5 Ways to Motivate Employees that Wont Break the Bank #MotivationMonday

5 Ways to Motivate Employees that Wont Break the Bank #MotivationMonday As an employer, keeping your workforce  motivated should be a top priority. A happy employee is a productive one, and what more could you want than a happy and productive workforce? Happiness at work is a key factor in the retention and attraction of existing and potential employees. If an employer makes the workplace a fun place to be, then people are more likely to stay within your company, meaning experience and knowledge will flourish. There are hundreds of ways to motivate your employees, but overall youll need to implement things that fit with your company (i.e. dont have a dog-at-work-day if someone in your office has a phobia of dogs, or dont build a multimillion pound fun office if your company has only just kicked-off). Below I have listed 5 things that every company, small or large, can implement to make your company a more fun place to work. Minimal expense needed! 1) A flexible working calendar: In recent years, many companies have been embracing a flexible attitude to their work. One of the most famous companies doing this is Virgin, whos policy allows any employee to take as many days holiday as they wish! Although you may not want to take flexible working hours  so literally a la Branson, you can still implement a more flexible working calendar for colleagues. You could introduce flexi-days, allow colleagues to work from home, or allocate a long lunch day (perfect for team lunches!). Allowing this type of flexible working has become popular in recent years, mainly due to the changes in the ways in which we work. Allowing employees to have a flexible working calendar demonstrates your trust in them. 2) A Friday afternoon beer: This is a simple and pretty popular way to give back to your employees finish Fridays with a chilled beer and relax. Its been proven that productivity declines on a Friday afternoon from 2:45pm, so why not use this time to stop doing work and get to know your employees a bit better? As well as being a pretty sweet perk, it also works as a small token of recognition. Youve worked hard all week,  now lets chill!. Employees will feel appreciated and therefore work harder during normal working hours. 3) 20 Minutes of your time: An important part of a productive and happy workplace is communication. You should always make time for your employees in order to hear about their own experiences. Organise a monthly meeting with individuals one on one, and ask employees  for their honest opinions on whats going well and whats not in the office, what they think should change or what they think is working well. This way, everyone has their say. Theres nothing worse than leaving your employees feeling powerless at work, so doing this reinstates the importance of communication, and the importance of each employees opinions. 4) A round of applause: This is a simple point that you wont spend a penny on, but its very motivating! When an employee has completed something really worthwhile or difficult, then get your whole team to applause them (literally) at your next team meeting. Its a great feeling to now that your hard work has been noticed, and therefore will spur employees on to work as hard as they can. 5)  A bacon sandwich: Another simple but thoughtful gesture is providing a free breakfast for everyone. Not only is breakfast one of the most important meals of the day, its also a great time for building relationships with your team. Sitting down and eating breakfast together is typically done with your family, so eating breakfast with your team will instill the team aspect of work. Its also a great way to start off a busy day positive, full-up, and eager to go! Do you use any other methods of motivation? Tweet your motivation-on-a-budget tips to @UndercoverRec

