Let’s face it, technology has rapidly changed the way we do business — and markets, themselves, are shifting in a major way. We’re seeing steady progression across an entire industry and are taking on higher-paying opportunities in sectors that we never thought we would be. Managers are entering into new markets, as the realm of technology continues to evolve before our very eyes.
We
demand innovation and watch it transform on a daily basis. Technologies
broaden, but the markets haven’t been nearly as kind. Most agencies are
understaffed and roles unfulfilled.
We’re
seeing those with no formal education compete against MIT graduates.
Project managers are stepping up, some of whom have never spent a single
day behind the scenes. We’re seeing interns become directors and
start-ups popping up all over the country. More people are working
remotely, and central offices are no longer commonplace.
The
workforce has become global, and we have begun to control our teams at a
distance. We have more power than we ever did, and the possibilities
are now endless.
With
more opportunities in our hands, all it takes is a little bit of
ambition and a simple roadmap to get you where you need to be. Let us
help position you on your journey with these five tips for transitioning
into IT project management — and ultimately, the transition to success!
#1 | Define your scope, build teams accordingly.
Before
defining your scope, you will want to pay attention to your client’s
business-related needs and objectives. This will include budget and
resource availability, critical timelines and expectations. Your scope
will give you a solid foundation to build upon and help you better
identify the teams you will need to hire to get the job done both
effectively and within a timely manner.
Identify your ideal team members, including areas of specialization, level of skill and how they will interact with one another.
Ask yourself:
ü Do you need them on-site, or can they work remotely?
ü How many people can you hire, and will you need to train them?
ü Will you need to hire an outsourcing agency, or are you going to recruit each member directly?
#2 | Schedule teams based on need, availability and areas of expertise.
Once
your scope has been mapped out and your teams have been built, you will
begin scheduling each member, as according to need, availability and
area of expertise. You should pay special attention to the previous
achievements and contributions made to other projects that they have
worked on in the past.
Find
common ground. Where previous contributions were with companies much
larger or smaller than your own, translate scalability and decide
whether those team members are capable of handling the tasks that you
throw at them. Are they able to streamline daily tasks with speed,
agility and a certain level of specialization?
Before positioning each team member, ask yourself how they will measure up against:
· Productivity, performance and/or efficiency, both as a team or on an individual basis.
· Dependability, resourcefulness and the customer experience.
#3 | How will your teams interact? Pay attention to interdisciplinary communication.
As
you may already know, teams work differently, based on the admixture of
personalities types, therein. This is where predictive hiring,
behavioral analysis, networking and cultivated relationships can come in
very handy for a project manager, regardless of industry.
If
you have too many influencers on your team, who will plan and analyze?
If there are too many leaders, who will handle administration and ensure
compliances? Pairing teams, based on personality type, will allow each
team to thrive, while encouraging personal growth and individual
commitment.
Friction
often leads projects to fail, underperform or fall short of
expectation. This often happens when the team dynamic is overlooked and
communication falters. On the contrary, teams matched based on
personality, prove more productive, as they tend to exceed expectation
for quality, turnaround and the overall customer experience.
#4 | Optimize your workforce, define the strengths and weaknesses of new and existing team members.
Similar
to pairing based on personality types, we also find that one path to
success may actually come from optimizing the workforce, directly. In
optimizing the workforce, we look for certain factors or KPIs that will
allow us to measure individual contributions and/or takeaways, such as:
· Behaviors in certain environments.
· Reactions to stress or actions under pressure.
· Individual strengths.
· Weaknesses amongst the team, itself.
These
points will be indicators that someone is or isn’t a good fit for a
particular project. While we can always develop strengths in an
individual, sometimes time is a vital factor. Adding new teams would
offset those members, who would not otherwise live up to certain
expectations — or the skill level, necessary, to carry out individual
tasks or timelines, as associated with each project.
Pairing
teams, based on personality type, will continue a major hand in the
success of each project or client portfolio. However, strengths can be
drawn from those individual aspects and used as additional indicators of
key personality types we need to recruit in optimizing the workforce,
directly.
#5 | Understand missed opportunities in the hiring cycle.
