jobs Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

24
Jul 20
-

Planning Tomorrow, and Every Day After

Tags : career experience jobs planning strategy

Does your day start with a plan? Will what you do today include planning tomorrow?

You can plan for tomorrow or you can make part of your daily routine planning tomorrow.

Perhaps there is a difference.

Jobs and Careers

When someone starts a new job, begins a career, or finishes their primary education, they may need some tools.

One person may need a laptop, another a tool chest with relevant hand tools, and still others will need a uniform, appropriate footwear, and some personal protective equipment.

Having the tools is part of what is needed to operate within that system. It doesn’t mean the system will work or will last. It means at some level you are prepared.

Another level of preparedness is knowing how to actually use all of the tools.

Having a laptop doesn’t mean you can create elaborate formula’s using Microsoft Excel. It doesn’t mean you can update or create a website. Simply, you have one of the tools of the trade.

What is next for your life or career? Do you have a plan?

Tools, Trades, and Professional Careers

Many people move about their career carrying a tool chest.

They have some education and they have experience. Those credentials don’t always intersect. A degree in accounting may not matter much if your daily job is creative advertising.

The average job doesn’t have a very long shelf life. The average career is longer, yet still not always permanent.

If you feel uncertain about this, ask a typesetter, switchboard operator, or your local video store owner.

Why do so many people view it as they are all set, they’re completely prepared, now where is the work?

Planning Tomorrow

Planning tomorrow means that you’ll have the tools and the work. You’ll have accountability and reasonable expectations for your future.

It’s hard to know for certain.

Consider what you do know.

Tomorrow will be different from today.

Plan appropriately.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

11
Jun 20
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Business Connections Mean Little, or Everything

Tags : business career commerce jobs networking

One hundred years ago when you wanted to telephone someone it wasn’t as easy. Today it is different. Do you believe that you have good business connections? What is the value?

In the early 1900’s it seems that business networking really wasn’t a thing. Commerce was very localized. You had stores and markets in town, and you typically wouldn’t travel far to get essentials.

Certainly, there were gatherings at public events, county fairs, and perhaps a traveling circus. Train stations were still serving many expanding cities and towns.

Instead of waiting a few seconds, a minute, or an hour, for some electronic mail, people waited days, weeks, or longer for a hand written letter from an acquaintance far away.

The perception of the world was likely smaller, or maybe larger. Your people network wasn’t as vast, and for most purposes, outside of a few close neighbors or friends, a network would have probably seemed unnecessary.

Business Connections

It is different today. Business is moving faster and faster. Quality and efficiency still matter but patience often seems lost.

Expectations are driven by speed and complimented through convenience.

What is quick, easy, and affordable seems to hold higher interest when compared with waiting, of substantial quality, and worth every penny.

People amass hundreds of social media connections, some attain thousands, and some hundreds of thousands or more.

Commerce happens. It is often about your network.

Need a job? Who do you know?

Need a roof repair, a lawn mower fixed, or a custom-built cabinet? Who do you know?

If you don’t know anyone, you search the internet.

Your choices are greater and the options feel riskier.

Everything seems bigger now.

Word of mouth has transformed to World of mouth. What happens in Tennessee is known about in California and Vermont in seconds.

Lost in the Hustle

You can also easily get lost.

Perhaps you shout but no one hears you. You create a website, or a social media group or page, and everyone can find you, or no one does.

One hundred years ago businesses had a connection. It happened through people.

Today, a lot has changed, only nothing has changed.

If you are doing business, your connections still matter the most.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

16
Dec 19
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Convenient Work, Is This What You Do?

Tags : convenience jobs technology work workplace

Modern conveniences have made many things, well, more convenient. Is your job becoming more about convenient experiences? Is convenient work what you do?

Many people wonder about the future of machine learning and A.I. (artificial intelligence). Will my work be eliminated or will people embrace newer forms of technology?

The easy answer to both is, “Yes!”

Embracing Technology is Convenient

Certainly, there will be resistors to technology change. However, when technology changes make things easier or more convenient it is likely that people will participate.

