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The Looming Employment Crisis

March 19, 2018 By AdminNancy

The Looming Employment Crisis:  An Unprecedented Opportunity for Savvy Women

Fighting The Talent Battle
Available in Paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon

and Smart Small Business Owners

There is an employment crisis looming on the horizon.  Like a big thunderhead, it has the potential to bring damaging winds of change and torrential rain that can wash out the well-established pathways used by businesses to get products and services produced and sold.  It is close enough that some see it or feel its effects already.  Some are trying to manage it, but the force of it, the sheer size of it, is more than can be managed without a solid strategic plan.  Most underestimate it or worse, don’t see it coming at all.

This employment crisis is fueled by a talent shortage, shifting values in our society and a shrinking workforce.  Like the Perfect Storm, three forces are coming together that threaten to cripple American business.

  1. The Baby Boomers are leaving the workforce taking 40 years of achievement driven, worker stability that employers count on with them.
  2. The Millennial’s will make up the largest generation of workers, already over 50% of the workforce and they have very different ideas about work and its priority in their lives.
  3. The concept of the full time, 9-5, steady job is eroding and the surety of depending on it to execute our business plans is going with it. There are numerous alternatives to earn a living today being fueled by technology, values and priorities.

The days of the employer having the hiring advantage because working for someone else on their terms was the only game in town are coming to an end.  We already see critical skills and hiring shortages in industries like technology and healthcare and it is only the beginning.

Houston, We Have A Leadership Problem

American business is broken.  Gallop studies show year after year that American workers are only 30% engaged in the work you give them to do and that number is consistent year after year regardless of age, education or gender.  Employees are not engaged, not motivated, not interested in their work.  People are leaving corporate America, forging new paths of work, doing with less, creating movements around tiny houses and off the grid living, changing their priorities to lead more fulfilling, more satisfying lives than the rigid 9-5 or worse 9-9 job can provide.  Fighting the battle for talent is far more than providing snacks and drinks or a ping pong table in the breakroom.  It’s about realizing that people are the most important asset you have in your business.  Working to understand, enhance and preserve that asset is a critical leadership imperative.

Business leadership must have the courage to take a hard look at the way we think about, treat and manage people.  In the big people shift that occurred because of the Industrial Revolution, people came to work for businesses and the concept of the job was created.  This shift will be as large and as disruptive only this time people will be leaving businesses for a better work experience.  Employees have more choices today.  The “You Economy” has created a place where people can dip their toes in the entrepreneurial waters and earn some or all of their income in ways that live between the traditional job and the risk of starting a business without a safety net.

Help WantedThe “You Economy”, A New Employer In Town

The game has changed.  Technology and innovative thinking has made it possible to try entrepreneurship on for size with very little risk.  Now it is easier and easier to keep your full time job and dabble in something on the side.  It is estimated that by the year 2020, 50% of Americans will earn part of their living in the “You Economy”.  Uber, Air BNB, Zip Car, Task Rabbit, Thumbtack, Updesk, Fivrr are all places people can go to flex their entrepreneurial muscles while keeping their job.  People can try something new over and over with little or no risk until they find their niche.  If they find success, they can expand what they offer and as this phenomenon grows they may not need the company job you need to fill anymore.  At the very least, they can take control of their work and earning power and carve out the quality life they want, get more time and money freedom, more flexibility and possible more income.  All the things they traded in 100 years ago for a job.

The “You Economy” is catching on.  A Success Magazine survey showed that 4 out of 10 adults in the United States in 2016 had already used at least one “You Economy” based product or service.  It’s a growing phenomenon and you, your organization, the company job, the 9-5 inflexible, go to the workplace experience, have to compete with this and whatever other new innovations come along.  You are no longer just competing for talent with the companies that do what you do, you have a much larger, more fluid, almost unknown competitor.  And it is changing and growing in power every day.

Who Will Be The Winners and Losers?

This shift is going to impact every business owner, every senior manager and our entire economy.  Every business that is service based is powered by people and is in jeopardy of losing their best employees.  We need to realize and embrace the fact that people power profit and how you think about your employees and what you do to attract, motivate and retain talent will directly impact your success.

In every big shift there are winners and losers.  The losers will be those who do nothing to prepare for this change, are too inflexible or too fearful to make meaningful decisions to do things differently around employment and management or are too slow to turn their ships around.  They will continue to find it harder and more expensive to attract and retain the quality people they need in their organizations.  The cost of the problem will continue to grow impacting their bottom line and hampering their ability to grow their profits year after year.