We
face many roadblocks, as project managers, when it comes to hiring
qualified talents for key projects within our portfolio. These
roadblocks almost seem counterproductive from the start of each project
and in the development of our teams, over time. We rush hiring processes
to meet deadlines and in catering to dependencies across entire
lifecycles, therein.
Due
to the lack of efficient manpower, budget shortages and the fulfillment
of outside obligations, the hiring process is often one of the first
processes to be shortchanged at the onset of each project. And because
we ultimately must juggle each project on an individual basis, we can’t
spend a whole lot of time in the recruiting, training, interviewing and
onboarding of incoming talents. We end up relying too much on our
immediate networks, career sites and job boards to provide us with the
talent we need to get the job done.
To
make matters worse, most of these resources will then rely on ATS
engines to provide us with a pool of qualified talents, who we must then
interview, develop and onboard accordingly. ATS engines, however, will
only provide us with those candidates who meet certain criteria and have
found a way through key algorithms. Up to 75% of today’s top talents
will actually never be seen.
As
a professional resume writer, I often hear the words “I own my own
business, why would I need a resume?” or “I’m pretty secure where I’m at
and not planning on leaving any time soon.” Chills shoot up and down my
spine. These are exactly the reasons that they need a resume, and they don’t even realize it. I mean:
How
could someone willfully not have all the tools at their disposal? Do
they realize they aren’t taking advantage of their full potential?
Aren’t they looking to expand their own business? Are they not ready to
capitalize on their own success?
Whether
you’re looking for a career change, or not… whether the markets are
stable… and whether you’re secure in your most current position… or not…
Every CEO needs to have an updated resume — at all times!
Let’s
face it, it takes time to craft a quality resume. Most people don’t
include the most important content (In fact, 80 to 90% of today’s top
candidates are overlooked due to the lack of it). We forget about our
achievements. We often face writer’s block. We leave off key qualitative
and quantitative data. And, we forget to include some of our most
impressive contributions within a team environment.
So,
we leave money on the table. We don’t secure those game-changing
opportunities. And, we keep sinking marketing dollars into campaigns
that just eat away at our capital. Again, we’re not living up to our
full potential, and that really needs to stop — like right away!
In the words of the Great Fire Marshall Bill, “Let me show you something…”
Clients
There
is a major difference in what a client is and what constitutes as a
customer in the business world. Clients come to us for help, whether
they’re trying to launch a new product, need a customized solution or
are looking for the best price on a service that we offer.
They
want to know who we are. Some of them will blindly enter a business
arrangement, based on what they think we can provide. Others are more
apprehensive in where and how they spend each outgoing dollar in their
immediate budget. And, what about those clients that aren’t necessarily
the decision-makers? You know, the ones that are reporting back to a
third-party executive or shareholder resource?
Some
of our most difficult clients will ask for a resume. Some of our
biggest spenders will ask for a resume. And, some of our most long-term
and loyal clientele will begin a relationship just because of what was
that resume, itself.
It’s
one reason LinkedIn is gold and one way we become more approachable. In
an instance, we are more humanlike. Yet, our journey tells the story of
all we have accomplished and all that we can do.
Partnerships
All
businesses — small and large — will benefit, at some point, by
partnering with another business or non-profit organization. A smart
business owner isn’t going to just partner with someone that they don’t
know. A smart business owner doesn’t want to affiliate themselves with
someone, who can cause damage to their business.
We
want to know who we are dealing with, where they have been and what
contributions they have made in the past. Scalability aside, we want to
know is this a person of value, and can they actually bring something to
the table?
No
one wants to waste their time, and very often potential partners will
ask for the resume of all key persons involved in a project. They want
to optimize their workforce just as bad as they want to optimize their
teams. And, to create a winning team, this often means shedding the
deadweight.
Just
because you have made a name for yourself, don’t assume the next person
has heard of you. When a project is ready to move forward, you need to
be ready, yourself. If not, someone else will be. In a dog eat dog
world, competitors are lined up and ready to quickly take your place.
Investors
Executive
Summary 101 — Include a resume for all key executives active within the
project and/or company. Business plans require it.
Venture
capitalists have nothing to gain by just giving away their fortunes.
They want to know that they will see a return, how soon they should see
it and feel secure in knowing that their investment will, indeed, come
back to them — with profits attached.
