Conduct a Simple Training Needs Assessment

Want to quickly learn the training needs of a group of employees who have similar jobs? Yet, you don't want to develop and implement a survey, put the questions in a computer program, or run analyses on demographic information you collect.
This training needs assessment works best in small to mid-sized organizations. It will give you a quick assessment of the training needs of an employee group.
This training needs assessment helps find common training programs for a group of employees.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: Approximately 1-2 hours

Here's How:

1. The facilitator gathers all employees who have the same job in a conference room with a white board or flip charts and markers.
2. Ask each employee to write down their ten most important training needs. Emphasize that the employees should write specific needs. Communication or team building are such broad training needs, as an example, that you would need to do a second training needs assessment on each of these topics. How to give feedback to colleagues or how to resolve a conflict with a coworker are more specific training needs.
3. Then, ask each person to list their ten training needs. As they list the training needs, the facilitator captures the training needs on the white board or flip chart. Don't write down duplicates but do confirm by questioning that the training need that on the surface appears to be a duplicate, really is an exact duplicate.
4. When all training needs have been listed, use a weighted voting process to prioritize the training needs across the group. In a weighted voting process, you use sticky dots or numbers written in magic marker (not as much fun) to vote on and prioritize the list of training needs. Assign a large dot 25 points and smaller dots five points each. Distribute as many dots as you like. Tell needs assessment participants to place their dots on the chart to vote on their priorities.
5. List the training needs in order of importance, with the number of points assigned as votes determining priority, as determined by the sticky dot voting process. Make sure you have notes (best taken by someone on their laptop while the process is underway) or the flip chart pages to maintain a record of the training needs assessment session.
6. Take time, or schedule another session, to brainstorm the needed outcomes or goals from the first 3-5 training sessions identified in the needs assessment process. This will help as you seek and schedule training to meet the employees' needs. You can schedule more brainstorming later, but I generally find that you need to redo the needs assessment process after the first few training sessions.
7. Note the number one or two needs of each employee, that may not have become the priorities for the group. Try to build that training opportunity into the employee's performance development plan.

Tips:

1. Training Needs Assessment can be, and often needs to be, much more complicated than this. But, this is a terrific process for a simple training needs assessment.
2. Make sure you keep the commitments generated by the training needs assessment process. Employees will expect to receive their key identified training sessions with the brainstormed objectives met.

What You Need:

• Conference Room
• Flip Chart or White Board and Markers

http://humanresources.about.com/od/trainingneedsassessment/ht/training_needs.htm

Provide Job Training for Employees - On the Job

Want to know how to provide effective job training for employees? The best job training happens at work. If you're committed to employee development - and powerful reasons exist about why employee development is critical - job training internally may provide your best answer.
Employees appreciate the chance to develop knowledge and skills without ever leaving work. And, you can customize the job training employes receive to your workplace needs, norms, and culture. Internal job training and employee development bring a special plus. Unlike external job training, examples, terminology, and opportunities can reflect the culture, environment, and needs of your workplace.
You can offer powerful internal job training for employees to your significant advantage as an organization and service or product provider. Here are twelve ways to provide internal job training and significant employee development. Are you pursuing all of these opportunities for internal job training and employee development? If not, you should be.

1. Mentoring

Xploresoft, LLC

A mentoring relationship is a win-win for all parties: the employee who seeks a mentor, the mentor, and organizations that employ the mentoring pair. Mentoring is also a powerful form of job training and can contribute experience, skills, and wisdom to a mentored employee to increase and expand employee development. Mentoring, whether with the boss or another experienced employee, is key in employee development within your organization

2. Periodic In-House Training From Internal or External Resources

Diane Diederich

If you're looking for a way to develop your internal staff that involves an external consultant, or even an internal manager or HR staff person, internal job training is an effective way to offer training and build the team at the same time. Employee development, offered in brief sessions, internally, on a regular basis, allows you to do job training with a consultant or internal provider who knows your goals, language, culture, and workplace norms. These job training sessions also build the team and help employees develop conversations about improvement, growth, and change.

3. Implement a Book Club at Work

Copyright Bobbieo

Looking for an easy way to share information for employee development at work? Form a book club in which a group of employees voluntarily reads the same book. Combine the book reading with a regularly scheduled discussion meeting to double the impact of the book on job training. Ask one employee to lead the discussion about the week's assigned chapter or two. Ask a second employee to lead the discussion about the relevance of the book's teachings to your organization. You'll magnify employee development with a book club.

4. Require Employees Who Attend External Training to Do Job Training

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When an employee attends an external seminar, training session, or conference, establish a company norm that the employee is expected to magnify the experience for the company by training other employees. This is effective employee development because it introduces new ideas to your organization. It is cost-effective in that the attending employee provides employee development for other employees. These presentations promote employee development, the promulgation of new ideas, and extend job training knowledge. The requirement also develops the skills of the employee who attended the external event. He or she practices sharing ideas and presenting - both significant skills for employee development.
Related: Train Managers to Train

5. Promotion

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A promotion is a powerful form of job training. A promotion forces an employee to grow - or sink. With appropriate mentoring and coaching, a promotion is a positive form of employee development. For job training, a promotion is stretching and fulfilling.

6. Transfer

Copyright Phil Date

A transfer is an approach to employee development that also helps employees create a career path. A transfer provides experience in other areas of an employee's current department or in a new department within the business. This job training widens the employee's horizons and enables the employee to gain wider and broader experience within the business. A transfer provides effective job training.

