Visibility Is Crucial to Developing Star Employees - Workology

Visibility Is Crucial to Developing Star Employees - Workology Understand the Individual’s Goals and Desires Research consistently finds that employees across the generational spectrum believe that one of a manager’s fundamental roles is to support the development of his or her employees. And yet, in most organizations, the level of satisfaction with that development remains relatively low. Leadersâ€"aware of this expectation and, in most cases, wanting to deliver on itâ€"make a valiant effort. They send people to training and try to commit themselves to mentoring. Yet, many simply don’t have the know-how, and even more don’t have the time to offer such hands-on support. Given the pace and complexity of today’s workplace, leaders are being tasked with more than ever before. Unfortunately, this means that their ability to proactively and robustly provide meaningful mentoring is suffering (along with the engagement, growth and performance of their employees). But being busy should be no reason to abandon mentoring others. Instead, it might present an opportunity to expand a leader’s capacity to help others grow while acknowledging the fundamental truth that employees own their own careers and development. That opportunity involves leveraging employee visibility as a kind of do-it-yourself mentorship. Visibility refers to “the state of being able to see or be seen.” Traditionally in organizations, this means offering employees the opportunity to attend events, showcase talents, represent the team, meet key leaders, or otherwise see or be seen. This sort of visibility provides the recognition that people crave, but generally falls short in terms of fostering growth because it’s neither set up nor mined for learning. Leaders can’t simply shove employees out into the spotlight and hope for the best. For visibility to serve as a legitimate tool for development, it requires intentionality. Here are four high-impact actions leaders can take to set others up for do-it-yourself mentoring success and, in the process, empower employees to leverage their visibility for learning. Understand the Individual’s Goals and Desires Any sort of development begins with an understanding of strengths, skills, interests, opportunities for improvement, values and an eye toward the future. This becomes context for development in general and offers a focus for a visibility opportunity. Identify an Opportunity Consider what you know about the person and select some visibility opportunities that might further his or her individual goals. It could be as simple as joining you at a meeting. Or presenting to senior management. Or leading a workshop. Or speaking at a conference. The key is that the opportunity offers the chance for focused growth in an area of interest to the employee. Facilitate Intention-Setting Help employees establish a focus, intention or goal for the visibility opportunity. Be available to brainstorm how he or she can make the most of this opportunity, but resist the natural temptation to help manage the process. Action plans, next steps and the like rest squarely with employees as they embrace DIY development. Explore What Was Gained At an appropriate time (ideally initiated by the employee â€" but you may need to take the lead here) revisit the visibility opportunity. Facilitate a brief conversation during which you ask questions to help the person reflect on the experience, insights gained, actions taken and how they might leverage all of this toward next developmental steps. Acknowledge effort, progress and successes. Building confidence in the ability to develop through visibility may prompt employees to take more initiative to do the same in the future, removing even more of the burden from the shoulders of managers. Leaders will always have a responsibility for developing others. Yet, given escalating workloads, tightening time constraints and virtual nature of business, managers must find creative and time-effective ways to support others in their development. Visibilityâ€"intelligently conceived and implementedâ€"can be a powerful DIY form of mentorship and a way to grow people, grow capacity and grow the business. This post was originally  published at the Economist Career blog here. Its author, Julie Winkle Giulioni, has spent the past 25 years working with organizations worldwide to improve performance through learning. Named one of Inc. Magazine’s top 100 leadership speakers, Julie is the co-author of the Amazon and Washington Post bestseller, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want, a respected speaker on a variety of topics, and a regular contributor to many business publications.

What Do I Do When My Boss Is Threatened By Me - Kathy Caprino

What Do I Do When My Boss Is Threatened By Me Welcome to Episode #6 of my week after week video blog Work You Love! Today, Im tending to an amazing inquiry I got from Tina about a difficult relationship with her chief: My supervisor is out to get me. I have more understanding than she does. She's undermined by my work, and my strong network of companions and supporters. She subverts me, and shields me from picking up introduction to senior initiative. I'm thinking about going to HR to discuss this circumstance, yet I'm hesitant to make that stride. What do you think? Here are my musings on that: Dont despair you CAN manage these difficulties, and figure out how to take control. Get some outside help as a support, guide, or instructing mate to assist you with conceptualizing and seek after new, successful approaches to address this problem. There are different options other than battle or flight. Todays top message (and tweetable): Snap TO TWEET: If your supervisor sabotages you, assume responsibility for the circumstance you dont need to stay a casualty. Much obliged to you for watching Work You Love, and numerous upbeat discoveries. See you one week from now! (On the off chance that you have a consuming profession question youd like me to reply, SUBMIT IT HERE! Sick give a valiant effort to address it in some structure in the weeks to come.) Additionally, go along with me on November nineteenth from Noon to 1:00 pm for my FREE teleclass Breakthrough To Your BOLD Plan for More Happiness, Success and Reward. Find out how to take your profession to the following degree of progress and satisfaction!

