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.

  • 4 Tips for reconciling the irony of stress and productivity in the workplace

    4 Tips for reconciling the irony of stress and productivity in the workplace

    What’s impacting performance in the workplace more than anything else these days?  Many people would say it is stress, which is pushing some to the point of full-blown mental health issues.

    Consider how Graeme Cowan, author of Back From the Brink, describes this reality in the Fall 2014 issue of Global Corporate Xpansion Magazine:

    “In a hypercompetitive global economy, organizations must be ‘on’ 24/7. Yet this scramble for perpetual performance is taking a harsh toll on employees. They relentlessly push to get ahead and stay ahead- working longer days, emailing after hours, taking fewer vacations- often with little acknowledgement for their efforts. The result is a workforce that’s not just disengaged (Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace report revealed that 70 percent of U.S. employees fall into this category), but also stressed and depressed. 

    And here’s the irony. The constant hustle aimed at increasing productivity and profitability actually decreases both.”[i]

     

    So what should you do as an employer to combat this irony?

    1. Assess both the level of stress and the causes of stress in your workforce. Developing and administering an organizational survey to assess the level of stress in employees can help you effectively develop a plan to reduce stress levels at the workplace through policies, practices and programs.  You can’t know what to change if you don’t know what the sources of issues are.  In addition, if you do put a plan in place, you can’t know if and how you’ve improved if you don’t have baseline measurements to compare.
    2. Provide stress management training to your staff.  Providing stress management training to your employees can help increase productivity and profitability in the workplace.  Hopefully you have committed to assessing the stress level of your organization (see #1) and have a skilled training provider that can take that information and develop a customized stress management program for your organization.
    3. Analyze your talent management processes, particularly your selection process.  Does it assess people for organizational and job fit?  For more reading on this, check out an article I published inHR Alabama– see page 16. If people aren’t aligned with the organizational purpose and the job purpose, stress is bound to ensue, leading to decreased productivity.
    4. Design policies, procedures and tools that allow people to work smarter not harder and that put controls in place to keep people from falling victim to the toll that working 24/7 takes.  

    For more food for thought on this see:

    Flexibility to Reduce Workplace Stressors

    Should Employers Ban Email after Work Hours?

    Stress Leave

    Need more help as an employee or employer to manage stress?   Download Stress Management: How to Deal with Stress in the Short and Long Term

    Stress Mgmt

  • Career Spotlight: Geneticist

    Career Spotlight: Geneticist

    Do you enjoy biology? Do you also like chemistry and mathematics? Do you think working in a lab conducting experiments and doing research is fun?

    If any of these things describe you, then a career as a Geneticist might be for you!

    What do you need to be a Geneticist?

    Education:

    Becoming a geneticist requires at least a Bachelor’s degree and most likely a Master’s degree or beyond.

    If you are a high school student, make sure you are focused on taking biology, chemistry and mathematics.

    Skills:

    Geneticists know how to:

    • Use scientific rules and methods to solve problems
    • Be active listeners and successfully communicate orally and in writing
    • Be critical thinkers and complex problem solvers

    Is the field growing?

    The projected growth is approximately 2%.

    What is the pay like?

    Graph Geneticist

     

    What’s the Holland Code* for a Geneticist?

    Interest code: IAR- Investigative, Artistic and Realistic

    Investigative — Investigative occupations   frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of   thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out   problems mentally.
    Artistic — Artistic occupations frequently involve   working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression   and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
    Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently   involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and   solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials   like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working   outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with   others.

    Source: http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-1029.03

     

    If you are interested in learning more about Geneticists, check out ONET.

    Would you want to be a Geneticist? Why or why not?

    *Holland Codes are a way to classify a person based on their skills and interests as well as jobs based on the nature of the work. If you have an interest in knowing what your Holland Code is in order to match yourself to careers to pursue, you can read more about our assessment process.

  • Career Spotlight: Most Stressful Jobs

    Career Spotlight: Most Stressful Jobs

    Do you like to live on the edge? If so, you might find your future career on the most stressful jobs list. A recent study suggests that jobs that require you to face unpredictable conditions, immediate dangers and high-stakes situations rank among the most stressful of 2014.

    According to a study from job search site CareerCast, jobs where people are putting their lives on the line are the most stressful. Who tops the list you ask? Military personnel (enlisted and generals), firefighters and airline pilots are all there.

