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The Workplace Holiday Party: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

By Jared Cole on Monday, December 10, 2012

You know it’s coming. You see the flier in the break room, you get the email, or maybe you find the announcement in your paycheck. Either way, the workplace holiday party is quickly approaching. For some employees, that internal struggle builds inside while stressed with the same question that plagues them every year – “Do I want to go or not?”

It’s a good question. Different organizations have different expectations on attendance, participation, and etiquette at a holiday party. Depending on how personal you are with your co-workers, the holiday party could feel like one of the most awkward two hours of your life trapped inside a room.

If you have to ask yourself this question, you may not want to go. If you’ve been with a company for several years, you may know what is acceptable; but if you’re new to the job, expectations may not be so apparent. Here are some things to consider before deciding whether or not to attend the workplace holiday party.

Your Employer is Saying “Thank You”
Your managers, leaders, and executives know you work hard, but they can’t always express that gratitude in more ways than just saying, “Great job, and thank you.” For many employers, this is their big chance to let employees know how much they appreciate them. If you have a company holiday get-together, feel fortunate. According to the Huffington Post, only 44% of senior managers said that their company was planning an office holiday party this year.

Now is Your Chance!
So you think your co-workers are boring, annoying, or just unpleasant? Is the company party a drag? Change it! They won’t get any more fun if you avoid them. Maybe all you have to do is make your own fun. Still, keep in mind your company culture and workplace etiquette, but these types of events are only as much fun as you put into them.

This also might be a chance for you to develop or learn new skills. Consider asking your HR department about who plans and organizes the holiday party and volunteer your time if possible. If you can plan and prepare a holiday party that you would want to attend, you and your co-workers are much more likely to come. It can also give you a chance to demonstrate your involvement and passion to leadership and senior executives, which could lead to future career opportunities.

Real Life Has Real Responsibilities
We all have personal lives outside of work, with some of us having family responsibilities. While some employers see their workers as a family, they may fail to remember that employees all have duties and obligations after closing time. Remember what is important to you, and keep them first on your list of priorities. They might conflict with the company holiday gathering or they might not. Just be true to what means the most to you.

Having a good, fair, and balanced judgment will help you make the decision to attend or skip the office holiday festivities. There’s a lot to consider, but it should be more than just not feeling like it. Don’t forget to tell us your favorite workplace party moments in the comments section below.

At Work Work/Life Balance Workplace Relationships

Personal vs Work Life

By Rachel Rudisill on Friday, November 16, 2012

It’s always a good idea to ask yourself how much of your personal life do you feel comfortable sharing at work? Sometimes the better question to ask is, how much of your personal life do your co-workers want to hear? With increasing work hours and information sharing on social media, the line between your personal life and your work life gets thinner every day.

However, managing how your personal life bleeds into your work life can benefit your career by relieving some of the anxiety and stress you have at balancing your two worlds. Having healthy relationships at work can help you stay focused and excited about work, and can also be a strong support system for you when your personal life is challenging. Here is some advice on how to best handle personal situations with your circle at work.

Your Manager
While you may want to keep a personal struggle secret from your manager, informing them on some level clears up any suspicions about why you are out of the office or seem distracted, and may make it easier to work out a solution if you need time away from the office. You don’t need to go into detail, but it’s best to give a general statement about the type of struggle you are going through and the amount of time you think it will take to resolve it. For example, if you are going through a divorce, you don’t need to divulge relationship details, financial situations, or living arrangements, but you can say that you are going through a divorce and you expect it to be resolved within the next six months. Be honest that you may be taking scheduled time off for appointments with lawyers and court dates. While you may not want to share this with your manager, it’s best to be upfront about a situation that may result in needing time away from work so that your manager can help make that run smoothly for you. Sometimes keeping things too private can create more stress in your life, so when possible, share a very general bit of information to take away any assumptions.

Your Confidant
Hopefully, you’ve got at least one person at work that you consider a true friend, someone you spend time with outside of work and have developed trust with. If you feel comfortable, ask that person to go to lunch or meet up outside of work hours to share your situation. It can help to know you have a confidant at work that understands where you are coming from. For example, if you are struggling with caring for an aging parent it may be nice for you to have someone you see regularly that can lend you support and encouragement.

Your Co-Workers
While your co-workers may enjoy working with you, they are typically not on board for serving as your support system nor are they interested in all the details of your life. It can make things awkward for others if you share too much personal information. People like boundaries. Co-workers may notice you are distracted or taking extra time away from work, if you want to squelch natural curiosity and the rumor mill, share a general statement like, “I’ve got some health screenings I need to have done in the next month.” Or say “I am working on solving challenges with my son’s learning abilities; I’ll be out for a few appointments.” You shouldn’t feel any pressure to give away any details, but if you are under personal stress, you may need to share something to give people some perspective on what you are managing.