The Keurig coffee maker is one about convenience. It has been popular and embraced by many. Not everyone, but many.

Streaming video for home television entertainment? Embraced.

The smartphone. Embraced.

It doesn’t take long to recognize we’ve shifted to areas of convenience.

Modern travel is a great example. You could take a train from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to San Jose, California, but why would you?

You could write down directions to get a hotel two States away when driving in your car, or you might use a navigation device built into your car or through your smartphone.

Traveling by air you can print your boarding pass, or utilize a QR Code on your phone. Once on the ground at your destination you can hail a cab, schedule a Lyft, Uber, or perhaps a shuttle. Most will do this with a smartphone app. The more information you provide to the app, the better your experience will be.

Convenient Work

There are at least two sides to convenience. There is the side that makes it better for you when you participate and there is the side that means someone else may be getting squeezed out of the picture.

Receptionists were once popular. In fact, some could earn a decent living and meet a lot of people in the process. Today, many of these jobs have been eliminated or minimized by technology.

In many places the same is true for the toll both clerk, the gas station attendant, and the store checkout cashier.

Is the work that you are doing replaceable by technology? Will technology change our lives?

Yes!

Jobs will change because we’ll participate. We’ll participate because it is convenient.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

25
Oct 19
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Generational Dignity, Is That What’s Missing?

Tags : baby boomers dignity generation z generational differences jobs

The psychology of work has never been more important. Generational dignity suggests that workers on either end of the generational framework are feeling a lack of respect. Is this part of the missing link for generational harmony?

In a strong economy with low unemployment numbers are there still workers? Some suggest that there are plenty of workers in the traditional or baby boomer categories and some suggest that there are plenty of generation Z workers.

Is it true? Do workers exist on each end of the continuum that just aren’t working?

Generational Dignity

Recently, I was in a discussion with a good friend and colleague. We were discussing aspects the workforce and the availability of workers. He has some belief, which I share, that there are workers, often just not those that organizations find attractive.

One example is the people in the older generations. They often have tons of knowledge and expertise, and informal surveys suggest that they would work longer or reenter the workforce for the right opportunity.

Surprisingly, or not, that opportunity doesn’t always focus on pay. It often is the opportunity to be respected and to have dignity in their job. A department store greeter isn’t necessarily dignified, nor is the shopping cart collector. Should a person with more than 40 years of experience be doing those jobs?

Somewhat in contrast, there are often job opportunities that are more physical in nature. The manual labor jobs. The jobs that require lifting, moving, or greater physical effort. Should some of these jobs be more dignified to encourage the most recent workforce generations to perform?

Our generational challenges are often focused on differences. One of the most fundamental aspects of our workplace culture is that we all want respect (a commonality), yet we often define it differently.

Could workplace dignity make a difference?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

12
Sep 19
-

Work Environment Can Sometimes Be An Illusion

Tags : culture environment jobs organization culture workplace

What is the work environment where you work? Does the environment match the culture or is the environment only a symbol disguising what is really going on? Is the environment only an illusion?

Low unemployment rates make hiring practices more challenging. Depending on your sector, you may have decided that getting people on board can be tough. Keeping them on board is often equally challenging.

When the economy is strong and the unemployment rates are low, people are often able to work at the best organizations. In other words, if your organization is not shiny, glamorous, and exciting, it makes getting and keeping talent tougher.

Environment and Culture

People often confuse the work environment with workplace culture. They tend to go hand-in-hand, yet they are not the same thing.

Work environment has more to do with the physical facility. Is it modern, trendy, and inviting? Does it encourage motivation? Is it reflective of the values and beliefs shared within the organization culture?

Certainly, much of this depends on the type of organization. Heavy industrial is going to be different from healthcare and the financial sector is different from retail commerce or academia.

Mike Rowe starred in a hit TV series known as Dirty Jobs. A show that often highlighted tough, sometimes disgusting work assignments that most people would not choose to do.

One of Mike’s more popular quotes, “Happiness does not come from a job. It comes from knowing what you truly value, and behaving in a way that’s consistent with those beliefs.” connects with the difference between environment and culture.

