Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Work

Beyond Work is our line of resources for people and community leaders looking for something new and innovative outside, be it a new job, career change, or personal development outside of work.

  • Everyone Gets a Trophy and The Skills Gap

    Everyone Gets a Trophy and The Skills Gap

    At a lunch meeting yesterday, one topic of discussion was the “everyone gets a trophy” generation. The millennial generation – of which I am barely a part of based on my date of birth, but rarely admit to being – seems to have a problem with feeling entitled. And the negative outcomes this creates in schools and int he workplace is a hot topic.

    A couple of issues cited in this discussion were:

    • Lack of respect for consequences of one’s actions. For example, a star pitcher not getting to pitch in a game when scouts were there because he missed a practice and was also in trouble at school for skipping class. His parents raised holy terror because he didn’t get to play. Who is to blame? The parents or the student?
    • Lack of respect for other people and their time. For example, a teenager not showing up for work to teach swimming lessons because she had play practice and no one called to let the family know the child would not have lessons because the teacher couldn’t make it. Is the paid work or the play practice more important to attend? The director of the play told her she couldn’t miss practice. Does getting a paycheck for something also communicate you can’t miss?

    Compare these to examples to key findings cited in the Alabama Skills Gap Study conducted by the Alabama Department of Labor:

    Employers were more likely to identify gaps in soft skills (41%) than in technical skills (38%).

    Of the employers who have identified gaps in soft skills, 65% stated that Attendance was a problem. Following Directions and Time Management were the next most often identified soft skill gaps (39% and 36% respectively).

    We could blame these skills gap issues on just one generation, but the numbers show employers must be facing it with the majority of their workforce, which can’t possibly be all made of just the trophy winners.

    So what should we do? First, we should focus on soft skills development just as much as we do technical skills development in our schools and in our homes. A good resource for soft skills curriculum can be found here: http://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/youth/softskills/

    Next, we need to turn the mirror on ourselves, whether as a parent or as a teacher or even as a student. The question becomes, am I guilty of what I’m complaining about and how do I model the behavior I want to see?

    I say this as I sit here, letting my three year old skip swimming lessons. He’s asleep next to me after having tried to wake him up from his short-lived nap to go to the lesson. You haven’t seen holy terror until you’ve tried to wake a three year old up who doesn’t want to be woken up. Yep, that person complaining about the teenager teaching swimming lessons was me and now here we are not going to a scheduled lesson. Am I teaching my son something I don’t want to be teaching him? Sure am. But at least I called to let them know we wouldn’t be there… (I know don’t tell me, because I know, we still should have gone).

    As I beat myself up about not doing what I know I should, I figured I’d at least share the lesson. Soft skills are important. They are learned. Teach them by modeling the behavior you want to see.

    Want more on the soft skills employer want? Check out these posts:

    What do employers want? The 4 Cs

    What do employers want? Creativity

    What is your smart phone teaching you about communication?

    Want to get a job? Foster collaboration

  • 6 Steps and Tools for Better Networking

    6 Steps and Tools for Better Networking

    Last week, we discussed the importance of networking because Computers Don’t Give People Jobs- People Do. If you still aren’t convinced of this based on the data presented last week, then here is another tid-bit of data for you:

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    According to this chart, networking encompasses almost half of the way that companies fill job openings.

    So the proof is there. If you want to get a job, the best way to do it is to network. But how do you do it?

    Here are some steps along with a Networking Log to help you track this process:

    1. Set a networking goal. Our Networking Log has a baseline goal for you.
    2. Identify your network. Who are you already connected to and who are those people connected to?
    3. Develop a plan to reach out to your network. Target who you will reach out to, by when, and how (in-person meeting, email, phone, social media).
    4. Request that the network contacts you reach out to send your information to anyone else in their network that might be in need of your skills and expertise. Many of them won’t do this, but for the few that do, this method may lead to promising job leads. I know one job opportunity I’ve had and accepted was a result of this type of networking.
    5. Follow-Up. You have to stay in front of people who you are networking with and continue to reach out to them. Create a schedule to follow-up with those network connections that are most promising.
    6. Track the leads and results achieved from each contact. This can help you identify the best methods and networks to tap into for further results.

    But I’m not looking for a job you say? Whether you’re an active job seeker, passive job seeker, or not a seeker at all, networking is critical to seen and unseen opportunities. This same method can also help sales or business development professionals as well as recruiters (there are two sides to the job networking equation after all!). Taking the time to have a networking game plan and follow through on that plan, no matter where you are in your career, can help you take advantage of relationships. And relationships are what lead to the best possibilities in work and life.

    Image source: Lou Adler (@LouA) is the Amazon best-selling author of Hire With Your Head (Wiley, 2007) and the award-winning Nightingale-Conant audio program, Talent Rules! His latest book, The Essential Guide for Hiring and Getting Hired, is now available on Amazon.

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  • Computers Don’t Give People Jobs- People Do.

