The Toxicity of Today's Business Office - Part 4 (The Commoditization of the Employee)

The Toxicity of Today's Business Office - Part 4 (The Commoditization of the Employee)

People need to be treated with respect and dignity.  When cultural aspects of the workplace result in high turnover, lower than market pay, long hours, the absence of professional development and a general lack of appreciation, the workplace becomes toxic and unmotivating.  

This behavior has roots in the industrial revolution (environments that had a "sweat shop stigma" to it.  Unfortunately it happens now in many industries, esp. tech and healthcare.  Many employees cannot properly fend for themselves and are treated like a "number".  In the industrial revolution, this led to unionism.  However, in environments where many are college educated, unions have a hard time making inroads.  

Until employees learn to stand up for themselves, I see this as a long term issue.

Comments are encouraged.

More tomorrow..

The Toxicity of Today's Business Office - Part 3 (Overwork and Underpaid)

The Toxicity of Today's Business Office - Part 3 (Overwork and Underpaid)

Has your office an incredibly unbearable place to work?  If so, do not feel alone.  However, the fault lies with both the employer (labor) and management.  I will be posting about this subject for the remainder of the week and all of next week.  Stay tuned - I will have some good content for you to mull. 

Companies have created an environment of persistent pressure to produce deliverables despite unrealistic deadlines, lack of resources, lack of skills and more.  Employers expect long hours, often without adequate corresponding compensation.  Work rules are inconsistent, bosses create double standards that are unfair and promote favoritism.  Promises for merit increases are regularly broken.

Comments are encouraged.

More tomorrow..

Jobs Increase In March

 ***Since it is a holiday, I will return to the topic of employer / employee toxicity on Monday. But, let's end on the week with good news!

Job Market had a excellent month of March. The U.S. economy added 178,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed Friday. That's about three times as many as economists had expected. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3%. Healthcare, construction and transportation saw the most gains, while the federal government continued to shed jobs. Though the number of long-term unemployed didn't change much in March, that group accounted for more than a quarter of all unemployed Americans. The share of working-age Americans in the labor force fell to a more than four-year low.

Many sources, including LinkedIn News

The Toxicity of Today's Business Office - Part 2

 The Toxicity of Today's Business Office

Has your office an incredibly unbearable place to work?  If so, do not feel alone.  However, the fault lies with both the employer (labor) and management.  I will be posting about this subject for the remainder of the week and all of next week.  Stay tuned - I will have some good content for you to mull. 

Today's post will discuss mismanagement by line and senior managers / lead executives

 Much of the unhealthy environment stems from unrealistic expectations of workers, especially those who are inexperienced and lack training.  Young workers as well as new hires with experience need to be onboarded and trained.  Managers need to be trained to be managers. WFH certainly did not help.

Management and staff need to be put in positions to win.  That is a given but senior executives have forgotten that simple principle.  Poor training leads to stress and toxicity.

Comments are encouraged.

More tomorrow.

The Toxicity of Today's Business Office

The Toxicity of Today's Business Office

Has your office an incredibly unbearable place to work?  If so, do not feel alone.  Some will say it, most will not in fear of reprisals.  As most of you know, I run my own business (resume writing and LinkedIn profile writing) so I am not afraid to speak the truth, providing perspective to those who need to hear the thoughts of a neutral third party. I will be providing objective thoughts that I hope will help you get through the craziness.

I will be posting about this subject for the remainder of the week and all of next week.  Stay tuned - I will have some good content for you to mull.  

Frankly, this has been happening for some time by the "Titans of Technology" (Zuckerberg and Benioff as well as others) set the tone when in the Spring of 2020, they told employees what a wonderful job they were doing in the face of change from in-house to work from home (WFH).  They said that everybody was doing such a great job that they could work remotely forever.  That was crap and they knew it.  Productivity was never great and too much $$$ invested in real estate holdings made this HIGHLY improbably.

What they should have said is the following:

"All of you have been incredibly collaborative and diligent during this unprecedented era in world history.  I applaud your efforts and we will revisit the working environment in 90 days".

That would have been a key step to managing expectations.  It would have stopped most workers from relocating to new regions (often less expensive) since they would not have to be in the office any longer.

More tomorrow.

 

 

More Instagram - Networking

 

More Instagram - Networking

https://www.instagram.com/allanbrownresume/reel/DGriN_eRKAe/

More Networking...

 More Networking...

Today's job market presents a great opportunity to those job seekers who put their best foot forward to find the right opportunity. The definition of the "right opportunity" involves company, industry, company culture, WFH policies, compensation / benefits, job responsibilities and more (and not necessarily in that order.)

Submitting resumes blindly without networking because the job sounds attractive / inviting but it really is not a sound strategy for finding the right role.

So instead of taking the "path of least resistance", work your search via your network - you will find more opportunities the "check your boxes" as opposed to wasting time trying to ID positions based on job postings on Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, etc.

NETWORKING

  NETWORKING

Here is a good way to look at your LINKEDIN network (as related to any job search). The percentages are arbitrary but you will get the idea:

75% of them are PERIPHERL. I have ran into these people once or twice but really didn't have the time to maintain the relationship.

20% of them are STRONG and you should have no issue letting them know that you are looking for new opportunities. You have had frequent interaction and have established a good relationship.

5% of them are SUPREME. This is reserved for people who are valued colleagues, but good friends and mentors.

Job Offer Advice

 Job Offer Advice

After you receive your offer, ask for the timeline that is needed to respond. If they rush you and say it needs to be immediate, that’s a bad sign. This happened to me concerning a job I was offered in IR for a Lake Tahoe resort. They wanted me to start in three days. I was offered the job while still living in NY (I live in SF now). I declined because I would have had to go home, back, and fly back, all within 72 hours (also needed a place to live).

Job Offer Evaluation -Stock Options

 Job Offer Evaluation -Stock Options

As you are evaluating a compensation package with stock option benefits, take some time to learn how stock options work and what they might be worth in the future. Under that all option plans are not the same and the "dilution" is a factor that you will need to consider.

Job Offer - What do to next!

 Job Offer - What do to next!

Never accept a job offer on the spot. Ask for a few days to evaluate all line items as related to the new engagement. Explain that you want to make sure you are making the right decision and will think through all the issues thoroughly. During this period, you can do your research and build your strategy for salary negotiation.