Small Business Owners Stand To Gain

But there will be winners.  The big winners will be the small businesses owners who are nimble, creative and will find it easier to be flexible and make changes to the way they think about employment, management and employees.  They make their business rules.  They call the shots.  They can turn their ship faster than the large company with thousands of employees.  The issue for employees is quality of work life, meaningful work with purpose, appreciation, respect and life balance.  Smaller companies with smaller payroll budgets have had difficulty competing for talent.  That is about to change.  Smaller businesses now have a chance to level the hiring playing field with innovative thinking in these areas because this problem will not be solved by simply paying higher salaries.

Career Women Can Be Big Winners

The second group of big winners in the employment crisis can be women who have traditionally been passed over for opportunities and the chance to earn more money.  The shortage of talent will allow women to step up and be seen as a fresh pool of talent, providing they prepare to step into new roles by understanding and learning the skills needed to be successful, having a willingness to risk and prepare by gaining the experience that will provide the proof that they can fill the roles.  Gaining the experience will take some extra time and effort, perhaps going back to school or working uncompensated as a volunteer, moonlighter, intern, looking for any place where they are given a chance to do the work that will give them experience and provide the proof.  The key for women is to recognize that they need to start now to capitalize on the opportunities that will be available in the very near future.  If women take the time to develop a vision for the future, understand what will be needed and prepare now, they will have real chances to close the wage gap and smash the glass ceiling that has traditionally stood in their way.

 

 

Nancy O’Keefe, MBA, is a Strategic Adviser, Executive Coach, Speaker, Trainer, and Author of the Book Fighting The Talent Battle: How To Update Your Arsenal and Win the War which is available on Amazon.  She works with business owners and senior executives to create profitable and productive workplaces that attract, motivate and retain great people. She is a thought leader in strategy, management and cultivating talent.  She can be found at http://www.NancyOKeefeCoaching.com

Filed Under: Category #2 Tagged With: business success, career, empower, executive coaching, glass ceiling, leadership, personnal development, success

Advance Your Career Part 7 – How To Become A Star Employee

March 4, 2018 By AdminNancy

Advance Your Career Part 7:  How To Become A Star Employee

To become a star employee that is seen, listened to and respected for the strengths, talents and value they bring to the table takes only one thing:  The Ability To Confidently Demonstrate That You Have Exactly What Someone Needs, That You Can Deliver The Results They Crave, and That You Are The Solution They Have Been Searching For.  That Transcends All Other Factors!

If you feel like your career has plateaued or worse, you must learn how to take control of your situation and infuse momentum into it by shifting your thinking about yourself and your job so you can spot career opportunities that are perfect for you, get around managers that might be road blocks, be considered for and land new opportunities and increase your earning power.

That may sound like a tall order, and going it alone it is.  That is why I created the Super Star Employee Club, a Mastermind and Group Coaching Program designed to help you Get Savvy, Secure And Successful™ in your job and career.  Learn to Lead With Your Value, Find More Opportunity To Contribute, Maximize Your Earning Power And Power Up Your Career in this program.

The #1 career challenge is being seen, heard, and taken seriously.

Why?  Because there are some key skills and strategies in business that you were never taught, even if you went to college.  Those missing pieces are what you will learn and master in Get Savvy, Secure and Successful™

Is This Right For Me?

Here’s what we will to do together. . .

  • Guide you through a 7 Part Online Training Program to get you packaged up to be highly marketable and increase your earning potential.
  • Mastermind and coach together to help you become highly visible and establish yourself as an valuable expert in your field
  • Coach you to become the star employee, great companies are searching for.

You already have valuable skills and experience.  But you need a chance to put them to better use, to make a bigger contribution, to get noticed for the value you bring to your organization.  This program is designed to help you find those chances, capitalize on them & teach you to confidently demonstrate your value to others so you can become a star employee advance your career.

Here is what we cover in the Online Training Program

Module 1 – CHART YOUR PERSONAL PATH FOR SUCCESS

Stop Settling.  You can be, do and have anything you want but you have to define what that is and many of us, if asked, would struggle to answer that question.  Discover what you really want and claim it.  Learn how to change your mindset to lead with your value and achieve what you want and become a star employee.

Module 2 – YOUR PRODUCT IS YOU

Discover what you should be promoting about yourself even if you are working for someone else.  You have strengths and hidden talents you don’t even know you have because they are so natural to you that you don’t recognize their value.  And if you don’t recognize it, chances are others won’t either.  Develop your Personal Power Profile™.  Discover your hidden strengths and close the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

Module 3 – SHOW ME THE MONEY

Establish your value in the marketplace based on the results you get for your organization.  Learn how to create evidence to substantiate your value and how to communicate it to finally get the opportunities you need to be paid what you are worth.

Module 4 – LEARN TO HUNT

Learn how to spot and create opportunities to contribute and be recognized. There is no shortage of opportunity, because the flip side of every problem that needs to be solved has opportunity in it.   Learn how see it and how to position yourself to capitalize on those opportunities and set up your strategies to successfully win them.

