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Sometimes feedback isn’t given with the intention of helping you improve your performance.
There are times when it is given to sabotage your thinking. Or to get you to question your decisions so you make mistakes.
Or if you find yourself thinking, “That didn’t happen that way.” It may be gaslighting.
Read moreWhen an employer communicates a change to employees, they need to answer this question.
Too often I see senior leaders and HR sharing information with employees and their sole focus is on the anticipated benefits of the change to the business and to customers.
While the employees are thinking, “What’s in it for me”?
Read moreA weatherman (played by Bill Murray) finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day, and the day keeps repeating until he gets it right.
I feel like I'm living this movie.
It sucks to get laid off. I've been there a couple of times.
You wonder why you were on the list and not a colleague who does less.
You dread updating your resume and LinkedIn profile. And the need to network makes you cringe.
I have a client who says that at the end of each call. It always makes me feel good and I smile.
Sometimes it is the smallest of things that can make a difference.
I love working in the morning before anyone else in my house is up. Hot coffee nearby.
No noise. It gives me time to think and focus.
The amount of time I spend trying to convince employers to increase their communications around pay is ridiculous.
It starts when you are talking to candidates. Put the salary range on the job posting. (Don't lie and make the range narrow or really wide. We see you.)
I'm tired of seeing articles that say women are punished for negotiating. We are. It's just that we can't let this fact get in the way or stop us.
We still need to ask for more.
Have you ever gotten more responsibilities at work after another employee was laid off or resigned?
Don't do the work of more than one person or substantially more complex work without asking for a pay increase and promotion.
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I have been working with an employer client on their communications for the merit increase, bonus payment, and equity grant cycle.
They tie these rewards to performance. They have 6 performance ratings. (Don't get me started on the ridiculousness of 6 performance ratings!)
It isn't fun and most managers hate having to write one.
If they have a job opening and HR asks for the job description, the manager typically asks for one to start with and then they edit it.
The problem is that the hiring manager don't really spend much time editing it. And then the job description doesn't really tell the truth about the job.
When the temperatures start dropping, those eight-legged creatures start moving indoors.
I don’t like them.
I envision them all over my house having babies and partying.
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The girls and women in Iran are demonstrating courage.
The people fighting for the Ukraine and against Russia’s invasion are demonstrating courage.
Coming out is another example of courage.
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Once you feel the difference working remotely makes in your life, you can't go back to what it was before as if that knowledge doesn't exist.
Once you feel what it is like to have a great boss who shows up with empathy and compassion, you can't forget how good that felt.
What is the first thing that you think of?
“Oh no. That’s not good.”
“Well, there goes my week. I’m going to have to focus on cleaning up this mess.”
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I spent the last couple of days at WorldatWork's Workplace Equity Forum. It was a terrific example of thought leadership, practical ways to improve pay equity, and connection.
As I listened to a variety of speakers and talked with other attendees, I realized what I wasn't hearing.
We won't cause a positive sustained change in workplace equity without empathy.
Have you ever had a break through moment when you are talking to a friend? Yep. That happened yesterday for me.
We were talking about how when you love someone that eventually it ends. There is an expiration date. You either break up with them or one of you dies. (I know. I know. Morbid but it’s reality.)
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At times, I have focused so much on work that I didn't have a life outside of work. I missed family celebrations. I didn't have any hobbies. I didn't relax and certainly didn't prioritize my health.
Now I work but I close my laptop at a reasonable time knowing that my "to do" list will never be done. I have people I love to spend time with outside of work and I have hobbies. Lots of them.
I can do nothing for hours.
Recently, I had an employer client who was worried about how much lower than market they thought they were paying their employees.
After we market priced their jobs and did the employee analysis, they had far fewer pay changes to make than they originally assumed. In fact, they could do the changes this year instead of over multiple years.
One of the ways I trick myself into doing things is to start. If I don't feel like working out, I start for 5 minutes and then I can stop. Sometimes I stop at 5 minutes but most days I keep going.
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