Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Are You Properly Leveraging Your Retiring Boomers?

I've observed an interesting phenomenon. Condo sales in the town where my in laws live, West Palm Beach, were picking up. As someone who studies workforce trends, this is the opposite of what I expected to happen. The baby boomer generation, I thought, does not want to retire to Florida and play golf and mahjong all day. They want to stick around and keep contributing.

It turns out I had only part of that right. Boomers want to keep contributing, but they are buying up the condos so they can do it from a pleasant and relaxing climate. And today, when I read Joe Scott’s BizJournals article on boomer offboarding, I thought that perhaps we are finally starting to get it.

Scott points out that the last employer in a boomer’s career invests significant dollars in training, salary, retirement savings matches, and in some cases, healthcare. Therefore, it really doesn’t make sense to hand them the gold watch and say goodbye. How about encouraging them to work “from the lake?”

Retirees Are Talent for the Taking

Most retiring boomers have every intention of starting encore careers from a diverse array of physical locations, so why not leverage our investment and their knowledge to prevent a skills gap and worker shortage in our organizations? Once they are respectfully offboarded from full-time employment, boomers can act as external contractors, using technology like videoconferencing and virtual reality to work on individual projects, mentor employees, and advise senior leaders. As trusted resources that often have long histories with organizations, retired boomers are far less risky than brand new hires.

This approach to boomer retirement sounds obvious, so it’s surprising how little it’s actually used. According to a 2013 Aberdeen report that was referenced in SilkRoad’s Rhyme and Reason for Offboarding paper, only 29 percent of organizations have an offboarding program in place, and only 10 percent of offboarding programs are focused on retirees.

For more where this came from, check out the full post on the SilkRoad blog.

How to Cope When Your New Job Is a Bust

According to a new survey by staffing firm Robert Half, 41 percent of workers said the role they accepted at a company was different than what had been outlined to them during the interview process.

If you find yourself in this situation, what’s the most productive way forward? To gain insights into this unfortunately common scenario, I tapped Paul McDonald, senior executive director at Robert Half.

Paul, from the company’s perspective, why might a job not be what was originally intended? Where is the disconnect?

Companies don’t set out to trick candidates who might not be a good match for the position. Sometimes the needs of the company may change during the hiring process or soon after an employee joins the team. A project may change, goals may shift, team resources may vary – and or all of these could impact a new hire’s job duties.

Or…the company didn’t really know what it wanted in the first place! If you are a new employee and you’ve realized after a few weeks that your actual job is nothing like it was described in your interview, what is your immediate recourse?

Request a meeting with your manager to review the job description as it was discussed in the interview process, as well as your goals and expectations of the role and how they differ with reality. Your manager might be able to address your concerns and adjust your duties. Many times, professionals don’t address things that are bothering them at work, which lowers their morale and makes the situation worse.

For more advice from Paul, check out the full post at Intuit's Fast Track blog.

Avoid These Career Regrets Today

In the 21st century, we have more freedom than ever in terms of how we manage our careers. Theoretically, this should lead to fewer regrets when it’s all said and done. But these five regrets remain career pitfalls for many, and you would be wise to reflect upon them before making your next career move. Avoiding these career regrets will help you find job satisfaction.

I should have given my dream a fair shot

Those who yearn to pursue a talent or launch a business often don’t take the plunge because they fear risk and/or failure. This feeling is legitimate, but it can be countered by taking one small step toward your dream at a time.

I should have quit a long time ago

You might be holding on to an unsatisfying or emotionally draining job because the economy has limited your options and you need the money, but be wary of staying in such a position for years. You spend more time working than doing anything else, so it shouldn’t make you miserable.

I should have taken responsibility for my own happiness

Passive individuals pursue the path of least resistance. However, they later wish they’d taken control and been more proactive about their professional growth. If you’re waiting around for your boss to appreciate you or another employer to hand you a better opportunity, you should remember that no one has the power to change your life or reinvent your career for the better but you.