Module 5 – TALK THE WALK

Learn how to talk about yourself and what you bring to the table in a way that positions you as the perfect solution. Learn how others see you and how you can use that information to communicate your value to your boss or potential boss.  Get the actual language you need to have the conversations around opportunity and money that you long to have.

Module 6 – BECOME VISIBLE

Learn to become more visible, gently, comfortably by being in the right place at the right time with the right solution.  Stop being the best kept secret your company has.  Get noticed when you want to be seen, heard and taken seriously. Be recognized for your ideas and talents.  A Star employee is visible.

Module 7 – CHANGE YOUR PARADIGM.

Change What Is Possible For You.  Stop Holding On To a 100 Year Old Paradigm around Work and Business That Doesn’t Serve You or Your Company.   In This Module, Wrap Up What You Have Learned In An Action Plan To Power Up Your Career.

Here is how we will do it. . . .

  • You will go through the 7 modules at your own pace from the comfort of your own computer.
  • We will get on 2 – 90 minute, group, Zoom video calls per month to review the content, provide Q&A, and coaching.
  • We will have powerful guest speakers and trainings on important topics and trends on our some group calls.
  • You will have unlimited access to a private members only Facebook group where you can communicate your questions, concerns, celebrations and get real time feedback 24 x7.

This is your chance to advance your career.

To learn more, contact us.  Just fill out the contact form on our website by using this link.  Contact US

The call is confidential and complimentary.   We will be in touch to answer all of your questions and help you decide if this is what you need to advance your career.

I look forward to speaking with you.

The Very Best,

Nancy

 

Nancy O’Keefe, MBA, is a Strategic Adviser, Executive Coach, Speaker, Trainer, and Author of the Book Fighting The Talent Battle: How To Update Your Arsenal and Win the War.  She works with business owners and senior executives to create profitable and productive workplaces that attract, motivate and retain great people. She is a thought leader in strategy, management and cultivating talent.  She can be found at http://www.NancyOKeefeCoaching.com

 

Filed Under: Category #2 Tagged With: career, empower, executive coaching, glass ceiling, love my job, meaningful work, personnal development, success, what do you want

Advance Your Career Part 6 – To Earn More Salary, You Need To Know Your Value In The Marketplace

March 4, 2018 By AdminNancy

Advance Your Career Part 6:  Why You Need To Know Your Value In The Marketplace

As long as the concept of a job has existed, the definition around what you can do to earn a living and salary has been defined by others using a process that has been the same for decades.  Your  salary options are limited by the parameters of a job description:  a definition that consists of a job title, a list of tasks to be performed and the skills, experience and personality traits needed to perform those tasks successfully.

So How Much Can You Get Paid?

There is a salary range for that job description.  It is a number based on the skills and experience required balanced against the budget the firm has to fill the position.  The budget may or may not reflect the realities of the marketplace or the value of the contribution the employee will actually make to the company.

There are unwritten rules around salary increases when you change positions or move to a new firm.  What you are making now is factored in to what you will be offered because no company wants to pay you more than they have to in order to bring you on board or promote you, no matter what the job is worth.  If you are making $70,000 as an example and the range for the job you apply for is $85,000 – $100,000, you will probably be offered $75,000, $80,000 if you are lucky, because someone, somewhere decided it wasn’t healthy to get too large a salary bump at one time.  Again, someone else deciding what your talent is worth based on outdated thinking.  You probably won’t notice because you will be thrilled to get a long overdue increase.

What Are Your Skills and Experiences Worth?

But to increase your earning power, you need to develop the ability to take a new view of yourself.  You must understand the value you bring to the marketplace and how to communicate it to a prospective employer, even one in your own company, in a compelling way that will impact their thinking about you.  It requires that you begin to think of yourself as a “product” and your skills and experience in terms of the results you bring to solve problems or create new innovations.   What problem needs to be solved?  How much is it costing to leave it unsolved?  How much will solving it increase revenue or cut expenses?  Does the company want to solve it?  Will they pay to solve it? Those are the questions you need to ask in order to understand the value of the results that you bring.

The paradigms around “the job” and “salary” have been around longer than you have.  It is our acceptance, even dependence on these old paradigms and unwritten rules that is keeping earnings limited. The thinking has to change.  The most important factor is results.  You must understand what the results you bring are worth and you must do research to find credible data that backs it up.  Then you can negotiate for more from a place of knowledge and not just an arbitrary number we call salary.  If the problem you can solve is big enough, expensive enough and painful enough, your company will hire someone to solve it.  That someone might as well be you.  But you will have to be prepared to show the business case for why you are the solution.

