Culture is Not Just About Opera or Yogurt

I was just participating in an online discussion about “openness” and how to create it in organizations.  Those of us who have survived corporate culture changes know that the culture of a company is its pallet of values with which it operates in the world.  Cultural change may be as basic as a new CEO, or as significant as a multi-billion dollar acquisition like InBev’s purchase of Anheuser Busch, which mandated a monumental shift from a Midwestern to an International culture.  The original question in the discussion was how to create a climate of openness where one doesn’t exist.    We have to begin several significant steps back.  Openness is but one aspect of a broad cultural universe.

Much has been written and studied about the difficulty in changing a culture (from what to what?) and the importance of leadership from the top.  In my opinion and experience, it is a sine qua non that the owner, president, or top local management must embrace in a most profound and comprehensive way any change in a company that alters expectations about behavior for the change to gain any traction and permanence.
To create openness, this really first means creating and maintaining a climate of honesty and an absence of a cult of punishment. How many times have we seen companies solicit employee feedback, only to ignore it or even worse, find a way to passive-aggressively punish employees who bring to managements’ attention problems that they really want to pretend don’t exist or are unwilling to actively address?

For openness to thrive, people need to feel safe emotionally and secure in job retention to offer ideas and question decisions. Think about it–if an employee sheds light on an existing policy that is counterproductive, for example, why hasn’t management seen that or if aware, done something to fix it?  Managers must be secure enough and open enough to accept that they don’t always know the best answer, or are not close enough to some operations or customers to possess the awareness necessary to sense and understand that a problem exists.

One needs to build an underlying environment of honesty, trustworthiness, safety and willingness to learn and grow to provide for a successful atmosphere of “openness.” If management doesn’t comprehend how those values positively impact productivity and customer satisfaction and buy in to that culture, openness is merely window dressing.  Effective and secure managers understand this and value their subordinates’ input.

So what does a brief lesson in corporate culture mean in terms of career dynamics?  Understanding the corporate culture in which you work can hardly be over-emphasized.   One of my favorite former bosses once told me a story about a hapless manager who typically wore short-sleeved dress shirts to work.  During a particularly broiling summer, the home office put out a memo stating that because of the extreme weather, it was now OK for men to wear short-sleeved dress shirts rather than long-sleeved.  The manager lamented, “Now I know why my career has gone nowhere!”  He was unaware that he was not following the unwritten dress code.  A seemingly minor indiscretion with a major impact on how he was viewed.

If one is in transition and searching for a position, it is important to understand what kind of culture surrounds the company one is targeting or to which one is applying.  What kind of energy is displayed by the interviewers?  How do they reveal key values they hold that influence almost everything that happens in that organization?   Look for clues and listen to what they say.

For example, are there hints in the position advertisement that indicate the type on individual they seek?  Does the ad describe a “fast-paced environment,” or seek someone who can “think on their feet?”  Someone wrote these words with intention, although we can’t always be certain that they apply they way we think they might.  But they are valid clues.  Here are some more…

• Is there a reserved parking space (or several) with a sign for officers’ cars?
• Is the lobby welcoming or uncomfortable and sparsely decorated?
• Are people in the office smiling and cheerful or appear tense?
• What does it feel like in there?  (Trust your feelings to be on target most of the time)
• Are there awards posted or other indicators that employees are valued?
• Are the interviewers well-prepared to ask you about what you can do to help them succeed, or do they prefer to talk about themselves or the company?
• Do they answer your questions directly and pleasantly?

These are just a few more obvious indicators of what the culture or environment is like.  Although in these tough times many of us might be inclined to accept any reasonable position we feel we can fulfill just to get a paycheck again, at least make an effort to evaluate what you are getting into and adjust your expectations.  If you understand what you are in for, then you can make a choice to accept those conditions and work within the culture (maybe helping to shape it in the process) or hold out if you can for what may be a much better match.

Should You Write Your Own Resume?

Write Your Resume Like a Sports Star Writes a Book–Hire a Writer

An interesting question came up recently in an online discussion: Why do you need a professional to write your resume? For those of you who have been in the job market recently, you have faced this issue. Employees who feel secure in their jobs and are about to discontinue reading, this would be a good time to think again. Unfortunately, job security is no longer a reality. So please keep reading.

