Ask yourself questions about your work

Have you ever asked yourself questions about your work? Do you know exactly what you do and how you can do it better? In order to differentiate yourself, you need to master what you do and how you can improve on it. Understanding what you do, how and why you do it is very important for your career progress. Think about it!

What is your contribution to your Organization?

Some people only complain about their salary and their organization. It seems they are never satisfied what they have. Then comes the question: how can you earn more? To answer this question, let me go back to my earlier posts where I mentioned the factors which make you to earn more from your Company. I mentioned these factors as education, committment, and dedication, among others. These factors can really transform you into someone different in the organization. How will that occur?

     

     The transformation occurs when you you use these positive attributes to make a recognizable contribution to the organization. You may be the brighest employee academically or in terms of behavior, but that must be transformed into a measurable contribution. It is only when this done that you can be recognized as being different. When you are different, your income will automatically be different. It is not your level of qualification that guarantee your income, but you produce with it!

     So, think about it. Before you ask for a raise, first ask yourself what you are contributing to your Organization.

      

  

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!