 

 

Join our FREE, Private Facebook Group, TheNo Fear Career Club for tips, ideas, and conversation about career advancement.  Just click this link:  Join the No Fear Career Facebook Group

 

Next and last in the series:  Advance Your Career Part 7  – How To Become A Star Employee

 

Nancy O’Keefe, MBA, is a Strategic Adviser, Executive Coach, Speaker, Trainer, and Author of the Book Fighting The Talent Battle: How To Update Your Arsenal and Win the War.  She works with business owners and senior executives to create profitable and productive workplaces that attract, motivate and retain great people. She is a thought leader in strategy, management and cultivating talent.  She can be found at http://www.NancyOKeefeCoaching.com

 

 

Filed Under: Category #2 Tagged With: business success, career, empower, executive coaching, glass ceiling, love my job, meaningful work, personnal development, success

Advance Your Career Part 5 – Think Like An Entrepreneur To Advance Your Career

March 2, 2018 By AdminNancy

Advance Your Career Part 5 – Think Like An Entrepreneur To Advance Your Career

 

Think like an entrepreneur to advance your career.  I have consulted with a number of business owners and I can’t tell you how many of them have expressed their frustration in finding, hiring and keeping good employees.  They want people who will think, take the initiative, recognize problems and create solutions.  They want people that can share the company vision for the business and help contribute to success. They want people that can think like an owner.  I call it is Personal Entrepreneurship™.  These skills and strategies will be welcomed and valued by employers.  The ability to look to the future, anticipate opportunities and threats have always been critical skills for Entrepreneurs and now they are critical skills for those that work for others.

Before the Industrial Revolution, most people worked their farms or worked in cottage industries.  There were some people who had jobs like the waitress in a restaurant or the clerk in the market.  But most people didn’t leave the home and go to work until the factories sprung up in this country during the Industrial Revolution.  We used to be the epitome of Personal Entrepreneurship™, trying to support our families and way of life on what value we had and could share with the marketplace.  In the last 100 years, we have unlearned these skills and have become dependent on having a job.  It is time to re-learn these skills.

What if the concept of the job disappeared?  We have started to see this happen in manufacturing because of technology and cheaper labor elsewhere in the world.  We saw it happen in professional jobs in the big recession of 2006.  It is more common to work from home now.  We have more and more online stores and even check out our own groceries or buy them online and get them delivered.  The concept of the job is changing.

Imagine how you would make a living if there were no jobs.  I’m not saying that will happen, but I am saying you have to learn to think like a Personal Entrepreneur™ so you can continue to meet your life goals no matter how the economy or the job landscape changes.

So how do you get from where you are to where you want to be, a place where you can make the money you want, have the security you want, spot the opportunities you need to be successful?  You need that clear picture of where you are, where you want to go and the gap you have to cross to get there.

Take the time to make a short, middle and long range plan for yourself.  We don’t consider what we WANT to do, just what we can do, should do, must do or how what we have done matches up to what’s available.  We put ourselves last.  We don’t align what we do with our values, our wants, our needs, we just keep plodding forward looking for the money and that is the main reason many of us are unhappy and lack motivation at work.

That is why in my work with clients we develop their Personal Power Profile™, to help you get clarity on what the market sees in you, to open up the possibilities you may not have seen before and work on getting your “product” (the value you bring to the job) defined and give you new ways to talk about it that will resonate with employers, including your current employer.

That is the mindset that I call Personal Entrepreneurship™ and it allows you to stay gainfully employed in a lucrative career that serves you and your employer.

If you would like to learn more about Personal Entrepreneurship and the course I have developed to help employees gain those skills,  schedule a time to connect by clicking here.

 

Join our FREE, Private Facebook Group, The No Fear Career Club for tips, ideas, and conversation about career advancement.  Just click this link:  Join the No Fear Career Facebook Group

 

Next in the series:  Advance Your Career Part 6 – Why You Need to Know Your Value in the Marketplace. 

 

Nancy O’Keefe, MBA, is a Strategic Adviser, Executive Coach, Speaker, Trainer, and Author of the Book Fighting The Talent Battle: How To Update Your Arsenal and Win the War.  She works with business owners and senior executives to create profitable and productive workplaces that attract, motivate and retain great people. She is a thought leader in strategy, management and cultivating talent.  She can be found at http://www.NancyOKeefeCoaching.com

 

Filed Under: Category #2 Tagged With: career, executive coaching, glass ceiling, love my job, meaningful work, personnal development, success

Advance Your Career Part 4 – How To Spot Opportunity

March 2, 2018 By AdminNancy

Advance Your Career Part 4:  How To Spot Opportunity

Part of being visible is learning how to spot and even create opportunity to contribute and be recognized. There is no shortage of opportunity because the flip side of every problem that needs to be solved has an opportunity in it.   You just have to know how to spot the opportunity, understand how you can contribute to solving it and capitalize on it.