Let’s start with the basic question—“Can I write my own resume?” Of course you can, and you will save money in the short run. This is one reason there are so many mediocre resumes floating in cyberspace that have been rejected by the automated scanners. Are you insulted? Are you thinking, “Certainly that would not be my resume? After all, I made ‘A’s’ in English.” You’ll have to trust me that quoting Coleridge, while it may set you apart in an interview if you can do it without sounding ridiculous and effete, will do nothing to actually get you the interview, and that is the primary purpose of a resume.

If you had not considered that submitting a resume is no different from submitting a detailed brochure for a product you want to sit down with the customer and sell, once again, think again. How good are you at selling? Have you ever created a marketing campaign based around one protocol that must be written in a style which does not automatically cause it to be dismissed with 90% of the hundreds of others received within a 2-3 day period?

Now, the part that is actually difficult (the first part can be accomplished in some fashion by following the guidelines or models used in many resume books and online resources). You can learn to copy a format so that your resume actually looks good, but may not serve you well at all. HR employees need to see that you fulfill at least the minimum qualifications for the position listed. Beyond this, your resume must give them a reason to want to talk to you, either via an initial phone screen or through a face-to-face interview. What will stand out in your resume that gets their attention? How do you communicate your past, present and future value to employers? What language sounds too boastful, and what is irrelevant? Why don’t they want to read about all of the tasks you did on your former jobs? How do I handle the six months 4 years ago when I was out of work?

I don’t know. Yes you read correctly—I don’t know—yet. This is where the skills of a talented resume writer (who in my humble opinion should also be a general career coach) come into play. I am not supportive of using a distant resume service that takes your basic resume or job history and arranges the information into a neat and acceptable resume format, throwing in a handful of superlatives and action verbs to “make it come alive!” Working on a resume should be a collaborative process. I tell my clients all the time, “How will I know enough about how you think and about your real value, when you’ve never expressed it yourself?” Most people are humble, and don’t like to brag. I have to literally pull the information out of them in order to have the understanding and details so that I can state their accomplishments in the most positive terms possible.

Another huge rationale for hiring the right talent to help you create a winning resume is that a resume is an interview guide. You have to elaborate on it, bring to life stories alluded to in it, and defend it during an interview, so you better know it inside and out. You need a sense of ownership of your resume, or else you are going to be uncomfortable using it as your key marketing piece.
A resume, as mentioned above, is your primary marketing tool for your career search. The less effective your resume, the tougher it will be to get an interview. If you can’t get in front of the hiring manager, they’ll never know they missed out on a great hire.

Job Seekers-Socrates Said it Best

Branding yourself well can get you on the top shelf at the candidate supermarket, which in this job market is the only shelf where the hiring manager is looking.

Many marketing gurus believe that the most powerful brand in the world is Coca-Cola.  You may not be aware that a company’s brand name is actually listed on the balance sheet of a corporation, using accounting methods to estimate its value.  The Coca-Cola name is said to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars—maybe much more—because of its widespread recognition around the world.  What is your brand worth?

While you may not be a world-renown soft drink, you do have your own personal brand, whether you realize it or not.  Your professional reputation, personality, skills and knowledge all add up to a public persona that is your unique brand.

Companies with famous brands such as Apple, Sony, BMW, Target, and others use principles of branding that every advertising and marketing major studies.  These principles are not closely held secrets, but they are curiously absent from many job candidates’ search strategies.  Yet, they are essential to establishing the link between the customer and the product.

In a job search, you are the product, and what people see and know about you is your brand. You should learn the same principles that companies use to market their products and apply them to yourself.  If you understand these principles and employ them, you will market yourself better than your competitors and likely achieve the results you want.

Even before you get started on a new resume, your first step is to follow Socrates’ famous adage, “Know thyself.”  Take an honest accounting of your skills, talents, and achievements.  Write a brief description of yourself, listing your greatest strengths and weaknesses.

Ask yourself if the career you have chosen is really what you want to be doing.  While it may not be economically feasible to switch careers right now, it is never a bad time to think about what direction you should be heading.  Perhaps your professional skills and experience translate well into a different or related field which would not require a major retooling of your education and completely new story on your resume.

Next, do the really hard thing—ask for feedback from people who know you and have worked with you.  Perhaps asking is not the difficult part, but hearing it may be. 

Nobody is going to hit the mark 100% of the time, but people who share important feedback with you care about you and will generally be honest.  Try to be open to hearing the good and the bad, and be honest about it.  This is one of your keys to success, because if you are getting some consistent feedback about a potential weakness, you can be sure that an interviewer will spot it, too. 