    Computers Don’t Give People Jobs- People Do.

    A recent LinkedIn group posting by a job seeker asked the question, “Tons of  applications vs. networking (in a new place) – Which might work best?”


    While applying online for openings is a necessary component to job search, I think this chart and table answers the job seeker’s question clearly:

    wherejobopportunitiescomefrom

    Mark S. Granovetter, a sociologist at Harvard, investigated how people get jobs. His study included professional, technical, and managerial workers who recently found jobs, and the chart shows the methods by which jobs were obtained.

    Granovetter’s data also indicated that of the people who found jobs through personal contacts, 43.8% had new positions created for them.

    Granovetter concludes: “Personal contacts are of paramount importance in connecting people with jobs. Better jobs are found through contacts, and the best jobs, the ones with the highest pay and prestige and affording the greatest satisfaction to those in them, are most apt to be filled in this way.”

    Recommended Job Search Effort Allocation

     

    Priority

    Method

    Recommended Effort Allocation

    1

    		 Unpublished Sources

    70%

    2

    		 Advertisements

    10%

    3

    		 Executive Search Agencies, Job Fairs

    5%

    4

    		 Present or Former Employer

    5%

    5

    		 Targeted Mailings

    5%

    6

    		 Other

    5%

    So if you are searching for a job, spend the majority of your time focusing on networking to find out about most of the jobs- the unpublished ones.

    Next week, we’ll give some recommendations on how to network and provide you with a tool for planning and tracking your networking efforts.

  • 5 Steps for Managing Upward

    5 Steps for Managing Upward

    In my first “real” job out of college, I had no idea what managing upward was and had no idea how to do it. More importantly, I didn’t know why it was necessary. In hindsight, I got passed over for a job opening in the department that I wanted because I didn’t manage upward, I got more work than any other person in the department thrown on me because I didn’t manage upward, and I ended up being pretty miserable because I didn’t manage upward.

    In my personal experiences and in coaching middle managers, I’ve learned that the topic of managing upward, or the act of realizing that you have a responsibility in managing the relationship with your boss and thus your career just as much as he or she does if not more, is an issue that comes up quite frequently.

    If I had followed these steps for managing upward, who knows, I might still be with the same organization I was with 10 years ago. (Or maybe not, but that’s a post for another day).

    1. Know your career goals. Write them down. Where do you want to be in one year, in five, in ten?
    2. Communicate your career goals to your boss. Request feedback from them on how you might be able to make these goals a reality with their help. Communication is critical in any type of relationship.
    3. Be open to your boss’ feedback and implement their suggestions.
    4. Ask or volunteer for assignments that help contribute to your goals.
    5. Realize that sometimes, your boss wants you to do stuff that you don’t want to do or that you do not see how it would add value to the organization or your career goals. And sometimes, you have to realize, just like we tell our three year old, “Because I said so” is a good enough reason to follow-through on what is asked (as long as it isn’t unethical). Following through on assignments on time, on budget and with solid results can lead to quicker career growth regardless of the assignment.

    How have you been effective in managing upward relationships?

  • 6 Reasons NOT to Strive for Perfection

    6 Reasons NOT to Strive for Perfection

    I used to get so frustrated as a recruiter when I asked the question “What are your weaknesses?” in an interview and I would get the response “I’m a perfectionist.” It seemed to me to be a way to state a “weakness” when in reality striving for perfection, I thought, was a characteristic that is desired in the working world and in fact classified as a strength.

    I’d turn around and probe the applicant in a way that made them tell me what bad behaviors or results arose because of their perfectionism. Most people just stared at me after asking this question. I wanted to say,  “Now give me an answer to this question that isn’t canned!”

    But, now I’m beginning to believe perfectionism truly is a weakness. Here’s why:

    Perfectionism leads to paralysis. In other words, decisions aren’t made because of perfectionism.

    The inability to make decisions leads to stuff not getting done. Number 23 in the article 30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself,  states “#23. Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done.

    When stuff doesn’t get done, the organization can’t meet customer needs and can’t move forward. You can’t vision for the future and think strategically when you are always trying to make things perfect.

    Perfectionism in the extreme sense is really is just another word for neurotic. If you know a true perfectionist, then you know what I mean. One client engagement I had last year was to improve their hiring practices in order to improve organizational results. After performing an analysis, it was obvious that we needed to implement some type of screening that tested for neurosis. Low performers were exhibiting this characteristic over and over and it was often described as “perfectionism”.

    Learning doesn’t occur when things are perfect.  We often learn more from our failures than our successes, which drives continuous improvement. And continuous improvement does move people and organizations forward.

    Quite frankly, perfect is boring.  And it is never going to happen.

    So if you want to drive results and strategic thinking in your organization, stop telling your people that they need to deliver “perfect”.  Tell them instead they need to be better today than they were yesterday- striving for continuous improvement.  A little bit better today than yesterday is a lot better than being paralyzed today because yesterday wasn’t perfect.