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How to Help Someone Find a Job

August 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Everyone knows someone who has been laid off or looking for a new job.  As former colleagues and friends we want to help out, but we may not have the resources or the job to offer.  However, there are still things that we can do to help them find a job.   The first thing to know is that you can’t find the job for them!

Providing emotional support is one of the most positive things you can do.  It is very easy for your friend to get so wrapped up in finding a job that they may become depressed or discouraged when they don’t get the immediate results they want.   Providing emotional support is not telling them things that you think they want to hear, but being honest with them about the situation.  Times are tough and people are not landing jobs as quickly. They may have to take a pay cut or a job offering less in terms of benefits.  Thinking in terms of housing prices and whether or not it is a buyers or sellers market applies now to the job market.  There are many more applicants for a single job and thus it is an employer market so strategies have to be pointed toward this fact.

1.  Focus on their positive skills and attributes.  Discuss with them what you see as their strongest skills and abilities.  When they are in the job search they need to be able to tell people what they can offer.  We tend to be in a society that does not look fondly on bragging about ourselves.  We were told as young children that it isn’t polite.  But, now is the time that they need be vocal about their skills and accomplishments.

2.  Keep them busy.  The full-time activity should be in the job search, but having time off to relax and enjoy themselves is still important as well.  Think of things that you can do with them that does not cost a lot of money, but offers enjoyment and a deviation from the job search.

3.  Keep aware of companies and people who may need the skill sets that your friend has to offer.   You can act as an additional resource by pointing them to information that you come across or may find.   You may have contacts on some of your social networking sites that you can provide referrals and introductions.  When the time comes you can also provide a reference.

You can act as a sounding board and allow your friend to bounce off ideas, conduct mock interviews, rehearse their elevator pitch (30 second commercial),  and review their resume or correspondence for grammar and flow.  Although you can’t find them a job  only they can do that, your support and understanding will help them stay positive and motivated to continue the job search.

Things may seem gloomy to the job searcher and there are many things that they have to think about:  changing industries, moving out-of-state, going back to school,  accepting less money, working part-time, accepting temporary work, cutting personal expenses, etc.  Another perspective on these topics will help them to vet through the process and be more grounded in their search.

We define ourselves by our work.  Remember that just because someone is out of work doesn’t mean that they don’t have anything to offer in discussions.  A person out of work can feel like a man without a country.  Keep them engaged in discussing their industry in a positive manner.  Help them move away from always talking about their last employer which may keep them focused on the past and expand their skills and accomplishments across the broader industry.

Job layoffs can happen to anyone.  It’ not a disease and shouldn’t be treated as such.  The best way to find a job is to stay engaged in life by staying in contact with people, reading, watching the news and being optimistic about the future.

Filed Under: Business, Leadership, Training and Development Tagged With: , , , ,

Keep the Focus to Survive Tough Times

August 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Recently I conducted a Focus Group with 26 employees after their company went through a series of layoffs.  These 26 people were affected by the layoff just as much as those that lost their jobs.  I give the company kudos for taking the time to find out what was on the minds of a random population of their employees.

This Focus Group was not mandatory and the company did provide coffee and pastry for the morning session.  As the employees came in, grabbed their coffee and sat down I could see the uncertain looks on their faces.  What was the real reason for the Focus Group, could they truly speak their minds or if they did would they be the next one getting a pink slip, etc.

However after the introduction and assurance that their answers would remain anonymous they opened up.  It began with everything being negative.  Their jobs were harder, they were working longer hours, they weren’t getting raises, the company didn’t let them know who was laid off which impacted how they did their work, the salary people came and went as they pleased while the hourly were expected to be there to cover….  The wound was certainly fresh and was gaping open as the poison of what the company was doing to them took over their emotions.

For every question asked of them they presented a problem.  And the theme was always the same; management was not listening to them. They felt that management did not understand their pain and what the decision to lay off employees was doing to those remaining.

When I asked them the question “What impact will the layoffs have for the company” their answers were:

  1. The quality of the product may suffer
  2. The quality of customer service may suffer
  3. The production quantity will be down
  4. The moral of the remaining staff will be down because of higher stress levels
  5. The reputation of the company may suffer.  They didn’t feel they would recruit their company to others as they once did.  The employer of choice title may suffer

As I wrote up my report for senior management it became clear that there were things that they could do to keep the company’s biggest asset working to their full potential and we all know that the biggest asset a company has is its employees.  These employees brought that fact up numerous times when they stated, “Without us there is no company”.

One of the first things the company can do is build a culture of partnership with their employees. It has been proven that when there is a partnership culture employee will consistently outperform which keeps competitors at bay in both good and bad economic times.

Communicate, communicate and then communicate more. Employees are very resourceful and they can come up with ideas that senior management may not have thought about.  After all, they are the ones doing the work.  Should the company be thinking of layoffs, the employees may come up with creative ideas to avoid the layoffs including job share, reduced hours, or other ways to cut spending.

Watch the behavior of management and supervisors. Are they providing recognition to their employees and supporting them in the difficult times?  Are they offering opportunities for development so that when the tough times are over the employees feel they have a stronger foundation to be promoted upon?  And don’t forget to get help for the management and supervisor staff. Chances are they are not emotionally prepared to handle what trying times can mean for themselves or their employees.  Bring in outside coaches to work with them.

Don’t forget to look after your high potential employees. You may be leaning on them more, but are you also making sure they don’t leave?  Are their contributions being recognized? Employees don’t always need monetary rewards, but they certainly do need to hear that they are appreciated and will be taken care of.

