No progress against delusional management

I wish I could say that I have been busily working on my novel works-in-progress as my excuse for not having written any posts over the last few weeks, but the reality is that all I have been doing is going to work, then coming home absolutely drained, having dinner, chilling out for a while then going to bed early only to have to get up and go to work again the next day.

Weekends, seem to take forever to arrive, and when they finally do arrive, in a blink of an eye they are over, and I face having yet another long week ahead of me.

Management called a meeting on Wednesday afternoon to tell us (once again) we are not good enough in our jobs, even though we are the best performing site of all the sites the company has, and that because of this 'abysmal performance' upper management is now going to start micro managing us.

Start?  Is it just me, because I have a good grasp on the English language because I am a writer, or does management not understand that they have been actively creating a demoralised workplace with their micro-management style so the word 'start' is a joke of pathetic delusional proportions?

A couple of months ago, our office endured hectic mornings where we saw clients back to back from 9 am to 12 pm, with little (if any) breathing space between appointments; but the upside was that when then had all afternoon to complete our administration required as a result of having seen so many clients in a non-pressurised way.  Now, management have decided they don't like that and have booked additional appointments for the afternoons, and given everyone additional tasks to complete in the afternoons as well, which results in staff members needing to have high concentration levels throughout the entire day (with NO recovery time) and no time to complete everything required of them. Not only are staff unable to complete their work, but you can actually see staff are wearing out physically because of the lack of relief from high-pressure. It doesn't help when we have full days without computers, which puts everyone even further behind, and impromptu staff meetings cutting into the precious little administration time now allotted. It is only a matter of time before the next resignation is submitted in anger - hopefully it won't be me (though if I find another job I'll be happy to be the next resignation!).

Just how does this micro-management and over-working of staff result in increased performance?  And how can a person effect change in this type of negative workplace, when management seem intent on maintaining the attitude 'if you don't like it, leave'?

I can honestly say I have never hated a company like I hate my current employer!  And I hate that there are hardly any jobs going at the moment for me to apply for to gain my escape.

Product Review: Sunrider SunSmile Toothpaste

As part of my series of Sunrider product reviews, today I would like to discuss Sunrider SunSmile Herbal Toothpaste.

Having had so much success with the products I was purchasing from Sunrider Australia, and having read that commercial toothpaste's contain ingredients that can be harmful to your teeth and mouth, I decided to try out Sunrider SunSmile Herbal Toothpaste. Again, the product was expensive and my budget was limited so I purchased the smaller of the two sizes available, figuring that if I didn't like it, at least I hadn't wasted my money on buying the family size one.

I don't know, I must have misread something when I ordered it because instead of receiving the Herbal toothpaste I instead had ordered the Whitening Gel.  Oh well, I reasoned, my teeth could probably do with a bit of herbal whitening.

Pleasant taste, teeth looked cleaner, but they didn't feel as clean as they could - but I remained mindful that I was using the whitening gel not the toothpaste.  So next order I was a bit more careful and this time ordered the herbal toothpaste.

Now I have tried herbal toothpastes before, and I haven't liked them, but the first thing I liked about Sunrider SunSmile Herbal toothpaste was that it smelt 'fresh' and looked like a pale mint coloured toothpaste - which is more natural than red and blue and white or orange of some of the commercial toothpastes I have tried.

SunSmile isn't a thick or dried looking when you add a small blob to your toothbrush; it squeezes easily, is more 'fluid' sort of like a tube of condensed milk in consistency.  But the best thing about SunSmile toothpaste is that it gently but powerfully cleaned my teeth leaving them feel like I had just been to the dentist. They were freshly cleaned of build up and my mouth felt pleasantly refreshed.  I had just discovered the toothpaste that I will now always use!

My little tube lasted a long time (I think about 2 - 3 months) despite my twice a day brushing routine so when it came time to  re-order, I didn't hesitate to purchase the family size - which is about the size you find in the supermarkets for all the commercial toothpastes.

I like using the whitening gel occasionally to give my teeth an extra and purposeful 'boost' in looking naturally whiter, but for the most part I only need to use the toothpaste only.  And, only needing a tiny blob is more than enough to do the job well so I am still using the same tube which I purchased months ago.



As always, Sunrider products are available to purchase at Amazon.com here, or you can purchase via a consultant or by joining Sunrider as a Customer or Consultant by visiting www.sunrider.com.
If you need a sponsor, then you are welcome to contact me to gain details.
 


With so many harmful chemicals in commercial toothpastes, you won't go wrong switching to SunSmile Herbal toothpaste as a fantastic alternative; actually, I encourage you to make that switch today!

Try this product and let me know what you think in the comments section below, or find me on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/char.mesan

Interview Question: What did you dislike about your last job?

Many Human Resources Managers use set questions during their hiring process to work out the most suitable candidate for their skilled or semi-skilled vacancies.  One question job seekers report back that they have been asked is the question "What did you dislike about your last job?"

This is a trick question that leads the candidate to start talking negatively, which in turn will cause  a negative impression about the candidate to be left in the mind(s) of the employer. And the trouble is most job seekers do not think about the answers they are giving and or the impact their answer is having upon the employer - and later wonder why they missed out on the job.

In an employers mind they are immediately asking themselves one question the moment the person starts rattling off their list of complaints: if the person is happy to trash their previous employer in such a mindlessly loose-lipped fashion, then that person certainly won't have the discretion or decency to not trash our business - after we have spent years carefully building up our business brand, do we want this person potentially doing untold damage to our good reputation that we have worked so hard to build? Ah, no. The employer might still continue with the interview, but there mind is already made up.

As a job seeker, you can't avoid being asked this question if the employer has this question on their list of questions to ask, so before you attend your next job interview you instead need to develop a strategy on how you can answer the question without making yourself look bad - in case you are asked this question!

