Work-Life Balance

Many times we are confronted with the concept of work-life balance. How to achieve it and the best practice for it. The best companies that offer this to their employees. Work-life balance is the having the equilibrium between professional life and personal life. But first, how do we define the equilibrium point? Is it 50%:50%? What should be the right proportion? Work-life means different things to different people and to different levels in the organizational hierarchy. For example, a CEO of a multinational has to be in contact with his or her surbordinates distributed in different countries and working under different time lag. What should be his or her work-life balance? What of a worker at the bottem of the hierarchy? It is obvious that the higher up one goes in the hierarchy, the more the responbility and as a result, the balance tends to skew to the professional more than personal. It is ironical that everybody knows this, but tries to complain. People want to be promoted to the senior position so they can receive higher salary. With higher salary comes more responsibility and less personal life. So, instead of discussing the life-work balance, one should first define what he wants. Do you prefer to be at the bottom of the hierarchy, receiving less and having a good balance? Or would you do the contrary? The choice is yours!       

Engagement at work

Questions often asked is why don't some people have enough engagement with their jobs? Well, many people may say I go to work every day and do my job. What else do their companies need in terms of engagement? In order to be fully engaged, a worker must understand his company's business and vision. I used the word understand the vision instead of knowing what the vision is. The driving force of everything we do is the vision. Once again it boils down to understanding and applying the same principles of entrepreneurship to career. Many workers do not know the mission and vision of their organizations. I know this fact because I teach business English in Companies and I always ask this question. To my surprise, a greater majority of workers do not have this information. 
     In my first earlier posts, I wrote about the factors for success as awareness, strong desire, vision, and te others related to the execution process. These same principles are applicable if one want to have a successful career. The level of engagement you have with your job turns you very important to your organization, and consequently, guarantees your job even during bad economic situation.
        

Career during economic recession

How does one's career work when the economy is in a recession? In my other posts, I mentioned the need for investment in one's career. I also commented that the time one needs investment in career the most is when the economy is in difficulty. However, some people asked me how can a person invest when he loses his job? The answer is that the first person to loose job is the less-educated. Therefore, he should go for education or some sort of training. There are ways to do that. Many governments offer unemployment benefits and requalification programs. In the US for example, Community Colleges in the US offer requalification programs at a low cost or even free. There is always a way out for someone who wants to make progress in life. It is obvious that someone without job has to forgo some things in order to get back on track. There is no miracle. One has to lose something in order to gain another thing in return. The problem is that some people are used to the carrossel life that they think life is just like that. The life of everybody is not like that. Think about it.
     


       

Entrepreneurship and career 2

If one applies the same entrepreneurship principles to career, one will attain more success. Try it and you will see the difference. Take your career as an entrepreneur and see what happens. Think about this!

  

Entrepreneurship and career

What is the difference between entrepreneurship and career building? How do people talk about these two terms? Why do people use different language when talking about entrepreneurship and another language when talking about career building? I would like to have your input about this theme.
 

The Human Capital 2

In my last post, I wrote about the main components of human capital. These components are education and behavior. Education implies in traning that leads to your area of expertise or specialization. Education is composed of formal and informal education. Formal education is the one we receive in a formal setting such as primary, secondary, and college level education. Informal education is the specific training generally provided or sponsored by corporations. Higher level of education is very important so corporations can have laborforce that can solve problem and not rubber stamp style. Secondly, we are in a knowledge economy. The more knowledgable the laborforce, the more productive and effective it is. It is also more innovative and can withstand the competition. Knowledge requires continuous learning and this must be provided by corporations so their products and services cannot be taken over by the competitor. The money invested in education brings return to companies.
     The second component of human capital is the behavior. Behavior or comportment implies how you take your job. Do you take it serious or just to pass time? Do you consider your job as the only option? Do you dedicate 100% to your job or less? How do you relate to your colleagues and your clients? How often have you been late at work? All these questions say something about you. If you are committed to your work, always on time and relate well with others, there is a high probability that your company will not lose its business. 
     In summary, good education and good behavior ensure a high level of human capital of an organization, and consequently, its success. What type of human capital does your organization have? Think about this!
            

The Human Capital of a company

Quite often, people talk about human capital in organizations. Human Capital or the Human Equation can be defined as those skills which people bring to the organization. The skills can be divided into two: the technical side and the behavioral part of it. The technical side is made up of educational trainings. The behavioral part is composed of the level of committment of the individual and his ability to work in group. The two parts are very important and complimentary in order to reach the desired objective. Quite often, leaders of organizations emphasize only the behavioral aspect by using the words such as a good team player to supercede the other qualities. 
     Here is an example to illustrate what I mean. In order to provide the highest service, one must have enough knowledge and skill about his job. However, only knowledge without teamwork ability, an organization becomes dysfunctional. On the other hand, no matter how one may be very sympathetic and good to everyone, a lack of knowledge implies he cannot solve any problem technically. This is also disastrous. The reason is that customers want organizations to solve their problems and relate to them in a humane way. Solving a problem is technical, but relating to customers is a behavioral issue.
     In the next post, we will look at how the tehcnical and the behavioral components can be constructed.           

Why do some people have successful career?

I have asked myself why some people have successful career while others not. Like in every aspect of our lives, some are successful and others are not. Success in any career shares the same principles as used in entrepreneurship or in wealth creation. The main principles are strong desire, committment, goal setting, strong education. If one can meet these qualities, he will be successful. On the contrary, the career will be unsuccessful. The notion that the boss will guarantee success to my career is not true. You are the one who guarantees your job and, consequently, your career. Therefore, ask yourself how you should apply these principles so you have a successful career. Think about it!

          

What is time management?

It is interesting to note that many people talk about time management without really understanding what it means. It is important to note that time is always in movement. As a result, it cannot be stopped or set backward. In fact, time cannot be managed. We can only manage ourselves in order to meet with the time. Therefore, time management really means self-management directed at meeting the constant movement of time and its demand. Think about this!



 

Breaking the taboo during career choice

It is very common to see families choose careers for their children without considering the financial aspect of it. It is also common to see the candidates themselves make the same mistake. It is understandable that our age as teens at the time of selecting the careers do not help us in thinking about this issue. However, even adults follow the same patern only to discover the mistake after graduating with a huge student debt. If money is so imprtant in our lives, why do people choose careers without putting this parameter into consideration? 
     One of the reasons is the taboo centered around money. It is always said that people should choose their passion and not money. Secondly, many tend to choose college courses which give status or prestige. In my understanding, it is a complete mistake not to consider the most important factor for going to college in the equation. Everybody knows that the essence of going to college is to get knowledge. On the other hand, there are financial obligations expected of you as an individual under capitalist economy. These expectations are higher when one has a higher level of education. If one cannot meet some of these obligations, the knowledge he or she has seemed to be useless. There is no way one can be justifying to others that he has knowledge but cannot meet the basic needs of the society. 
     Therefore, I advice people to break this taboo. My advice is for people to consider the money aspect of it as one of the main reasons for choosing your career in order not to regret afterwards or be justifying to your children why you find yourself in a mess!