Resume LinkedIn Writing - Its All About Integrity

Resume LinkedIn Writing - It's All About IntegrityResume LinkedIn writing can be tricky. First of all, if you know what LinkedIn is and how it works, then the language you write in your resume will be different than if you didn't. Second, if you've never worked in the particular field you're looking for, then the language you use in your resume may well be quite different to that used by someone else who has.But because LinkedIn is just another social networking site, you can be sure that you will encounter a variety of voices on LinkedIn and you will want to ensure that your writing remains professional. The writing style you use in your resume must be consistent throughout. You cannot slip up one time and assume that the style of writing you'll use in the next job posting will be the same as the style you'll use at a later job posting.Remember, that because LinkedIn is a networking site, it is largely based on the common ways people network. Therefore, if you are constantly posting links to your LinkedIn profile, you may want to consider taking down these posts. The more newsworthy you are, the less likely you are to attract people to your profile. Be interesting and informative.If you're currently running a business, LinkedIn is also an excellent resource for advertising. There are so many other professional types there on LinkedIn, too, and many of them are looking for your help or assistance with their businesses. If you are able to show that you have an understanding of how to successfully market a business on LinkedIn, this can be a valuable strategy for increasing your visibility in the professional world.What does LinkedIn have to say about its writers? There is little control given to writers at LinkedIn, but there are some rules that may apply to writers that are helpful.On LinkedIn, there is a 'Professional Content Guidelines 'that states that you may not participate in any 'replica or set-up' of the content of a publication unless you specifically ask to do so. There is also a specific section of the guidelines that says you may not use an image of a person to depict your picture. A link from your profile to a blog or website with the same or similar content is also prohibited.Also, there is a section of the LinkedIn policies that can include rules about which content is allowed and which is not allowed. Again, if you are unsure what these policies are, you should consult the site's policies.In summary, the rules on LinkedIn are very simple: you can post anything you'd like. If you are using LinkedIn to promote a product or business, however, you should avoid linking to content that might be construed as promoting your business or product. However, you may wish to link to websites and blogs that are related to your business, as long as these are interesting and informative.

Monday Must-Reads Lets Talk About Money.

Monday Must-Reads Lets Talk About Money. How do YOU feel about people making money via social media? Are sponsored tweets unethical? Is paying the bills via blogging wrong? Let us know what you think! Suze Orman vs. Dave Ramsey: whose advice would you rather take? Suze recently changed her advice saying people should agressivley save rather than agressilve pay down debt. Dave Ramseys advice has not changed. Whats better: a personal finance advisor who changes with the times, or one that sticks with his or her guns? What are you doing in the other 8 hours? Do you want a new car, a bigger apartment and a life that doesnt require cutting out your morning lattes? If you keep doing what youre doing, youre going to get the same results. It may be time to become a crea8tor: make more money and live your passion. The Twentysomething Guide to Financial Potholes. How many of these potholes have YOU experienced? Five Lessons Learned From Financial Peace University 2009 from one of my new favorite blogs debtkid.com.

The Personal Branding - Creative Resume Template

The Personal Branding - Creative Resume Template The Personal Branding Creative Resume Template In some professions, your personality, drive, and style are the most important things. If your career is driven by your ability to create some extra oomph around your persona and capitalize on your unique qualities, this creative resume template can help you communicate those to potential employers.   Here, we have provided you with extended room for your personal statement, contact information, social media links, even a crisp professional picture. We’ve intentionally used warm colors here, and a unique vertical split design. We think that the contrasting header is perfect for making your personal information stand out. No worries though, this resume format still provides you with plenty of space for your work history, education, and other qualifications.It is our pleasure to provide this template for you at no cost. And if you are not “feeling it” with this design, go on an explore other creative resume templates. File size: 182 KB Format: .docx Downloaded 2,305 times Lice nse: Free, personal use only. Please read the license terms for resources. Download previous article How to Talk About The Reasons for Leaving a Job at Interviews + Examples next article 4 Compelling Personal Statement Examples for Your CV you might also likeThe Freelancers Resume Creative Resume Template for Independent Workers

