Mark Hirschfeld

My wife and I were making some home improvements, so buying a new golf club wasn’t really in the budget. But when I received points from my workplace that I could use to redeem an award, I used those points to get my new club, which didn’t dip into the home improvement budget.

This is an example of why noncash awards from employers are helpful. They provide what academics call “justifiability”, where in my case I can redeem for a new golf club from my company recognition program and not feel guilty about taking away from our home improvement budget.

A noncash award such as a golf club also has the benefit of one where I would likely socialize that I received the award from my employer, and if you want to know how many times I’ve said that to the guys in my regular foursome they’ll tell you I say it every time I hit a good shot!

The psychology around the value of noncash awards is sound:when you’re developing plans for your company recognition program, use noncash rewards to engage and inspire your employees.

For discussion: In what ways can noncash awards be used to inspire your employees?

#ThankYouThursday #recognition  #appreciation #gratitude #grateful #inspiration

I consulted with a telecommunications company who had been working to hire individuals with disabilities in their call centers. The initiative had been in place for several years, and over that time they were tracking the results of individuals with disabilities in comparison to employees they had hired in similar roles who did not have a disability.

The results were stunning.

Individuals with disabilities, on average:

~ stayed with the company longer,

~ had better attendance, and

~ to the surprise of some, had lower benefits claims.

As you might expect, the individuals with disabilities did often require equipment to help them perform their job, so there was a “reasonable accommodation” expense…

$115.

Yep, the average “reasonable accommodation” investment reported over the years was, on average, $115.

To be sure, there were some accommodations that were higher, but the average was just a bit over a hundred bucks.

A tip of the hat to companies like this, who sincerely and earnestly work to recruit, hire and retain individuals with disabilities. In doing so they found committed, responsible employees who had good jobs for which they were more than qualified to perform.

Hear me– disability does not mean inability.

Have you tried this communications exercise?

Two people face each other. The first person starts to talk about a topic, say the results of the latest sporting event. The second person listens to the first, and as soon as they hear something where they can start another conversation they jump in with their topic. The first then listens for an opening and when they see one jump in with another topic.

The exercise is called “The High School Reunion”, and if you’ve been to a reunion you know exactly why it’s named such.

To be clear, there is listening going on.

But the listening is only occurring so that each person can turn the conversation to what they want to talk about.

This form of listening might help you get through an event like a reunion, but it’s an awful form of listening for a leader.

Rather than listening so they can turn the conversation to their side, effective leaders listen with the intent of truly hearing their team members: According to research from Dr. Brad Shuck of the University of Louisville, leaders who listen:

~ are present for the team member,

~ they listen without distractions, outside or otherwise, and

~ stay present in the moment.

Effective leadership is about listening, and doing so with compassion and empathy.

#leadership #engagement #compassionateleadership

There was a time when our daughter was in the kitchen with my wife and me. She looked across the room, pointed, and said: “Mommy, what’s that for?”

She meant our oven.

Yes, there was a period of raising our kids when we weren’t doing a lot of cooking. Having said that, I was trained to cook by my mom and grandfather, and when the pandemic hit we weren’t going out to each as much so I brushed off some of those cooking chops.

As you think about your job search, there may some skills you haven’t used for a bit, but if you cracked  open the recipe book and fired up the oven you could improve your chances of securing a new job:

~ taking some online training,

~ reading up or networking with folks from a former industry,

~ volunteering with others where you take a leadership role.

To be sure, most employers will be interested in the skills and accomplishments in your more recent history, but there may something in your skillset that is worth returning to; to revisit and to hone again.

Grab the knives and sharpen them. It’s time to draw upon the old to make something new.

There are free training videos on the web site of my faith community: https://www.thetablempls.com/jobresources 

#career #careercoach #jobhuntingtips #jobhunting #careers #jobsearch

The psychologist Carl Jung said: “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

There will be people you meet in your job search that might even have tested the great Dr. Jung, but his admonition rings.

Along the way you will meet networking contacts, recruiters, hiring managers and others who will say or do things that will irritate you.

Lean in, just for a bit, into the irritation.

~ Is there a certain topic, perhaps of your work history, that makes you uncomfortable?

~ Is it something about the person? Is there a bias you have for which you are not aware?

~ Is it something about the setting? There are some work environments, for example, I’ve found to be less comfortable for me.