In closing, make sure you consider your social media profile and how that information may get shared with co-workers. With privacy settings changing and comments being shared among multiple lines of connections, it’s possible something you’ve tried to keep private from work could be shared inadvertently. If you want to keep something private, its best to keep it off social networks, no matter how private you think your account settings are.

Current Affairs The Job Search Work/Life Balance

How to Beat the Fear of Long-Term Unemployment

By Job Journey on Friday, March 9, 2012

There still seems to be a stigma in today’s society about those who have been unemployed for more than a few months. It’s hard for some to understand how anyone could fail to find a job for more than a year without being lazy or unreliable. But, according to Business Insider, an online source of financial, media, and tech news for businesses, nearly four million American job seekers have been unemployed for more than a year, not including the millions of other individuals who gave up the job search, retired, or took part-time jobs.

Long-term unemployment is something millions of Americans still struggle with. Not only is it financially, emotionally, and physically straining, but it’s also psychologically taxing while dealing with the notion that your skills, talents, and attitudes aren’t good enough. It can be a difficult time in anyone’s life when going several months without work, but there are means to cope. Here are four ways to manage long term unemployment.

Meditate

Meditation doesn’t have to be a religious or spiritual experience, and there are several methods and activities to help you lower stress and anxiety. If you let the tension of unemployment affect your life, you will start making rash decisions instead of making clear, educated decisions.

Whether it’s going out to a lake for fishing or spending an hour alone with good music and a book, there are things you can do that will be beneficial to your mental and physical health. It can be difficult keeping a positive attitude during such a long transitional period, but taking time for yourself can go a long way to keep that positive feeling going forward.

Build Family Bonds

Game designer and president of Ozark Softscape, Inc., Dani Buten Berry, said, “No one on their death bed ever said ‘I wish I had spent more time at work.’” Use your time not devoted to the office to build better relationships with loved ones. Not only can family be a great networking avenue, but they can also be a strong support tool for you to lean on during the most difficult times of unemployment. And if you can help out the elderly, relatives, or care for children, it can bring a sense of purpose and routine to your day.

Join Social Clubs

Join something and really get involved. It could be a charitable organization like United Way, civic groups like the Kiwanis, or local choir, sports, or hobby groups. Just as long as you get active. Having a social footing outside of work is important support against the stress and strain of unemployment. When unemployed, it’s important to keep a sense of purpose and willfulness that you may have previously found in your job. Long-lasting stability in life comes from the relationships you make that serve something bigger or serve a bigger cause. Find your place in a local organization of some kind.

Do Work

Just because you aren’t being paid for a job doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be working. Start a project that could boost your résumé. Use your talents to help local charities fill needs. It could be something built in your garage, or a project that can help improve your community. Research local businesses and see if you can offer pro bono freelance work. You may be surprised at how many businesses will jump at the offer for free help.

Everyone faces tough times at some point in their lives. Even if you are dealing with long-term unemployment, it doesn’t mean you have to be in despair about the situation. If you follow these helpful hints on how to cope, it will only help your job search.

Benefits The Daily Grind Work/Life Balance

Don’t Forget the Beach The Value of Vacations

By Jared Cole on Friday, March 2, 2012

We are vacation deprived. It’s true. According to the 2011 Vacation Deprivation Study by Expedia, Americans earn less and take less than half the vacation time that Europeans do and still leave an average of three unused vacation days every year.

Using vacation time seems to be a lost privilege among North American workers when in fact, it should be seen as a vital part, not only for your well-being, but also for your career. Vacations are essential to help you relax and balance the multiple demands in your life.

Reboot and Recharge

Workers who take regular time off from work are less likely to experience burnout. We all feel the stress and weight of our workload, and a vacation can seem like one of the worst things you could do for your company and co-workers. Most U.S. workers still take work with them on vacation in one form or another. Never the less, you could be causing more problems in the long run by not taking time off.

A vacation free from work can help you refresh your mind and gain a new perspective on work-related situations. If you make the most and enjoy your vacation, you can be surprised at what you’ll discover about your projects when you step away from the circumstances. You’ll also be able to come back with more vigor and passion when you spend a few days away from it all.

Health and Happiness

Taking vacations can have a big impact on your overall health and well-being. A study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information found that after three days of vacation, their subjects’ physical complaints and quality of sleep and mood had improved. The improvements were still present five weeks after they returned from work.

Spending time with loved ones can also help keep relationships strong. Strengthening those bonds will ensure you have help support during stressful times. And having close family and friends will help you enjoy the good times even more.

You may be new to a job, or just be a few years into one, and lack the funds or vacation time to spend. However, you don’t have to spend a lot of money and go out of the country, sunbathe at the beach, ski down the highest mountains, or relax at the fanciest lodges. There are several places you can go and get the same benefits on a tank of gas and a fixed budget.