If
you’re not seeking an investor, cool. But will your company try to
secure a business-related loan in the near future? What if emergencies
should arise, or an opportunity with no budget allotment?
Business is all about risk. But, don’t risk throwing away opportunities by not being prepared.
Opportunities
And, what about those opportunities?
Honestly, with opportunity comes growth. There are opportunities surrounding us every day. It’s just up to us to seize them.
Whether
it’s an opportunity to work alongside a Big 4 or to enter a
cross-promotional campaign with the largest production house in the
country, we need to influence somebody. We need to impress somebody. And, we definitely need to appeal to the opportunity that’s placed before us in our individual journeys.
Right
now, we’re just discussing the bigger picture. But, what about those
significant milestones that set us apart from the business we’ve become
synonymous with? What are we going to include in our “tell-all?” What
will our followers most remember us for?
So
often, executives engage in projects outside of their main career. They
sit on boards and on committees. Some teach as an adjunct professor,
others speak regularly amongst industry panels. The humanitarian will
work alongside a non-profit, while a mogul will expand their
empire — often by teaming up with other moguls in the business.
You
might not be ready for this now, but what happens when you are? What if
the perfect opportunity presents itself? Are you willing to sacrifice
your dream, only because you needed a few days to create a half-assed
resume from scratch? What if your workload becomes demanding?
Opportunity doesn’t wait. It only knocks and hopes that someone answers.
Press
Don’t
let your marketing dollars go to waste. Frivolous spending will only
lead to a deficit. Unnecessary expenses take away from the profits that
could otherwise be generated. You are your company’s most key asset. People are our greatest investment. And, you hold the greatest value, while sitting on top of the corporate hierarchy.
No
one remembers the guy in the blue shirt, sitting in the back of the
mail room. Shoot, they won’t even remember the color shirt he wore a
week from now. But, they will remember you.
You’re interesting. You have a story to tell. You hold all the keys to the kingdom.
We
want to know about your past. We want to know about your
accomplishments. And, we want to know how we can duplicate your journey.
There
are so many writers and producers with all the right channels but no
story to tell. They offer free press in exchange for twenty minutes of
one-on-one time. They have dedicated audiences, full of
consumers — ready to buy, traffic — ready to convert, and
markets — continually expanding. They offer ongoing promotion, a portion
of their web presence and backlinks that will easily serve in the
optimization of your company’s site.
What good is marketing, anyways, if you’re not reaching out to the people and connecting with them intimately? Drivethem to become loyalists. Convince them to trust. And, cultivate your relationships.
The media is our friend. So, get your resume ready and be ready to hit “send.”
Jessica N. Abrahamwrites about Business, Career Development and Technology. She is a professional resume writer with Resume.Academy
and former owner of Shorty Produkshins, where she spent more than 15
years, dedicated to a life of Social Branding, Public Relations and
Design Strategy.
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES ARE PUBLISHED TO THE DISC INSIGHTS BLOG, OWNED BY PEOPLEKEYS.
Jessica is passionate about “people” and helping them to evolve professionally. Her “I-style” personality trait has led her to 15+ years of service to public relations, social branding, and design strategy. In love with technology, business, and career development, Jessica has contributed to a number of online platforms and is a part of PeopleKeys branding team, as well.
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turn to a life coach or a behavioral consultant to guide them through
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point B. Let’s see how a coaching professional can best utilize the
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When a client of ours, let’s call him Joseph, took over a
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design team had fallen behind over the course of a year and a half. They
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committed and had blown through more than half-a-million dollars
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No matter the realm of your operations, you are going to
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Behavioral selling is presenting your product or service in a
way your customer can relate. Show them benefits, such as how your
product will help them meet their goals or how your service will more
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as opposed to the advertising you see at night? Some commercials last
longer at 1:00 PM than they do at 5:00 PM… and there are many variations
depending on the channel. Well, there is actually a reason for that and
it’s not as far-fetched as one might believe. This is part of
behavioral selling, where the way you deliver your message can make the
difference between attracting a new client or losing them before you
even opened your mouth. This same model can be successfully applied to
boost your own bottom line.[…]
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Employers are saving both time and money by implementing tools
for predictive hiring into their regular hiring practices, and to get
past the obstacles met within the initial screening of candidates,
hiring managers have begun applying a number of pre-hire assessments
into final decision-making. These assessments serve as indicators of
what a person may or may not bring to the table, how they will interact
with an existing workforce and how they will perform in particular
environments.[…]
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Every educator deals with a wide range of personalities and
behaviors on a daily basis. There are always some overachievers, as well
as those students who need just a little bit of a push in the right
direction. They require undivided attention, but sometimes are
overlooked. If they are meeting the milestones provided by academic
boards, the educators’ efforts are considered a success. Some students
aren’t given the right support, as an individual, to compete against
their peers academically. Truth is it’s not that they can’t comprehend
what’s being taught to them, as much as it is how they are being taught.
