Communication Skills for Workplace Success

Communication Skills for Workplace SuccessCommunication Skills for Workplace SuccessThe ability to communicate effectively with superiors, colleagues, and staff is essential, no matter what industry you work in. Workers in the digital age must know how to effectively convey and receive messages in part as well as via phone, email, and social media. Good communication skills will help you get hired, land promotions, and be a success throughout your career. Top 10 Communication Skills Want to stand out from the competition? These are the top 10 communication skills that recruiters and hiring managers want to see in your resume and cover letter. Highlight these skills and demonstrate them during job interviews, and youll make a solid first impression. Continue to develop these skills once youre hired, and youll impress your boss, teammates, and clients. 1. Listening Being a good listener is one of the best ways to be a good communicator. No one likes communicating with someone w ho cares only about putting in her two cents and does not take the time to listen to the other person. If youre not a good listener, its going to be hard to comprehend what youre being asked to do. Take the time to practice active listening. Active listening involves paying close attention to what the other person is saying, asking clarifying questions, and rephrasing what the person says to ensure understanding (So, what youre saying is). Through active listening, you can better understand what the other person is trying to say, and can respond appropriately. 2. Nonverbal Communication Your body language, eye contact, hand gestures, and tone of voice all color the message you are trying to convey. A relaxed, open stance (arms open, legs relaxed), and a friendly tone will make you appear approachable and will encourage others to speak openly with you. Eye contact is also important you want to look the person in the eye to demonstrate that you are focused on them and the conversa tion (however, be sure not to stare at the person, which can make him or her uncomfortable). Also, pay attention to other peoples nonverbal signals while you are talking. Often, nonverbal signals convey how a person is really feeling. For example, if the person is not looking you in the eye, he or she might be uncomfortable or hiding the truth. 3. Clarity and Concision Good verbal communication means saying just enough dont talk too much or too little. Try to convey your message in as few words as possible. Say what you want clearly and directly, whether youre speaking to someone in person, on the phone, or via email. If you ramble on, your listener will either tune you out or will be unsure of exactly what you want. Think about what you want to say before you say it. This will help you to avoid talking excessively and/or confusing your audience. 4. Friendliness Through a friendly tone, a personal question, or simply a smile, you will encourage your coworkers to engage in o pen and honest communication with you. Its important to be nice and polite in all your workplace communications. This is important in both face-to-face and written communication. When you can, personalize your emails to coworkers and/or employees a quick I hope you all had a good weekend at the start of an email can personalize a message and make the recipient feel more appreciated. 5. Confidence It is important to be confident in your interactions with others. Confidence shows your coworkers that you believe in what youre saying and will follow through. Exuding confidence can be as simple as making eye contact or using a firm but friendly tone. Avoid making statements sound like questions. Of course, be careful not to sound arrogant or aggressive. Be sure you are always listening to and empathizing with the other person. 6. Empathy Using phrases as simple as I understand where you are coming from demonstrate that you have been listening to the other person and respect thei r opinions. Even when you disagree with an employer, coworker, or employee, it is important for you to understand and respect their point of view. 7. Open-Mindedness A good communicator should enter into any conversation with a flexible, open mind. Be open to listening to and understanding the other persons point of view, rather than simply getting your message across. By being willing to enter into a dialogue, even with people with whom you disagree, you will be able to have more honest, productive conversations. 8. Respect People will be more open to communicating with you if you convey respect for them and their ideas. Simple actions like using a persons name, making eye contact, and actively listening when a person speaks will make the person feel appreciated. On the phone, avoid distractions and stay focused on the conversation. Convey respect through email by taking the time to edit your message. If you send a sloppily written, confusing email, the recipient will think that you do not respect her enough to think through your communication with her. 9. Feedback Being able to appropriately give and receive feedback is an important communication skill. Managers and supervisors should continuously look for ways to provide employees with constructive feedback, be it through email, phone calls, or weekly position updates. Giving feedback involves giving praise as well something as simple as saying good job or thanks for taking care of that to an employee can greatly increase motivation. Similarly, you should be able to accept and even encourage, feedback from others. Listen to the feedback you are given, ask clarifying questions if you are unsure of the issue, and make efforts to implement the feedback. 10. Picking the Right Medium An important communication skill is to simply know what form of communication to use. For example, some serious conversations (layoffs, resignation, changes in salary, etc.) are almost always best done in person. Yo u should also think about the person with whom you wish to speak, if they are a very busy person (such as your boss, perhaps), you might want to convey your message through email. People will appreciate your thoughtful means of communication and will be more likely to respond positively to you. More Skills for Workplace Success Review some of the best skills to include on your resume, incorporate them into your job search materials, and mention them during job interviews. How to Make Your Skills Stand Out Highlight Your Skills in Your Application Materials Include the skills that are the closest match to the employers job requirements in your resume and cover letter.Show Hiring Managers You Have the Skills They Need Job interviews provide an opportunity to show the hiring manager that you have the verbal communication skills necessary to succeed in a job.Use Your Communication Skills at Work Whether its participating in a company meeting or talking with a client, youll have many opportunities to show how well you communicate.

