Convince Your Manager You Deserve That Raise

Of course you deserve a raise. But you can’t just walk into your boss’s office and demand one. Here’s how to build a case your boss will buy:

• Compare your value. Use the Internet to determine market rates for employees doing the same work you do. Be sensitive to factors that may affect your organization’s ability to pay a competitive rate, though: A Fortune 500 company will have more leeway to offer top salaries than a small startup.

• Calculate your worth to the company. Show how your activity supports your organization’s bottom line. The more hard numbers you can share—sales revenue, productivity, customer satisfaction ratings, etc.—the better position you’ll be in.

• Express some enthusiasm. Talk about how much you like working for your employer. Don’t overdo it, or fake it—be sincere about future challenges so your manager doesn’t decide you’re more interested in cash than your career.

• Suggest alternatives. Your organization may legitimately not be able to increase anyone’s salary. If that’s the case, be ready with options, like working from home or taking on a special project that will develop your skills and prepare you for promotion in the future.

• Stay calm. Whatever happens, control your emotions. Throwing a fit if you don’t get your way won’t impress your manager.

Lateral Job Moves

Move Sideways to Advance

The best career move isn’t always upward. Taking a side trip—a lateral transfer—can prove your commitment while teaching you new skills. Some tips:

• Evaluate the opportunities. When the possibility of a lateral move opens up, take a good look at what you’re likely to learn from it. You don’t want to repeat the same experiences, but expand your skills.

• Compare the job with your goals. Think about where you want to go in your career and what you want to accomplish. If a lateral move takes you closer to your target by teaching new skills or bringing you to the attention of higher-ups, jump at it.

• Expand your network. The more people you know in your organization and industry, the better positioned you are for success. Consider lateral opportunities for their potential to help you meet leaders and experts you wouldn’t run into otherwise.

• Prove your abilities. Use your sideways move to show you can handle greater responsibility. Volunteer for tough assignments in your new position, and you’ll impress co-workers and managers with your initiative.

• Don’t be forgotten. The danger with a lateral move is that you might fit in so well to your new position that you stall. Stay in touch with your previous managers and colleagues so they remember your willingness to adapt and change.

Clean Up Your Air With The Right Houseplants

Clean air is essential to good health at home and in the workplace. One simple way to keep the air you breathe fresh and free of odors and chemicals is to keep a few houseplants around. They’ll clean the atmosphere and make your surroundings more pleasant and relaxing. Pick up some of these:

• English ivy. This climbing vine grows in hanging baskets and low planters, and it helps clear away formaldehyde. (Be aware that it requires regular misting, especially during the winter months.)

• Peace lily. A flowering plant, the peace lily will eradicate toxins like acetone, benzene, and ammonia from the air. Remember to wash the leaves every once in a while.

• Rubber plant. This plant is hardy enough to survive cool temperatures and low light, making it ideal even if you’re not particularly good with plants. Like the English ivy, it acts to reduce formaldehyde in the air as long as it gets plenty of water.

10 Tips for Motivating Others

1.  Make sure they are physically as comfortable as you can make them. If people are uncomfortable, they won’t do their best. Are their workspaces appropriate and comfortable? Do they have an opportunity for breaks? Temperature, lighting – these all can have an impact on motivation and performance.

2.  Reward the behavior/attitude you want. Why would someone do what you want them to do? You have to link a reward to what they really value. A great book is Who am I? by Steven Reiss, PhD. He discusses all the things that really motivate people.

3.  Be motivated yourself! If you aren’t on fire about something, you can’t expect others to be! Enthusiasm is contagious (as is the lack of it).

 4.  Have a vision for the future. What are you motivating them for? There should be something better you’re all working toward. Paint that vision clearly enough for them to see it and want to achieve it.

5.  Treat them fairly and well. The one thing that has the biggest impact on employee morale is How a person is treated by their immediate supervisor. Treat them fairly, set a high (but not impossible) standard of excellence, and catch them when they fall. They will follow you anywhere.

6.  Give them information. Let them know how they are doing, give them feedback. Tell them about the big picture, they want to be part of something important. Information helps get buy-in and that’s what motivation is all about.

7.  Empower them. Micromanagement never motivates anyone. Train them well and let them have some freedom. Do you really want them running to you with every little issue? If they are, it’s your own fault.