Many of these kids are recklessly thrown into programs and classrooms,
and aren’t encouraged to go that extra mile towards success. See below
for a few suggestions on how to improve this situation.[…]
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We live in a versatile economy. It’s not unusual for companies
to hire on a project-by-project basis or let their employees work
remotely. Thus, they are minimizing overtime pay and overhead, and in
some cases eliminating costs associated with office space or tax laws.
In return, their employees are enjoying a little flexibility, taking on
more than one project at once, and often earning more than they would as
a full-time employee with the company. Remote or temp employees and
project-based managers are in more demand than ever. While many
companies actually have a full-time project management office staffed
with in-house professionals, it’s becoming the norm to hire project
managers that may not ever reach a physical office or those who control
remote teams, globally dispersed around the world.[…]
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One way coaches have been finding new clients – and immediate
success – is through already established channels that allow them to
earn while building their brand from the ground up. Once you get
certified in DISC Behavioral Analysis, you have the unique chance to
start developing multiple streams of income with the application and
expert knowledge of the PeopleKeys DISC system. Gain the insight you
need to begin capitalizing on your knowledge and experience with the
PeopleKeys Business Partner Training and try some of the strategies
below.[…]
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coaching network. In addition to gaining online visibility and creating
content for different digital channels, there’s no better promotion than
that earned through word-of-mouth and referrals. As a Certified
Behavioral Consultant, you may and must network within the community and
establish yourself amongst people who may already be familiar with your
previous career, reputation or history. Depending on your personality
style and your internal passions, this type of awareness is up for
interpretation.[…]
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If you build your brand, people will come for you to coach
them. While we’re referencing the movie “Field of Dreams,” as a
Certified Behavioral Coach you will need a strategy to help you gain
momentum, credibility, and increased revenue in a field of your own and
develop your coaching business to the level you want it to be. As we
provide you with a brief insight on brand awareness, social branding,
and public relations tactics, please envision yourself as a brand and
compare these topics to what you are currently doing. Apply these
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their training as a Certified Behavioral Consultant or as a Certified
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reach my potential clients. We, at PeopleKeys, are here to help while
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sales, strategic planning, and growth but are reluctant to venture into
hiring, despite the impact hiring can make in each of these areas.
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at least provide advice for the best fit (especially for top management
positions). As you are probably quite aware by now, and from your
training with PeopleKeys, DISC system is one of the most effective ways
to gage human behavior and develop improved communications amongst
teams. It’s effective for operations and sales, and it’s definitely
effective in predictive hiring processes.[…]
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Networking can be an uncomfortable feat for many coaches
entering their first few years in business. They’re intimidated by
titles and worried decision-makers are unapproachable. In fact, making
more connections means growing your coaching network and increasing your
potential client outreach. Following up with your network not only
warrants eventual contracts in the future, but it also keeps interested
parties “in the loop.” As your coaching network begins to grow, your
efforts will not go unnoticed. You can build your network by
participating within local chapters and organizations, frequenting
mixers and events, and even socially through sites such as Alignable and
LinkedIn. While we have heard the cliché, “it’s not about what you
know, it’s about who you know,” there is truth to the matter. Here are a
few points to consider:[…]
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top talent could ultimately be the difference between success and
mediocre result. In fact, vetting and positioning incoming talents,
based on strengths and abilities, isn’t always enough. With every
“ying,” there’s a “yang.” Therefore, both are necessary in finding the
right talent for your organization.[…]
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A new year means new opportunities, a fresh start, and new
beginnings. For many organizations, this also means new relationships,
as companies seek to partner with like-minded associates in the
expansion of ongoing business initiatives. Finding the support of new
products, services, and community-based programming can often be a
daunting task. So, forging strategic partnerships can be a godsend, when
teaming up with just the right brand.[…]
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According to Sandy Kulkin, CEO and Founder of PeopleKeys,
“People are different, but they’re predictably different.” They’re