You have to be observant and strategic about your next opportunity.  Most people wait until they are dissatisfied before they think about looking up from their work and making a change.  At that point, they may be hurt or angry and can’t wait to get out of their situation.  There thinking is anything but strategic.  Strategy is proactive and stealth work.  Observe and keep your strategy to yourself.  Fly under the radar with your solution until the time is right to present it.  Then become visible with your knowledge and solution around the problem.  Timing is everything.

I hear women, students, older workers say all the time, that there isn’t any opportunity for them.  I never get a chance where I am.  My company doesn’t promote my type.   Haven’t you heard about the glass ceiling? What about age discrimination?  On the other hand, I work with companies daily who can’t find talent.

The Big Disconnect

There is a Big Disconnect Here

There is a disconnect here.  What we really have is an old paradigm that creates limiting beliefs.  We get stuck in that stuff and we let it define our possibilities.

If it is true, that your company doesn’t promote people your age or gender, then go somewhere else.  Opportunity is everywhere.  But if it is a case of just not seeing opportunity or not pro-actively looking for it where you are, try thinking about it differently.  We wait for our opportunities to show up.  More often than not, they never do and we perceive that as a lack of opportunity.

 

Being strategic about looking for opportunity even making your own opportunity is the key to more money, security and more success.  It is all about learning to hunt.  Unfortunately, that is not a skill traditionally taught to employees or in school so we have a few challenges with it.

  1. We haven’t been equipped with the skills to see opportunity from a strategic perspective, know if it is right for us and go for it.  We lack the confidence or don’t know how to ask for what we want.
  2. We don’t think we are ready.  Most of us suffer from imposter syndrome.  We are waiting until we are perfect holding our breath in our current job hoping we won’t be found out.
  3. We aren’t risk takers.  We are safety seekers.  But the funny thing is, there is actually more safety and security in having the skills to find opportunity and market yourself than in any job today.

So take a look at your organization. Is there a problem that is getting a lot of attention?  What do you know about it or can learn about it?  Do you have skills and experiences that can help to bring insight or a solution?  If the answer is yes, offer to help.  Make a suggestion.  Steer the people working on the problem to some research or answers you have uncovered.  Get proactive and see how you can help.   Remember your manager and coworkers usually don’t know enough about you to see you as a resource.  Insert yourself into the mix.

 

Join our FREE, Private Facebook Group, The No Fear Career Club for tips, ideas, and conversation about career advancement.  Just click this link:  Join the No Fear Career Facebook Group

 

Next in the series:  Advance Your Career Part 5 – Think Like An Entrepreneur To Get Traction In Your Career

 

Nancy O’Keefe, MBA, is a Strategic Adviser, Executive Coach, Speaker, Trainer, and Author of the Book Fighting The Talent Battle: How To Update Your Arsenal and Win the War.  She works with business owners and senior executives to create profitable and productive workplaces that attract, motivate and retain great people. She is a thought leader in strategy, management and cultivating talent.  She can be found at http://www.NancyOKeefeCoaching.com

 

Filed Under: Category #2 Tagged With: career, executive coaching, glass ceiling, love my job, meaningful work, personnal development

Advance Your Career Part 3 Are You Visible or Invisible?

February 28, 2018 By AdminNancy

Advance Your Career Part 3:  Are You Visible or Invisible, That Is The Question?

In order to get ahead and advance your career, you need to be visible.  Being visible is more than just being seen.  We can be seen and not noticed.  When we are not noticed we are still invisible.

In order for our employer to notice us, we need to be seen, heard and taken seriously.  We need to be visible.  Visibility is all about IMPACT.    Everyone makes an impact each time they meet someone, undertake a task, or work on a project.  Do you know what kind of Impact you make?  Is it positive?  Are you memorable?  Do you add value?  Are you seen as an authority, a leader?  Those are the people that get noticed and are given the opportunities to advance their career.

Did you ever notice that there are some people that just seem to be in the right place at the right time?  If you think that is luck, you are wrong.  They work hard to position themselves to make a positive impact.  You can improve your impact and increase your chances of getting noticed by looking at a few key habits and behaviors.  We have highlighted some of the habits and behaviors you should pay attention to in our Impact Quotient™.  You can take the Impact Quotient™ here, see how you score and gain some insight into areas you can improve.  The Impact Quotient™ is FREE and after you receive your score, you will have the opportunity to download our free resource, “Discovering Your Leadership Impact”.

