Monthly Archives: June 2017

5 Tips to Stay Safe Around Mobile Equipment

Prevent disaster with these quick tips.

Forklift truck in warehouse or storage loading cardboard boxes.If you’ve never worked around moving equipment before, orientation at your new warehouse job should teach you about the dangers of walking alongside these workplace monsters. Just as with cars or trains, moving equipment can put you at risk of injury or even death.

And mobile equipment isn’t just a problem for new hires. Those of us established in our routines may forget to take proper precautions, which can result in tragedy.

Looking for a safety checklist? The graphic below should help.

RSK17_AM309P_Machinery_Poster

How Working Dads Achieve Work-Life Balance

As a father, how do you juggle your responsibilities?

Busy Father Working From Home With SonBalancing your work and home lives can be a challenge. Can you coach your son’s little league game and still nab that promotion? Does taking time off for your daughter’s play make you less likely to get a raise?

Traditionally, moms (even working moms) were expected to handle most of the child-rearing responsibilities. However, times are changing. More fathers are involved in their children’s lives than ever before. The Pew Research Center’s Modern Parenthood Survey revealed that 50% of working fathers found achieving work-family balance to be “very/somewhat difficult.”

How can you, as a dad, achieve work-life balance?

1.       Share the Workload

Working dads frequently have to manage multiple responsibilities: parenting, their job, finance management, future planning, and more. The first step on the way to achieving work-life balance is to share some of these responsibilities. As far as parenting is concerned, it’s a good idea to sit down with your partner and coordinate schedules far in advance. That way at least one of you should be able to attend any school events that might come up.

You can also get in touch with any other potential caregivers, such as parents or other relatives. See if they can take care of the kids once in a while so that you can spend an evening out with your partner or go on a vacation out of town. Parents’ day out programs are also an option.

Finally, if you are able to afford it, you may want to look into hiring a financial planner. Such a person can help cut down on your time spent organizing your finances, freeing up that time for your partner or children. At the very least, an expert’s opinion on your current investment strategies can’t hurt anything.

2.       Embrace the Give and Take

No matter how well you plan, something can still come up that throws all of those plans out the window. Perhaps you promised your wife that you would make little Molly’s ballet recital on Wednesday so she could attend a conference, but the boss needs you to stay late to finish a huge project. You can’t say no because that could mean saying goodbye to any sort of raise or career advancement. Instead, you have to call your wife explaining that you actually won’t be able to make the recital. Your daughter’s feelings might get hurt as well.

Is there anything you can do to avoid this? Probably not. Being a working dad is all about balance. As horrible as it sounds, there are moments where you will have to prioritize work over your child’s event in the short term in order to better provide for them in the future.  Make sure to communicate as much as possible with your spouse and children to ensure that they understand why you have to skip the event.

Hope isn’t lost, however—you just have to accept that work-life balance is all about the give and take. If you stay late one night to complete a career-defining project instead of attending that ballet recital, you’ll need to skip out on a smaller project or networking opportunity in the future. Find an employer that allows you to have flexibility—if you feel like you’re constantly having to choose your career over your kids, you might want to look into a different job.

3.       Unplug at Home

And when you are home? Try to unplug from work as much as possible. Spend time with your kids, kick a soccer ball around, go to the park, or just watch cartoons together. Even if you can’t dedicate your entire weekend or day off to the kids, try to schedule at least one or two fun activities.

You can even declare an hour or two each night as “no-screen” time, where everyone engages in a fun family activity that doesn’t involve phones, computers, or the TV.

4.       Fight for Flexibility

Once you’ve moved up in a company, you may have the ability to negotiate for more flexibility. The worst thing they can say is no—they’re not going to fire you for asking, especially when you’ve made significant contributions to the company.

Such flexibility may come with a reduced raise, but if that’s worth the flexibility to you then you’re golden. If your position allows for it, you could even ask about working from home occasionally.

However, do make sure to gauge the climate at your company first, just as you would before asking for a raise. If layoffs are happening and everybody is running around like their hair is on fire, it’s probably not a good time to ask for more time off.

Hopefully this helped you working dads out in one way or another. Happy Father’s Day!

Have any tough experiences as a working dad to share? Let us know about it in the comments below!

Poll Results: How Do You Cope With Workplace Stress

stress_poll_March2014Toward the end of April we asked Movin’ On Up readers how they coped with workplace stress. Stress can cause a variety of health problems, from slight headaches to major anxiety, so we wanted to see what our readers were doing to get through it.

Results

The results were fairly close across the board. Just under 22% prefer to listen to or play music, 17.5% work through their problems by talking to others, and 14% exercise. Thirteen percent turn to hobbies, while an additional 12% take time to meditate or practice breathing exercises. Seven percent opt for a relaxing massage, and only 4% choose to look at cute animal pics. Just under 10% selected “Other,” with responses ranging from watching Netflix or TV to playing video games or praying.

So how can job seekers use this information? Everyone has their own “thing,” their own way of dealing with stress. That’s the first thing job seekers need to do—figure out what their “thing” is! Look at all of the survey options and figure out what really calms you down. And if that doesn’t work, invent some of your own. Everyone has different levels and types of stress, so the way each person deals with it is going to vary too.

Anything else you want to tell us about how you deal with workplace stress? Let us know in the comments below!

On the Job: From Hired to Retired—Episode 5

ACO17_OnTheJob_GraphicBHere at Movin’ On Up, we’re excited to share a new episode in a podcast series brought to you by Express Employment Professionals—On the Job: From Hired to Retired and Everything In Between.