different in the ways they carry themselves, the ways they are
motivated, how they interact with others, how they deal with stress, and
even how they seal the deal. But on the other end of the spectrum, the
various personality types have been prewired in our systems from the
time we were born through our years of “adulting.” The experiences we
encountered in childhood tend to dictate how we deal with stress, and
our trust in others will come from the adversity we have faced over our
lifetime.[…]
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You’ve implemented various strategies, utilizing DISC methods
for sales, leadership, and predictive hiring – but, now what? How do we
gage our performance and determine the results of our efforts? How do we
use these results to improve our business over time?[…]
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You may be surprised but the truth is that anyone can be
successful at sales and you can certainly predict a sales team’s
effectiveness. It may not happen naturally or overnight… It takes is a
little bit of awareness, training, and willingness to adapt to other
personas. While some personalities are natural-born influencers, even
the most driven sales professional will run into clients who are
difficult to read and a little rough around the edges.[…]
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The hiring manager is often undervalued, because the
recruitment process is so complex. Not many realize what it takes to
find qualified talent or how to develop a meaningful hiring process that
proves itself over time. Likewise, Human Resources can also go
unappreciated for their role in employee retention and/or turnover
ratios. Yet, together, these two forces make all the difference in the
world.[…]
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Dr. William Marston developed his DISC theory while at Harvard
University as a method of identifying major human personality traits and
translating them into predictable behaviors. It is true that people can
be predictable, but they are also predictably different. Being able to
read through their personality differences is a key to good
communication and building successful relationships, partnerships,
families… Have you determined your DISC personality, yet? If not, the
DISC Personality Profile will take you about 10 minutes to complete and
get a full report of your combined personality style.[…]
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Active listening is an interpersonal skill that every top
professional needs. No matter if you are a business professional, sales
person, executive coach or business consultant, active listening is an
essential part of utilizing your knowledge of human behavior. It allows
us to take both verbal and non-verbal cues from clients and begin to
understand their every need.[…]
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Continuing our series on global expansion by utilizing DISC, we
already reviewed the importance of DISC for strategic planning and
applying behavioral analysis for hiring and teambuilding in part 1, and
focused on some strengths of the different personality styles for
business development in part 2. In addition, we must understand that
some countries are more family-oriented than others. These cultures may
be friendlier, ambitious and centered on people. Other cultures can be
more impersonal – especially in business. They want to know numbers,
there is very little eye contact and they can be somewhat aggressive.
Short and to-the-point, we need someone to present them with the facts,
while onboarding them for ongoing business initiatives. In addition, see
also How do DISC styles vary by country.[…]
Read more
Once we begin to expand into new territories, we need to really
do our due diligence to understand the local communities, traditions,
business practices, and hierarchy. We need to position our leaders,
based on the needs of businesses in outside cultures. Keeping our teams
integrated by hiring locals will eliminate much of our burdens in the
marketplace. Keeping our teams happy will build trust in nearby
territories. Together, we can position our brand for greatness and
eliminate cultural discrepancies in the process. In Part 1, we discussed
why DISC theory is important to globalization and gave few tips and
tricks for teambuilding & interaction with “the locals,” and here we
will continue to dig further in utilizing DISC in your global
expansion.[…]
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Tariffs aside, globalization is here to stay. With the
evolution of technology, our world gets smaller and smaller. Likewise,
even the smallest business is now able to reach territories further and
further away. This means connecting with people and authorities of all
cultures, some that you may not yet be familiar with. But how do you get
along with people that can be so different? Here’s a simple answer –
DISC has always been a tool to understand people and predict their
behaviors. We can fairly state that DISC is the international language
of human behavior and no matter of cultural differences, DISC
personalities speak the same language.[…]
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As many organizations are finalizing year-end strategies and
developing next year’s business plans, others have already taken a
running leap into 2019 with iron-clad initiatives for growth and
expansion. No matter which phase of strategic planning you are in,
please don’t forget that “people” are our most significant investment
and that our businesses are defined most effectively by our workforce.