7. Lateral Move

Copyright Stockbyte / Getty Images

In a lateral move, an employee moves to an equivalent role in an organization for job training and career development. Though the new role usually provides a similar salary range and a job title at the same level, lateral moves are critical for employee development. In a lateral move, the employee's job responsibilities change thus affording the employee job training and new opportunities.

8. Hold Brown Bag Lunches

Aleksandar Petrovic

Brown bag lunches or lunch and learns, as they are frequently called, are another form of employee development, available internally. Whether about work or work-life topics, brown bag lunches provide employees with information they need to create great lives. How can this not be good for an employer? Use brown bag lunches, or buy lunch for the employees, to spotlight projects and initiatives within your company. Provide job training that enhances employee knowledge of your field, your industry, your competition or your customers. Or, just help employees manage work life balance and their individual needs within their every day lives. Regardless of topic, brown bag lunches, or lunch and learns, enhance employee development and their commitment to your business.

9. On the Job Training

Jacob Wackerhausen

On the job training is normally emphasized for job training for any new employee. Whether structured, with written processes and procedures, or informal, the power of on the job training for employee development cannot be overemphasized. Early and timely job training ensures that the employee will perform his or her job effectively. Competence builds employee morale and motivation and ensures employee commitment and retention. Employee onboarding or new employee orientation is also critical in this job training mix. You can also produce internal job training videos and other resources that allow employees unlimited access to job training.

10. Coaching

peepo

Executives, managers, and others interested in career growth and employee development increasingly turn to a business coach, either internal or external, for a personally tailored development process for themselves or reporting employees. Coaching from a boss or other interested manager is always useful job training. Coaching is also a different delivery system for training, since training, especially with long term managers and people who are further along in their careers, is not working. The coach works with the manager to tailor the job training program in skill areas that need an impact.

11. Job Shadowing

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Job shadowing allows an employee to learn about and benefit from brief stints of job training while the employee observes and participates in the work of another employee. Job shadowing, whether for a day, a month, or some other period of specified time is a little used form of employee development. Used by colleges and universities, along with internships for student career exploration, job shadowing can provide job training as well. Job shadowing is also an excellent approach to the job training of employees who provide back up for jobs such as payroll. Job shadowing is also perfect for an employee with an interim assignment resulting from an employee termination.

12. Provide Internet, Intranet, and Webinar Training Classes and Resources

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If your company is not providing online training in your wiki or Intranet or other online employee resource, you are missing a golden opportunity for employee development. Portions of employee onboarding, access to company and departmental information, even your employee handbook, are better accessed online. Everything that any employee needs to know about your company should be accessible to employees online.
Myriad Internet resources, on just about any job training topic that you can imagine, are also available online. Providers from universities to consulting companies are vieing for your employee job training dollars online. You will invest time in vetting providers, but online training is a significant employee job training resource today - provided at work. From webinars to speakers to courses presented via telephone, employees or groups of employees canaccess online job training.
http://humanresources.about.com/od/new/tp/provide-job-training.htm

Tips for New Managers: Developing Good Management Skills

By: Laura Evans

Congratulations. You've landed your first management position and now you're not only responsible for your own performance, but the performance of all staff who report into you. Good management skills got you this far, but what do you need to do stay there? Hint: you have to look down the ladder as well as up.
Maintain the Status Quo
While you may have been hired or promoted because of your creative vision, don't plan on implementing radical changes your first few weeks on the job, especially if you're new to the organization. Introducing too much change too soon, can send the message to your team as well as other managers that you think you understand the company's workings better than they do.
Establish yourself in your new role and gain the confidence of others by taking the time to get the lay of the land before you start sharing ideas that affect the organization's structure, processes and systems. Even if you do know better, you'll still need the support of people around you to make things happen.
Get to Know Your Team
Make an effort to reach out individually to all those who now report into you. Schedule one-on-one meetings to get an idea of what your team perceives to be the department's or company's strengths and weaknesses and solicit their ideas for solutions.
Encourage your team members to ask for what they need from you in your role as manager, where they'd like to improve their skills or receive more training, and what they consider to be their strongest achievements. Above all, be sincere. Employees have a good sense of when managers are just going through the motions. If they get that sense from you, it will take additional time and effort to build trust.
Learn How to Delegate
One the most basic management skills that's often least used by first-time managers is delegating. After all, when you complete a task yourself you have complete control over the outcome. However, by not delegating you're doing both yourself and your staff a disservice.
Part of being a manager is applying more strategic- and critical-thinking skills to the work your department is doing. Delegating helps minimize the amount of tactical work you're doing so you can focus on the bigger picture. The key is learning to identify which tasks are best left to the skills of your staff and which ones require more involvement from you.
Take care not to assign tasks at random-find the best member of your team to get it done, even if requires a bit of training. Deliver clear instructions for how the task should be completed along with your expectations for turnaround (try to make those expectations as reasonable as possible). Discuss any obstacles to achieving that goal with your employee and be willing to help them improve their performance, taking extra care not to micro-manage the project.
Be Courteous
Don't underestimate the effect of a simple "please", "thank you" or "good job" can have on your employees. Whether they've spent the last three days archiving files or churning out a top-notch client presentation, acknowledging their efforts goes a long way toward communicating the value they bring to your team.
If one of your employees or peers has outdone themselves on project you're ultimately responsible for, give credit where it's due and don't take it for yourself unless it's yours-you might look good to the big boss from a distance, but if it happens consistently you'll stop getting the support from these people that makes your job possible.
Avoid Burnout
A lot of new managers get caught up in the excitement and enthusiasm of their new positions and for all the right reasons: they want to learn as much as they can as quickly as possible and start getting things done in order to demonstrate their commitment to the company. As a result, first-time managers often wind up working excessive hours and when you're working that hard, for that long, not all of those hours can be productive.
Try to identify the tipping point in your day when your ability to do focused work drops and you're spinning your wheels more than you're getting anything accomplished. When you find that point, call it a day. Without an opportunity to rest and regroup, you'll only continue to work at less than your best and over time, you'll accomplish less than you could have if you were well rested.
Evaluate How Your Use Your Time
This tip goes for first-time managers as well anyone in the workforce: how can you work smarter instead of harder? One way to is to take a close look at your time management skills. In other words, how do you actually use your time throughout the course of the day? If you're losing time on reading and responding to e-mail, consider scheduling two to three half-hour blocks for this task and keep your e-mail program closed at all other times. Everyone's time drains will be different, but if you can identify what yours are and create systems to deal with them, you'll get more work done in a shorter period of time.
Look for a Mentor
If you're a new to the company you're working for, you might consider finding a mentor within the company who has the skills, experience and institutional knowledge to guide you in your new role. Some companies offer formal mentoring programs, but don't be afraid to strike up and informal mentor/mentee relationship on your own.
http://www.life123.com/career-money/career-development/management-skills/tips-for-new-managers-developing-good-management-s.shtml

