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Be the Catalyst

Does the word Evaluation cause you to get anxious, nauseous, maybe filled with cautious anticipation? Is it usually someone else evaluating your performance? What do you gain?
The reality is, evaluations cannot be just annual events that leave you feeling like you finally just earned a great bonus or completely at a loss for all the hours you invested the last year with no gains.  Gains can be in your hands as easily as in someone else’s, but you have to take control. Be the catalyst! You have to ensure you have a plan that is filled with SMART goals that will provide your next opportunity. Be in control of your future!
Everyone Needs to Self Evaluate:
So whether you are an NFL player being evaluated every day you are on the field, a teacher in any district across the country being evaluated annually or quarterly, or even an engineer with a manufacturing company and an annual performance review tied to your bonus, you are in control. You choose how to enhance whatever it is they are looking for by continually evaluating yourself and applying what you learn.
Create Targets of Improvement:
A singular review of your performance will not be enough to guide you into the next steps. You will have to be the catalyst. Monitor your performance on a regular basis.  Stretch for that next position by gathering additional responsibilities, new experiences, on-going learning. When you expand your learning, either through new challenges, courses, or self-enhancing growth tools, you put a new and improved you at the center of the evaluation process.
How do you measure up next to the individual in your same position? Where are you compared to the position you want? What are you willing to do to get there?
Take the time to evaluate your own performance. Then, be the Catalyst.  What’s your next step?  Need help?  Click Here.
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Scary Times II

In October 2011 I posted a Blog titled Scary Times.  It was a play on Halloween and the issues facing seniors in high school as they navigated the world of changes ahead…college, work, sports.  Issues that were relevant. Perhaps scary, but also exciting.  Fast forward to today, Scary Times II.

Scary Times II is certainly not aligned with Halloween this time, and it is not targeting seniors in high school.  It targets everyone.  Those in high school as a sophomore or older, college students, and those in the work world already.  COVID-19 has made our world a very different place.  As a result, it has caused all of us to rethink how we interact with each other,  how we address learning, and how we continue in the world of work.  Yes, it is scary.

But, Scary Times can encourage us to spend time reflecting, to engage, educate and empower ourselves to move beyond where we were and into something more.  Who    are    YOU?  Are you an Extrovert?  Do you need diversity in your work, interactions with others, and a common goal?  Are you an Introvert? Need more time to yourself for reflection and recharging?  Are you diagnostic, analytic, experiential or consultative in your Problem Solving style?  How does that fit in your world of work?  If you are not sure, maybe it’s time to find out the answers to these and lots more questions that can guide you in your next steps.

The world of work is changing more rapidly that anyone expected.  Will you be ready?  Now is the time to take a Highlands Ability Battery and find out your Best Fit opportunities.

 

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Scary Numbers

The Inter­net is full of those fun “list type” sto­ries, “10 Tips for Work­place Suc­cess” or “5 Points to Nail an Inter­view.” I have writ­ten sev­eral over the years as blog post­ings. They help define con­cepts and frame infor­ma­tion so that it is eas­ier to remem­ber. Look through my archives and I bet you can spot them in 30 sec­onds or less. That’s the point.

But in a recent arti­cle by a lead­ing World infor­ma­tion pow­er­house, GALLUP, the num­bers are big­ger and with huge ram­i­fi­ca­tions. The May 2015 num­ber for Employ­ee Engage­ment was flat and low at 31.5%. That means only 31.5% of employ­ees were engaged in their work. Engage­ment for the pur­pose of GALLUP’s poll is to define employ­ees who are involved in, enthu­si­as­tic and com­mit­ted to their work.

The impor­tance of this mea­sure is the cor­re­la­tion to a company’s pro­duc­tiv­ity, prof­itabil­ity and cus­tomer engage­ment.

Life is way too short to not enjoy and be engaged in your work. Like­wise, the liveli­hood of a com­pany is way too vul­ner­a­ble to not have engaged employ­ees. Want to read the brief but full arti­cle? Click here. 
Under­stand­ing your­self and your employ­ees can help close the “Scary Gap” of unen­gaged, under­pro­duc­tive work­ers. Want to learn how?

Click here for a video clip.
Part of the engage­ment issue rests in the hands of man­age­ment, but a large and unde­fined por­tion rests in the hands of our own per­sonal efforts to iden­tify the work we would most enjoy and be good at in an on-going basis. Like I said, life is just too short.