Commonly Outsourced Human Resource Functions

Commonly Outsourced Human Resource FunctionsCommonly Outsourced Human Resource FunctionsGenerally speaking, human resources (HR) deals with anything and everything that has to do with people in a company. Unfortunately, this mindset can result in the HR department managing a lot of tasks that take time and energy away from the HR activities that provide the fruchtwein strategic value to the company. For instance, an HR function like talent development is critical for a company to identify and groom its future leaders. However, payroll is a more process-driven task that can be outsourced effectively, thereby freeing up HRs time for the companys mission-critical HR needs. Its a matter of identifying which tasks HR should focus on to most effectively advance the companys mission and delegating the rest to responsible outside service providers. The outsourcing of HR has accelerated over the last decade and will continue to do so. Outsourcing allows companies to offload work that isnt par t of their core business and it also saves money, she said. While some companies may entrust their HR needs to a single outside firm, its more common to parcel out functions to a range of outside providers. So how do you decide what to outsource and what to keep in-house? Step 1 Identify Key HR Initiatives First, its important for HR to let go of the idea that it can be all things to all people. Define HRs strategic role in your company. Go back to the basics and write up some good old-fashioned job responsibilities for HR. Focus on how HR drives the companys overall mission. Decide what HR tasks are special to your company and important to the culture. Step 2 Consider Which Functions Can Be Outsourced Any roles HR is currently managing that fall outside of the sweet spot you have identified should be considered for outsourcing. There are good outsourcing firms that can efficiently handle activities like relocation, temporary staffing, background checks, and drug screening. While these processes are very important to the operation of the company, they do not drive the strategic mission of the organization. Even a critical function like regulatory compliance should be considered for outsourcing. HR compliance requires constant attention to stay up to date on the latest regulations and legal decisions. Most HR departments dont have that kind of expertise on staff. Outsourcing to a specialist can provide added insurance against the financial penalties and bad werbung that result from compliance gaffes like failure to properly classify independent contractors, for example. Step 3 Create a Team of Internal and External Specialists A company that enlists outside specialists to supplement on-staff talent is cultivating a strong team of HR professionals. In this era of lean management, most HR departments are not going to be able to have an on-staff expert to manage every HR issue. Step 4 Find a Trusted Partner or Partners Concerned that youll compromi se quality if you outsource certain HR functions? You can maintain control of important HR functions and help HR become a more efficient and effective player, but you need to find trusted partners. Do your homework. Compare benefits, the associated costs, and approaches of different firms. Conduct background checks to enaya the outsourcing firms reputation is solid. Be sure the Better Business Bureau accredits the firm, and talk to other companies that have used the firm. Read all proposals carefully. Make sure you understand the value you will receive in doing business with a particular vendor. Step 5 Explore a Plug-and-Play Solution One outsourcing option that works for some companies is to contract with a group purchasing organization (GPO). A GPO provides access to qualified, prior negotiated contracts with staffing firms, managed service providers and others. This arrangement can be a convenient, efficient, and cost-effective one-stop shop for a range of HR outsourced servi ces. Companies avoid the time and effort required for negotiating and managing multiple contracts. The GPO vets the best suppliers, leverage relationships to secure competitive contracts, and helps a company secure the resources it needs. The majority of the GPO market in the United States is focused on healthcare procurement. The major GPOs in this space are making purchases more than $200 billion annually for their hospital and related industry clients. There are no reliable statistics on the size of the corporate GPO market, which is newer, smaller and more fragmented, and in general more focused on procurement than HR outsourcing. According to a 2011 study by the procurement media site Spend Matters, 15-20 percent of Fortune 1000 companies are now using a GPO, and 85 percent of those companies reported savings of 10 percent or more. Step 6 Consider a Complete Outsourcing of HR For certain companies, it may make sense to consider a professional employer organization (PEO). A PEO takes over all of a companys HR functions by literally hiring the companys employees and becoming their employer of record for tax and insurance purposes. The practice is known as co-employment or joint employment. Through a PEO, the employees of small businesses gain access to employee benefits such as 401(k) plans health, dental, life, and other insurance dependent care, and other benefits typically provided by large companies. According to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), approximately 250,000 businesses use PEOs. Outsource This and Not That There is no playbook for HR outsourcing. What functions stay in-house and which are outsourced to an outside specialist depends on the type of company, its strategic priorities, and the role HR plays in realizing those priorities. Here are the HR functions that are most commonly outsourced High-volume recruitingTemporary staffingBackground checks and drug screeningRelocationPayrollBenefits admin istrationCoachingCreating/updating employee handbooks and policy manualsCompensation program development/implementationWriting and updating affirmative action plansProviding sexual harassment trainingIndependent contractor compliance These HR initiatives tend to stay in-house Employee relationsCompensation design and deliveryTalent developmentCapital strategy planningSuccession planningHR strategyPerformance managementOrganization developmentRecruitingHR department management Outsourcing some, or even all, HR functions is a proven and widely practiced concept among companies of all sizes. Outsourcing enables a company to focus on HR activities with the most strategic value while saving money and benefiting from the specialized expertise of outside firms.