For more career regrets to avoid, check out the full post at the FlexJobs blog.

Key Decisions That Could Kill Your Business

Numerous studies and polls have been conducted on the failure rate of small businesses. Some experts estimate that 50 to 70 percent of new businesses fail within the first 18 months.

While those numbers seem bleak, we don't often stop to wonder whether these promising initiatives failed due to cultural decisions made along the way. Take a look at these three companies' failures and the lessons learned the hard way.

Wrong Environment

In 2010, after Damian Kimmelman's London-based digital design agency, We Are VI, posted a loss of approximately a quarter of a million pounds and let go 25 staff members, Kimmelman, who was the sole owner, shut down the company.

Last year, when Kimmelman discussed his business's closure with CNBC, he blamed the failure on his having spent too much time planning and not enough time doing. We Are VI was unable to juggle the demands of its big name clients, he added, and said that it hadn't established a recognizable niche in the advertising space. He also claimed that the firm would have grown if it had stuck to a single, distinctive product offering.

But perhaps most telling was Kimmelman's comment that he gave up the business because he "really hated agency life." This suggests that Kimmelman wasn't fully aware of the day-to-day rigors involved with managing a creative agency, and a firm with an unenthusiastic CEO at the helm will not be able to survive in the long run.

The lesson? Before you launch a new business, make sure that the type of company you're planning to run, including the company culture, is a good fit for you.

For more decisions that could kill your business, check out my full post at the AMEX Open Forum.

Burned Out and Biding Your Time?

A burned-out reader recently got in touch with us at Fast Track:

I’ve been at my job for two years, and I’m getting bored. The things I’m working on are repetitive, and I’m starting to get increasingly annoyed with day-to-day nuisances. I’m essentially having to restrain myself from biting my coworkers. About a year ago, my direct manager left, and was never replaced– instead, they removed his position and shuffled his responsibilities to me and a coworker. In addition, over the last year, the product I work on has grown a lot: we’ve had some success, which is good, but it comes with a lot more work and responsibility. I’m the only one working on that project, and things keep getting dumped on me, from big tasks to administrative details that someone else really should handle, but which end up on my plate as “I’m the only one who knows this project.”

My boss meanwhile seems to want us to keep growing, and wants more results, faster, with tighter deadlines and more elements. I’m starting to feel a bit burned out. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t even really manage to take a sick day properly — there’s too much to do, and all the eggs are in my basket, and can’t be left unattended even for a minute. Most troubling, I’m bored with the work I’m doing: so more’s expected of me, but I’m feeling pressured and lethargic about producing the same stuff over and over again.



As I’ve felt the burnout approaching, I’ve tried to halt it: I’ve spoken to my boss about getting some help and she’s made sympathetic noises, but nothing has come of it, other than to actually add more work to my plate. I’ve tried to find ways to get excited about my tasks again, trying new things and new ideas, but they all tend to fizzle in this general funk of gloom. So, I think the time is coming for me to move on. . . only I can’t. I’m planning to go to grad school next year, to help get me to the next level of my career which will excite me again. In this economy, I can’t imagine finding another job that pays as well as my current position, and I wouldn’t want to take a job for the nine months between now and school, only to leave so quickly.



Any advice about not hating my job as much as getting through till May? I’d really like to get there without stabbing a coworker with a pen or crying in my shower on a daily basis.

For my take as well as terrific advice from three other career and workplace experts, check out the full post on the Fast Track blog.

 

The Mass Exodus Has Begun

Many people (myself included) predicted a mass exodus of workers from their jobs when the economy picked up.  According to a recent survey conducted by Robert Half International and OfficeTeam, a staffing service specializing in the placement of administrative professionals, it’s already happening.

According to Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam, the top reasons employees are quitting their jobs this year include:

• Many professionals hunkered down during the recent recession and felt like they were lucky to just have a job. Now, they feel more confident that companies are hiring again and they can find a better opportunity.
• Not getting along with the boss is a major reason employees leave.  A poor relationship with your manager can really take a toll on morale and prevent you from moving up in the firm.
• Many professionals leave for new opportunities with better pay, benefits or job titles.
• Lack of challenge on the job is another common reason people quit.  Nobody likes to be bored.

