Why do we spend so much time, effort and energy on getting better at what we are no good at? Why do we spend so much time trying to improve our weaknesses? Because that is how we were conditioned, that is what everyone always told us. You are no good at this, you need to spend your time working on it and getting better. So that is what we do, instead of spending time getting better at what we are already good at, we spend time in the weak areas. What are the results, now we are a bit better at our weakness and no better in our strengths?

If on a scale of one to ten you are a two at something, you might with much time, effort and energy become a four, but so what? People do not pay for being fours; they pay people for being nines and tens. Translation, start working on your strengths and become great at them.

Did I just dream all this up? I am not that smart. Most of this came from an excellent CD I was listening to. We have not yet discussed John C. Maxwell, but he is one of the great authorities on leadership. While on vacation I had the opportunity to listen to one of his great CD's, which talked about this area. It talked about building your strengths and getting great at what you are good at. The author, John, was discussing Marcus Buckingham (remember "First Break all the Rules) in his new book, "Now Discover your Strengths". The thesis of the book, getting better at what you are good at.

When I reflect on the book, it makes such great sense, but first we have to get by all that conditioning we grew up with. How many of us, how many of our managers and leaders spend their time trying to get better at what they aren't any good at. John Maxwell on his CD sets a great example. "Remember when you came home from school with an "A" in Math and a "C" in English, what did they tell you, good math grade, now spend your time getting that English grade up. But, what this process is telling you is you are not that good at English, and even with tremendous work, you might only be fair, but you are a Math person, so get great at Math. Don't spend your time getting fair at English; spend your time becoming great at Math.

I know, I know, it is hard to swallow for some of you out there. But take time and look back on your own life and tell me how successful have you been at taking what you were not any good at and becoming great at it? Please send me the stories.

If you are a great sales person, then work at becoming an even great sales person, that is what people will pay you for, which is what will make you successful. If you are good at leading people, then get even better at it. Spend your time, energy and resources at taking those things, which you are good at and become great. People will pay you for what you are great at.

If you suck at selling, then hire a top-notch person to sell for you. If you are bad at organization, then find someone to organize your life for you. If you cannot deal well with people, but are a super designer, then design and let someone else handle the people. Do what you are good at and become great at it.

What I have presented here is a different way of looking at your abilities. However, when you spend sometime thinking about it, and you get the book, "Now Discover your Strengths" take the test, and then let me know what you think.

I hope this generates some email back to question me. However, let's face it, take some time, find out what you are best at, and become great at it. It will help you and your organization to become great.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Manny_Nowak

Employees take time off work for all sorts of reasons, and sick days cost employers lots of productivity and wasted wages every year. When a member of staff goes off work long term this becomes a real problem. Other colleagues have to cover for them and this can become stressful if they take an extra workload for a prolonged period. You also have the problems of poor customer service because clients suddenly don't have their contact at your office any more. Others have to pick up tasks they may not know much about and they may feel less supported. You also have to continue paying the sick employee's wages, when they aren't actually bringing in any money for your company.

Why do people go off work for long periods of time? If they have a physical illness this is understandable as long as the illness lasts, but afterwards it can be because of a mental health problem. Mental health is often misunderstood because it's not visible, but the effects on work can be catastrophic. People who become depressed following an illness aren't likely to want to go back to work, so even if you've kept a job open for them it might be in vain. The longer someone spends away from work, particularly if it's mental-health related, the less chance there is of them ever coming back.

Employers actually have a legal obligation to help employees back into work. This is because the reason for absence is treated as a disability and it would be discriminatory not to provide reasonable assistance. This could be anything from letting them work different hours so that they can attend therapy sessions, to providing other tasks they can perform. For example, if an employee is off work because a particular task gave them stress, they could do something else instead.

It can be quite difficult to know how far to intervene, especially if the employee suffers from a mental health problem. Generally you should keep in touch but without being intrusive - don't pester them to come back but let them know that you're concerned and will provide help if they want it. It's very important to identify the specific issues that are affecting the employee, because then you can try to overcome them and remove whatever obstacles are stopping them from returning. If necessary, employers have a duty to provide access to services like therapy that would help the employee to overcome their difficulties.

Apart from the legal obligation, there are other reasons why it's better to retain existing employees. Firstly you don't have to spend money trying to hire someone else, potentially having the post empty for a while before someone fills it. Your sick employee might have a lot of skill and knowledge of the job, so it's better to get them to come back even if it's just to train their colleagues. Removing the obstacles to work is also a far more productive idea than just waiting for the employee to overcome them alone - it shows that you're constructive as an employer and means that you also try every avenue before going down the termination route if all else fails.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sylvia_Kittens

By now, the debate whether to develop a candidate list in-house or to contract that effort to an outside staffing firm has been had way too many times. The downside of using a hiring agent fades to nothing once a corporate human resources team finds the RIGHT staffing firm to work with day after day.

To begin with, by delegating what can be a tedious and arduous task, in-house human resource departments can be freed to perform other vital tasks, like employee management and people/ employee development. When that role is fully embraced, the need to hire externally diminishes greatly. Company efforts (and resources) can be poured into developing their own mid-level managers to take on bigger roles at executive levels. Additionally, junior employees will not only see room to grow, but they will be exposed to more exciting, growth oriented tasks every day.

The added value of keeping and growing a powerful force of employees who grow together in the same corporate environment and create a cultural history together is beyond measure. As hiring is delegated to a trusted team year after year, costs actually decrease. The revolving door and expense of headcount and training becomes far less draining on a corporation.

Another key element that an outside staffing firm brings to the table is objectivity. By working with the corporate HR team, an agent can be well versed in the skillset and background needed for a position, as well as providing an outside point of view regarding personality, corporate fit, and performance under pressure. These are the four legs of a great hire: skillset and background, corporate fit, personality, and poise.

It is often simply too difficult to flush out all four when challenged with a) an endless list of applicants, and b) the multitude of other tasks that any corporate team must accomplish. The process of finding candidates, pre-qualifying them, interviewing, etc., etc., as well as background and reference checks can be mind boggling. In this shaky economy, just one ad can get hundreds of applicants ranging from Ph.D.s to high school grads. Sorting through those applicants to determine who might be right for the position and their reasons for looking for a new position to begin with is well delegated to a trusted partner.

And that is definitely what a staffing firm should be. Parsing out needed positions to five or six agencies is not only chaotic, it is also ineffective. It still leaves the corporate HR team interviewing many candidates from a variety of sources - an effort not so different from conducting the search on their own would have been.

Working with one "partner" with a great reputation and a long-standing presence in the employment industry is a risk well worth taking. By cultivating that relationship over years, an outside hiring specialist can become a valuable asset and, ironically, a cost-saving tool to any business, and allow the internal team to cultivate and grow great human beings to fuel their company for years to come. Finding that partner and developing that relationship definitely takes time, but like all great teams, once it takes hold, it's magic.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Catherine_Palmiere