Become a Mean, Green Working Machine

Vacations are also known to improve job performance. If you experience burnout, you’ll start to slack on your job duties and put more pressure on your co-workers and managers to pick up your slack. A lack of vacation time can be like a lack of sleep. Less sleep can affect your ability to think clearly, act decisively, process information, and react quickly. Having too few personal days can have the same affect at work. The same NCBI study suggest the physical benefits that come from vacation can lead to increased quality of work on the job.

It can be easy to think that since you’re new to a job or have only been with an employer for a few years that you need to keep working to impress your managers and stay on their good side. But the dangers of holding off on vacation time can not only damage yourself, but also your employer. What are some of your best vacation ideas and how did they make you feel?

At Work Career Advancement Work/Life Balance

Getting Over the Entry-Level Slump, Rediscovering Your Career

By Jared Cole on Monday, December 26, 2011

You landed a job that gave you the first steps to following your career path. You’ve worked hard on every task assigned, learned as much as you could, and made sure you were on your way toward success. But after a few years at your first job, reality has set in. You realize there are no spring, summer, or winter breaks, there are real ramifications to calling in sick and going home early. And, staying late to finish projects may take its toll on work-life balance.

Maybe you haven’t earned that promotion as quickly as you’d hoped, your raise hasn’t matched the increase in workload, or the shiny newness of your first “real” job has faded. We all feel a little burnout at some point in our career, but before you do something drastic, take the time to follow these steps to rejuvenate your job satisfaction.

Mind Your Mentors

Mentors can bring a different perspective to the issues you’re facing. More often than not, they’ve experienced the same feelings and situations you have. They know what it’s like to hit their first rut on the job and can provide advice on how to rediscover your career passion and enthusiasm. You shouldn’t have to feel alone when your career path hits a wall. Mentors are there to help guide you around issues so you can be prepared to climb the next wall that tries to get in your way.

Validate Your Values

Just like anything in life, things happen. Whether it’s your education, relationships, or career, the journey is full of high and low points. There will be times in your career when you will be ecstatically proud of where you are and what you’ve done, but there may also be times when you are discouraged and want to quit. It’s through the ups and downs where you can clarify what you value.

What made you proud during the high point? Is there anything that fueled your passion during a low point? Once you determine these beliefs and values, you can decide whether you are fulfilling these values at work. Don’t just focus on your current situation, but also think about the future. Where do you see yourself in five years? Don’t worry about how you will get there, but imagine what you want to be doing in that time. Try using those images to fuel your passion.

Get Away for a While

This may not be the most viable option early in your career. It may be difficult to get a long period of time off, or it may be financially difficult to take time off. If you have a sizable savings or family to rely on, consider taking some time away from the office to collect your thoughts. Sometimes you just need to recharge your batteries. Having time away from the office can give you the time you need to re-evaluate your values and beliefs. Think of it as a sort of career-planning session. Where are you in your career? Why are you there? Where do you want to be? How do you plan to get there? Being away will give you a different perspective on your current situation and help you make a more balanced, thought out decision.

Questions and Reflections

If you have too many financial or professional obligations to take time off from work, try setting some free time for reflection. As long as you separate yourself from your work slump and reflect on what you’ve done and what you will do, you can make decisions with a clear head. Being in the middle of it while making decisions can be tiring and lead to big mistakes for your career. This doesn’t have to be in a vacation spot either. You can find an hour to reflect everyday while you exercise, commute, or cook.

Rediscovering your passion is just one step in many as you travel down your career path. It’s normal and nothing to fear. Whatever you learn now will help you be better prepared for when the next slump cycle hits. What are some of the things you’ve done to get over your career dry spell?

Benefits New Job Tips Work/Life Balance

Playing it Cool: How to Survive the Office Holiday Party

By Jared Cole on Friday, December 9, 2011

It could be your first job and the big end-of-the-year holiday party is quickly approaching. Past employers never had holiday celebrations before and you may not know how to properly attend one. You could have a lot of questions about how to hold your drinking cup so you don’t greet people with a cold or wet hand, proper business party attire, or how much to eat or drink.

In order for you to celebrate a successful year and get pumped for the new year, here are some easy ways for you to have fun while following the manners and etiquette of business parties.

Make an Appearance

You may feel like passing on the notion of going to a company party. You see the same people for 40 or more hours every week. But not attending could hold back your potential, especially if you see a long future with your employer. This is your chance to talk to and get to know people you work with that you usually don’t see or hear from. Maybe they work on the floor below you, are from another branch, or are upper executives who don’t get out to your normal work area. Expanding your network within your company can help push your career forward when the opportunity for advancement becomes available.