According to Human Resources Today, the macrotrends for workforce
optimization in 2019 are dominated by record-low rates of global
unemployment. Simply said, this means that workforce optimization, in a
tight labor market, must be a top priority for any business entering the
new year.[…]
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In a recent press release by the world’s favorite remote jobsearch site, FlexJobs identified “14 of the Most Common Remote Jobs” and the average annual pay per position. This list was based on data gathered from within an ever-growing database of work-at-home positions and key factors were highlighted for each of those positions. Additional data was gathered at PayScale.com, and annual salary data was determined in relation to those factors.
The bottom line is this.
As
millennials continue to take the workforce by storm, a preference for
out-of-office experiences has become the norm. As opposed to sitting
behind a wooden desk in a stuffy office environment, many companies are
finding value in providing the younger, more vibrant demographic with a
more satisfying work-life balance. Contrary to reports that these
professionals are being underpaid, as in contrast to previous generation
s , these numbers show that some companies still value their workforce
and aren’t against compensating them accordingly.
Businesses
are finding that happier employees, means increased productivity. Work
is taking place in record time and with greater quality, overall.
Teamwork is less dreaded, as everyone stays connected through
cloud-based systems and always-on technology. Collaboration increases,
and performance thrives. Not only that, but they are saving money by
cutting costs to overhead expenses and salary expectations.
“With many more job openings
than workers to fill them, job seekers can better leverage the current
tight labor market to land a job that offers the opportunity to work
remotely, which has become a high priority for today’s workforce,”
explained Sara Sutton, founder and
CEO of FlexJobs. “As leaders in the remote work industry, we want job
seekers to be aware that the remote job marketplace covers more than one
or two industries, and remote jobs are available across different
career levels as well,” she concluded.
1. Account Manager | Average: $52K/year Account
managers can be found at a variety of companies. Their tasks typically
involve managing client accounts and relationships. Account managers may
ensure client deliverables are met by running status meetings or giving
presentations. Some account manager roles may involve sales and travel.
2. Accountant | Average: $50K/year Accountants
handle a multitude of financial-related tasks such as invoices,
billing, taxes, payments, and more. Remote accountants can typically
work from home easily utilizing general accounting or company-specific
software.
3. Bookkeeper | Average:$41K/year Bookkeepers
typically prepare financial reports, allocate and verify accounts,
reconcile accounts, perform audits, and more. Bookkeepers are often
needed to work from home and usually require previous accounting
experience.
4. Business Development Manager | Average: $71K/year Business
development managers typically work to gain new clients and business
via phone, emails, in-person meetings, and video calls. Most remote
business development managers need to have sales experience, and some
positions may require specific knowledge of an industry.
5. Client Services Director | Average: $87.5K/year Client
services director positions involve handling client relationships.
Duties typically include making sales pitches, developing client
relationships, and identifying client needs. While there are many remote
work offerings, many client services director jobs do require travel.
6. Customer Service Representative | Average: $37K/year Remote
customer service representatives assist customers via email, phone,
chat, or social media. Customer service reps typically find themselves
answering product questions, helping resolve problems, and potentially
selling services to customers as well.
7. Developer | Average: $70K/year Software
developers can come with a variety of titles, such as front-end
developer, back-end developer, iOS developer, and JavaScript developer,
to name a few. Typical duties include programming, developing, and
architecting software, websites, apps, or products.
8. Medical Coder | Average pay $41K/year Medical
coders assign and validate appropriate procedural and diagnostic codes
in a medical setting. Specific certifications are often required, such
as RHIA, RHIT, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, or CPC-H.
9. Nurse | Average: $63K/year Remote
nurses provide support via phone or video conferencing to answer patient
questions. Some travel to patients’ homes to provide care. Remote
nurses need to be excellent communicators and able to coordinate with
doctors and other medical professionals in a virtual capacity.
10. Online Tutor | Average: $35K/year Remote
tutors are needed for all grade levels, including college. Tutoring can
be conducted via phone, email, or video chat and a bachelor’s degree or
expertise in the subject being tutored is typically required.