Resume For Grad School - Tips to Get You Ahead

Resume For Grad School - Tips to Get You AheadA resume for grad school is something that is extremely important. If you have a job, it will be easy to get back into school, but if you don't, your prospective employer may choose someone else. So, before you even begin writing your resume, you must first decide what you are looking for.The most important thing that you must take into consideration when writing your resume is to be professional. You are applying for a job at a university or college, so you need to make sure that you make your resume look professional and will catch the attention of the company that you are applying to. Here are some things that you need to keep in mind when creating your resume for grad school.Be honest. Even though there is not a law against being honest, it is not a good idea to lie in your resume. You need to put some thought into what you write in your resume. If you only tell them one or two positive things about yourself, it is likely that you wil l not get accepted to the school that you are applying to. Just tell the truth and you should be fine.Make sure that you check off each part of your resume. It is very important that you do not skip anything or do anything that might be illegal. If you find that you forgot something on your application, make sure that you fix it immediately. If you know that you are breaking the law, make sure that you ask the questions that you can not answer yet.Make sure that you make any formatting or spelling mistakes that you find. This is important because it can cause problems for you down the road if you are not able to write an acceptable resume. Also, you want to make sure that you don't forget anything that you have written in the resume for grad school because that could be an indication that you are not working hard enough.Don't forget to include any student loans that you have. As the holder of student loans, you need to provide documentation of them in your resume for grad school. Th ey will need to see that you are eligible for them and that you are trying to pay them off. If you are unable to do this, make sure that you add that to your list of proof in your resume for grad school. You may even want to include the payment amounts as well.Make sure that you have your contact information. This may seem obvious, but many people will just leave it off their resume for grad school. So, make sure that you include a phone number, email address, and home or work address.Paying attention to these tips will help you be prepared for anything that may come up in your career search. You never know when you will get the call from a potential employer that will change your career completely. You must be prepared for anything that comes your way. Remember, this is what you are applying for and you don't want to be rejected from the school that you want to go to.

Yikes! Poltergeists Are Messing with My LinkedIn Profile. Things Are Missing - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

Yikes! Poltergeists Are Messing with My Profile. Things Are Missing Things Can Change on Your Profile Overnight . . . Keep an Eye on It!

Positive thinking doesnt work (and makes us unhappy) - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Positive thinking doesnt work (and makes us unhappy) - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I recently wrote an article called 5 Ways Positive Thinking Makes Us Miserable At Work. Among other things I argue that faking happiness and positivity is stressful and contributes to quelling dissent and problem-solving. And now I can add a 6th reason: positive thinking doesnt work. From the article: across dozens of peer-reviewed studies examining the effects of positive visions of the future on people pursuing various kinds of wishes ? from health-related, such as losing weight, quitting smoking, or recovering quickly from surgery, to the improvement of professional or academic performance (for example, mid-level managers wishing to reduce job-related stress, graduate students looking for a job, or school children seeking to get good grades) ? we?ve consistently found that people who positively fantasize make either the same or less progress in achieving attainable wishes than those who don?t. So while happiness at work is a fantastic thing that we should all strive for, positive thinking is not the way to do it. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

What To Do If You Lose Your Job - Hallie Crawford

What To Do If You Lose Your Job If youre like me, you hate turning on the morning news these days because of all the doom and gloom with the economy. Theres no doubt about it. The world is a scary place right now. And for many of us, what is especially unnerving is the way the unemployment rate continues to rise. If you are one of those fearful of losing your job â€" or if you have already joined the unemployment line â€" I urge you to maintain a positive attitude. Worrying wont help and, in fact, may create even more problems. Having been through the experience of not having a job, Id like to offer some tips to help you through this unsettling time: Dont panic. Fear and anxiety are natural, but if you allow these emotions to control your thinking, you wont be able to make good decisions about what youre going to do next. Surround yourself with optimistic, supportive people. Misery may love company, but this is not the time to commiserate. You need to remain focused, positive, and inspired. Create a job-hunting schedule. This is an extremely important step because it will keep your mind focused so you dont get depressed. Immediately start looking into websites like CareerBuilder or Monster for an overview of whats out there. Next, do some targeted searches specific to your industry on sites that cater to your area of expertise. Start networking. Networking is still the best way to get a job. Spread the word that you are in job search mode among your friends, family, former co-workers anyone that you know who could help with your job search.   Dig up names from internships or summer jobs and reach out to those people. Join online networking groups (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.). Consider an interim job. It will get you out of the house, boost your morale, and offer some temporary financial assistance. Temporary agencies often have positions that can lead to permanent employment. Look at your situation as an opportunity. If you have ever felt unsatisfied or unfilled in your work, this could be the Universe nudging you to find the job you love! If #6 resonates with you, you may want to consider joining one of my economically-priced Group Coaching Sessions during your down time. Its a chance for you to take an in-depth look at what defines your ideal career. Youll learn exactly what you need to do to make a career switch, plus youll enjoy feedback and support from other class members. Click here for more information. Heres to having a career you love! Career Transition Coach