Click Here To Take Our Impact Quotient™

 

And then, join our FREE, Private Facebook Group, The No Fear Career Club for tips, ideas, and conversation about career advancement.  Just click this link:  Join the No Fear Career Facebook Group

 

Next in the series:  Advance Your Career Part 4 – How To Spot Opportunity

 

Nancy O’Keefe, MBA, is a Strategic Adviser, Executive Coach, Speaker, Trainer, and Author of the Book Fighting The Talent Battle: How To Update Your Arsenal and Win the War.  She works with business owners and senior executives to create profitable and productive workplaces that attract, motivate and retain great people. She is a thought leader in strategy, management and cultivating talent.  She can be found at http://www.NancyOKeefeCoaching.com

 

Filed Under: Category #2 Tagged With: career, empower, executive coaching, leadership, love my job, meaningful work, personnal development, success

Advance Your Career Part 2 – Is Your Great 1st Impression Holding You Back?

February 28, 2018 By AdminNancy

Advance Your Career Part 2 – You Made A Great 1st Impression But Is It Holding You Back?

1st Impressions Are Lasting

We all know that 1st Impressions are important and that they are lasting.  We work hard to make a great 1st Impression.  What we don’t often think about is that the same 1st Impression that helped you get your job can actually get in the way of your career advancement.

When a new employee is hired in an organization to serve in a certain position, a set of inferences are made about them, their abilities, their capabilities and the level at which they will live in the organization.  Making inferences is human nature.  We all suffer from information overload and need to “categorize” information to make it more digestible and more manageable.   We all make inferences and judgments every day about people, ideas and things that cross our path.   Categorizing is not a bad thing when used to organize information, but sometimes categorizing causes labels to be attached to people, ideas, and things and those labels can become limiting.

1st Impressions Can Prevent Others From Seeing Your Other Talents

For example, if you become known for your attention to details, you may never be seen as someone who can see the big picture or brainstorm future ideas.  If you become known as a “numbers person” you may never be noticed as someone who is a creative writer. If you are the person who organizes all of the birthday celebrations and always makes sure there is a cake to celebrate, you may never be seen as management material.  Whatever perception, label or inference is made by others and associated with you may prevent others from seeing your other talents.

1st Impressions Can Label You Forever

Inferences can follow an employee forever, often pre-determining the path of their career inside the organization and how far they will be able to advance their career.  These perceptions paint a picture of who people think we are.  It is often extremely difficult for people to see us in any other capacity.  This, in large part, is why careers stall, why people feel like they are going nowhere, why they become frustrated, dissatisfied and even leave.  When people leave, they can start somewhere else with a new 1st Impression.  But it doesn’t have to come to that if you follow these three tips.

Break free of inferences and perceptions, broaden your 1st impression by. . .

  1. Sharing other aspects of yourself with coworkers and your manager when appropriate. Talk about what you are reading or a project you are working on at home or as a volunteer that demonstrates other skills you possess.
  2. Becoming knowledgeable about your company and industry. Embrace learning new things. Be proactive.  Read and research so you are well versed and can share your knowledge to help solve a problem or help your team with fresh ideas.  Contribute in new and unexpected ways.
  3. Volunteering in your company where help is needed to give yourself the opportunity for others to see you in a way that is outside of your defined role. Build relationships and alliances with other employees in other departments and express interest in what they do.

When you widen your circle of knowledge and relationships, you can change the perceptions people have of you as they get to know you, your interests and your capabilities better.

Next in the series:  Advance Your Career Part 3:  Visible or Invisible, That Is The Question?

In the meantime, join our FREE, Private Facebook Group, The No Fear Career Club for tips, ideas, and conversation about career advancement.  Just click this link:  Join the No Fear Career Facebook Group

 

Nancy O’Keefe, MBA, is a Strategic Adviser, Executive Coach, Speaker, Trainer, and Author of the Book Fighting The Talent Battle: How To Update Your Arsenal and Win the War.  She works with business owners and senior executives to create profitable and productive workplaces that attract, motivate and retain great people. She is a thought leader in strategy, management and cultivating talent.  She can be found at http://www.NancyOKeefeCoaching.com

 

Filed Under: Category #2 Tagged With: career, executive coaching, love my job, meaningful work, personnal development

Advance Your Career – Are You Your Company’s Best Kept Secret?

February 27, 2018 By AdminNancy

Advance Your Career:  Are You Your Company’s Best Kept Secret?

 

Companies are looking for talent, even the company you work for and guess what, they can’t find the talent they need to hire.  So what does that have to do with you?  Everything, if you have a desire toHelp Wanted advance your career!

If you have a desire to earn more money, learn more and contribute more, you are probably looking for another opportunity.  Much of the time, employees aren’t considered for an opportunity within their company.  More often than not, companies go outside to hire new talent.  That makes it hard to advance your career.  But, if you like working where you work, like the people, have made some friends and enjoy what you are doing, wouldn’t it be nice if your company offered you a new opportunity?  You can learn how to make this happen.