For more survey results, check out the full post on the Fast Track blog.

 

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.

 

What Do I Tell Them About My Layoff?

One of the most common job seeker dilemmas I hear about these days is how to position a layoff with prospective employers.

My advice – pure and simple – is to mention it directly.  Since the subject of how you left your last job will inevitably come up in the context of discussing your recent work experience, I don’t think you can really hide the true story without coming across as insincere or even dishonest.

Nor should you.  Consider how many people have been laid off nationwide in the last eighteen months.  It’s a lot – and there could be any number of reasons for your termination, including a company bankruptcy or merger or a widespread plan to cut expenditures.  Many of these situations have little or nothing to do with job performance, and there’s nothing you could have done to prevent or circumvent the outcome.  There’s not an employer out there that hasn’t been negatively impacted by the poor economy, so it’s unlikely that your interviewer will hold a layoff against you.

Here’s the key, though.  When discussing your layoff in the interview, you must be careful of your tone.  Communicating that you feel sorry for yourself or that you’re experiencing a crisis of confidence will portray you in a bad light even if the layoff itself doesn’t.  If you sound certain that it worked out for the best and that you’ll land on your feet, prospective employers will be certain too.

Applying to Graduate School? Stop and Think.

This week in METRO:

Here’s a story I hear all the time.  A recent grad laments her difficult job search.  Apparently, when HR reps see the MBA on her resume, they put her in the pile of those seeking a management position.  Unfortunately, because this grad's prior positions were administrative and customer-service oriented, hiring managers don't think she has the practical experience to qualify for such a position.

There are lots of graduate school alumni in similar situations.  After spending a huge chunk of change on an advanced degree, they find that they are no more marketable in their chosen field than they were before they started school.  The only difference now is that their job search is more urgent because they are deeply in debt. 

To me, this phenomenon speaks to the danger of going back to school without a great deal of advance consideration.  So many people make this decision because the economy is bad and they’re scared to be on the job market right now.  Others choose a graduate program because they aren't sure where they want to go with their careers.  In reality, though, all of these folks should first be doing a cost/benefit analysis to determine what such a program is going to bring them in terms of increased job prospects and financial compensation.  

It also helps to do enough research to know that you actually like the field you’re going to school to pursue.  I've talked to lots of people who earn a Ph.D., JD, or MBA only to end doing something else entirely.

Graduate school is not something you should do just for the heck of it.  Rather, you should first determine in concrete terms why you need the advanced degree to move ahead in your career of choice, and then map out a plan for how you'll use the training and degree to facilitate the level of success you’d like to achieve.

Myth Busted: Recession Layoffs Aren’t About Performance

Veritude, a leading staffing services provider, recently conducted a primary research study that found that because of the abundance of candidates in the job market, 63% of responding organizations are using the recession as an opportunity to replace poor performing employees. Veritude’s findings verify that most companies’ first and most central cost-cutting response to the economic crisis has been layoffs; fewer have lowered wages, reduced benefits and implemented furloughs.  Veritude conducted its primary research among HR and procurement professionals from companies with at least 2,000 employees, nationwide and across many industries.  Other key findings include:

• 42% said they are using the recession to develop workforce plans in anticipation of the economic recovery
• 45% intend to use temporary workers as part of their current and future workforces
• HR leaders are taking advantage of the favorable labor market to reshape their workforces and proactively position their companies for post-crisis success.  Three out of five reported there are more qualified candidates available so hiring has become easier; nearly half found that candidates are more open to negotiating terms of employment (42%) and are more likely to accepted offers (40%).

What does this say to me?  If you were laid off, perhaps you should spend less time cursing your company and the recession, and more time thinking about your performance in your last job.  Regardless of how good we are, we can always improve, and maybe you can do something differently next time around to facilitate a better outcome.