My Right-Brain Business Plan Spotlight!

My Right-Brain Business Plan Spotlight! Ya mightve seen me talk about my Right-Brian Business Plan/Time Management Tool/Box o Business Brilliance over on Spring a month ago, which I adored imparting to ya. Fortunately, the maker of the Right-Brain Business Plan, Jen Lee, saw it herself inquired as to whether Id like to be included in her Right-Brain Business Plan Spotlight! Snap on over to perceive what The Right-Brain Business Plan has accomplished for me, the objectives Ive achieved, how I utilize imaginative instinct, and the vision for my business (a more alarming inquiry that it appears!). See you there!

What its like to work for Google

What its like to work for Google by Amber Rolfe Want to be part of one of the world’s biggest companies? You should work for Google… With a great company culture and a wide range of employee benefits, along with quirky and comfortable offices that challenge the stereotypical 9-to-5, becoming a ‘Googler’ (actually what they call themselves) could be the perfect fit for your career. But what’s it really like to work there, and how do you get your foot in the door?To help give you an idea of the application process and day-to-day, here’s what it’s like to work for Google:  The interview processGoogle are notorious for their ‘creative’ (see also: difficult) interview questions, so if you want in, you need to get the answers nailed.Although many questions will rely on your specialist expertise and practical ability, others are designed to test your character, logic skills, and ability to learn and grow. Roleplaying, practical tasks and tests may also be part of the mix.Ultimately, their goal is to find out how clued up you are on them as a company, so doing your research is vital to ensuring you fully understand Google’s products, story, and vision.And remember: an eagerness to learn is an essential attribute for any aspiring Googler â€" so claiming that you’re perfect is never a good approach.Although they’re famously coy on exactly what they ask, here are just a few of the more unusual questions you should prepare for:Do you have an IQ higher than 130?What shall we have for dinner this evening?How many times a day do the hands of a clock overlap?Are you incompetent and lazy?How many piano tuners are there in the entire world?Difficult interview questions and answersFive interview questions you should stop being scared of  The workplaceVoted the number one place to work in the UK on a number of occasions, you’d probably expect that Google’s offices are up there with some of the best â€" both in terms of company culture and aesthetics.For example, the quirkily cr afted interior design featured in the Covent Garden office is the epitome of a comfortable workspace, and is probably about the closest thing you can get to working from your own home (there is actually a ‘Home Working area’).That is, if your home is filled with a mix of cosy vintage furnishings and modern decor, a secret garden, a comfy library, and a huge garden area complete with your own allotments. And while no two offices are the same, Google always incorporate a sense of local personality, healthy living, and quirkiness into every single one of their workplaces.All in all, as offices go, this definitely beats a plain old desk… As long as you have the willpower to actually get some work done whilst sitting inside a room designed like a tiny submarine.The rolesGoogle offer a range of opportunities, which are available across their three London offices, along with their fourth office based in Manchester.Here’s a few of the fields you could work in:Engineering technology Marketing communicationsBusiness strategyLegal financeSales customer serviceDesignHR  The employee benefitsGoogle’s company perks go far beyond their uniquely designed offices.With healthy living in mind, they offer a free onsite gym service and a cycle to work programme, along with free food three times a day â€" basically enough to make you want to live at work just so you never have to do your own food shopping again.They also provide a number of benefit programmes, including generous parental and sick leave policies, pensions, and life insurance. Some offices even allow you to bring your dog to work.Employees also boasted a good sense of overall job satisfaction, especially citing the amount of available opportunities and choice involved in their preferred workload and type. And, as Google is a big believer of ‘lifelong learning’, they fully support and accommodate for their employees in both their professional and personal development.  The company cultureWith a fun wo rking environment and a range of company perks, it’s not surprising that the culture at Google is anything but dull.Priding themselves in maintaining the openness of a ‘start-up culture’, Google allow all of their employees to input their ideas regularly. And with the uniquely designed meeting spaces and communal areas featured in all of their offices, Googlers are encouraged to interact with all members of the company (both in terms of work and play).But it’s not just the environment that makes working for Google great. As with many things, it’s the people that make it.With many internal reviews stating that being surrounded by ‘smart, friendly, and passionate people’ is/was a massive pro when working there, it proves that Google’s ‘only hiring the best’ policy works in everyone’s favour.  Still searching for your perfect position? View all available jobs now