You don’t have to stay the entire time, but try to find 30 minutes to have some fun and make an appearance. If you do decide to stay, don’t overstay your welcome unless you want to volunteer to help clean up if your employer is hosting the festivities.

Party Like it’s 9-5

Just because it’s a social function, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t conduct yourself professionally. It’s not your chance to tell racy jokes, flirt with coworkers, or blow off steam, so keep proper etiquette and modesty in mind when having fun. You don’t need to go back for thirds and fourths at the buffet line. Going too far will reflect poorly on your character and can hurt your image as an employee.

Staying professional is a matter of being polite and warmly greeting everybody – even those you don't like. Try tracking down the manager or executive who approved and planned the party to thank him or her for the party.

No All-Nighter Attire

Check whether the attire for the party is formal or casual or if it has a theme, like say, a cowboy country Christmas. It’s acceptable to dress in festive attire, but avoid the more revealing or skimpy. You don’t want colleagues and managers talking more about what you didn’t wear than what you had to say. If you’re in doubt, ask a co-worker, manager, or party planer what the appropriate attire is. The party is still a business function, so conservative party clothes are always a good choice.

It’s Not Business as Usual

The point of these get-togethers is to raise morale and have a good time outside of work, so try to avoid bringing work into the party during conversations. Work hours are over and nobody wants to discuss business for fun. While it’s a good idea to introduce yourself to the executive heads and decision makers of your company, stay interested in what they have to say and don’t make it about yourself and what you’ve accomplished. You’re there to socialize, not advertise.

When it comes to proper social etiquette, it’s best to use common sense. No matter where the holiday party is held, it’s still a company event, and you should act accordingly, even if others aren’t. But if you follow our advice on how to survive the work holiday party, you’ll be able to have fun and keep your reputation intact.

At Work The Daily Grind Work/Life Balance

3 Behaviors to Beat the Monday Morning Blues

By Jared Cole on Monday, November 28, 2011

When Monday morning rolls around, the last thing we want to hear is that buzzing alarm. We don’t want to get dressed, we don’t want to drive to work, and we definitely don’t want to face the big stack of unfinished business that hasn’t moved since Friday.

In the immortal words of the temp worker from the movie Office Space, “Uh-oh. Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays.”

After spending two days away from work, colleagues, and business attire, it’s no wonder people moan at the thought of coming back to the job duties they left last week. A recent study in the British newspaper, the Telegraph, reports most people find Monday mornings so difficult, they won’t smile until 11:46 a.m. It’s time to stop fearing the new work week wake up call. Here are three things you can do to make Monday morning arrivals much easier.

Better Bed Times
Yes, it’s tempting to take advantage of your weekend by staying out late and sleeping in. There’s nothing wrong with going out and enjoying the company of others, but too much tampering with your sleep schedule can come with a price. Try to avoid staying up too late on Fridays and Saturdays and sleeping in too late during the weekend. You could be spending all week trying to get back on track for two nights of fun.

Waking up earlier may not be a popular option for your weekend, but who knows, you might actually like getting up earlier once you see how much you can get done. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule all week can help you feel energized and ready to face the work week. With all your energy, you could make sure your work week ends strongly to avoid dreading a large Monday workload.

Build Blueprints for Your Work Week
A winning way to avoid dreading the call of Monday is to re-strategize your work week. Try managing your time more efficiently while at work. This could be as simple as setting certain times each day to check your email or voicemail instead of stopping what you’re doing when you receive one, to as complex as establishing obtainable goals throughout the week to keep you on track. This way, you won’t have a pile of work to worry about while you are supposed to be taking time off. Also, on Fridays, it can be helpful to take a moment to set your schedule for the next week, giving you a clear plan to return to.

While Wednesday can be known as “hump day,” that doesn’t mean you can’t set aside some time in the middle of the week to do something fun. Take some friends to the local game playing on a Wednesday night, have a girls’ night at the movies, attend an art or music class, or have a romantic night out with your spouse. You can’t fit all of your fun into two days, so give yourself some time to recharge from work during the week.

Take a Breather
When we try to cram so much into an entire weekend, we often forget the purpose of the weekend. We get days off to enjoy our lives and recharge our batteries. But we can’t recharge them if we’re always using them. We don’t always have to postpone chores like laundry or lawn mowing to the weekend if you divide them up in smaller chunks throughout the week.

A weekend full of too many fun activities can be draining and can make you feel unrested. Working while feeling fatigued can hurt your productivity at work and leave you more open to distractions. Make an effort to plan your weekend activities with events that leave you feeling content and fulfilled, not frazzled and imposed upon.

The Monday morning blues has become a kind of cultural tradition in the workplace. Employees tend to gather together to talk about how hard it is when you have “the Mondays.” But if you change a few behaviors, you’ll feel ready and able to take on Monday and every day. What are some ideas you have to avoid dreading coming back to work after your weekend?