The Importance of an Exit Strategy in the Offboarding Process

The Importance of an Exit Strategy in the Offboarding Process I recently read an interesting article about an employee who took a job at a company with less-than-favorable working conditions. Once he tired of the toxic work culture and decided to move on, he put in his two weeks’ notice, only to have his manager reject it. Instead, she took his resignation as a personal insult, telling him to pack his belongings and leave immediately. Unfortunately, hindsight is always 20/20, and had the employee known of management’s treatment of departing employees, he surely would have thought twice before accepting the job offer. I have worked for employers in the past that made a practice of not accepting employees’ two weeks’ notice, opting instead to show them the door the day they resigned. Fortunately, in my case, there was no animosity or toxic work culture. However, it did cause unnecessary confusion and a few challenges that could have been avoided had there been at least a few days to transition out of the company. There are a number of reasons why it’s beneficial to formulate an exit strategy for departing employees. Let’s look at a few ways it can benefit both employers and employees. 1. An investment in the future In today’s modern workplace, a company’s offboarding process is crucial to its future success. Gone are the days when employers can pick and choose new talent by offering high salaries, while letting their current workforce fall by the wayside. Skilled employees now have their pick of employers, and culture is king. Sometimes these top performers need room to grow, and this often involves outgrowing one role and moving on to another with a different employer. By supporting this growth, employers position themselves for success in two ways. First, they leave the door open for boomerang rehires, which account for 15 percent of departing employees who end up returning. Second, by supporting an employee’s decision to move on, there’s a good chance he or she will remain a valuable brand ambassador of the company who is willing to speak positively of their time working there and recommend it to other prospective employees looking for work, or possible clients looking to do business. This speaks to the two top indicators of on-the-job performance and ROI, with employee referrals ranking first and boomerang rehires ranking second. By eliminating the offboarding process and taking offense to employee departure, an employer has burned two valuable bridges. 2. Sending a message After receiving an employee’s resignation, management’s insistence upon his or her immediate dismissal raises questions as to what they’re afraid of that would cause them to mistrust anyone choosing to leave the company. It’s hard to imagine an employer maintaining good relations with company alumni after insisting upon their immediate departure as if they had committed a crime. All employees want to feel appreciated for a job well done. Those who leave the company would like to know their hard work made a positive impact during their time there. Employers that recognize this and act on it are destined for future success. Apple’s “clap out” is a great example of how a show of appreciation and support for departing employees as they enter the next stage of their careers can have a positive impact on employee satisfaction and company culture. 3. Room for improvement Nobody’s perfect. Even the best of us can improve at something, and those who are the greatest usually strive the hardest. This applies to employers as well as employees. Companies with an outstanding work culture who rank high in employee satisfaction don’t achieve this by accident, but by staying closely in tune with what attracts top talent, and being willing to change with the times. When an employee leaves, management is given an excellent opportunity to improve by conducting an exit interview. This allows a departing employee to provide constructive feedback that the company may not otherwise receive from current employees, and provides management the opportunity to better the company for current and future employees. In addition, it sends the message that a departing employee’s feedback is still valued, even though he or she will no longer be part of the team. 4. Unburdening the workload One of the strongest arguments for maintaining a smooth employee exit strategy is the unnecessary burden that failing to do so places on remaining employees. After a resigning employee is unceremoniously escorted out, their coworkers are left to sort out their assignments, contracts or client lists with no instruction or transition period. This shows disrespect to the employees assigned to pick up the pieces, as the transition of work could have been made smoothly were it not for management’s impetuous reaction to the resignation. In many cases, those who inherit the work are forced to contact the former employee for instruction on how best to proceed from where they left off. However, what incentive does the newly departed worker have to assist their former employer who showed them so little respect during their last interaction? Hopefully, they would take the high road in assisting their former coworkers who never asked for the added work. But the incentive to help would be far greater had they been shown the respect they deserved by management during their departure. Changing jobs is never easy. While it’s a necessary step in ascending the corporate ladder, it’s equally difficult dealing with the emotion of leaving a job you love, or the frustration of leaving a job you hate. Regardless of the reason, the responsibility falls on both employees and employers to make an employee’s departure a smooth process. In the end, employers that burn bridges with departing employees by taking offense to their resignation may be destroying valuable connections, as well as leads to future employees and clients. In contrast, employers that show workers respect and appreciation upon their departure will see reward in the form of team morale, talent attraction and retention, and a positive company culture.