Early in my career I learned that I wasn’t comfortable with conflict. It irritated me. But over the years as I’ve come to appreciate and see the value in conflict, it is a bit easier for me to understand that the irritation I’m feeling might take me and others to a better place of understanding and action.

Don’t immediately dismiss some of those irritating moments. Reflect on them. Learn from them. Help them strengthen and inform you on your job search and beyond.

There are free training videos on the web site of my faith community: https://www.thetablempls.com/jobresources 

#career #careercoach #jobhuntingtips #jobhunting #careers #jobsearch

Do you remember this Seinfeld episode: Elaine has a birthday, and Seinfeld gives her as a gift… an envelope of cash.

She is completely underwhelmed, and Seinfeld is befuddled.

Kramer enters, sees Elaine, and returns with a package for her.

He got her a wooden bench, one that she was eyeing and for which Kramer had made a mental note.

Kramer is the hero and Seinfeld is the goat.

But why?

According to the academics, Seinfeld was caught unawares of “preference reversal”, where we SAY we want a certain thing (cash) but are ACTUALLY INSPIRED by the non-cash gift.

As you think about inspiring employees, don’t get caught in the same Seinfeld trap. Seek out non-cash awards, particularly “luxury” merchandise or experiences, where you get a far more inspired response.

#ThankYouThursday #recognition  #appreciation #gratitude #grateful #inspiration

My dad was a fan of one car company when I was growing up, so he was a bit disturbed when I brought home another brand.

He walked all the way around the car. I asked him if he wanted to go for a drive. He opened the door of the car, and then shut it.

It shut easily and firmly, something that his brand of car was not known for.

“Hmm,” he said.

He eventually realized I made a good purchase.

Lenny closed and door and changed his mind.

When you’re in the job search, you too may need to close a door or two. Those doors, metaphorically, speaking, are mindsets that will get in the way of you moving on.

There are some self-limiting doors that need to be shut, such as “there are absolutely no jobs in the midst of the pandemic.”

There are some self-defeating doors, such as “I am so angry at my former boss that I will never trust another leader again.”

There are some self-destructive doors, such as “there isn’t anyone out there who can understand me or would be willing to help.”

Take a page from Lenny. Take a good look. Close the door if you need to. Chart a different path.

There are free training videos on the web site of my faith community: https://www.thetablempls.com/jobresources  You can find all the posts at www.markhirschfeld.com

#careercoach #jobhunting #careers #jobsearch

It’s the week after Thanksgiving and I’m posting about food! Here’s my story:

A former colleague, Dr. Kenneth Liggett, had a wonderful metaphor about healthy relationships:

“Mark, let’s say you want to eat healthier. You know apples are healthy, so you create a diet where you only eat apples. But that wouldn’t be healthy, would it? To have a healthy diet you need a variety of healthy fruits and vegetables and proteins.”

He continued: “The same thing is true with your network of relationships. If you only have “apples” you don’t have a healthy network. You need different, healthy relationships in order to have a truly healthy network.”

Think about your current network—do you have diversity, or do you only have “apples”?

As a job seeker, having a more diverse network can help you in so many ways. A more diverse network can “see” things about you that a more homogeneous network can’t. They may have insights about job opportunities that you wouldn’t be aware of otherwise.

Over the last several months I’ve been intentional about expanding my network. I’ve met some wonderful folks and learned a lot.

To expand your opportunities, diversify your network.

#career #careercoach  #openforwork #jobsearch

You can find all my posts at www.markhirschfeld.com

From October to the end of the first semester at Colgate University, with over 3,000 folks on campus, there were no reported COVID cases.

None.

Their success was attributed to an evidence-based plan that was passionately communicated, but one action that set the tone early in the semester was President Brian Casey living in a dorm in quarantine for fourteen days, the same action each student had to endure.

He acknowledged to the campus that this was going to be difficult, but it could be done.

I’m sure Dr. Casey didn’t want to live in a dorm, but in doing so he exhibited a sense of empathy and presence. He led.

The campus responded accordingly, and a semester of school is safely in the books.

My friend and collaborator @bradshuck has carefully studied leaders who behave this way, who are leading in these challenging times and achieving remarkable results.

He calls this approach “Compassionate Leadership”, and his research clearly shows six behaviors that more effectively engage and inspire.

You might not need to quarantine in a dorm for two weeks to make your point, but take a page from Dr. Casey—leading with compassion can make all the difference.

#leadership #engagement #compassionateleadership