4 Things to Consider Before Leaving Your Long-Standing Job

Stability is a good quality when it comes to your career and it’s always good to know you have a job waiting for you on a Monday morning. However, the grass sometimes seems greener at the other company and when you’ve grown stale in your job, you might consider the allure of going elsewhere.

Before leaving your long-standing job consider the following factors:

Colleagues. There are workplaces where the people you work with are one of the best perks of the job. If you work with a close and supportive team you might think twice before starting over in a new workplace.

Opportunity. Do you have opportunities for advancement in your current job or have you reached a plateau? You might want to have a conversation with your supervisor about your career plans and goals before making the decision to leave. Things can change rapidly in business and sometimes opportunities open up that you did not expect or seek.

Restructuring. It can be extremely stressful to go to work if your company has had a series of layoffs or has been restructuring departments. However, moving to a new company doesn’t necessarily reduce the risks of a layoff and you might even feel more at risk if you’re the new person on the job. Consider whether you’re ready to give up the seniority you’ve earned from the time you’ve put in at your current job.

Benefits. There are many other factors to consider when thinking about moving on from your job. Is it likely you’ll end up with a longer commute? Will a move to a new company impact your retirement savings or the amount your new company contributes to your retirement? What is the work environment like? Can you take time off when you need it? Be sure to carefully access everything you’ll give up or change by leaving a long-standing job.

5 Ways to Optimize Success at Work Today

For too many of us we see our work day as something to get through, with the reward at the end of the day, when we hit the weekend, or when our paycheck arrives. However, work provides us with many opportunities to expand our skills and deepen our knowledge of our chosen field.

We can often enjoy our jobs more and experience greater success with a simple adjustment in the way we view our jobs and in our daily work habits and routines.

Try to add the following five strategies to your approach at work and you might achieve more of your career goals.

Meet someone new. This is a simple strategy but can pay large dividends over time. As you meet people in your workplace you expand your network, develop possible mentors, and learn more about the company. You might even develop a close friend. Developing relationships with colleagues and co-workers can be incredibly beneficial if you become unemployed and need to seek out new work. Some of your former colleagues might be hiring managers or might be able to recommend you to another company they now work for. Do not underestimate the importance of developing positive relationships with your team and other individuals within your company.

Learn something new. If you make it a practice to meet someone new each week you might also have the opportunity to learn something new from them. You do not need to develop a resume-altering skill. Learning a new shortcut with a computer program you use regularly can help you save time and ease your workload. Or developing a better understanding of the products your company sells can help you be a more effective employee. Make it a point to learn something new every week, if not daily.

Acknowledge the contribution of another. Build solid relationships and demonstrated leadership skills by recognizing good work done by those you work with. You can acknowledge their successes with a simple encouraging word or drop them an email or note letting them know you appreciate their contribution. This will go a long way toward creating a positive work environment and building a healthy rapport with your colleagues.

Speak to a customer or client. Developing an understanding of the needs of your clients or customers if crucial to becoming effective in your work so finds ways to seek out this perspective. You might read reviews of your products, walk through the process of a new customer so you better understand the experience, or meet directly with clients or customers to get direct feedback. Additionally, consider speaking with your sales representatives and ask to sit in on customer calls, visits, or other types of interactions with clients. You gain a sense for the strengths of your company and its products and services, as well as, the weaknesses and areas for improvement.

Investigate a competitor. Take some time to better understand your position in the marketplace by researching the competition. Get to know their strengths and weaknesses and understand what separates your company and its products or services from the competition. This kind of knowledge can, again, assist your understanding of how to improve the products and services your company offers.

This week meet someone new, learn something new, recognize the achievements of others, get the perspective of your customers, and understand your competitors to help you be better engaged with your work and set you and your company up for success.

Six Ways to Be a Great Coworker

To be successful in your career you need to learn to work well with others, similarly to when report cards noted when an elementary school student could play well with others.

It is unlikely that your career will lead you occupy a solitary position that doesn’t require you to work closely in collaboration with other people. Your ability to be a good colleague and coworker can significantly benefit your career and help you enjoy your job.

Here are six ways to rock the workplace as a great colleague.

Share the credit. Your success is not your own and is made possible by the support of others working with you. Be sure to recognize and acknowledge the others that help you successfully complete your tasks and projects. 

Be supportive and help out. In turn, offer your assistance to your colleagues and volunteer to help out with other projects when possible. Stay alert to co-workers who might be struggling with a particular task or project and step in to support them.

   

Let your guard down and be social. Some people try to keep their professional and personal lives separate but it’s important to be authentically you in the office. It’s difficult to develop meaningful relationships with colleagues without sharing some details about your personal life and finding some things to bond over. Develop these relationships by socializing with your colleagues at lunch, for dinner and drinks after work, and at the company-wide holiday party.

Smile and be kind. Your generous smile and greeting to a passing coworker can help ease a stressful day and brighten the office for others. Showing kindness to your colleagues is a simple way to build rapport and contribute to a positive work environment.

Offer what you know. You don’t need to have a formal mentoring relationship with someone to provide them with some training and offer guidance. You don’t want to come across as a know-it-all but be willing to share your skills and knowledge with others who could benefit from it.

Communicate effectively. It’s impossible to overestimate the importance of learning how to effectively communicate with you colleagues, customers, and supervisors. Developing positive ways of communicating with others will enable success in many other areas of your career.