The most successful workplace cultures today do an excellent job of connecting values and beliefs with the work environment.

Work Environment

Building an environment is materialistic. It may involve capital, sometimes lots of it. Perhaps it connects with the location or history of the physical site. It is represented in the buildings, the furniture and fixtures, and other amenities.

One of the best ways to move towards an organization culture that you desire is to have an environment that supports it. It is always easier to flow with the environment instead of against it.

On the other hand, building the environment and assuming you’ve done the work required for culture is only an illusion.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

07
Dec 18
2

Hiring Practices Tell a Story

Tags : career hiring practices jobs leadership

It seems almost counterintuitive. Low unemployment rates, organizations claiming they can’t find employees, and potential candidates expressing they can’t find employers. Does it have something to do with hiring practices?

The easy answer is, “Perhaps.” Another good answer would be, “It depends.”

If you are an emerging potential candidate you should consider the effort that appears to be taken by the potential employer.

Hiring Practices

When a job is posted on a job board or other online quick post system what did it cost the employer? What are the details? What effort appears to have been taken to roll out this job?

When you’re looking for work it is easy to jump to the idea of, “There is an opening. I’m on it.” Sure, there may be a job there, but is it the job for you?

You can count on one thing. If the job advertisement process appears to be a mundane and disinterested roll out, it is probably going to feel like that and much worse if you get the job.

We don’t care, you don’t care, so nobody cares and we’re all disappointed.

Putting widgets in a box is rapidly being replaced by automation. If it hasn’t, or it isn’t in the works, this probably isn’t your dream employer.

In this case the employer see’s little value in the employee. The desire is, “Put the widget in the box until the end of your shift.”

When Turnover Is Popular

When the employer has little skin in the game. Turnover is popular, but not so costly because there is no intellectual value lost. Little effort went into the recruitment process, and like a lottery ticket they’ll just buy another.

So, the cycle continues. Organizations claiming that they can’t find employees, and potential candidates expressing they can’t find employers.

An investment in nothing, yields nothing.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

13
Sep 18
-

World Of Mouth, Is It Working For You?

Tags : connection economy jobs products services word of mouth

Many business leaders will share with you that the face of business is changing. They may not be able to put their finger on which direction, but they recognize a shift. It is the age of a service and connection economy which leads to World of mouth.

How are you navigating?

The CEO needs a plan. So does the employee. Learning how to navigate a connection economy is likely not found in books or other resources produced prior to 2005. Perhaps prior to 2010 or 2015.

Working For You

How does marketing and advertising work? The best marketers are building a connection.

How do you get more sales in an overwhelmed digital world? The strongest sales growth comes through connections.

So many people claim to be suffering from information overload. Many regress to making fewer decisions based on their own research and instead lazily rely on their network.

This is true for the retailer, the E-comm, and nearly every business sector. It is also true for who gets hired or promoted. It is a connection economy and connections matter.

This is precisely why commodity products compete only for price. They are available everywhere and without any additional value. Their supplemental value is perhaps only in the convenience and ease of the (service) purchase and delivery.

Commodity products are tough. Amazon, eBay, and the carriers (UPS, FedEx, etc.) are winning. Good for them.

Average, similar, mainstream, and available anywhere means getting selected is tough. True for the job you just applied for, and true for the products or services your organization provides.

World Of Mouth

The great equalizer comes through the connection economy. Average sells when it is recommended by a friend. Similar works if a friend has tried it. Mainstream can be trendy if everyone in your community is on board.

Consider that the question may become, “What is it about what you are offering that makes it special enough to become a discussion item?”

Word of mouth is powerful. World of mouth is mind blowing. Connections drive both.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: jobs

Jul 20

-

Jobs and Careers

Tools, Trades, and Professional Careers

Planning Tomorrow

Jun 20

-

Business Connections

Lost in the Hustle

Dec 19

-

Embracing Technology is Convenient

Convenient Work

Oct 19

-

Generational Dignity

Sep 19

-

Environment and Culture

Work Environment

Dec 18

Hiring Practices

When Turnover Is Popular

Sep 18

-

Working For You

World Of Mouth

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