things personally to the extent that you absolve yourself of any responsibility. If someone's treating you poorly, it is possible that you did something wrong. The focus of this article is to remember that it doesn't automatically mean you did something wrong. You still need to evaluate your role in the situation.

Source: Wiki

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Why Happiness at Work Matters

Successful leaders know happy employees contribute to better profitability. Here are two easy steps to a happier corporate culture.

It's been a sad month with the death of three American icons: Elaine Stritch, Lauren Bacall, and of course,Robin Williams. I grew up a little late to follow Lauren Bacall, but I've loved Elaine Stritch for years, and Robin Williams has always ranked in my top three funny men (alongside Billy Crystal and Steve Martin). There's a version of Robin that lives in my head--a sweet, sensitive, funny man I feel like I know from so many movies--and I think he (the Robin in my head) would want our focus now to be on happiness and laughter. I'm dedicating this article to him in gratitude for all the ways he's made me laugh over the years. Rest in Peace, Robin.

Barbara Corcoran spoke at the National Association of Professional Women's annual networking conference this year and said the No. 1 reason her employees are loyal to her is because "fun" is office policy.

Alexander Kjerulf, chief happiness officer and founder of Woohoo inc (based in Denmark) says that happiness is the "ultimate productivity booster" because happy people:

• Work better with others;
• Fix problems instead of complaining about them;
• Have more energy,
• Are more creative, optimistic, motivated, and healthy (i.e. take fewer sick days);
• Worry less about making mistakes (and then actually make fewer mistakes);
• Learn faster, and;
• Make better decisions.

Teresa Amabile, researcher and professor of business administration at Harvard Business School has found that creativity is vital to business success and (as anyone who's ever tried to be creative on a bad day knows), creativity cannot thrive in a negative environment.

The research shows that small daily events (habits, routines, interactions) directly influence your feelings, which has a profound effect on your job performance.

The "Small Stuff"-->Your Feelings about Your Job -->Job Performance

So when Gallup tells you "only 13% of employees are engaged at work worldwide" (29% in the USA and Canada), and that to grow your business you must "win the hearts and minds of [your] employees," it makes you wonder why this isn't a higher priority.

If a culture of happy, healthy employees isn't the norm in your world, ask yourself why.

Is it because you don't know how to keep your employees happy or because you're overwhelmed and it's too low on your priority list? Is it because your company policies and values are not aligned with happiness-promoting behaviors? Or is it simply because no one ever told you how much your employees' happiness really matters?

If the issue is on the side of your priorities, check out the studies linked to this article. Gone are the days when you can say it doesn't pay to invest in your employees' happiness. The research is clear that happier employees are more productive, which improves your bottom line. Don't want to read the research? Check out what Richard Branson has to say about it. It's really a simple formula:

Happiness -->Productivity -->Profitability

On the other hand, if the issue is that you don't know how to make your employees happier, there are two super-easy ways to begin that came out of a 2014 University of Warwick study(UK). (Read the full research report here.)

1. Watch a comedy clip.
2. Get free fruit, chocolate, or drinks from your employer.

Does this mean you have to always bring snacks to work? No, of course not. But why not start one of those boring Monday meetings with a humorous (and work-appropriate) video from YouTube or encourage people to bring in and share jokes (again, make sure they're work-appropriate). Maybe you can play short comedy videos when your team gets stressed to lighten the mood. The idea is not to repress negative feelings or ignore problems, but to keep people from getting mired in them.

Success does not come before happiness; happiness comes before success.

Helping your employees find joy and meaning in what they're doing definitely benefits your profit margin. To do this, you need to support them, appreciate them, listen to them, and empower them to use their innate strengths.

Robin Williams' most obvious strength was making us all laugh, so let's all bring some happiness into our workplaces this week, shall we?

I say we gather around some funny clips of Robin at his best and brightest, and feel grateful for all the laughs he gave us. It's a great tribute to his memory, and as we've been told,laughter is the best medicine. Thanks for all the laughs, Robin.

Source: Ariana Ayu

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After reading this, you’ll never look at a banana in the same way again

This is interesting. After reading this, you’ll never look at a banana in the same way again.

Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.
Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes.
But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

DEPRESSION
According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
PMS:
Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

ANEMIA
High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
BLOOD PRESSURE:
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

BRAIN POWER
200 students at a Twickenham school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

CONSTIPATION
High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

HANGOVERS
One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

HEARTBURN
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

MORNING SICKNESS
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
MOSQUITO BITES:
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

NERVES
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system..
Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort foodlike chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

ULCERS
The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chroniclercases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

TEMPERATURE CONTROL
Many other cultures see bananas as a ‘cooling’ fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has FOUR TIMES the protein, TWICE the carbohydrate, THREE TIMES the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals.. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, ‘A BANANA a day keeps the doctor away!’

Source: worldobserver

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my gov – independence day

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What’s More Important: Job Satisfaction or Salary?

Takeaways:

• 96% of Americans said being able to apply personal interests to their careers would make them happy.
• Most believe that meaning at work is more important than salary.
• 68% of Americans would take a salary cut to be able to apply personal interests in their position.
• 55% of Gen X and Gen Y have changed careers to be able to integrate work and personal better.

 

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