DISPELLING THE MYTHS OF HOLIDAY JOB SEARCHINGWritten by John Bateman-Ferry
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Be flexible: The end of year can be a busy time for most organizations, so be prepared to interview at last minute, very early in morning or late in day. Don’t plan to take your vacation during this time if you are serious about your job search! Staying available will give you edge over other candidates who may have holiday plans. Volunteer your time for a worthy cause: While there are opportunities to volunteer all year long, many charitable organizations need extra help during holidays. Volunteering will not only make you feel better about your own position, but can offer great chances to network. Send holiday cards to companies you’ve recently interviewed with: It’s a great way to follow up and remind them that you are still open to meeting with them. Keep cards simple and secular, avoiding overt religious themes. Don’t send them to companies or people with whom you’ve yet to interview. Remaining upbeat and making most of many job searching opportunities that season brings will not only give you jump on your fellow candidates, but may lead to a great new year, replete with a new position.
John Bateman Ferry is the senior vice president and general manager of leading career services company Lee hecht Harrison.
| | HOW TO MAKE PERFORMACE APPRAISALS WORKWritten by Rolf Gruen
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Provide managers with information they need to reward for performance. A good appraisal system will open door for performance- related discussion and career progression opportunities, while objectively indicating areas that deserve reward and recognition and those that need to be improved upon. Keep it simple—avoid multi-page documents that can grind your organization to a halt with a blizzard of paperwork. Look at big picture. Too often over-worked managers can make snap judgements based on only most recent performance, without looking at overall contributions of an individual. Standardizing your performance appraisal system and adhering to frequent review of data and exchange of two-way communication will keep things in perspective. Focus on future. In referring to positive performance, make references to how it can be carried on in future endeavors and when discussing opportunities for improvement, and work toward mutual agreement for new work habits and higher expectations. Discuss options for coaching or additional training to encourage a commitment to meet agreed upon performance outcomes. No surprises. The savvy manager will always conduct ongoing development conversations with his or her team members, so performance review meeting should not be arena to discuss negative results or behaviors for first time. Give your team members verbal feedback and adequate time to improve before documenting a problem. It’s important to consider message you want your employees to take with them from experience of appraisal. Be careful with assigning numbers—but do so in a consistent manner. If you are not careful, you can lose people who will be put off by a sloppy administration of performance appraisals. But if it is done carefully and well, it can maximize capabilities of individuals and will contribute to well-being of employees, management and organization as a whole.
Rolf Gruen is the senior vice president and general manager of leading career services company Lee Hecht Harrison's Seattle office.
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