Why Do Companies Favor Going Outside To Hire?

 

They don’t, but most companies don’t know enough about their employees to help them advance their career.  When you were hired, you showed them a resume you created with the accomplishments and education that were relevant to the job you wanted.  You left the rest out.  We all do.  After all, we need to get it on one sheet of paper, right?

When you were interviewed, you talked about your experience, specifically your experience as it related to the position you were interviewing for.  You may have been asked some personal questions as the company tried to determine if you would fit in, but the purpose and scope of the interview is the position you were seeking.

When you got the job, your manager may have had other conversations to get to know you better and help you get comfortable with your new duties.  But if that happens and in some companies it doesn’t, the focus is always on what you can do, what you know about the duties of the job and how you are going to fit into your department.

The focus is almost always on the J O B being filled rather than the employee filling it.  You were hired to fill a need and once you are comfortable doing your job, you can become just another employee busy getting the work done.  There is usually little time available or devoted to getting to know who is working for us and less time devoted to learning what other talents they have so they can advance their career.

What Can You Do To Advance Your Career?

 

The good news is that the way things work today makes you one of the best-kept secrets in your company.   In this series of articles on Career Advancement, we are going to help you turn that best-kept secret into a secret weapon so you can find opportunities and be seriously considered for them.   Watch for our next article in this series of 7 posts so you can advance your career.

Next in the series:  You Made A Great 1st Impression.  How To Keep It From Holding You Back.

In the meantime, join our FREE, Private Facebook Group, The No Fear Career Club  for tips, ideas and conversation about career advancement.  Just click this link:  Join the No Fear Career Facebook Group

 

Nancy O’Keefe, MBA, is a Strategic Adviser, Executive Coach, Speaker, Trainer and Author of the Book Fighting The Talent Battle: How To Update Your Arsenal and Win the War.  She works with business owners and senior executives to create profitable and productive work places that attract, motivate and retain great people. She is a thought leader around strategy, management and cultivating talent.  She can be found at http://www.NancyOKeefeCoaching.com

Filed Under: Category #2 Tagged With: career, executive coaching, love my job, meaningful work

Your Dependence On Outdated Paradigms Limits Your Organization

September 3, 2017 By AdminNancy

There is a big, expensive and pervasive problem in business today.  Businesses can’t attract, motivate and retain great employees.  Companies spend millions on recruiting, talent management systems, perks, benefits, engagement and yet, the problem is becoming more expensive and more pervasive despite all the effort to fix it.   We see research year after year that 70% or more of our employees are not engaged in what they’re doing.  We see the length of stay for the average employee shrinking to under 3 years and predicted to go even lower.  We see statistics that claim 51% of employees are actively looking for a new job right now.  Employees are dissatisfied and unhappy.  They are just not interested in the work you give them to do.  And despite all of the money and effort poured into this problem, business has not been able to solve it.

We are working on the problem, why can’t we solve it?

The reason we can’t solve this problem is that we are not willing to see the root cause of it.  We put our efforts, our money into areas that treat the symptoms of the problem expecting these efforts to solve it.  We talk about low unemployment rates and Millennials.  We talk about creative benefits and breakroom perks.  We experiment with flexibility, casual dress, office configurations and unlimited paid time off.  These are all great benefits but no matter how many great benefits we have as employers, we have seen little or no permanent change in the overall problem.  The problem isn’t benefits.  The problem is values, relationships and the concept of the job.  It’s about realizing that people are the most important asset you have in your business.  Working to understand, enhance and preserve that asset is a critical leadership imperative.

Business leadership must have the courage to take a hard look at the way we think about, treat and manage people.  In the big people shift that occurred because of the Industrial Revolution, people came to work for businesses to earn more and the concept of the job was created.  But people have evolved in the 100 plus years since they first left their farms and cottage industries to take a job.  The worker of today is well-informed and has more education and a higher standard of living.  They want a lot more from a job than just making a living.  What we are experiencing is another people shift.  This shift will be as large and as disruptive as the one around the Industrial Revolution, only this time, people will be leaving businesses for a better work experience.

Employees have more choices today.  The “You Economy” has created a place where people can dip their toes in the entrepreneurial waters and earn some or all of their income in ways that live between the traditional job and the risk of starting a business without a safety net.  The game has changed.  Technology and innovative thinking has made it possible to try entrepreneurship on for size with very little risk.  Now it is easier and easier to keep your full time job and dabble in something on the side.  It is estimated that by the year 2020, 50% of Americans will earn part of their living in the “You Economy” and this disruption in the concept of the job requires that traditional business change their paradigm around employees.  As long as leadership and management is stuck in a 100-year-old mass production, Industrial Revolution, control and fear-based, job based paradigm people will be dissatisfied and seek other ways to earn some or all of their living.