Why Should I Plan?

There are many reasons why you should plan your professional development, not least because if you don’t you won’t appreciate your achievements and will not be able to track your progress. Here we explore further the reasons why it is worthwhile investing a little time now in order to reap the benefits of thorough planning later.

Understanding future needs

Few people are lucky enough to start life knowing what they want to be when they grow up, and sticking to that idea throughout their education and subsequent career. Even fewer are able to follow a precisely defined career path where development and promotion occur at pre-determined stages.
In the 21st century professionals are responsible for their own careers and have to make decisions about where they want to go next. They must be able to adapt to sudden career changes, whether these result from new opportunities or redundancy. This may seem to rule out the need to plan where you want your career to take you, but in reality strengthens the case for assessing your future needs and planning how to gain the competence you will need to meet them.
In terms of your future needs, you should also give some thought to the type of support which might help you to achieve your plan. For example, will you require a mentor at some stage? If so, when, and where would you look for one? What other types of supporters would you want? If you are thinking of gaining NVQs you will need to identify assessors and verifiers. You may also need financial support and/or flexible working arrangements if you are planning to study for a further qualification.
More about Gaining Support.

Business needs

Think about the business you are working in: What is the likely future demand for your product? Who are your competitors? What other threats face your business? What is the research and development department working on, and how might this affect you? What are the likely opportunities for promotion or a sideways move within the company? Companies are subject to mergers, takeovers, closure and strategic changes in output or location; all of which provide career opportunities and threats.
With the pace of technical change, businesses need those who are familiar with the latest technology, or have the capability to bring themselves up to speed very quickly. Keeping an eye on the technical press, attending lectures and talking to customers and suppliers will help you to identify the technical changes most likely to affect your business. Acquiring the relevant skills will give you a head start in meeting the challenge of change when it comes. Alternatively, you may find that a new technology is of particular interest, and want to create the opportunity for a move in that direction.
Soft skills, transferable skills and interpersonal skills are all terms which have come into common usage in recent years. Surveys of employers frequently indicate that these skills are often in short supply, especially among technical professionals and new entrants to the workforce. You will need to have or gain these skills simply to function in most jobs, but if you want to progress to senior levels you will have to develop them to a high level. These types of skills also tend to be very generic - at a superficial level the requirements may seem to differ according to an employer’s culture, but the basic principles still apply. So you need to plan to acquire and enhance a whole range of these skills.
Your employer may have formal mechanisms in place to identify business needs and corresponding development plans for employees. You may find yourself being groomed for a specific role, or part of a cohort expected to progress to a certain level within the organisation. If this is the case, your employer will identify the skills you need to meet their objectives, and may have a structured development scheme to enable you to acquire them over a certain timescale. If your employer has such a scheme but you are not on it, you may want to find out how to get involved.

Career/Job goals

You will need to think about a whole host of factors. Most importantly, your aspirations, the needs of your current and potential future employer, and your personal goals. Where do you want to be this year, next year or in five years time? Doing the same job? Promoted within your company? Or somewhere completely different? You will greatly improve your chances of creating or taking advantage of career opportunities if you predict these needs, and acquire the corresponding skills in a structured manner.
You may have some very clear ideas about what you want to do next. If this is the case, you should be able to gather information to help you analyse the skill requirements and identify any shortfall in your existing skill set. Talking to the person doing the job, looking at the job description and person specification, and talking it through with a mentor, will all help you to gain an understanding of what is required.
On a broader level, you may want to start with a clean sheet of paper and identify what you could or would like to do if you had a career change. For this you may need to do some fairly broad reading. Picking up professional and in-house publications could give you ideas for different disciplines or fields of activity which might appeal to you, or of where opportunities are increasing or declining. From there, getting in touch with someone working in that field is the most likely way of getting a real understanding of the nature of the work, the industry and the skills required. The Sector Skills Councils (formerly National Training Organisations) publish "skills foresight" documents which give a good insight into the needs of particular industries. Specialist libraries, such as those run by institutions, are a good source of information. Your institution may also have special interest groups, or a careers service, who can put you in touch with employers or individuals.

