The 5 most-clicked links in 
“Life’s too short — no job is worth selling your soul,” wrote Dan McCarthy in part 1 of his five-part series of blog posts on career advice.
This is a lesson I learned early on in my career and one that I have applied more than once. I’ve had more than one job that I could feel crushing my soul each day as I sat there doing my work. Anyone who has had that feeling knows how awful it is.
I don’t work well under such miserable conditions, so I’ve learned that when things get that bad, it’s time for me to get moving on to something else. For now, I’m fortunate that philosophy has brought me to a job I love.
I know plenty of other people who aren’t so lucky. But I don’t think that luck is their primary problem. For most of these people, it’s an unwillingness to get up and go look for something different, something that could easily be better. (read more…)
A recent hot topic on this and other workforce-issue blogs has been the idea of making a big impact in the lives of employees with just a little money, time and effort (see previous SmartBlog on Workforce posts What are your cheap tricks for boosting motivation and morale? and How do you give feedback? ). Earlier this week, business strategy coach Tanveer Naseer used the example of a Coca-Cola social experiment to illustrate yet again how small gestures can make a big difference to people. His blog post goes on to explain how this principle can make a difference in the workplace.
One suggestion Naseer gives is to cut a regular meeting short and offer snacks. I love both of these ideas! Here at SmartBrief, the editors meet once a week and it’s a valuable meeting, but I definitely enjoy the times when there isn’t much to talk about or we’re all swamped and our fearless leader calls off the meeting and sends out announcements via e-mail. (read more…)
SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Smartbrief on Workforce — tracks feedback from leading managers and HR practitioners. We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: What kind of severance package do you offer departing employees as part of a layoff?
- We offer a severance based on years of service, 41%
- We don’t offer severance packages, 33%
- We do something different/customized for the situation, 15%
- We offer a severance based on position, 7%
- We offer a flat severance for all employees, 3%
Traditionally, we’ve seen years of service as the gold standard for employee severance packages so it isn’t surprising that 2 of 5 people polled told us that. I’ve started to see more companies use a flat rate based on position (executive, middle manager, etc…), but I was surprised to see so many companies aren’t offering a severance package. Even if you don’t believe in the value of giving someone a token as they move on due to no fault of their own, it is an easy way to limit your company’s liability. (read more…)
Forced fun is a well-established workplace trend, and it’s driving Grant McCracken and me bonkers!
“Call me a grinch. Call me a humorless, life-hating, stick in the mud, but commandeering personal emotions in the interest of forced conviviality seems to me wrong,” wrote McCracken yesterday on the Harvard Business Review’s The Conversation blog, “I believe emotions are mostly a private matter and should not be controlled by the corporation.”
Amen, brother!
Few, if any, people want to work for a stuffy, humorless organization, but that doesn’t mean they enjoy working for one where they are expected to have a mandated amount of fun at set times in a prescribed manner. Also, people don’t enjoy being told what is and is not fun.
Not so long ago, I worked for a company that had “fun” in its mission statement. And guess what: It was the least fun place I had ever worked. (read more…)
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