Today employees can try something new over and over with little or no risk until they find their niche.  If they find success, they can expand what they offer and as this phenomenon grows they may not need the company job you need to fill anymore.  At the very least, they can take control of their work and earning power and carve out the quality life they want, get more time and money freedom, more flexibility and possible more income.  All the things they traded in 100 years ago for a job.

This is a growing phenomenon and you, your organization, the company job, the 9-5 inflexible, go to the workplace experience, have to compete with this and whatever other new innovations come along.  You are no longer just competing for talent with the companies that do what you do, you have a much larger, more fluid, almost unknown competitor.  And it is changing and growing in power every day.

This shift is going to impact every business owner, every senior manager and our entire economy.  Every business that is service based is powered by people and is in jeopardy of losing their best employees.  We need to realize and embrace the fact that people power profit and how you think about your employees and what you do to attract, motivate and retain talent will directly impact your success.

In every big shift there are winners and losers.  The losers will be those who do nothing to prepare for this change, are too inflexible or too fearful to make meaningful decisions to do things differently around employment and management or are too slow to turn their thinking around.  They will continue to find it harder and more expensive to attract and retain the quality people they need in their organizations.  The cost of the problem will continue to grow impacting their bottom line and hampering their ability to grow their profits year after year.

But there will be winners.  The big winners will be the businesses who can shift their paradigm around employment and management to embrace the fact that employment is a business deal.  Those companies who are nimble, creative and find it easy to be flexible and break tradition around the way they think about employment, management and employees, those that can shift their paradigm and realize that the relationship between employer and employee has changed and so must they, will be able to attract, motivate and retain the best employees.

 

Filed Under: Category #1

People Power Your Profits

September 3, 2017 By AdminNancy

People Power Your Profits™.  How Rethinking Employees Can Give You A Competitive Edge.

 

According to the Gallup organization and their studies on engagement done over the last few years, only about 30% of American workers are engaged in their work.   The engaged employee is the person that has a passion for what they’re doing. They have a profound connection with their company and they believe in their work. They’re the people in your organization that drive innovation, that care, that really move your organization forward.  Unfortunately, you only have about 30% of your workforce that falls into that category.

It’s a known fact based on this study that customer ratings can be improved through engagement.   A 10% improvement can be made if you have more engaged employees.  A 22% profit improvement, and 21% improvement in productivity, can be gained all because people are more engaged in what they’re doing.   You will also experience as much as 37% less absenteeism and 41% fewer mistakes equating to better quality, better profit margin, better safety which translates directly to the cost of your insurance.

People are responsible for a majority of the hidden amounts of money that seep out of your business Businesses need to acknowledge that their success is tied directly to their ability to attract, motivate and retain good people, NOT to their ability to sell and move products and services.  People bring the creativity, the ideas behind all of the innovation needed to stay viable in the marketplace. People design the products and services that your customers need and want. People build the relationships with other people, your suppliers, bankers, customers and other employees. Those people nurture and care for all of your business relationships through the dealings they have every day.  The actions they take or do not take turn into the money that you are in business to earn.  People deliver your products and services. And if something goes wrong, they are the face of your company, the first line of defense for customer care.  How they interact with the customer or the supplier or the vendor directly impacts your company’s bottom line and its reputation.

Everything can be traced back to people.  Your people should be treated like gold. And yet, companies typically view people as a commodity they can always get more of, as an expense, they have to keep in check.  People are actually an asset, an investment and your job as an employer is to attract and retain highly engaged people, people who care and are actively invested in what they do.  Then your job is to provide them with a workplace and a work life where they can excel, be successful and bring success to your organization.  People Power Your Profits™ and the right mix of people in an environment created for all to thrive can give a business a competitive edge.

 

 

Filed Under: Category #1

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Recent Posts

  • The Looming Employment Crisis
  • Advance Your Career Part 7 – How To Become A Star Employee
  • Advance Your Career Part 6 – To Earn More Salary, You Need To Know Your Value In The Marketplace
  • Advance Your Career Part 5 – Think Like An Entrepreneur To Advance Your Career
  • Advance Your Career Part 4 – How To Spot Opportunity

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Nancy O’Keefe, MBA, MS is a Thought Leader, Business Consultant, Executive Coach, Author and Speaker who has held senior positions in customer service, direct sales, software engineering, software implementation, project management, company operations, process improvement, and outsourcing. As an entrepreneur, she has founded several successful businesses, including a $5 million process improvement and outsourcing business that was one of the first 50 employee virtual offices in existence. She is a certified Executive Coach from the College of Executive Coaching, holds an MBA from Babson College in Entrepreneurship, an MS in Quality Systems Management from Anna Maria College and is a certified Career Transition Coach. More

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