Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

How to Avoid Self-Destructing on Foreign Soil

On April 20, 2010, the oil rigger Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.  After the explosion killed or injured 28 workers and released 4.9 million barrels of crude oil, the gushing wellhead was finally capped. British Petroleum (BP), the multi-billion dollar oil and gas company, was indisputably responsible.

Instead of expressing true remorse and compassion for the disaster, then CEO Tony Hayward committed a series of cultural gaffes that enraged U.S. citizens and lawmakers. For instance, well before the Gulf crisis was resolved, Hayward proclaimed that he “wanted his life back.” Then, as efforts to plug the leak continued feverishly in the U.S., he casually took in a sailing race with his son off the Isle of Wight in the UK.

Hayward’s American Disconnect

This behavior was consistent with Hayward’s work/life balance philosophy.  He once said publicly that he didn’t work weekends and took all of his holidays no matter what.  What the British Hayward failed to realize was that most Americans don’t necessarily agree with this point of view. It is the American way to take responsibility for one’s mistakes and do everything you can to remedy a bad situation. Until the problem is solved, free time does not exist. Since Americans were affected most when Deepwater Horizon exploded, many wanted to see Tony Hayward on a boat participating in the clean-up.

Although much of his business is conducted in the U.S., Hayward did not demonstrate strong global competence. His lack of understanding regarding how the crisis would be received in the U.S. led to a backward slide of goodwill and a plunging stock price for BP. That summer, it would also cost him his job.

To find out how you can avoid a Tony Hayward-like PR catastrophe, read my advice over at the AMEX Open Forum.

 

Happy Election Day: Worst Political Gaffes

Reuters journalist and ShortFormBlog contributor Matthew Keys compiled a hugely entertaining list of the worst political gaffes recently made on the job, which incredibly, did not include anything from Obama OR Romney:

Rick Perry’s Brain Freeze at CNBC’s Republican National Debate

“It’s three agencies of government, when I get (to the White House), that are gone: Commerce, Education and the — what’s the third one there? … I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Oops.”  Uttered in November 2011, this line became the hallmark for the rest of Perry’s presidential nominee campaign.

Joe Biden’s Foot in Mouth Moment with the Affordable Care Act

As Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, the vice president dropped an F bomb on live television, enthusiastically stating that the passage of the bill was a “big f-ing deal.”  It was, of course, the line heard round the world.

For others, please check out the full post on the Fast Track blog.

Many Small Businesses Are Not Sustainable

As Kelly Spors wrote in a March article for Small Business Trends, environmental sustainability isn’t nearly as prevalent in small businesses as it is in the corporate world. “Sure, some small businesses have jumped on board and are leagues ahead when it comes to energy efficiency and conservation,” she says. “But plenty of them have done practically nothing to go green and continue to operate the same way they’ve operated for 10, 20 or 50 years.”

A recent survey by the Boston Consulting Group and MIT supported this point of view, finding that only nine percent of small companies (fewer than 1,000 employees) fully embrace sustainability. The reasons vary, but most have to do with the time and money small-business owners feel is required to make the necessary adaptations.

In my Culture Beat column at the AMEX Open Forum, I explore three ways small businesses can become better public citizens without losing their shirts.

Are Women Catching Up To Men? Not Exactly.

Unfortunately, research demonstrates that there is still a large disparity in the number of high-paying positions held by women and men; and women haven’t made tremendous progress in the last six years in closing that gap.

According to the 2011 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors, Executive Officers and Top Earners and prior Catalyst Censuses, women have made no significant gains in the last year and are no further along the corporate ladder than they were six years ago:

• Women held 16 percent of board seats in 2011, compared to 15.7 percent in 2010.
• Less than one-fifth of companies had 25 percent or more women board directors.
• About one in ten companies had no women serving on their boards.
• Women held 14.1 percent of Executive Officer positions in 2011, compared to 14.4 percent in 2010.
• Women held only 7.5 percent of Executive Officer top-earner positions in 2011, while men accounted for 92.5 percent of top earners.
• Less than one in five companies had 25 percent or more women Executive Officers and more than one-quarter had zero.

This is not good news for companies that are hoping to remain competitive. Catalyst research also showed that gender diversity in the boardroom correlates with better corporate performance – by a huge margin.  Companies with three or more women board directors in four of five years, on average, outperformed companies with zero women board directors by 84 percent return on sales, 60 percent return on invested capital, and 46 percent return on equity. Whoa.

But how can companies with a dearth of female talent turn things around?  Have a look at my advice.

 

Why You Might Make Less Money Than Your Colleague

You might be equal to the colleague in the next office over and still make less money.   Here’s one reason – your gender.

One of my readers just shared a horrible story.  She works in a major accounting firm, and found out – definitively – that she’s making 20 percent less than her colleagues of the male persuasion.  “Women are relatively new to the accounting world, and there is a perception that management shouldn’t invest in people who are just going to have babies and leave,” she told me.  “The thing is, I don’t think my situation is that unusual – it’s still an old boys’ club.”