Personal goals

An employer-led scheme is great if your aspirations coincide with what your company wants from you, although you may still be expected to influence the development plan. However, you may have different ideas, and need to take steps to ensure you achieve your own objectives.
On a more personal level, you need to consider your broader goals and aspirations. While these may range from being in a job this time next year to becoming the Chairman of the Board, they will also encompass the broader aspects of your life such as family, community and other interests. Your personal goals may include planning a family, taking time out to travel, or becoming President of your institution! So how much time do you have, to undertake career-related development outside the workplace? Will non-work activities affect your career path? Remember that these activities can provide you with valuable experience, skills and attitudes which may support and enhance your competence in the workplace.
Personal goals could also include the decision to seek formal assessment or recognition of your achievements through gaining an academic qualification or professional registration. You will need to find out whether your employer would be willing to support you in this. If the answer is no, and you are still determined to get the qualification you will have to make some tough decisions about how you will do it, and what the true value of it will be to you. If you want the qualifications in order to meet professional registration requirements, you will also need to think about how you can create a self-managed scheme, and who might be willing to act as a mentor or assessor for you.
http://www.pd-how2.org/2_2.htm

Human Resources Management Trainee

Review the job description for a Human Resources Management Trainee.  The underlined keywords link to interview questions for that keyword or job function.

Description:  The Human Resources Management Trainee learns the daily operations and the overall role of the Human Resources department as a strategic business partner within logistics operations.  The successful candidate will:

• Become knowledgeable on staffing, training, diversity awareness, and teamwork.  
• Get a tremendous amount of satisfaction from motivating themselves and others every day.
• Work with the Human Resources manager, Human Resources representatives, operational executives, headquarters, payroll and benefits, and HR technicians - as well as outside government agencies and vendors.
• Receive technical training and mentoring.
• Learn to assess talent to build a strong management and hourly team.
• Ensure that staffing needs are met in a timely manner, from placing ads to interviewing and hiring.
• Learn how we build our company culture.
• Maintain an environment that supports diversity.
• Become familiar with our HR programs, including Workers Compensation, Drug-Free Workplace, and New Employee Orientation
• Ensure that employees receive timely, accurate reviews, wage, increases, and benefits.
• Build credibility with employees to facilitate communication > and respond to concerns.
• Ensure that our legal obligations are met by tracking team employee member records and conforming to all applicable laws.

Qualifications:

• Four year college degree or equivalent Human Resources experience
• Willingness to develop expertise in all aspects of Human Resources
• Demonstrated leadership and decision making skills
• Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills
• History of academic achievement and participation in school or community activities
• Team-oriented thinking and action
• Desire to grow professionally with enthusiasm for continuous learning
• Flexibility and adaptability to changing situations 
• Ability to interpret, understand and relate complex policies and procedures
• Basic PC skills

Additional HR interview resources:

• Interview Questions
• Interview Tips and Strategy

The HR Professional Interview Guide answers the toughest interview questions from the HR professional's interview, 3 mock interviews and in addition over 200 possible interview questions organized by 30 different HR subject areas including:

• Americans With Disabilities Act
• Compensation, wage and salary administration and incentives
• Employee retention
• Human resource policies, procedures and administration
• Recruitment

Search for current trends and subject areas for your Human Resources Management Trainee interview:

• Compensation
• Recruitment
• FSLA
• ADA
• Health Plan Administration

http://www.job-interview.net/sample/HRManagementTrainee.htm

How to appear professional at work

If you want to do well in your career, you need to impress everyone around you, including managers and colleagues, clients and suppliers. To do that, you need to be professional at all times, even though there are occasions when you would much rather turn your back and walk away. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to ensure that you appear professional at work.

Be timely

You may live some distance away from your workplace and you may hate getting up early in the morning; nevertheless, if you want to appear professional, you need to make an effort to be at work on time. While you are at work, you need to complete assignments and tasks in a timely manner, especially if there are upcoming deadlines and your delay will affect other people. When it comes to going home, don’t be the first person out of the door, especially if your work isn’t finished.

Prioritize

If you have a busy job, you may well find that there are times when you need to decide which of your many tasks are the most important and finish those first. If you find it hard to prioritize, then you may need to work on training yourself to do so. You can start by listing all the tasks that you need to complete, as well as their deadlines, and decide which should be done first. If you have difficulty with this, then ask your manager for assistance.

Dress smartly

What you wear to work may not affect your ability to do your job. Nevertheless, it is commonly understood that someone who cares about their appearance is more reliable and professional than those who don’t. Take time to ensure that your clothes are smart and appropriate for your job. You may not want to wear full make-up to work – and indeed, it may not be appropriate to do so – but you should at least ensure that you are clean and that your hair is tidy.

Be tidy

If you have a desk job, it can be very hard to keep on top of paperwork. However, a tidy desk is important, particularly if your work area is likely to be seen by clients. Ensure that you have enough filing space and bookshelf room to store your papers and files and then make an effort to clear everything away at the end of the day. Your tidy work space will impress others and there is less likelihood that an important document will get lost in a pile.