Women are working more than ever, but they still take on most household responsibilities

Women are working more than ever, but they still take on most household responsibilities Women are working more than ever, but they still take on most household responsibilities This piece was originally published for Women’s History Month in March on my  Forbes Women  column.Follow Ladders on Flipboard!Follow Ladders’ magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and more!Women’s History Month has ended, but there is still time to celebrate how far women have come, while also pointing out areas where we can still do better as a society. Women have come a long way in terms of progress and equality, especially in the workplace. The wage gap between men and women has fallen over the past several decades. For the past 20 years, women have outpaced men in college attendance and degrees. Forty-nine percent of employed women in the United States, including 42 percent of working mothers, say they are their family’s main breadwinner. Of course, women have not achieved true equality in the workplace. In fact, according to a  2018 McKinsey Report, gender-based progress has stalled in recent years.The wage gap, gender-based discrimination, and sexual harassment still persist. (Fun fact:  Almost 60 percent of women would earn more if they were paid the same as men with equivalent levels of education and work hours.) But we definitely are better off than we were 50 years ago.However, while women are more educated and more employed than ever, they are still taking on most of the household and familial duties. And it’s not just about chores and childcare; women are also much more likely to be the ones who care for sick or elderly family members.Although working mothers spend more time on work, household labor, and child care than fathers, they are not more likely to have access to workplace policies such as paid family and medical leave, paid sick days, workplace flexibility, and affordable childcare.How does this imb alance affect women? Fifty-four percent of women took leave from work when first becoming a parent as opposed to 42 percent of men. Plus, women take ten times as much temporary leave from work as men upon the arrival of a child. Without a national paid leave policy, this usually means that women are taking home less or no money during their time off. This can lead to long-term financial consequences, due to loss of income and benefits, missed raises and promotions, and inability to fund their retirement accounts and Social Security. Women are eight times more likely than men to look after sick children or manage their children’s schedules, which will take time out of their work day or other daily responsibilities. After becoming a parent, women are more likely to switch to a job with greater flexibility and work more from home, which can result in lower pay. Twenty-one percent of women said they were paid less for doing the same work they did before they took time off to care for their children. Women are more likely than men to stop working to care for elderly family members, which completely removes them from the workforce, cutting their earnings and ability to save for important things like retirement. According to a  Merrill Lynch report, when a woman reaches retirement age, she may have earned a cumulative $1,055,000 less than her male counterparts when accounting for the lifelong pay gap alongside common workforce interruptions. Outside of the negative financial and career ramifications, women are also more stressed and have less time for self-care. In order to add a personal story to these study results, I spoke to an entrepreneur who had to balance work and family throughout her career. Tena Clark is the founder and CEO of  DMI Music Media. When Tena’s daughter was young, Tena worked in the television industry.This work required her to travel often and spend a lot of her time working. Tena was lucky to have a partner who took on the bulk of the childcare, but she still felt like she was missing out on her daughter’s life. In order to spend more time with her young daughter, Tena decided to leave the television industry so that she could spend less time traveling.When I asked if that decision impacted her financial, Tena said, “Oh god, yes. I probably could have retired at 40.” She felt like leaving the industry meant she was starting over in her career. However, she was able to rebuild her success and eventually started her own business.In more recent years, Tena has dedicated herself to prioritizing her financial hea lth. She now works with a Merrill Lynch financial advisor and feels safe and secure in terms of her finances.Things are still pretty dire for many women, especially women of color and low-income women. But all is not lost. There are things you and others can do to combat the imbalance of household labor, at home, at work, and in the political realm. Get Your Partner on Board:  Women are taught (both overtly and subtly) that they are the ones who must handle familial duties, even if it is to their own detriment. Changing this shouldn’t just be on women’s shoulders. Women and men both need to fight back against these traditional gender roles. If you are a woman with a male partner, talk to them about how this imbalance affects you. Start creating a more egalitarian distribution of duties at home. It won’t happen overnight, but continue the conversation every day and get your partner on board. Men: educate yourselves about this imbalance and why it matters, and start doing your part at home and at work. Advocate for Affordable Childcare and Paid Family Leave:  The United States is the only industrialized country without a national paid leave policy for mothers, let alone for fathers. Plus, the cost of childcare is unrealistic for many working mothers of young children. Push your elected representatives to propose and support legislation that would result in paid family leave and affordable childcare. Additionally, support organizations, like  National Partnership for Women Families, that are working for these laws to be implemented. These laws would support and uplift families across the board. Push for Change at Work:  Many companies have good intentions but have not made concrete changes that protect women at work. If you are a decisionmaker at work, act upon your values and push to implement. Treat equality as a business priority, since it should be one. Use this  McKinsey Report  as guidance for which changes to make. Even if you aren’t a decisionmaker, push your employer to make changes. Make it clear just how important this issue is to you and to other women everywhere. This piece was originally published on my  ForbesWomen  column.You might also enjoy… New neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy Strangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds 10 lessons from Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule that will double your productivity The worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs 10 habits of mentally strong people