Category Archives: Sales Career Advice

By Donna Fuscaldo

Low morale can be infectious and it only takes one employee to poison an entire office. If left unchecked, it can actually cripple a company, regardless of its size.

“The most common examples of morale issues are the hardest to discern and potentially the most dangerous,” says Laura T. Kerekes, chief knowledge officer at human resources consulting company, Think HR. “It’s where employees are physically present on the job but not engaged emotionally.”

Once morale becomes an issue, companies are apt to experience productivity problems that can hurt the bottom line. For instance, workers may take more time off, take longer to complete assignments and spend more time gossiping about the wrong doings of the company or supervisor, says Kerekes. If the situation isn’t corrected, really disgruntled employees may engage in workplace sabotage and even violence.

But a company doesn’t have to let it get that far. Taking a few proactive steps will ensure low morale doesn’t become a company-wide issue.

“If low morale is present managers have to take a really proactive stance on it and have to identify the cause,” says Paul McDonald, senior executive director of Robert Half International. “If you don’t address it, it takes on a life of its own and sends the rumor mill into overdrive.” 

According to human resources experts, good managers will always have their pulse on the morale of his or her employees and will be able to know immediately if morale is starting to dip. But knowing and doing are two different things, which means if a company wants to prevent the low morale from spreading, they have to address it head on with the employee as soon as they get a whiff of it.

“Having the emotional intelligence and savvy to know what employees are thinking and feeling, and being able to nip issues that may have a negative impact on morale in the bud before they have a chance to spread is critical to a company’s overall success,” says Kerekes. “In my experience, morale issues get out of hand when the situation is allowed to fester and leadership is ignoring or avoiding the tough conversation in the hopes that it will correct itself.”

According to McDonald, managers need to meet with their direct reports formally and informally on a regular basis both in groups and one-on-one if they want to quickly identify any changes in morale. McDonald also says managers that go out of their way to reward employees for a job well done are less likely to suffer from morale problems than those that never reward their employees. “Many times the recognition is left to the HR department. The best managers tailor it to each person and don’t leave it up to HR,” says McDonald.

While low morale can come out of nowhere, usually when it’s widespread, it’s due to changes in the company, whether it’s a new business direction or layoffs, and a lack of communication on the topic. That’s why it’s important for the company to communicate with its employees, especially if there are big changes adrift. According to Kerekes, if managers watch for signs of low morale like reduced productivity and actively communicate what they can share about what’s happening in the business, they have a good shot of isolating the morale issues and correcting it before it gets out of hand.

If the low morale is coming from one person, experts say it’s critical that someone within the company, preferably a manager or supervisor, sits down with the person to figure out what’s going on. The complaints may be something that is easily fixed. If the manager can’t rectify it, it’s time to get HR involved. If the company bashing still doesn’t end or the person’s work suffers the best option may be to let the disgruntled employee go. “You don’t want to jump to that conclusion first,” cautions McDonald.

Even if it’s one person that’s creating all the problems, the company shouldn’t treat the incident in isolation. Yes, the manager has to speak one-on-one to the unhappy employee but they should also assume more employees are suffering from low morale. “Even when an employee says ‘we all feel the same way,’ it is incumbent on the leader to follow up with each team member to understand the issues and to problem solve for workable solutions,” says Kerekes.

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Donna Fuscaldo is a freelance journalist hailing out of Long Island, New York. Donna writes for numerous online publications including FoxBusiness.com, Bankrate.com, AARP.com, Insurance.com and Houselogic.com. As a personal finance reporter for years, Donna provides invaluable advice on everything from saving money to landing that dream job. She also writes a weekly column for FoxBusiness.com focused on technology for small businesses. Previously, Donna was an equities reporter for Dow Jones Newswires and a special contributor to the Wall Street Journal. Through the Glassdoor Blog, Donna will provide tips on how to find a job and more importantly keep it.

By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter

A plethora of articles are written about the value of boomers looking younger and behaving more youthfully to succeed in the perceived (and sometimes very real) youth culture of job search.

This runs the gamut from dressing more hip, brightening dreary hair, honing your tech savvy, and going from flabby to fit. Many of these tips are crucial to remaining competitive in a particularly tough job market.

Unfortunately, this drumbeat often skews the reality. In fact, there are several characteristics age and experience give you that help you in your job search:

1. Forward-Looking. Many ‘older workers’ are ahead of the curve with or without the unending advice. They are leading the way with fit, futuristic attitudes, current training and skills in technology and social media. As a bonus, they offer a sea of experience that surpasses many of their younger colleagues.

2. Vital. Many are also as physically fit and energetic as their Gen-Y colleagues – if not more – running 5Ks, participating in marathons or trimming body fat and enlivening their attitude through vigorous weightlifting routines. They are motivated to maintain their health and vitality on many levels. 