Be prepared

Once you have worked out a way to keep your desk tidy and your paperwork neatly filed away, you should find it much easier to be prepared for meetings. Always make sure that you have read through

http://www.helium.com/items/2058106-how-to-appear-professional-at-work

Working in early years

Early years is a dynamic and vitally important sector which needs high quality staff at all levels. Those who work in it play a crucial role in shaping the lives of future generations. It is a career that you can rightly be very proud of.
A career in early years is rewarding, enjoyable and profoundly important. Most people who work in the sector love their jobs and look forward to going to work every day. Not only do you get to enjoy playing and having fun with children but you are also helping them to develop and learn. Children will use some of the skills they learn with you, such as how to get on with other children, for the rest of their lives. There is no other career choice which will provide you with as many laughs and smiles during the working day.
There are many different roles in the early years sector with opportunities for everyone to start a career, whether you want to work full time or part time and in a range of roles. If you are interested in management, you could end up being your own boss, running your own nursery, with responsibility for staff, budgets and building effective relationships with parents. As you progress your early years career you could aspire to become an early years professional, combining both high level practitioner skills and leadership in a variety of settings.
Some of the work you might expect to be involved in when working in early years include:

• Encouraging children to develop social skills and discover more about the world through play.
• Helping children to develop number and language skills through activities like counting games and storytelling.
• Feeding, bathing and dressing babies and youngest children, changing nappies and preparing bottles or baby food.
• Taking care of children's personal needs and helping them to learn skills like dressing themselves, using cutlery and using the lavatory.
• Ensuring appropriate health and safety and child protection requirements are met.
• Working with and supporting parents and other family members to improve their child's development.
• Observing and assessing children and producing written reports on each child's development.
• Consulting and attending meetings with other professionals, eg social workers, health workers or speech therapists.

If you have passion, enthusiasm, and enjoy working with very young children (birth to five years old), this could be the career for you.
http://www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/early-years/childcare-careers

How to Make a Career Choice When You Have No Idea What You Want to Do

There are hundreds of career options out there. How do you make a career choice when you don't really know what you want to do? Does it seem like an insurmountable task? It's not. Yes, you will have to put some time and energy into making your decision, but your effort will be well worth it in the end. Follow these steps to making a good career choice.

Assess Yourself

(c) Stefan Klein / istockphoto.com

Before you can make a career choice you have to learn about yourself. Your values, interests and skills, in combination with certain personality traits, will make some careers especially suitable for you and some particularly inappropriate. You can use self assessment tools, often called career tests, to gather this information and, subsequently, to generate a list of occupations that are deemed appropriate. Some people choose to have career counselors or other career development professionals administer these tests but many opt to use free career tests that are available on the Web.

Make a List of Occupations to Explore

(c)RTimages / istockphoto.com

Look over the lists of occupations generated through your use of the self assessment tools. They are probably rather lengthy. You want to come up with a much shorter list, consisting of between five and ten occupations. Circle occupations that appear on multiple lists. Circle occupations you may have considered previously and that you find appealing. Write these occupations down on a separate list titled "Occupations to Explore."

Explore the Occupations on Your List

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For each occupation on your list, you will want to look at the job description, educational and other requirements, job outlook, advancement opportunities and earnings.

• How to Explore Careers

Conduct Informational Interviews

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At this point you should only have a few occupations left on your list. You now need to gather more in-depth information. Your best source of this information are people who have firsthand knowledge of the occupations in which you are interested. Identify who they are and conduct informational interviews with them. You can also read Real Career Stories sent in by readers.

• How to Conduct an Informational Interview

Continue Narrowing Down your List

(c) Dawn Rosenberg McKay

Pare down your list of possible occupations based on what you learned from your research. For example, you may not be willing to put the time and energy into preparing for an occupation for which an advanced degree is required, or you may consider the earnings for a particular occupation inadequate.

Set Your Goals

(c) Shannon Long / istockphoto.com

By now you should have decided on one occupation you want to pursue. It's time to put a plan into place so you can eventually find a job in that field, but first you will need to set some goals.

• Setting Goals

Write a Career Action Plan

(c) Peter Jochems / istockphoto.com

Now that you have set your goals, you will need to decide how to reach them. A career action plan will help guide you as you pursue your long and short term goals.

• Writing Career Action Plans

Train for Your New Career

(c) John Cardwell, istockphoto.com

It is likely you will have to train for your new career. That could take the form of earning a degree, doing an internship or taking courses to learn some new skills.
 http://careerplanning.about.com/od/careerchoicechan/tp/Career-Choice.htm

The Career Planning Process

What is Career Planning?

Career planning is a lifelong process, which includes choosing an occupation, getting a job, growing in our job, possibly changing careers, and eventually retiring. The Career Planning Site offers coverage of all these areas. This article will focus on career choice and the process one goes through in selecting an occupation. This may happen once in our lifetimes, but it is more likely to happen several times as we first define and then redefine ourselves and our goals.

Career Planning: A Four Step Process

The career planning process is comprised of four steps. One might seek the services of a career development professional to help facilitate his or her journey through this process. Whether or not you choose to work with a professional, or work through the process on your own is less important than the amount of thought and energy you put into choosing a career.

