DISPELLING THE MYTHS OF HOLIDAY JOB SEARCHINGWritten by John Bateman-Ferry
DISPELLING THE MYTHS OF HOLIDAY JOB SEARCHING Five Tips from Experts at Lee Hecht Harrison to Make Most of Season’s OpportunitiesContrary to popular belief, holiday season is actually a good time to conduct a job search. While many who are looking for work tend to become depressed at this time of year, they should instead view holiday season with a positive attitude as a time ripe with opportunity. If you believe myth that job searching is a waste of time between Thanksgiving and mid-January, you may be reducing your chances of landing an offer when many hiring decisions are being made. This is a time when competition is reduced and when most organizations have developed their budgets for coming year and can predict their hiring needs and goals for year ahead. If you are ready to get into spirit of things and capitalize on many opportunities season has to offer, here are five tips: Set measurable goals: Don’t give in to depression or procrastination. Decide how many networking contacts you will make during season, how many meetings you will set up with hiring managers and how much research you will conduct. Taking daily action will lift your spirits and bring you closer to your goals. Attend holiday gatherings: Now is not time to stay at home alone! Holiday parties can provide valuable opportunities to network. Let people know you are looking for a new position when subject of careers comes up, but remember not to be too aggressive—while it is a chance to network for you, it is still a party for others.
| | HOW TO MAKE PERFORMACE APPRAISALS WORKWritten by Rolf Gruen
HOW TO MAKE PERFORMACE APPRAISALS WORKFive Tips from Lee Hecht Harrison on How to Get Most Out of This Communication Tool During this period of corporate restructuring and cautious optimism about economic recovery, there is one aspect of corporate workplace that is becoming more important than ever before for companies that want to maintain a competitive edge—performance appraisal programs. Performance appraisal systems are at core of effective communication between an organization and its employees, and reflect an increasing awareness of quality control and necessity of identifying and maximizing individual capabilities and feedback between all parties. In fact, these systems are some of cornerstones of improving productivity in today’s ever-changing workplace. There are two key elements necessary for implementing a successful performance appraisal system in any organization: trust and uniformity. If integration of an appraisal system is conducted poorly or in wrong corporate culture, it can have a boomerang effect and undermine entire structure of company. All members of organization must believe that system works for everyone in same way, with goals cascading from executives to middle management to plant level, a foundation of cooperation and shared understanding of prospective benefit for all. One of most fundamental questions that should be addressed before either beginning a new or attempting to improve an existing comprehensive performance management system is ‘What do we hope to accomplish with this program?’ Too often organizations attempt to start fixing problems with their appraisal systems without starting at beginning to redefine process and eliminate confused or multiple purposes that will lead to new system functioning exactly as old one did. A new system often is handcrafted internally, although many companies will bring in a good consulting group to completely overhaul their existing system and to lend an objective viewpoint. In this spirit, here are five tips on some crucial elements of a viable and effective performance appraisal program: Communicate kind of results an employee must produce to support your corporate goals and customer needs. This will help align employees’ goals with strategy of organization, help them understand what they need to do to progress, give them a sense of ownership and encourage them to make plans for further development.
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