Implement these practices and you’ll develop a reputation around the workplace as someone others look forward to working with.

Four Ways to Enjoy Your Job Today

Many of us experience days when we are not motivated to go to work and we find ourselves disinterested in the job. It is at those times that we need to remind ourselves of the purpose behind our work and reconnect with our goals.

Below are four ways to approach your job today to help you gain a greater sense of satisfaction.

Strive to do excellent work. It can be easy to float through the day just getting by with “good enough” but it’s difficult to feel passionate about our work when we’re stuck in mediocrity. Whatever tasks you have on hand today challenge yourself to excellence. Take the initiative and strive to do your best, whether it’s cleaning a window to perfection, delivering a stunning presentation at a meeting, or preparing a sandwich at a fast food restaurant. You can improve the quality of the tasks and responsibilities you perform, and take pride in doing excellent work.

Find meaning in your work. In most jobs you can find some meaning in the work that increases your motivation and enjoyment of the work. If you are cleaning bathrooms you can find satisfaction in knowing that you are supporting the health of others by keeping this space clean and hygienic. A cook in a restaurant provides the food that energizes and fuels his customers. Think beyond your tasks and responsibilities today and focus on those who benefit from your work.  

Commit to serve. Look out for opportunities to help and assist others today. Instead of simply focusing on yourself and what you need to accomplish take a look around you. If someone on your team is struggling to complete a task or seems to be overwhelmed offer to help. If you work with the public or have regular contact with customers make a point of asking yourself, “how can I best serve those I come in contact with today?” You’ll likely find that by helping others you’ll experience a greater sense of well-being at work.

Connect with your colleagues. Find some time to interact with your co-workers, to share a laugh, a smile, and to offer some support. Your job will be much more enjoyable if you share the load with others and develop meaningful and supportive relationships with those you work with. 

4 Ways to Practice Self-Care in the Workplace

Let's face it. Our work lives can be quite stressful and take a toll on us, both emotionally and physically. It can be easy to get wrapped up in the urgency of it all and then fail to recognize what we're experiencing.

When our work situation takes us to the breaking point it is likely to impact our personal and home life, too, and so it's important to develop a practice of self-care in the office.

Consider the following four elements of a self-care plan and adjust them, as necessary, to your work situation.

Surround yourself with support. Unless you're the boss, you can't pick your team but you can choose the colleagues you grab lunch with, or meet up for a coffee break with, or hang out with after work. Build a supportive and encouraging group of colleagues around you to be a source of strength when things are tough and stressful at work. These colleagues can share an encouraging word around the coffee machine or crack the right joke to put things in perspective. Seek out positive people and you'll feel less stressed.

Create a healthy and encouraging work space. Put up some inspiring and motivational quotes t around your desk or on your computer. Always be surrounded by the encouraging wisdom of others you admire and respect. In addition, keep your work space organized and clean. Consider adding a plant to help clean the air and provide a little color. And put up some art by your favorite artist.

Take time to move. Schedule regular time in your day to get away from your desk or work area and take a walk. Adding some physical activity to your day can help refresh and re-energize you, and a comfortable walk allows you get away alone and come up with a new, creative approach to a problem you might be dealing with.

Recognize your successes and victories. Each day and every week brings some successes with it. Be sure to slow down enough to recognize those victories and acknowledge them. Write them down and allow yourself to enjoy even the small successes.

Applying these four practices to your regular work routine can help prevent the stressful times from overwhelming you and negatively impacting your satisfaction on the job and your enjoyment at home.

5 Topics of Conversation to Avoid in the Workplace

If you work in the average workplace then you likely are friendly with your co-workers and find yourselves engaged in conversations on topics that have nothing to do with work. In some cases this is helpful and results in colleagues becoming friends.

However, sometimes you can spend time discussing topics that are divisive and have the opposite effect. Spend too much time on these topics and you might end up with an enemy or two at work.

Here are five topics you should consider avoiding in conversations with your co-workers on the job:

1. Politics. Of course, this is a big one and this year might be the most divisive election ever. Even something that might seem fairly innocuous, like a campaign bumper sticker posted in a cubicle, can lead to unpleasant conversations. It's best to leave political conversations at home and when you're with friends.

2. Religion. When you're working you are there to do a job, not convert someone to your religious views. Of course, if someone asks about your weekend it's fine to mention attending a religious service but it should end there, unless your colleague asks to discuss it further. In that case, you might suggest meeting up for lunch or after work. As tolerant as we might like to think we are, religious conversations can become contentious and are best left outside of the office.

3. Money. Speaking of religion, there is the Biblical observation that love of money is the root of all evil. Do not ask your colleagues how much money they make, what their salary is, or how much of a bonus they received ... and do not reveal this information about yourself. Talk of money in the workplace leads to envy and discontent. Do not go there.

4. Sex. No one in the workplace needs to know who you're sleeping with, when was the last time you had sex, or which colleague you'd most like to get with. And the workplace is not the place to be on the hunt for potential sexual partners. You are there to do a job, so do it.

5. Boss. The only person you should ever discuss your boss with is your boss, unless you are saying something positive about him or her. Never speak negatively about your boss to another colleague. If you must speak critically about your supervisor make sure it is in the constructive setting of an evaluation process. Otherwise, follow the maxim we learned as children: if you don't have anything positive to say, don't say anything at all.