In a 2010 article for Harvard Business Review, Investigating the Pay Gap, Sarah Green says that the median salary of a woman is still only 78 percent of a man’s. This means that women have to work 16 months to earn what men make in a year.

Woe to New College Grads

According to the American Association of University Women, the gap between men’s and women’s salaries starts immediately after entering the workforce.  Just one year out of school, a woman earns 80 percent of what a man earns.  After controlling for industry, type of job, prior experience, and other characteristics, this gap closes to 95 percent.  The unexplained five percent gap is viewed as evidence of bias.  After 10 years, the average woman earns only 69 percent of what the average man earns, and the unexplained gap has widened from five percent to 12 percent.

Level and Age Don't Help

Also as reported in the HBR article, The Center for American Progress went a step further and tracked wage gaps by age and occupation.  The organization found that by the end of their careers, male managers have made $635K more than their female peers.  Apparently, wage discrimination doesn’t get better as you get older, more seasoned, or better educated – it gets worse.  If you’re female, no matter how well you perform, your raise simply might not be as high as your male colleague’s.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

Obama’s American Jobs Act: Job Seekers Should Target Small Businesses

On Thursday, September 8, President Barack Obama asked Congress to approve a nearly half-trillion-dollar plan called the American Jobs Act, which seeks to bolster the economy by cutting payroll taxes for employers and employees, aiding the long-term unemployed, and improving the country’s physical infrastructure.

Most notable, in my opinion, is the $65 billion designated to encourage small businesses to hire more workers.  This will be done by cutting employer payroll taxes to 3.1 percent for the first $5 million of a company’s wage bill, which Obama claimed will reach 98 percent of small businesses.  And those companies that increase their payroll over last year by hiring new employees or increasing existing employees’ salaries will receive a total payroll tax holiday. 

Stay Local to Find Employment

As a founding member of the Career Advisory Board, presented by DeVry University, I’ve often advised people out of work they should go local, and this is a critical piece of advice now more than ever.  Businesses with fewer than 500 employees make up half of the workforce in the United States, and over the last decade or so, have created about 70 percent of all jobs.  Even at the height of the recession, many small businesses were still hiring. Case in point: executive coaching firm Visage recently found that 54 percent of small business CEOs planned to add employees over the next 12 months.

If you’re a teacher, police officer, firefighter, or construction worker, you may find additional job opportunities opening up as a result of Obama’s plan. But everyone else on the market should at least consider making small businesses a search target.

Marketing Yourself to Small Businesses

When it comes to marketing yourself to small businesses, you must rely even less on the Internet, because many hire through word of mouth.  They want to bring in candidates referred personally by someone they trust, or candidates they have already seen in action.  Perhaps they have worked with these candidates in some capacity before, or have met them through third-party professional associations, chambers of commerce, or local volunteer events.  So if you want to be hired by a small business, you have to go out of your way to be visible in your community and leverage any opportunity to network in person. 

In an interview with a small business CEO or owner, you need to demonstrate a solid knowledge of the company and its mission.  Remember that many people start their own businesses because they have a particular vision, so make sure you understand what that is and can speak about it with passion.  Explain why you want to work with a small company as opposed to a large one to assuage fears that you’ll jump ship when a multi-national conglomerate comes calling.

Finally, it’s imperative that small business employees wear many hats, so emphasize your wide range of skills and your enthusiasm for picking up new ones.  For example, maybe you’re in finance but would like to learn more about sales.  Any way you can underscore your ability to work hard, impress customers, and mobilize a small team to get results quickly will earn you points.    

Google is Forever

A few weeks ago, I received this e-mail from reader Ryan Miner that I wanted to share with you:

"When I was a 19 year-old undergraduate student at Duquesne University I created a Facebook group in opposition to a proposal to allow a Gay-Straight Alliance to form on campus. I used the term subhuman to lament homosexuality.

I could not have been more wrong. My words were unabashedly despicable and unambiguously insensitive. My actions were the antithesis of the same faith I used to defend myself, and it was an indelibly poor reflection on my personal character. I embarrassed my family, my friends, my hometown, and Duquesne University. I was in no position to cast such blatant judgment, and I pray that I can be forgiven and learn from this awful experience.

As a result of the media attention and the emerging technology of this decade, I am infinitely attached to my mistake in the annals of Google. The stories you read from the Google results paint a polar opposite picture of who I am today. However, actions inevitably and invariably have consequences, and the reckless comments I made at 19 continue to plague me in my professional career. I have been denied employment and was even fired from a great opportunity as a result of the incident at Duquesne.

I am now looking to expand my career, but each time I submit a new resume, a sense of bleak fear overcomes me, wondering whether or not a company will Google my name only to toss my resume in the trash and move to the next applicant. If only I could relay to a potential employer that my beliefs have changed and I would never engage in that type of behavior in the future. But you reap with you sow, and I will continue to deal with the consequences of my mistake."

There can never be too many stories like this to remind us that Google is forever. 

Protect Yourself from a Downsizing Profession

Many people don’t realize that industry downsizing will affect their jobs until it’s too late.  The answer?  Even if your position seems secure, be vigilant and proactive.