11. Speech Language Pathologist | Average: $60K/year Speech-language
pathologists provide speech therapy services by conducting evaluations,
creating treatment plans, and writing progress reports. Remote speech
pathologists are most often hired by medical or educational companies
and utilize online software and video conferencing to perform tasks from
home.
12. Teacher | Average: $46K/year Remote
teachers utilize online platforms to teach students via video or voice.
Much like in-person teachers, virtual teachers may grade student work,
hold conferences with parents, and provide one-on-one student
assistance.
13. Virtual Assistant | Average: $35K/year Virtual
assistants provide administrative support to individuals, teams, or
companies. Some tasks include handling correspondence, answering phones,
booking travel, helping customers or clients, and more.
14. Writer | Average: $49K/year A
quintessential work-from-home job, writers can find jobs writing on a
wide variety of topics and for a wide variety of companies. Those
wanting freelance or part-time options can find a plethora, while
full-time employee positions exist as well.
Disclaimer:
All job descriptions were provided by FlexJobs.com and unaltered to
provide our readers with more accurate insight, directly from the
source.
Capella University (News – Alert) has released a 2015 State of the Industry report
that breaks down how businesses are spending over $1200 a year on
employee training and development. Employees are spending 32 hours per
year in training associated with managerial and supervisory positions,
mandatory training and compliances. While it is never a bad idea to
provide development opportunities to your internal teams, what are you
doing to keep them?
According to TechTarget, “Employee engagement strategy improves the customer experience.”
In fact, more businesses have placed employee engagement strategy on
their “to do” lists than ever before. They have realized that the most
important element in truly optimized customer experience starts with the
employees, who are now being considered customers themselves.
With continuous turnover, many companies train employees that don’t
stick around long enough to provide a great return on investment. With a
revolving door, companies lose resources to time, training dollars and
customer loyalties. Without a justifiable ROI, providing employee perks
is simply a waste of funds. Training, which is required to keep
employees at their highest potential, is limited. And companies are less
willing to hire entry-level professionals.
The problem is, these businesses are realizing that the entry-level
professional is the new millennial generation, which is shaping the
world with globalization and technology innovations. So, they are
returning to the drawing board to figure out how they may better serve
the servers. The underlying answer to many issues in the workforce just
so happens to be employee tenure.
With contact centers blossoming for enterprise businesses, they are
learning that many contact center representatives are feeling that their
jobs are too redundant, taking up too much time, are too complex for
basic tasks or simply aren’t satisfying their need for immediacy.
Because many of these employees grew up with technology, completing a
task in more than one click is just doing too much. The employee
experience is everything. In fact, understanding your employee base will
allow you to minimize turnover and increase engagement.
By understanding the average consumer, we notice a trend in
abandonment when consumers lose patience, focus and care for a system
that is too complex or just doesn’t perform well. Lags make them switch
channels, and pauses lead them to refresh. Entering the same data into
multiple systems has led to this issue.
Without the adoption of centralized systems and single user
interfaces, the employee is faced with repetitive action across
platforms until they finally reach their destination. If it’s not
immediate, they don’t want it. If a job isn’t satisfying, they are quick
to leave. And, what does that do for the employer? …Nothing but waste
time! K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid!
In fact, how can a contact center evolve if the representatives leave at the first hiccup?
How can contact centers better serve the customer experience if the
employees can’t focus? How will the customers be satisfied if the
employees don’t care? How is this affecting our pockets as employers?
How is this affecting the evolution of our contact centers? There are so
many questions and only a few answers.
Toggling between systems is not the answer. Streamlining processes
and adopting more efficient technologies, however, might be the answer.
But, equipping our teams with tools that make sense to them is
definitely the answer.
With the integration of many third-party vendors, many of our
omnichannel systems are seeing an increase in productivity,
communication and collaboration… even on the go! Team members are
enjoying the ability to work together, and they are providing effective
even while outside the office. Developing an employee to become even
better makes sense. A happy employee is a productive employee.
Productive team members teach each other. The need for basic training
becomes less of an issue. The finance, instead, is there to provide
training that will allow employees to become power teams, working
together on behalf of a common goal.
Allowing representatives to focus on the customer, as opposed to
complex systems, makes all the difference in the world. It allows them
to quickly diffuse escalating situations and solve problems. It cuts
call times down, and it increases the number of customers serviced in
particular amount of time – without burning out our workforce. In 2016,
we will most definitely see an increase in customer satisfaction. We
will see happier employees, as well.
