One of the most important aspects of motivation in your professional career is action.   And the most important question to ask is this one: what spurs you to action?   The answer to this question is as individual to the person as their passions are. What spurs one person to action won’t necessarily do the same for somebody else. Below are some examples of action-motivators.   The drive to achieve The fear of failure The desire to be challenged Recognition Financial rewards   So there are passion-motivators and action-motivators, and both play a large role ..read more

There is no doubt that the single most important factor in building a team of motivated employees is hiring a team of motivated employees.   People who are already intrinsically motivated are much more likely to become motivated (and highly productive) employees. However, the question then becomes this: what can you as a leader do to continue motivating those employees and push them to even greater heights of motivation?   The answer: there’s plenty you can do.   These catalysts for motivation are sometimes not readily apparent . . . or at the very leas ..read more

Despite all the hype and conflicting information surrounding the interview process, there are actually just four big questions employers typically focus on during job interviews.   If you answer these four questions well, your chances of acing the overall interview are much better.   Question #1—“Tell me about yourself.”   Most impressions are made within the first few minutes of meeting someone, so it's important to answer this initial interview question well. Over 50% of interviews begin with this question.   The interviewer is hiring you as a whole person, and ..read more

More than likely, you’re looking to keep “climbing the ladder” of your career. Among other things, that means advancing at your current employer, including in the way of a promotion.   However, landing a promotion takes more than just talent, initiative, hard work, and maybe even long hours. It also takes an acute awareness of the situation and attention to detail, since being lax in these areas can prove detrimental.   Which one of the following things is keeping you from getting the promotion that you want?   #1—Not creating a plan for when you ARE promoted   What happen ..read more

It’s a proven fact that employees who like their boss are more likely to stay at their job than employees who do NOT like their boss. In fact, a poor manager or supervisor is often the sole reason a person leaves their position for another opportunity.   It then stands to reason that companies wanting to retain their employees should make great efforts to do so through effective management, if not extraordinary management. The fact of the matter, though, is that it doesn’t even require an extraordinary effort to convince employees to stay.   What these employees want might not be co ..read more

​Everybody would like to get a raise, but of course, not everybody does.   There are a lot of factors that play a role in the likelihood that a person gets a raise, including their performance and how valuable they are as an employee. (In other words, how much of a return the company is receiving for investing in them.)   However, there are things that you can do to increase the chances that you do get a raise. Much of a person’s success is about timing, and securing additional compensation is no exception.   Keep in mind that a “cost of living raise” is usually ..read more

By now, everybody knows that there are certain questions you can’t ask while conducting an interview. But you might be surprised at how carefully you have to measure your words while speaking with prospective candidates. Then again, you might not be, depending on how long you’ve been in the business and how much experience you’ve accumulated.   Not only is every person you interview a potential fit for your company, they also represent a potential lawsuit. Everything hinges upon what happens between the time they sit down across from you and the time they leave. Creating and maintaining ..read more

If there’s one thing that companies and employers crave right now, it’s flexibility. There’s no question that many managers and their staffs are overburdened at the moment, constantly looking for ways to accomplish more regardless of market conditions.   With this in mind, there are a variety of different situations in which a company might opt to hire an interim (or temporary) employee. Those situations include the following:   During the unexpected absence of a key staff member During the absence of an employee due to termination or resignation The completion of an impo ..read more

We’ve written before about the importance of providing value to your employer. There are a number of reasons for this: The value that you offer is the reason that a company would hire you in the first place. The amount and the different kinds of value that you offer determines your worth to the organization. (This becomes even more important when there is a recession and the members of management must decide which employees will stay and which ones must go.) The value that you offer is a critical factor in determining whether or not you receive a raise and/or a promotion.   ..read more

It would be an understatement to say that the employment marketplace and job market have undergone considerable changes during the past three years.   The COVID-19 pandemic kicked off one of the most turbulent periods in the history of our nation’s workforce—and the turbulence may not be over yet. After all, the Great Resignation is still happening and the pandemic still exists, albeit in the form of weaker strains of the virus.   Regardless, while there is no crystal ball that will reveal the future, there are some things about which we can be almost certain. As you will see, many ..read more