One key question to ask yourself is if there have been major layoffs or consolidations in companies similar to yours.

Even if you’re in a comparatively desirable area like IT, if you are working in a field that’s in trouble (e.g. manufacturing, retail), you may not be able to rely on cushy severance packages or the ability to quickly land a job with a competitor. Before you become a layoff victim, reorganize your finances so that your liabilities are as low as possible and set up an emergency fund.  Update your résumé and line up your references so they’re ready to go when you need them.

This may be the time to move to an industry in which jobs are more plentiful. Healthcare and private education continue to see employment gains, and if you can use your current skills in an area that received funding from the economic-stimulus plan, all the better.

Many professionals are daunted by the prospect of a mid-career industry switch, but as long as you have the core skills and enough basic knowledge to hold your own in an interview, you can feel confident.

Peruse publications related to your new field and learning the target industry’s recent history and developments. You will likely find more opportunities in smaller companies or nonprofits, since roles in these organizations tend to be less specialized.

Networking is obviously key here. If you can, use your old network to help launch a new career. Otherwise, reach out to professional associations and people in the kinds of jobs you’d like to do to begin to build a new network.

If you aren’t up for a total career makeover, you might also think about developing an adjacent career or another expertise that will help you stay afloat in your current industry.

This post was originally published on Intuit’s Quickbase blog.

 

Pulling a “Heath Shuler:” The Right Way to Get Someone Else’s Job

The Nation sums up Congressman Heath Shuler like this:

A chiseled ex-football star and devout Southern Baptist from the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina (WNC), Shuler was the prize recruit of Rahm Emanuel’s class of ’06. Despite his conservative stances on guns, abortion, immigration and gay rights, Democratic activists in WNC rallied behind Shuler, who ran as an economic populist and promised to fight for new jobs and better healthcare for his mountain constituents.

“The Democratic Party helps those who cannot help themselves. That’s the Christian that I am,” he was reported as saying.  Shuler then proceeded to become one of the most outspoken dissidents inside the Democratic Congress, voting against the stimulus, healthcare bill and Consumer Financial Protection Agency.  And he is now  gunning for Nancy Pelosi’s job as House Minority Leader.  “If she doesn’t step aside, I will challenge her,” he announced to CNN this week.

There are a few problems with Shuler’s strategy, and these are the same issues you should consider if you’ve decided you want someone else’s job in your company.

He is jumping the gun before natural events could take their course.

Pelosi still has significant pull within the Democratic party, including the friendship of President Obama, and she hadn’t yet announced her intention to run for party leader again.  Shuler stepped in before Pelosi even made a move that people could disapprove of.   Your best bet in securing another person’s job is to sit tight and wait for that person to be ousted by their own making rather than taking action that makes you look like the bad guy.

He is being openly antagonistic and divisive.

Everyone recognizes that the Democratic party needs unity now more than anything, so Shuler’s bid looks like a ploy for attention and press rather than an honest and earnest desire to do what’s best for the organization.  No one likes a self-centered bully.  If you want your contributions to be recognized and rewarded, you must play nice in the sandbox.

He does not have the support of his colleagues.

Even Shuler readily admits that he doesn’t have the votes to win this challenge.  By proving it, he will undermine his own effectiveness as a representative and make some bitter enemies in the process.  If you truly feel you are the best person for a particular job, then you must not be the only person who thinks so.  Gather substantial support before announcing your intentions.

This post was originally published on the Intuit Quickbase blog.

Career Lessons from NYC Marathon and Edison Pena

Sunday's New York City Marathon was notable for several reasons.  First, with more than 45,000 participants it was the largest marathon to date.  And then there were the runners themselves.  Gebre Gebremariam, an Ethiopian, became the first man to win in a marathon debut since 1980.  Other racers included a double lung transplant patient, Meredith Viera and Al Roker from the Today Show, and, most surprisingly, Chilean miner Edison Pena.

Not even a month ago, Pena was rescued after being trapped for 69 days in a collapsed mine, where he kept his hope alive by running in a winding network of underground tunnels.

“What I thought about as I ran in the mine was that I was going to beat destiny,” Peña said in a news conference. “I was saying to that mine, ‘I can outrun you, I’m going to run until you’re just tired and bored of me,’ and I did it.”

Compared to this life-or-death experience, running on the streets of New York City didn’t seem nearly as daunting – it was almost like a victory lap!   There is much we can can learn from Pena’s journey.  Among the lessons I took away:

• Even when a situation looks hopeless, you must still maintain your faith in yourself and your abilities, and model that faith for others who are looking to you for inspiration.
• Pace yourself through difficult periods.  Not only did Pena do this in the mine, but he struggled with intense physical pain throughout Sunday's race due to a knee injury he sustained while trapped.  His time of nearly six hours wasn’t enough to win, but the accomplishment was in the finish.
• You must take advantage of opportunities to increase your visibility and gain support for your cause.  By seizing the chance to participate in the Marathon just after his rescue, Pena received international attention for his country and the miners’ plight.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.