8.  Listen to them. They must have a way to voice their concerns and celebrate their victories. Good motivators have to have a way to get input and feedback from their followers. Don’t just assume your people will come to you if something is wrong.

9.  Believe in them. People know when they are trusted and believed in. They also know when they are disliked or resented. If you are trying to motivate someone you don’t like, I suggest you either replace them with someone you do like or find something about them or their work you like and value.

10. Make things fun! All work does not have to be drudgery. You can add more opportunities for fun into almost any setting – even if it’s just doing something enjoyable at the end of the day. Be creative! Most adults don’t get many opportunities for fun these days, and if you can supply some, they’ll enjoy work much more.

Meeting Deadlines

On Deadline:  How to Deliver Results When They’re Due

Meeting deadlines shows that you take your work seriously and that you value other people’s time. Even outside of work, the ability to keep your promises on time shows your commitment to doing the right thing. Here are some important tips for hitting your deadlines (without driving yourself to exhaustion):

• Start with specifics. What exactly is the deadline? Clarify whether “end of the week” means 5 p.m. Friday or first thing Friday morning. And hammer down the results: What does your boss want? How will he or she measure your effectiveness?

• Negotiate. Is the deadline realistic? Try not to accept an assignment you can’t complete on time. Suggest alternative dates, or work out what other tasks you should put on hold in order to give the deadline the attention it deserves.

• Break the task down. Take a look at what’s involved, and identify the individual steps you need to take in order to achieve your goal. Lay them out on a calendar in step-by-step form so you know what you’ve got to achieve, and you can monitor your progress.

• Get started. Don’t procrastinate on step one. Focus on beginning without getting overwhelmed by the number of steps or the magnitude of the task ahead of you.

• Build in a buffer. As you schedule your work, give yourself a cushion of time—mark the due date a few days ahead of the actual deadline, for example. This will help you deal with changes or last-minute emergencies.

• Stay in contact. Let your boss, or whomever you’re accountable to, know where you are on the project. He or she will feel more confident about your abilities, and you’ll be able to alert the powers that be about potential roadblocks before they become full-blown crises threatening the deadline.

• Enlist assistance. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your boss, a friend, or a co-worker will probably be willing to pitch in if you explain the circumstances and the stakes honestly.

Follow These Guidelines with Probationary Employees

Probationary periods are useful tools when hiring someone, but they don’t necessarily protect you from being sued for wrongful dismissal if things don’t work out. Keep these points in mind when evaluating probationary employees:

• Opportunity. You need to offer the new hire a reasonable opportunity to demonstrate his or her ability to do the job. Make sure you document the person’s performance.

• Support. You can’t just hire someone and expect him or her to become instantly stellar. You’ll need to provide the training and support necessary to give the person the skills needed to succeed. Again, document your supporting activities for future reference.

• Standards. Keep your standards consistent. If your new hire thinks you’re raising performance standards just to get rid of him or her, you could be in for litigation. Clarify standards up front, and stick to them.

• Employee abilities. During the hiring process, ask job candidates to provide information about job-related skills and what levels they can perform at. If you can show that the employee isn’t performing at the level he or she claimed, you have grounds for firing the person for cause.

• Communication. Don’t leave probationary employees in the dark about how they’re doing. Let them know when they’re doing a good job, and point out areas where they need to improve. Be sure to offer solutions to performance problems—otherwise, you’re just complaining

Beyond Brainstorming – How to Spark Creative Ideas

If you need to generate more creative ideas for your workplace (or your life), try enlisting some help. Ask your employees, co-workers, and friends to put on their thinking caps—and give them a little help:

• Hold a “blue sky day.” Ask people to build a model or a create display showing off one of their wildest ideas, no matter how practical or impractical. Look for elements you can put to use.

• Exchange problems. Have people write down their toughest problem, and drop them all in a hat. Then have everyone pick a problem from the hat and try to solve it. This can encourage people from different areas to get together and learn something about each other’s problems and skills.

• Hold a story hour. Ask each person to tell about a time when he or she solved a problem or helped develop an innovative idea. Try to identify the skills and principles everyone used so you can strengthen or duplicate them in your group.

• Post questions. In every room, hang a poster-size piece of paper with a problem or question at the top. Provide markers to let people write down their ideas.

• Take a field trip. Go to a museum, playground, zoo, theme park, or someplace like that. Ask everyone to come up with three business-related ideas inspired by the outing.