Keep providing employee evaluations so that the employees have the opportunity to highlight all that they have been doing.  There may not be money in the budget for increases, but acknowledgment helps to keep perspective as employees are dealing with more stress and larger workloads.  If you don’t know all they are doing how can you help them prevent “burnout” situations that will adversely affect the employee and thus the company?

Filed Under: Business, Career, Leadership, Training and Development Tagged With: , , , ,

Identifying Stress in Your Employees – Watch for Signs!s

August 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Are you asking your employees to do more with less resources and time?  With so many companies in the survival mode having gone through layoffs and mission changes, chances are you and your employees are potentially more stressed than you have been in a long time.

Are you looking for the signs of employee stress?  Here are some things that you can look for in your employees and while you are at it, do a self check!

  • Are you noticing your employees:
    • Are quicker to get defensive
    • Are angry more often
    • Are crying or sad
    • Are silent more than normal
    • Are they picking or biting their nails
    • Are they having visible signs of facial breakouts that they never had before
    • Are they yawning more often
    • Are they overly energetic
    • Are they always eating
    • Are they never eating

The list could go on and on, but these are some visible signs.  What can you do to help your employees?  You can talk to them, be the Manager that demonstrates concern and appreciation for the work they are doing.  If you know your employees are working under tight deadlines, acknowledge their efforts.  You may want to have a meeting outside rather than in a conference room or your office to provide sunlight and a change of pace.  When employees are working hard, they tend to not get the natural light we all need to remain healthy.

When having meetings, take a break and have the attendees stand up and stretch!  Take a few moments at the beginning and end of the meeting to ask the participants to take a few deep breaths and relax.  If you think this is a strange thing to do, try running your office with stressed out people.  As a manager you are a catalyst for change.  Let your staff know that you know there are many reasons to be stressed, but that you are there to help.  Talk to them about the fact that they have a choice in how they respond to their environment.  Remember, we can all REACT to a situation or RESPOND.  When we RESOND we are more in control.  Why?  Because we took the time to think and not react on impulse.

And if you are the type to take food into the office, make it healthy.  Instead of donuts, try fruit.  Instead of soda how about juices?  Demonstrating healthy eating during a time of stress is another way to show you care.

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Do You Really Get More With Less?

March 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Many employers believe that they will get more out of their remaining employees because those that remain fear being the next to receive the “pink slip” and head toward the unemployment line. They believe they are motivated by fear to work harder.  This is not necessarily the case.  

If ever there was a time for leadership it is now, when fear is so dominant.  Key Executives (CEO, CFO, etc.) are seeing what is happening to their competition or comparable industries and they are fearful that the same could happen to them. Their focus is on keeping profits at least level so they can remain in business.  For most the last thought on their mind is the morale of the employees that are remaining to make sure those profits happen.  Top Executives are there to vision the company forward.  Management is there to make sure that those visions are carried out. Therefore, this is where middle management comes in.  As a Manager/Supervisor what are you doing to assure that the past is left behind and your employees are focusing on the future?  (Remember, therapy is interesting in what happened in the past, coaching is all about moving into action and moving forward!)

We all know we can’t do anything about that past, the future hasn’t arrived yet so we can only live in the here and now.  Employees need to see that the fear has left the building.  If doors remain closed and long faces prevail whenever they see a “suit” walk by, then chances are they are going to feel the fear as well.  When an employee is in a state of fear, you are not getting more for less.  You are dealing with employees that are keeping their heads down out of fear of being noticed and spotted for the next round of laid offs!

As a manager/supervisor you need to get back to leading.  Call a meeting and let employees talk about their fears, address what you can and then provide the guidance to lead them back to a productive state.  Now is the time when asking what ideas and strategies your employees have for picking up morale and moving forward are the most beneficial.  Get them involved in the solution and they won’t feel like part of the problem!

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How To Make it On Less and Still Develop Your Employees

November 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

With all the talk about cut backs, layoffs, bankruptcy and on and on, what is happening to those left to run the company?  I’m hearing a lot about HR functions being cut and that includes Leadership and Development (LD).  Why is it that when a company is facing financial troubles they look to taking away from their employees rather than providing more? You could liken this to either providing gifts and toys to your children or spending more time with them.  Giving of your time is a valuable gift and it is free!

There are ways to keep LD going that are not as costly as bringing in the big guns to run a training program or paying a high priced motivational speaker to come in and give the Rally Call.  This is a time to look internal to the leaders that are already there.

Companies need to think of leveraging the talent they already have.  If the visions of the company come from the top, doesn’t it make sense to have the vision be delivered from the top?  Now is the time where the leaders should be more visible rather than hunkered down in their offices and only sending out the occasional update.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the CEO engage in a Meet and Greet lunch series?  Think about it,  go back to grass roots and bring your own lunch and get to know what your Executives are really thinking and doing about keeping you engaged in the process of profitable growth for the company.

Perhaps having the Executives arrange a “speaking tour” where they can share their road to success and their lessons learned.  Perhaps they went through a layoff early in their career.  How did they handle it?  Maybe they played a part in a Merger or Acquistion, what lessons did they learn that would help the employees currently.  Maybe they have read an interesting book or article that they could share to keep everyone engaged in Business Acumen.

There are more ways to engage employees than are being utilized.  In a time of downturn executives need to step up and provide the guidance and leadership.

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