Even if you can get past the interviewers and are lucky enough to be hired, those weak points remain and will follow you wherever you go.  These “weaknesses” are not moral flaws and you have no reason to be ashamed of them.  However, you should demonstrate a responsibility toward yourself by finding a way to overcome and conquer these things that may be holding you back.  A career coach (please allow me to place a free ad for my profession here) can be extremely helpful in not only helping to identify a bad habit or misconception, but guide you through the process of breaking through those barriers that have kept you where you are.

In the short run a good strategy is to try to reduce the appearance and the reality of the weaknesses, and focus on how you can communicate and display your strengths.  This set of strengths (which may be specific to one particular job) is your Value Proposition.  Your Value Proposition is the value you bring to the company for the position.   One of my first business mentors was fond of saying “You’ve got to bring something to the party.”  Think about why you buy a particular brand, or shop at a particular store and what it offers you personally.  This is the Value Proposition that the product offers you.  The larger the demand for this value, the more successful the brand will become. 

In the same way, your personal brand can be your very best asset either looking for a new job or managing your career.  For a job search, your biggest challenges are 1) to discover who you are (know thyself), 2) figure out your unique value proposition-your raw talents and skills, and your area of excellence, 3) engaging an effective search strategy to discover a great company that has a need for your area of excellence and values, and 4) effectively communicating this to potential employers.  Know where you would like to be and take proactive steps to get there. 

Make sure your resume represents you in the most positive light and clearly communicates a positive picture in the mind of the hiring manager.  This procedure will get you “top shelf’ positioning in the candidate store—where the hiring manager is most likely looking while he shops for his new hire.

The Case of the Disappearing Jobs

By Allan Smith, Certified Career Management Practitioner

As we begin a new decade, the outlook on the job market is gradual improvement.  Jobs are being created, but where are they, and at what pace?  The good news is that over the next few years we may recover the majority of the more than 7 million jobs lost; the bad news is that there is a growing bifurcation in US employment.  Most of the jobs to be created will be either in high paying, high education-required careers or in low paying jobs.

There is overall good news in  health care.  As the industry grows and the population ages, there will be an increasing demand for nurses, therapists, medication technicians, nurse’s aides, personal care workers, and home health aides.  In states such as Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri, where the American auto industry has been decimated, workers accustomed to earning $40-$70 per hour will not likely see those numbers again, unless they go back to college to pursue a new career.  It may seem an unlikely jump from auto manufacturing to health care, but nurses earn typically $20-$30 per hour and therapists even more— a solid middle class living.   Even though there is a shortage of these job incumbents nationally, there are often waiting lists to get into the schools, and physical therapy programs now are trending toward the doctorate requirement.  Occupational and physical therapy assistants earn as much basic nurses, and, if one can find an opening in a program, is actually a good match for people who are used to doing physical work and have good coordination and a well-developed safety sense.  It really isn’t such a stretch.

Then there are the thousands of executives, directors and managers, and marketing and sales professionals who will be needed to coordinate and promote institutions and companies for which these employees work.  Additionally, office positions such as H.R. and payroll specialists, billers and coders, and office managers will steadily increase.  Directors, office managers and marketing reps for successful operations already earn $50-80,000 in base salary.  Employees who earn commissions can double that salary.  I personally know of several marketing reps in home health and hospice who have been earning six figures for years.

Much of the growth however, will be in the lower paying positions in health careers.  Individuals for whom higher education is not the right choice have many private educational opportunities to learn new careers, for many of which will be plenty of growth and stability.  For example, jobs with health care facilities and especially in home health and senior care will see major growth.

Senior caregiver jobs are not only for the 18-30 crowd.  Many older displaced workers may find that working as a caregiver can be a rewarding occupation that meets both one’s own social needs and the needs of those in the community.  It will never lead to a wealthy retirement, but can serve to pay those pesky bills that accompany owning a car and home, as well as buying gifts for grandchildren.

Top 10 List

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks employment and makes predictions.  According to Dixie Sommers, Assistant Commissioner for the BLS, the list may look like this:

1. Registered nurses

2. Home health aides

3. Customer service representatives

4. Food preparation and serving workers

5. Personal and home care aides

6. Retail salespersons

7. Office clerks

8. Accountants

9. Nursing aides, orderlies and attendants

10. Postsecondary teachers