Friday Factoids & Weekend Reflections from CSS

February 19, 2010

Welcome to Confidential Search Solutions' Friday Factoids & Weekend Reflections

Greetings!

Happy Friday Everyone! We are so excited about the explosive growth we are experiencing. Now we have more decisions to make, job orders to fill, candidates to find, and classes to facilitate.

For those of you who are still in the job market, we do have a weekly Career Advisor newsletter if you are registered on our CSS Online Career Portal . This service includes free career assessment, personal resume advisor, weekly career webinars, and other in-demand career services. Have a great weekend everyone.

Respectfully,

TJ Haygood, Founder & CEO

Confidential Search Solutions

Where We Look Out for You!

Friday Factoid #1 for Employers: "Developing Your Personal Brand"

Frustrated, angry, motivated, and thoughtful are various words that some employees use to describe their manager's emotions are displayed in the workplace. Employees can be very pointed when they share their thoughts about the people they spend countless hours with on a daily basis. What are your employees saying about you and the display of your emotions in the workplace? Do you think about it? Do you care?

Developing a personal brand awareness is important in one's career development as a manager. Knowing how others see you can help determine if you need to alter any behaviors or change how you express your thoughts.

How others see you and describe you to their peers or even to your superiors can actually influence decisions made about your career. Never leave your reputation or personal brand to chance. Take control of your emotions, words, and behavior in the workplace. Act in a manner consistent with the personal brand identity that you want to develop for yourself. For more assistance give us a call for a personal consultation. We wish you the best and continued success!

Confidential Search Solutions

Where We Look Out for You!

Friday Factoid #2 for Employees:
Work Faster!

Faster, Faster! Let's go! Let's get it done! You hear it all the time, day in and day out. You have more deadlines to meet, people to see, reports to generate, or more phone calls to make. Will it ever end? Of course not! One has to learn how to get the work done or move on. For some the answer is time management, the ability to maximize your workload in the same or minimum amount of time.

In order to best maximize your time, the first thing to do is eliminate all unproductive activity. This includes discussing company gossip or the latest You-Tube video. Spending company time on social networking sites, texting, and emailing personal friends is also unproductive and can actually bring into question one's integrity.

Below are three ideas you can use to increase your productivity:

1. Use an online timer (http://www.online-stopwatch.com) to establish a baseline for routine duties. Then seek to beat your own production time each day.

2. Establish the quantity of calls you need to make or people you need to see in order to be successful. Then increase your quantity by 10% each week for four weeks.

3. Give yourself a dessert challenge by rewarding yourself with a special dessert when you meet or exceed your personal production goals for the day week.

There are times when working faster means you will make more mistakes. Therefore review your work quality in addition to your work quantity. If you find that you are struggling to get the work done, then you may need to ask for additional training or some additional assistance. In either case, establish and maintain good communication between you and your manager. It is a key ingredient to your continued success.

Confidential Search Solutions

Where We Look Out for You!

Weekend Reflection #1:

Gift Giving at Work

Have you ever received a gift that you really did not want, but you kept it to spare the other person's feelings? In business, many managers and co-workers give each other gifts they do not want, including certain conversations. Like in personal relationships, people's feelings at work are vulnerable and at risk if misunderstandings occur. How do you handle these confusing situations?

In some companies, gift giving is prohibited to minimize any suspicion of favoritism or unprofessional behavior in the workplace. In general, it is a good rule of thumb to not give gifts casually without the express consent of the other person.

It is also important to establish boundaries with fellow co-workers and operate in a "truth zone." This is an area where the truth is shared by each person without taking it personally.

Relationships at work should be built on common goals of being the best employees you can be with a high degree of respect for your fellow co-workers. Then, when gifts are exchanged, the relationships can be maintained if mutual respect is shown for one another.

Confidential Search Solutions

Where We Look Out for You!

Weekend Reflections #2:

You Cannot Take it Back

Our 1^st Amendment right, the "freedom of speech," is part of our American heritage. In fact, this right was challenged in California recently on February 8^th, at the University of California's Irvine campus, when 11 students spoke out and disrupted the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Michael Orens' speech. The students were punished, and the debate is still ongoing regarding whether or not their rights were violated.

In business, there are no excuses for unprofessional or mean spirited comments in the workplace. Once it is done or is spoken, you cannot take it back. You may apologize or feel badly for allowing your emotions to get out of control, but it is forever immortalized in the minds of those who saw your behavior expressed or your words spoken.

My grandmother used to tell us, "if you can't say anything nice, do not say anything at all". Let the words that flow from your mouth be words of wisdom that encourage, inform, inspire, and instruct others to be all that they are destined to become.

Confidential Search Solutions

Where We look out for You!

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