Friday smorgasbord

Friday smorgasbord Here are three tidbits Ive collected that havent fit in other places over the week. Condoleeza has a workplace crush Maureen Dowd brings to light the evidence that Condoleeza Rice has a crush on the Canadian Foreign Minister Peter McKay. Scroll down in Dowds column to see a great photo of the two of them looking at each other, which reminds me of all the times Ive fallen in love how exciting it is. The photo also reminds me of all the crushes Ive had with people I worked with. In each instance, unfulfilled sexual tension at the office made my work life more productive. Really. Probably due to some sort of synergy and that I was so in tune with how the other person was working. Side note: Peter McKay is so cute. (Hat tip: Ben from AMVER) Homework in grade school encourages bad habits in the work world Doing more than 90 minutes of homework a night in middle school means lower test scores, according to Claudia Wallis writing for TIME magazine. She shows why excessive homework is ruining kids childhoods and family lives for no purpose. One expert suggests extending the school day so kids get all their homework done before they get home, because home is for family. My friend Mauri points out that when we encourage kids to bring school work home and do it at the expense of family, we set those kids on a path to bring office work home at night and do it at the expense of family. How to make useless career lists useful CareerJounal has published what seems like their five thousandth list this year on which are the best careers.What can we learn from this list? First, lists with juicy titles get linked to a lot, and I should have made this post Three essential things for September, or something like that. Second, the criteria someone uses to come up with the best career list is more useful than the list itself. Some editor decided that the question to ask is, do you have these things in your job:

10 of the Biggest Pet Peeves Recruiters Have About Candidates

10 of the Biggest Pet Peeves Recruiters Have About Candidates Whether its poorly written resumes, or making avoidable mistakes in an interview, recruiters all have their pet peeves when it comes to candidates, and time after time candidates make silly mistakes that cost them an interview or even the role. So what are the top pet peeves that recruiters have with job seekers? 1) Overly creative resumes As much as a creative resume can help job seekers stand out from the crowd, they can often cause a bit of an inconvenience for recruiters who would quite like to  able to skim read it for the relevant information, rather than wear it, drink from it, etc. 2) A photo or personal info on their resume Sure, Im happy for you and your wife and 3 kids, aged 3, 5 and 8, but does this really have anything to do with the job in hand? Dont even get me started on the holiday selfie attached. 3) Unqualified candidates Congratulations on your promotion to supervisor at TGIs last year, but Im still not sure thats going to help you land a role as a Finance Director 4)  Applying for any and every job out there Ok, so youve been unemployed for some time and are becoming a bit desperate to find yourself a job, but this doesnt mean you should apply for anything or everything that comes along! Be selective and dedicate your time to pursuing those opportunities properly, rather than sending off dozens of generic resumes for unsuitable roles , which can come across as lazy. 5) Taking ages to respond If you are contacted for a job and you are serious about your job hunt, you should return the call or email within 24 hours. Any longer and you will appear uninterested and may cost you the interview. 6) Turning up late.or too early Its common knowledge that punctuality is essential when interviewing for a new job, as showing up late will just show a lack of consideration for your interviewers time and will suggest they are unreliable. The same however, does go for showing up too early, as its likely your interviewer is running to a tight schedule and it may disrupt the short time they have between meetings. 7) Unprepared interviewees Its expected of candidates to do their research before an interview and to understand exactly what it is that the company does and what the role is that they are interviewing for.The same goes for dressing  appropriately.  If they turn up unprepared, it not only reflects badly on themselves but also on the recruiter who set up the interview. 8) Changing    salary requirements Theres a reason recruiters will usually ask candidates about their salary requirements in the initial screening call/interview, and thats so candidates and  job roles are accurately matched. Clients will usually have a set salary in mind, so unless youre some kind of superstar, suddenly asking for more money at the end of the process probably wont get you far. 9) Constantly following up Theres nothing wrong with checking that your application has been received. In fact it will confirm your genuine interest and get you noticed. However, pestering recruiters with constant calls is not going to do you any favours, as you will just get on their nerves. When there is news, they will contact you. 10)  Rudeness Nobody wants to work with someone who is rude or unpleasant towards them, its unnecessary and it wont get you anywhere in life. Job seekers  should be polite and approachable if they want to put themselves in good stead of being chosen for the role. Writing  a thank you letter referencing  your conversation is also a good idea, as it shows appreciation for the recruiters time Are you a recruiter and have a pet peeve you want to share? Tweet us at @UndercoverRec! Image Credit: Shutterstock