Self

Gather information about yourself (self assessment)

• Interests
• Values
• Roles
• Skills/Aptitudes
• Preferred Environments
• Developmental Needs
• Your realities

Options

• Explore the occupations in which you are interested
• Research the industries in which you would like to work
• Research the Labor Market

Get more specific information after you narrow down your options by:

• Job Shadowing
• Part time work, internships, or volunteer opportunities
• Written materials
• Informational interviews

Match

During this phase of the process, you will:

• Identify possible occupations
• Evaluate these occupations
• Explore alternatives
• Choose both a short term and a long term option

Action

You will develop the steps you need to take in order to reach your goal, for example:

• Investigating sources of additional training and education, if needed
• Developing a job search strategy
• Writing your resume
• Gathering company information
• Composing cover letters
• Preparing for job interviews

http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/choosingacareer/a/cp_process.htm

Starting a Professional Career

Owning vs. Working for Others

Whether you want to buy your own practice, or will start your career working for others, you need to make early decisions with care. Ask yourself some pertinent questions.

• What type of practice do you want to work in, and where do you want to work (geographically, right down to the location)?
• Do you want to be your own boss or do you prefer to be part of a team?
• What sort of people do you want to work with?
• Do you prefer working with people of your own age, or do you appreciate the knowledge older people can impart? Should the people you work with share your personal ideals or do you prefer to work with others who may think very differently from you?
• Exactly what do you hope to achieve in your professional career?
• Do you want to be a leader, or do you prefer to work in the background and let others do the leading?
• How much time do you want to spend on the administration of your business?

Now look at the two options:
1. In solo practice:

• Your initial financial investment will be high
• You are wholly responsible for the success or failure of your business
• you determine your hours and the size of your practice
• you make all decisions on equipment and staffing
• you control your own expenses
• you have little opportunity for in-office consulting with colleagues
• you lose money when you take time off
• YOU ARE YOUR OWN BOSS

2. When working with others:

• your initial financial investment may be relatively low
• you have to put in less administrative time
• in-office consulting with colleagues is easily available
• expenses are shared
• you may have less control over the size of your practice
• you may have less control over the hours you work
• you may not initially see the type of client you prefer to work with
• you may have little control over your staffing arrangements
• politics may interfere with the business flow
• the successes and failures of business are shared

If you are going to be joining an existing group, you will need to know:

• what size group you want to join
• what type of clientele you prefer to work with
• whether you want to build your practice quickly or work into it gradually
• how compatible your ideals and personality need to be with the group
• how much staff time you will need - in other words, do you prefer to delegate to other, or do you prefer to do a lot of the groundwork yourself
• how much space you want and need to practice as you prefer
• how much revenue you want to achieve in the first year
• what is the buy-in feature (if any)?

If you are going to buy/take over an existing practice, consider hiring a financial management consultant experienced in practice evaluations to assess the practices you are interested in. A consultant can help you negotiate a fair price once you have considered the following:

• evaluate the practice profile carefully
• make sure the practice client mix suits your interests
• assess the current revenue stream
• assess the reputation (goodwill) of the practice
• find out how you will be introduced to existing clients
• evaluate level of staff efficiency if you will be taking over existing staff
• appraise possible changes to design, etc., and relevant costs
• check that location of current practice fits your future plans
• compare current short/long term plans for practice with your plans
• assess whether this is the best opportunity for you in terms of your career.

http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/RBC:olbopdaref/professionals/owning-vs-working-for-others.html

How to Build a Teamwork Culture

Fostering teamwork is creating a work culture that values collaboration. In a teamwork environment, people understand and believe that thinking, planning, decisions and actions are better when done cooperatively. People recognize, and even assimilate, the belief that “none of us is as good as all of us.” (High Five)
It’s hard to find work places that exemplify teamwork. In America, our institutions such as schools, our family structures, and our pastimes emphasize winning, being the best, and coming out on top. Workers are rarely raised in environments that emphasize true teamwork and collaboration.
Organizations are working on valuing diverse people, ideas, backgrounds, and experiences. We have miles to go before valuing teams and teamwork will be the norm.
You can, however, create a teamwork culture by doing just a few things right. Admittedly, they’re the hard things, but with commitment and appreciation for the value, you can create an overall sense of teamwork in your organization.

Create a Culture of Teamwork

To make teamwork happen, these powerful actions must occur.

• Executive leaders communicate the clear expectation that teamwork and collaboration are expected. No one completely owns a work area or process all by himself. People who own work processes and positions are open and receptive to ideas and input from others on the team.
• Executives model teamwork in their interaction with each other and the rest of the organization. They maintain teamwork even when things are going wrong and the temptation is to slip back into former team unfriendly behavior.
• The organization members talk about and identify the value of a teamwork culture. If values are formally written and shared, teamwork is one of the key five or six.
• Teamwork is rewarded and recognized. The lone ranger, even if she is an excellent producer, is valued less than the person who achieves results with others in teamwork. Compensation, bonuses, and rewards depend on collaborative practices as much as individual contribution and achievement.
• Important stories and folklore that people discuss within the company emphasize teamwork. (Remember the year the capsule team reduced scrap by 20 percent?) People who “do well” and are promoted within the company are team players.
• The performance management system places emphasis and value on teamwork. Often 360 degree feedback is integrated within the system.

Tips for Team Building

Do you immediately picture your group off at a resort playing games or hanging from ropes when you think of team building? Traditionally, many organizations approached team building this way. Then, they wondered why that wonderful sense of teamwork, experienced at the retreat or seminar, failed to impact long term beliefs and actions back at work.
I’m not averse to retreats, planning sessions, seminars and team building activities – in fact I lead them - but they have to be part of a larger teamwork effort. You will not build teamwork by “retreating” as a group for a couple of days each year. Think of team building as something you do every single day.