Each week through the end of June, On the Job shares stories about the pursuit of work by looking at the employment situations people from all walks of life face each day.

Episode 5: Caregiver and Friend

In this episode, we meet two women, one a caretaker, the other nearly a centenarian, who teach us what it takes to make their relationship work. We also examine how the caretaker’s job is central to the older woman’s independence.

Start Listening Today!

Download On the Job: From Hired to Retired on iTunes or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Check back next week for Episode 6: Legislator and Rancher—A Split Identity, With Each Part Contributing to the Whole

Volunteer with Express on Brand It Blue Day

BrandItBlueDay2014For the fifth year on Saturday, June 10, employees from Express Employment Professionals offices across North America will gather together for an international day of service. The mission of Brand It Blue Day is to help in the fight against hunger in the communities where Express team members work and live, and you have the chance to be part of the effort.

In the past four years, Express offices donated 300,000 meals to nonprofit organizations across North America through their efforts on Brand It Blue Day. In 2016, more than 235 Express offices and 1,000 volunteers from California to North Carolina to Ontario came together at local food banks and pantries across North America to help fight hunger.

Help fight hunger with Express Employment Professionals on Brand It Blue Day!

Taking the time to serve gives you the feeling of joy and a sense of accomplishment through helping someone in need, but it can also improve your chances to find a great job. When you volunteer you’re able to network with people you may not have otherwise met, learn new skills, and show potential employers that serving others is important to you.

If you’d like to join Express for Brand It Blue Day, check to see if your local Express office is participating. Then, contact them to find out how you can be involved.

4 Secrets to Getting a Pay Raise

Are you underpaid? Ready for a change?

SaveMoney_June2014_webAsking for a raise isn’t easy and preparing to ask can be nerve-racking. When should you ask for one? How much should you ask for? What do you even say?

The most important thing to remember when asking for a raise is that the only reason for asking can’t be because you need a raise. It should be because you deserve one. But, it’s on you to prove that your actions have led to success, and will continue to do so in the future. An employee doesn’t get a significant increase in pay just for doing the minimum—he or she must go above and beyond.

On that note, here are our top four tips for negotiating a raise.

1.       Start Preparing on Day One

To begin with, figure out why you deserve a pay raise. If that question is difficult to answer, negotiations aren’t going to go very well. You start figuring that out the first day on the job.

Many people only think about raises at the end of the year, or after a certain amount of time has passed. However, if you start thinking about a future raise on that first day, you can start collecting accomplishments early on. Create goals and an actionable plan to meet those goals. While traveling on your career journey, keep a journal of all professional successes, preferably with metrics and details regarding how each met goal furthered the company as a whole.

Remember, your manager isn’t giving a raise expressly for your benefit—a raise is given to keep an employee as an asset to help the company in the long run. So, if you can connect your performance to achieved business goals, a raise may just be in the cards.

2.       Timing is Everything

In order to really succeed with a request like this, you need to ask at the right time. If you work in oil, for example, and the market suffers a setback, don’t ask for a raise. The same thing applies to a company that’s going through financial or PR difficulties.

If it’s the company’s busiest time of the year, that’s another bad time to ask. Same goes for just after you’ve been on vacation or taken time off. And try not to bring this up after making some sort of mistake, no matter how minor.

3.       Know the Market for Your Position

This ties in with asking yourself whether you deserve the raise or not. Read the papers and research online to find out what your competitive rate is at similar companies. Are you already earning that same rate? If so, you may be working at the cap for your position.

In that case, see if anything major really makes you stand out from the competition. Are you expendable? If so, become an asset. Losing you should not be an option. Raises are given to retain top talent. If the company isn’t the right fit or you aren’t actually top talent, a raise may not be in the cards.

But being top talent in and of itself doesn’t mean a raise is certain. You have to be on time, an excellent employee, and using that talent to further the company every minute you’re on the job.

4.       Bring a Plan and Be Confident

What do you plan on bringing to the negotiating table? If you answered nothing but a smile and a well-worded speech, think again. Prepare an actual presentation. Know your worth and properly articulate any strengths, as well as details regarding tasks that were not only completed, but elevated to the next level. In other words, be confident.

Avoid being arrogant. Tie all accomplishments back to how they helped the company, not you. Don’t walk in assuming a pay hike is a given. Be confident in past successes, and let that lead where it may.

As a bonus, try to include some sort of physical, tangible element to the presentation, whether it’s a printed summary or printed charts and graphs. Include information about how you have saved the company money, or how your actions led to an increase in revenue or production.

Although the goal is for your manager to read these materials, even if they don’t, they’ll still see them on their desk and remember your request. Conduct the entire meeting in a calm manner, and, once it’s over, let your manager know that this is a two-way conversation by asking them for feedback on future projects.

If your manager declines to give a raise, don’t be afraid to ask why. If the reason has anything to do with factors you can control, make those changes so you will be a prime candidate in the future.

Reasons You May Not Get the Raise

Even if you follow all of these tips, it is important to note that you may not get a raise due to external factors that have nothing to do with performance. These include:

  • A slow market
  • A recent downturn in the economy
  • A different raise structure (your company may have a rigid raise structure in place that does not allow for deviation)
  • Downsizing in your department
  • You are a relatively recent hire

Have any more questions about the salary negotiation process? Let us know about it in the comments below!