    According to the site, salaries and education levels for the most stressful jobs vary. The median salaries and education required for those jobs are:

    Enlisted Military Personnel – $28,840 (GED or high school diploma)

    Military General – $196,300 (varies: specialized training, may also require a master’s degree)

    Firefighter – $45,250 (training varies: certificate, 2 years or 4 years of college)

    Airline pilot – $114,200 (training varies: license, 2 years or 4 years of college)

    According to ONET, the only one of these careers that will be considered high demand in the next several years is a career as a Firefighter.

    If you are interested in learning more about these careers, check out these links: Military Careers,Firefighter, Airline Pilot.

    Would you want to have one of these most stressful jobs? Why or why not?

  • Career Spotlight: Legislative Aide

    Career Spotlight: Legislative Aide

    Are you a good communicator? Do you enjoy doing research and analyzing data? Is making arrangements and planning trips something you love to do?

    If so, you should consider a career as a Legislative Aide!

    Legislative aides work with representatives, senators and government officials to manage communication with constituents, organize representatives’ schedules, research legislation and typically direct activities in their offices. The requirements for a position as a legislative aide often vary according to the office and needs of the legislator.

    Education Required:

    Associate Degree or Bachelor’s Degree

    Skills and Personal Abilities:

    Written and Oral Communication

    Organization

    Critical Thinking

    Monitoring

    Pathways and Salary Information:

    Most employers require that legislative aides have a bachelor’s degree. There is no specific degree of study required to work as a legislative assistant, but degrees in fields of political science, social science, business or public administration may be preferred. So, one pathway to becoming a legislative aide is by obtaining an undergraduate degree. You may also want to enroll in a graduate program, pursue internships and volunteer opportunities as well as obtain experience in administrative support. If you would like more information about legislative aides, check out this article from Chron.

    Legislative aides carry different titles as well as salaries. Check out Congressional Staff Salaries here.

    Legal assistants and paralegals are often grouped in the same category as legislative aides. Another pathway to becoming a legislative aid is to become a paralegal. The median wage for a paralegal is $47,570 in the state of Alabama and the field is growing. Several community colleges offer a 2 year degree for legal assistants/paralegals. If you are interested in learning more about paralegals/legal assistants, check out this BLS website.

    Would you want to be a legislative aide? Why or why not?

  • Impacting the performance of employees when you just want them to show up, do their job and not complain

    Impacting the performance of employees when you just want them to show up, do their job and not complain

    “I just want them to show up and do their job and not complain,” said one burned-out manager to me not long ago.  He was struggling with how to motivate the performance of several members of his staff, and in his exhaustion to try to be a leader, had adopted a mindset of something far from leadership.

    So how do leaders influence and impact the performance of employees when sometimes we just want them to show up and do their job and not complain?

    1.  Adopt a Leadership Mindset. First, a mindset of leadership needs to be present.  Leadership is grounded in seeing people as assets and realizing that the greatest responsibility of the role is to invest in people to drive their performance.   This means spending most of our time as leaders with those we are trying to develop, not wishing they would disappear into the oblivion get their work done and not bother us.  My manager client is never going to be able to drive performance in his employees long-term if his mindset about what his role is doesn’t change to one of leadership.

    2.  Get over your own burn-out. You can’t motivate performance if you’re burned out yourself.  My client was tired.   On top of dealing with employee issues that were unpleasant, he was trying to run a business, meet client needs and juggle a never-ending myriad of tasks.    The personnel issues were just another thing that he was barely spending enough time on to be able to see any results, and his people know from his actions that they are being seen as just another annoyance in a never ending cycle of being hopelessly behind and burned-out.  If you aren’t working smarter, not harder, why would they?  Part of a leadership mindset is setting an example.  If you are burned out and annoyed, you’re probably complaining and that’s why they are complaining too.

    If you are burned out:

    1. Take some time to regroup; get away if you have to and unplug.
    2. Manage your time. Consider how you can kill two-birds with one stone by empowering your people through delegation.
    3.  Get rid of stuff that doesn’t matter- say no.  And saying no to investing time your employees shouldn’t be one of the no’s on your list.  Saying no to things that aren’t important leads you to be able to say yes to your employees, who are important.

    The bottom-line is leaders impact the performance of their employees by the example they create.   If you want people to show up, do their job and not complain, then do the same.  Adopt a leadership mindset and find ways to get over the burn-out and negativity you may be experiencing.   If you can’t, then maybe you’re in the wrong role.

    You’ll find that if you empower employees through your positive mindset and results, you’ll get much more than just a group of non-complainers who do their job.  You’ll get a group of people who are engaged in their work and drive productivity. Start with yourself and it will rub off on those you seek to lead.