• Form teams to solve real work issues and to improve real work processes. Provide training in systematic methods so the team expends its energy on the project, not on figuring out how to work together as a team to approach it.
• Hold department meetings to review projects and progress, to obtain broad input, and to coordinate shared work processes. If team members are not getting along, examine the work processes they mutually own. The problem is not usually the personalities of the team members. It’s the fact that the team members often haven’t agreed on how they will deliver a product or a service or the steps required to get something done.
• Build fun and shared occasions into the organization’s agenda. Hold pot luck lunches; take the team to a sporting event. Sponsor dinners at a local restaurant. Go hiking or to an amusement park. Hold a monthly company meeting. Sponsor sports teams and encourage cheering team fans.
• Use ice breakers and teamwork exercises at meetings. I worked with an organization that held a weekly staff meeting. Participants took turns bringing a “fun” ice breaker to the meeting. These activities were limited to ten minutes, but they helped participants laugh together and get to know each other – a small investment in a big time sense of team.
• Celebrate team successes publicly. Buy everyone the same t-shirt or hat. Put team member names in a drawing for company merchandise and gift certificates. You are limited in teamwork only by your imagination.

Take care of the hard issues above and do the types of teamwork activities listed here. You’ll be amazed at the progress you will make in creating a teamwork culture, a culture that enables individuals to contribute more than they ever thought possible - together.

http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/team_culture.htm

A Formal, Professional Dress Code

Your Company's objective in establishing a formal work dress code is to enable our employees to project the professional image that is in keeping with the needs of our clients and customers to trust us. Because our industry requires the appearance of trusted business professionals and we serve clients at our site on a daily basis, a more formal dress code is necessary for our employees. You must project the image of a trustworthy, knowledgeable business professional for the clients who seek our guidance, input, and professional services.

Formal Dress Code Guidelines

In a formal business environment, the standard of dressing for men and women is a suit, a jacket and pants or a skirt, or a dress paired with appropriate accessories.

Clothing that reveals too much cleavage, your back, your chest, your feet, your stomach or your underwear is not appropriate for a place of business. In our work environment, clothing should be pressed and never wrinkled. Torn, dirty, or frayed clothing is unacceptable. All seams must be finished. Any clothing that has words, terms, or pictures that may be offensive to other employees is unacceptable.

Dress Down Days

Certain days can be declared dress down days, generally Fridays. On these days, business casual clothing, although never clothing potentially offensive to others, is allowed. Clothing that has the company logo is encouraged. Sports team, university, and fashion brand names on clothing are generally acceptable. You might want to keep a jacket in your office for the days when a client unexpectedly appears on a dress down day, especially if the client is wearing a suit.

Formal Business Attire Recommendations

This is an overview of appropriate formal business attire. The lists tell you what is generally acceptable as formal business attire and what is generally not acceptable as formal business attire.

No dress code can cover all contingencies so employees must exert a certain amount of judgment in their choice of clothing to wear to work. If you experience uncertainty about acceptable, professional formal business attire for work, please ask your supervisor or your Human Resources staff.

Slacks, Pants, and Suit Pants

Slacks that are similar to Dockers and other makers of cotton or synthetic material pants, wool pants, flannel pants, pants that match a suit jacket, and nice looking dress synthetic pants are acceptable. Inappropriate slacks or pants include any that are too informal. This includes jeans, sweatpants, exercise pants, Bermuda shorts, short shorts, shorts, bib overalls, leggings, and any spandex or other form-fitting pants such as people wear for exercise or biking.

Skirts, Dresses, and Skirted Suits

Dresses, skirts, skirts with jackets, dressy two-piece knit suits or sets, and skirts that are split at or below the knee are acceptable. Dress and skirt length should be at a length at which you can sit comfortably in public. Short, tight skirts that ride halfway up the thigh are inappropriate for work. Mini-skirts, skorts, sun dresses, beach dresses, and spaghetti-strap dresses are inappropriate for the office.

Shirts, Tops, Blouses, and Jackets

Shirts, dress shirts, sweaters, tops, and turtlenecks are acceptable attire for work if they contribute to the appearance of formal, professional dress. Most suit jackets or sport coats are also desirable attire for the office. Inappropriate attire for work includes tank tops; midriff tops; shirts with potentially offensive words, terms, logos, pictures, cartoons, or slogans; halter-tops; tops with bare shoulders or plunging necklines; golf-type shirts; sweatshirts; and t-shirts.

Shoes and Footwear

Conservative walking shoes, dress shoes, oxfords, loafers, boots, flats, dress heels, and backless shoes are acceptable for work. Not wearing stockings or socks is inappropriate. Athletic shoes, tennis shoes, thongs, flip-flops, slippers, and any casual shoe with an open toe are not acceptable in the office.

Accessories and Jewelry

Tasteful, professional ties, scarves, belts, and jewelry are encouraged. Jewelry should be worn in good taste, with limited visible body piercing.

Makeup, Perfume, and Cologne

A professional appearance is encouraged and excessive makeup is unprofessional. Remember that some employees are allergic to the chemicals in perfumes and makeup, so wear these substances with restraint.

Hats and Head Covering

Hats are not appropriate in the office. Head Covers that are required for religious purposes or to honor cultural tradition are allowed.