When life takes the backseat and we spend more time in transit than preparing a meal, we often forget how important it is to continuously invent self, evolve, and stay ahead of trends. We often forget how to keep learning and adopting new skills; how to form educated opinions, backed by research and facts. And, most importantly, we forget how to breathe.
In a world run by technology, there are many executive professionals that remain computer illiterate. This is fine. Many of them can afford secretaries and administrative assistants to help them progress in an innovative direction. At the same time, they are restricting themselves, hindering growth, and spending time in areas that could be streamlined through technology. That time could be spent focused on taking their brands to the next level. In short, the business world isn’t progressing as rapidly as it could be, and the younger generation is looking to us for cues.
Mentorship is amazing because we can get shortcuts to decision-making methods, adopt specific processes, and learn things about our industries that we never knew we never knew. We learn details about business that are either kept “hush, hush” or just not shared amongst “newbies.” We learn so much, but then we lose the need to go to our mentors other than for advice. We forget how valuable they continue to be to our growth. Sometimes, we even outgrow those mentors to where there is nothing that can really be learned from them.
So, let’s talk about innovation. For every hardware or software technology that you have ever learned and implemented into your daily workday, there have been upgrades…unless the company closed its doors to the public. Not upgrading software over the course of a few years can make a huge difference. Not upgrading from one version to the next can make a huge difference.
For example: Audio engineers who stayed true to their Focusrite devices and didn’t upgrade from 6.7 LE until version 8 or 9 came out were in for a big change. While many of the smart keys stayed the same, much of the system had been rearranged with a newly designed and more aesthetic interface. Now, in version 12, you can bet that buffers, plugins, and bugs have been upgraded or fixed and made more efficient. If you’re an audio engineer, you understand exactly what this means. If you’re not, this idea is definitely transferable to multiple platforms in technology. As a matter of fact, I am still upset that Safari seems to have removed the “activity” window in its most recent upgrade. I relied on that for quickly locating files that were in use on a web page at that particular moment.
Changing technologies force us into quickly learning and adopting new ways of doing things, based on immediate need. What would happen if we simply learned for the sake of learning? How much more results-oriented would we be when implementing our new technologies or adopting them for the benefits that they could bring? Technology aside, why aren’t we consistently picking up soft skills that will add to our value in the marketplace? Why aren’t we finding ways to combine our knowledge of one subject with the next in creating something interesting?
I’m sure your answer was that you have no time. Am I right? Consider this: While you are in the car, the most cliché thing you can do is listen to an audiotape. Why don’t you do it? Today, you don’t need to rely on tapes. You can find videos or audio on just about any subject through your mobile device. You can even download audiobook players that will keep you occupied for hours and return you right back to where you left off, no matter which device you are accessing the information from. While this is so easy to do, there are many that would rather not know about something to have the excuse that they “don’t know how.” The same goes for basic software and programming skills. If you’re a hands-on person, learn management. If you’re a supervisor, learn something technical.
If you work in marketing, content creation, or design strategies, you probably have seen where your chances of getting a particular job or client would be heightened if only you knew how to do minor coding, use some unknown software program, or work with WordPress. While you are a superstar in marketing, you hate showing numbers for fear that you present them wrong. After all, you can read them and understand them, but explaining numbers is just not your forte. You need to change this quickly! It’s time you stop letting these fears get the best of you. Just go for it. Immersing yourself in learning is the best way to gain new skills. In addition to audiobooks, ebooks, tutorials, and user-generated classes, there are free mobile apps available to help you evolve through interactive quizzes and games. They can be fun, and many reward you with official certifications that always appeal to your clients and bosses.
Any seasoned professional agrees that while rebranding isn’t a great option, reinventing yourself every so many years is almost inevitable. You must evolve to meet technology advances. In order to be ahead of the game, you become an early adopter. This will keep you ahead of industry trends and ensure that you will impact the revenue of your company for the better. As markets saturate, and the less evolved you become, the less business you will continue to keep. If you want to maximize your value and salary, do whatever it takes to make business happen for you. Take risks. Network.
Or don’t. The choice is yours.
Whatever you do, don’t forget to be a lifelong student of progress.