How to Stay Focused With Your Social Media Marketing - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Stay Focused With Your Social Media Marketing - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Your personal brands time is valuable online, and with so much information out there it is more important than ever to make the best use of it. With a strong and efficient social media plan your business can have an effective reach. It is important to be actively involved in building relationships with your community. This opens the doors to connecting with other influencers in your industry, which can lead to more prospects. The key to a streamlined marketing plan is to stay focused on the social networks that matter the most to your audience. This begins with clear goals and regular assessments on your metrics in order to continue to improve. Powerful Social Media Marketing With More Focus The following are some ways your personal brand can create a successful marketing campaign that builds your bottom line and visibility: Decide what your social media plan will accomplish Most brands jump into various social networks in order to just build a large following. But after that is achieved you need to create a plan of how you will be reaching your fans and followers. Will you be sending them to a sales page? Or are you growing your brands website? Decide early on what the ultimate plan will be for your accounts. How will your profiles serve your brand? Perhaps your business would like to move itself into podcasting or speaking events? Find out which social networks are the best tools for what you want to accomplish. For example, if youd like to build a solid professional network then LinkedIn and Facebook Groups would be a good choice. Detail the amount of time to spend each day As your personal brand’s presence grows on social media it is important to harness your schedule and focus on specific tasks each day. Use a set aside time for each profile in order to leave room for building your business and creating content. Keep personal time separate It is good practice to have a dedicated schedule just for your brands social media marketing during your work day, and then focusing on personal items after this is accomplished. This will prevent you from wasting time on conversations and content that will not be building your brand. As marketing online continues to grow and change it is vital to have a clear focus and with daily action steps in place. This will help you to take control of your branding as well as forge meaningful relationships with extra time for business and personal life.

Writing a Profile For Resume - What to Include in a Resume

Writing a Profile For Resume - What to Include in a ResumeWriting a resume for your job search is one of the most important steps that you have to take. This is because it will be the first thing that will be seen by those employers that you are targeting. Your resume is what makes the first impression that the recruiter or the employer would get from reading your resume. Therefore, it must be designed well and should have all the relevant information.Writing a resume for your job search should be part of your planning procedure, which includes preparing the content. There are some rules of thumb to follow when preparing your resume. It includes your objective in writing it, your reasons for applying for the job and what skills or expertise you can bring to the job. In this article, I am going to talk about some tips that will help you write a great resume.To start with, the objective that you want to present to your potential employer should be stated in the first paragraph. It is a lso advisable to place a heading at the beginning of your resume that clearly states the purpose of your resume. The heading should include your objective in the first sentence.The reason why you want to apply for the job should be stated in the second paragraph. In addition, I would recommend including the details about how long you have been in the field you are applying for. Including your job title and years of experience in the second paragraph is ideal.Writing a profile for resume is a process which requires you to put a lot of details about yourself. So, to avoid missing a crucial detail, make sure that you write your profile in a way where it is clear and concise. It is also best to try out on paper or in the computer before you do it in your resume. Make sure that you highlight the things you want to include in your resume.Last but not the least; if you include relevant experience, include it even if you don't feel comfortable. You can add it to the end of your resume even if you don't feel comfortable about it. At least, your potential employer will see that you did in fact have the relevant experience.Writing a profile for resume is a process which involves presenting yourself in the best possible way. So, it is highly recommended that you follow this process with care and make sure that you give your information in a good manner.Don't forget to put specific information about yourself that is required to get an interview with the employer. Writing a profile for resume should be your priority for your job search as it is the first impression that your employer will get from your resume.

Stomach brain - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Stomach brain - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog How many brains does the average human have? One? Wrong! Theres one in the head, and it seems we also have an extra one wrapped around our intestines. Read all about it. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

The Click-to-Call Opportunity Why the Phone Call is Back in Vogue [Infographic]

The Click-to-Call Opportunity â€" Why the Phone Call is Back in Vogue [Infographic] In a time when it seems almost everything can be done online, it’s all too easy for businesses to dismiss the importance of the humble phone call. However, the emergence of click-to-call has brought back the phone in a big way and represents a major opportunity to businesses across all sectors. Click-to-call is an option presented to users upon searching for your business on their smartphone which allows them to get in touch with your business though their search engine with one quick click of a button. Click-to-call represents a major opportunity for businesses of all types to improve customer service. Customers enjoy the convenience of click-to-call, with 51% of mobile users saying they “always” or “frequently” need to call a business from a mobile search ad. Not a fad to be dismissed, click-to-call is here for the long-haul with experts predicting that revenue generated from click-to-call will reach $13.7 billion by 2020. To learn more about how your business can take advantage of the click-to-call opportunity, check out this highly informative infographic from M2 On Hold.  This infographic lays out the steps you can take to implement click-to-call and how to fine-tune your caller experience to build a better relationship with your customers.