Conclusion

If clothing fails to meet these standards, as determined by the employee’s supervisor and Human Resources staff, the employee will be asked not to wear the inappropriate item to work again. If the problem persists, the employee may be sent home to change clothes and will receive a verbal warning for the first offense. All other policies about personal time use will apply. Progressive disciplinary action will be applied if dress code violations continue.
Disclaimer:
This sample policy is provided for guidance only. The provided information, while authoritative, is not guaranteed for accuracy and legality. Please seek legal assistance, or assistance from State, Federal, or International governmental resources, to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct.
http://humanresources.about.com/od/workrelationships/a/dress_formal.htm

Casual Dress Code

 

 

Your Company's objective in establishing a relaxed, casual, and informal work dress code is to enable our employees to work comfortably in the workplace. Yet, certain standards are established so employees are not confused about the meaning of the terms: relaxed, casual, and informal dress. Because no customers or clients are served in person at our company location, our chief concern is the comfort of our employees.

Casual Dress Code Guidelines

Because all casual clothing is not suitable for the office, these guidelines will help you determine what is appropriate to wear to work. Clothing that works well for the beach, yard work, dance clubs, exercise sessions, and sports contests may not be appropriate for a professional, casual appearance at work.

Clothing that reveals too much cleavage, your back, your chest, your stomach or your underwear is not appropriate for a place of business. In our work environment, clothing should be pressed and never wrinkled. Torn, dirty, or frayed clothing is unacceptable.

Casual Business Attire Recommendations

In a casual work setting, employees should wear clothing that is comfortable and practical for work, but not distracting or offensive to others. Any clothing that has words, terms, or pictures that may be offensive to other employees is unacceptable. Clothing that has the company logo is encouraged. Sports team, university, and fashion brand names on clothing are generally acceptable.

Makeup, Perfume, and Cologne

Remember that some employees are allergic to the chemicals in perfumes and makeup, so wear these substances with restraint.

Dress Code for Travel, Client Interaction, and Trade Shows

While the office setting can be casual because customers don't visit, traveling to see customers, exhibiting at or attending trade shows, and representing the company in the business community, requires different decisions about attire. Business casual dress is the minimum standard that must be observed when you are representing the company or interacting with customers or potential customers.
Before visiting a customer or potential customer ascertain the accepted dress code and match it in your attire. This is especially important when you are traveling globally representing the company as customs and dress may differ from those observed in the United States.
Additionally, some community events, when you are representing the company, might require formal dress. These might include Chamber of Commerce and other civic or business development meetings, luncheons, and dinners. Take your cue from other employees who have attended and be observant at the event. Certainly, if you are a speaker at a business event, consider wearing formal dress.
Finally, on the occasions when a customer or a business partner does visit the office, the employee groups with whom the visitor is interacting, should adhere to business casual standards.

Conclusion

No dress code can cover all contingencies so employees must exert a certain amount of judgment in their choice of clothing to wear to work. If you experience uncertainty about acceptable casual attire for work, please ask your supervisor or your Human Resources staff.
If clothing fails to meet these standards, as determined by the employee’s supervisor and Human Resources staff, the employee will be asked not to wear the inappropriate item to work again. If the problem persists, the employee may be sent home to change clothes and will receive a verbal warning for the first offense. All other policies about personal time use will apply. Progressive disciplinary action will be applied if dress code violations continue.
Disclaimer:
This sample policy is provided for guidance only. The provided information, while authoritative, is not guaranteed for accuracy and legality. Please seek legal assistance, or assistance from State, Federal, or International governmental resources, to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct.
http://humanresources.about.com/od/workrelationships/a/dress_casual.htm?nl=1

Marketing Careers

Overview of Careers in Marketing

There are many options to careers in marketing, but how do you know which one is right for you? Marketing can be defined as being the intermediary function between product development and sales. Think of it as the storehouse for such things as advertising, public relations, media planning, sales strategy, and more. It's the marketing professionals job to create, manage, and enhance brands.

Careers in Advertising

In Advertising you will work with all aspects of marketing from strategy to concept to the execution of the strategy. You will find that most jobs on the business side of advertising include Account Management, Account Planners, and Media Buyers.

• Advertising Manager
• Advertising Sales Director
• Account Executive
• Account Coordinator

• Media Director
• Media Coordinator
• Media Buyer

Careers in Brand Management

Brand management is the career track you hear about most often. It is the key function in the consumer products industry. Brand managers are often likened to small business owners because they assume responsibility for a brand or brand family. They are always focused on the big picture. It is their job to distill the brand's essence, map out their competitors in their brand's category, identify marketing opportunities, and be able to effectively communicate the unique benefits of that product or service.

• Brand Manager
• Product Manager
• Product Development Manager

Careers in Market Research

Market Research involves researching the intended target. That target can be companies or individuals. In order for a company to capture a market it must first be able to understand that market. Research involves the first process of understanding the consumer, what their needs are, what their purchasing habits are, and how they view themselves in relation to the rest of the world.

• Market Research Director
• Market Research Manager
• Market Research Supervisor
• Market Analyst

Careers in Public Relations

It is the responsibility of the Public relations department to manage the communication with the media, consumers, employees, investors, and the general public. They are considered the spokespeople for the company. They will often write press releases to promote new products or to keep the investment community informed of business partnerships, financial results, or other company news. If they are based out of media relations they will spend their time responding to information requests from journalist or pitch stories to the media.

• Public Relations Specialist
• Public Relations Director
• Corporate Communications Manager
• Book Publicist
• Press Secretary

By Laura Lake