3. Modernistic. As a matter of fact, experienced, action-focused leaders are at the helm of turnaround leadership, tsunamic change and culture shifts that require they be upending their own knowledge – as well as that of their teams – in rapid-fire speed.  This urgent, lean and uber-competitive business landscape naturally weans out the slackards, slow learners and low-energy drags and pulls to the front highly focused and inspired competitors.

4. Strategic. Being a great competitor often requires strategy, and strategy often leans on a deep resource pool of (years of) experience and real-life case study scenarios from which to draw. While stories of ambitious high school or college graduates grabbing the golden rung of financial and entrepreneurial success at a tender young age abound, the reality is success is the fruit of a laborious path of hard work, experience and a dash of luck. Many of the top-talent is still like fine wine that has been aged, over time, to a more robust result.

5. Sophisticated. In fact, companies offering sophisticated products and services often rely upon mature and worldly candidates to market, sell or operate their business solutions.  Moreover, older adults who have endured the concept to conclusion of a corporate transformation often are tapped for roles requiring calm amidst chaos and patience to untangle complexity. They have proven they can help steer a slow-moving ship back on course.

While the value of older workers continues to be debated, the facts remain that the value of experience and the stories that fuel that experience are compelling. If you are a more mature, boomer worker worn down by the constant drumbeat that younger is better, consider a paradigm shift. Get to know your stories better and how to articulate them powerfully and succinctly to your target audience. Believe in your wise value.

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Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter is a Glassdoor career and workplace expert, chief career writer and partner with CareerTrend, and is one of only 28 Master Resume Writers (MRW) globally. An intuitive researcher, she helps professionals unearth compelling career story details to help best present their unique experience, skillset and interests in resumes and other career positioning documents as well as through social media profiles. In addition to being interviewed for television and radio stories, Jacqui has written for the Career Management Alliance Connection monthly newsletter and blog, ExecuNet’s Career Smart Advisor, The Kansas City Star, The Business Journal and The Wall Street Journal. In addition, she and her husband, “Sailor Rob,” host a lively careers-focused blog over at http://careertrend.net/blog. Jacqui also is a power Twitter user listed on several “Best People to Follow” lists for job seekers.

By Heather R. Huhman

An informational interview is exactly what it sounds like: It is a way to learn information about a career path, an industry, a specific organization or even a specific job. An informational interview is not a job interview. Instead, it is an opportunity to talk to a person who has a job you are curious about. It can help you find answers to the questions you have not had the opportunity to ask.

Everyone always stresses the importance of networking. An informational interview is your chance to develop a new relationship. You might not get a job out of it, but they might give you contacts at other companies and useful advice. You might even hit it off so well that you can turn to this person as a mentor in the future.Remember: In an informational interview, you should build a relationship first and ask for favors second.

Before the Interview

Once you’ve decided on a person you’d like to interview, starting by trying to find personal connections. Reintroduce yourself to someone you’ve met. If you have a mutual contact, ask for an introduction. If you can’t find someone to make the connection, do it yourself by sending them an article you think might be of interest. Tell them you want to learn more about their job or organization. 

The next step is research. This applies to both the person you plan to meet with and the organization. Just like with a job interview, if you want to be impressive you need to prove you’ve done your homework. Use what you learn to prepare a long list of interview questions about their job, organization, or industry.

During the Interview

Dress professionally and carry yourself like any other job interview. The difference here is you will ask a lot more questions. Remember: Do not ask for a job. They know you want one, but don’t talk about your experience unless they ask.

This is your chance to ask as many interview questions as you want. Ask about the organization’s culture, employees, and supervisors to see if you would be a good fit. Ask about how they got their current role. Ask about the expectations for entry-level positions. Maybe even ask for a quick tour. You can learn a lot during an informational interview, so be sure to take notes.

After the Interview

When the interview is wrapping up, thank them and ask how to return the favor. You want to establish a mutually beneficial relationship. They took the time out of their busy day to speak with you. Show that you want to reciprocate their kindness.

Just as with all interviews, send a thank you note to the interviewer. Because there is no rush like after a job interview, this is the perfect opportunity to write the note by hand. Be specific in your note.

Maintain a relationship with your new contact. Connect on social media if you haven’t already. If you use advice they gave or meet with someone they refer you to, send another email to keep them in the loop. They’ll appreciate learning how they helped you.

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Heather R. Huhman is a Glassdoor career and workplace expert, experienced hiring manager, and founder & president of Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for job search and human resources technologies. She is also the instructor of Find Me A Job: How To Score A Job Before Your Friends, author of Lies, Damned Lies & Internships (2011) and#ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), and writes career and recruiting advice for numerous outlets.