Some tips to help you with that strategy:

Firstly, you are not being honest with yourself, and therefore cannot be honest with the potential employer, if you simply answer the question "There isn't anything I disliked about my last job" for the simple reason "well why aren't you still there then?" if the job was that perfect.  As a hiring manager, if a candidate stated this to me, I would immediately assume that the person just lied to me; and if the person is this dishonest in the interview, I could reasonably have doubts about your level of honesty if I were to employ you.  In my mind: you either are a blatant liar - who cannot be trusted; or, you don't know your own self very well - and if you don't know your own strengths and weaknesses, then you aren't instilling me with any confidence in your abilities to do the job.

See, told you it was a trick question!

Every person has something that they disliked about their last job; not all of those 'dislikes' are major complaints, some are just 'small things' like too far to travel, or I would have liked higher pay. So to say, "There isn't anything I disliked" is a lie.

One small technique that has good effect in an employers mind is when candidates pause after being asked that question so they can stop to think.  And the longer you need to search for an answer to that lingering, unanswered question, the more an employer can interpreted (albeit correctly or incorrectly) that you are struggling to come up with any negative aspects about your last job - and this is a good thing. Who cares if the employer makes a positive assumption about yourself?

I'm not encouraging you to lie or manipulate the employer, but pausing from immediate answering the question to give yourself time to come up with a way to turn the question around and to remove yourself from demonstrating your negative qualities is a good line of defense in working around the question so that you remain showcasing your positive attributes.

Another small technique is to be consciously mindful at all times throughout the interview about how you answer the questions asked.  So you've paused, but are now ready to provide them answer.  Your goal is to remain presenting yourself in a positive way:

* pick a neutral aspect (beyond yours and the former companies control) that the employer in front of you would fall into agreement with or relate to. For example, "I disliked that our suppliers were always late with their deliveries because it caused us lost productivity. As they were the only local suppliers, we were unable to get our supplies elsewhere, and unfortunately overseas suppliers were not a viable option for the company."

In the above example, you have shown that you value being productive - without you having to claim that you are productive.  You also have shown that you kept abreast of trying to resolve the issue of lost productivity even if you weren't instrumental in trying to find alternative suppliers so productivity could be boosted - demonstrating that you valued contributing to the best interests of the business, again without you having to make sure claims about yourself.

(Some employers might assume a level of the frustration you felt, but unless they ask you about it, they are more inclined to see that although frustrating you tried to do something positive about it - so no points lost here.)

Never answer the question by telling the employer that you didn't get on with the previous manager or other staff members (this just tells the employer that YOU don't know how to get along with people) or that you didn't like how the business did things (this just tells them that YOU don't know how to take direction or fit in with the culture of the business or work within a businesses policies and procedures). It doesn't matter if your previous manager was a complete jerk or the management stubbornly refused to streamline processes so that staff could work smarter not harder; as soon as you state those issues to the potential employer you make yourself look like you were the problem not the other party (and, who is to say that you simply don't realise that you were in fact the problem not the manager or process you complain about!)

If you do start answering the question, and then realise too late that you are showing yourself in a negative light, ensure you rescue the situation by stating you gained something valuable from the experience, for example, if you revealed you had a problem with a manager but you have worked to overcome this weakness, telling the potential employer that you learned that you needed to work on your people skills, so you undertook Conflict Resolution training so you are better equipped to handle a similar situation the next time you face it - if you undertook a conflict resolution training course - demonstrates that you value self-development and gaining new skills.

If you do answer the question, then whatever you do, don't let your tone sound whinging or you won't be able to rescue your answer no matter how hard you try.

Hope this helps.

Frustration

I finally get time and opportunity to go online and write a blog post and my internet goes down!

(Lucky I have smart phone and app as poor backup to use to share my complaint)

Interview Question: Tell me about yourself

Today I ran jobseeker Interview Question training for a group of my clients, and this has left me on a natural high.

I started the training by requiring my fifteen member strong group to first answer the question, "Tell me about yourself". As suspected, these unemployed individual's almost all answered the question by mentioning their own interests, and making unprovable (and highly challenge-able) claims (such as I am honest and reliable).

Employers often ask this question first up when meeting a candidate (once everyone is settled into their seats) to encourage open communication and to get the interview going.  Employers are professional entities and they are seeking to gain perspective about the candidate's professional background, not their personal one.

But job seekers, upon hearing the above words, tend to answer on a personal level something like "Well, I'm [X] years old, and have three kids..." 

Job seekers need to be mindful that every word they say can leave a positive, negative or neutral impression on the employer.  They don't want to accidentally give an employer any reason to discriminate against them; they want (and need) the employer to judge them completely on their ability to do the job, and have the interviewer come to the conclusion that they would be a good fit with the business.

So how should candidates be answering that question? They should answer something like "I have 5 years experience as a [type of work]..." and the rest of the two to three sentences that the candidate says should include information such as duties performed which are related to the job on offer - to encourage the employer to want to know more about them and their suitability to the role.

Remember, every job seeker thinks they are able to do the job they are interviewing for; but employers need them to prove this to them -- not with claims but -- with examples of skills, knowledge and experience that leads the employer to believe the candidate is capable of doing the job for them.

My group today went from "I'm [X] years old, have three kids and live in [name of suburb]..." to "I have 5 years experience as a [type of work]..." and mention the related skills and qualifications they gained or are the holder of that would be of interest to the employer. 

I am so proud of my group today; especially seeing as we had no computers for the entire day due to a system meltdown, and were given permission by management to leave early but instead chose to participate in this impromptu training session. It was so pleasing to witness the boost in confidence, and motivation, that these job seekers gained just from understanding things from an employers perspective which allowed them to improve their tell me about yourself pitch.