That is one of my favorite pieces of career advice, especially good for anyone who’s just starting in a field. Or perhaps you prefer this approach: “Play to your strengths.”

Those two pieces of smart advice can ignite your career, taking it from a struggling flicker of flame to a huge roaring bonfire, big enough for a dozen people to toast their toes or their marshmallows.

When you use your strengths, you are likely to light up the room and succeed. And you also may feel happier, more energetic and productive, according to a new survey by Gallup.

People who use their strengths for seven or more hours a day are far more likely to say they have enough energy to get things done, compared to those who used their strengths for three or fewer hours.  In fact, the more time they say they use their strengths each day, the more likely they are to report being happy, learning something interesting and smiling or laughing a lot, the Gallup survey found.

And stress? Half the people who use their strengths for zero to three hours a day say they experienced it yesterday, compared to about one-third of those who use their strengths most hours.

The Gallup phone survey contacted 5,049 adults; it found that 43 percent of Americans spend seven or more hours a day using their best skills and attributes – though for women that rose to 47 percent.  Besides polling, Gallup offers the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment tool and strengths coaching seminars and tools.

Why does using your strengths send stress flying and happiness rising? “They tend to be doing things where when you’re doing them, you feel more energized, more interested in what you’re doing,” said Jim Asplund, Gallup’s chief scientist in the strengths-based development area. A loop develops – you do things where you excel and get positive feedback, so your self-image improves. The work seems easy and even joyful. You feel more connected to work and may even build more rapport with your colleagues, Asplund said. “You feel a sense of ownership of the work.”

Women are more likely to use their strengths for more hours a day than men, the Gallup poll found, and a few people said they use their strengths 24 hours a day – even in their sleep!  The unemployed were the least likely to use their strengths, Asplund noted.

So here’s a few ways we can fire up our strengths at work:             

1. Write them down. If you cannot come up with a good list, consider what bosses have told you in the past. Ask others about your best attributes, suggests Larina Kase, a motivational speaker and coach from Philadelphia who runs a blog on building confidence in children. If you’re still looking for your strengths, look back to a very challenging project or moment and visualize what internal resources you relied on – and write those down.

2. Super-size your strengths. Even if you have an amazing ability to spot and develop talent or design a wonderful user interface, you could still grow those skills. Focus on expanding your core talents. Read blogs by the best of the best; go to conferences and seminars to really light your strengths on fire.

3. Expand your ratios.  Most jobs will contain a mix of tasks – some that play to your strengths and others that you can barely stand to do.  Find a way to increase that ratio toward your best and talk to your boss about how this will make you more energized. Simply by knowing your key strengths, you may become 8 to 12 percent more productive, Gallup research shows, and using your strengths could increase it even more as well as add to your self-confidence and reduce the chances that you’ll be talking to a recruiter anytime soon.

So fire up your strengths, and bask in the warmth of happiness and success.

3 Ways To Flex Your Best Work Muscles is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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1. 9 Ways To Limit Distractions At Work
2. Work Smarter, Not Harder–Here’s How
3. Six Ways To Help You Become More Productive At Work

In his book, Better than Average: Excelling in a Mediocre World, Todd Brockdorf offers 11 suggestions (because 10 is average) for making an impression:

1. Understand expectations and exceed them.
Always make a point to ask clarifying questions to be sure you understand the task at hand, and then over deliver. “Know when the work product is expected so that you can properly prioritize your tasks,” says Brockdorf. “If your boss asks you to complete your monthly report by the close of business on the first Friday of the month, send it on Thursday.” When you provide something unexpected, you will leave a positive and lasting impression.

2. Make small miracles happen.
“Become known as a trusted resource who can save the project. Pull off the end-of-the-month sale that puts the team above quota. Find the cash in the budget to make payroll,” Brockdorf notes. If you can overachieve, you’ll stand out from the crowd and become the go-to leader when the going gets tough.

3. Demonstrate leadership.
Leadership is more than just a title. According to Brockdorf, “Leadership is about taking responsibility. Responsibility for your actions, your in-actions, and most importantly, your faults.” How can you be an effective leader? Organize projects, start initiatives, and suggest improvements. When you take responsibility for your area, it makes a difference to the people within the organization who make decisions about your career path.

4. Network up, down, and across.
Become “that guy” who seems connected to everyone in the organization. While you don’t need to know the answer to every question, Brockdorf suggests: “Always know who can answer every question.” Start early – create relationships with people in collaborating departments so when you are in a tight spot or need help, you will have a network of colleagues willing, ready, and able to help you. You’ll want to also maintain a strong network outside your company, though you shouldn’t underestimate how important it is to have strong, in-organization ties.

5. Volunteer for challenging projects.
Who doesn’t want to work with the colleague who can get anything done, and who isn’t afraid to step up to the plate when the going gets tough? Stand out from the crowd by being the hero. Brockdorf explains: “If you are willing to accept projects that are not guaranteed to succeed and can turn those opportunities into wins, you will be revered by your peers and superiors.” One thing to keep in mind: Be sure to seek out tasks that play to your strengths, so you’ll have a better chance to hit it out of the park.

6. Work where you’re needed, not where you’re deserved.
We all deserve to work with the top performers, the best teams, and the most successful projects. “However, that’s not where you are needed,” according to Brockdorf. “You are more valuable working on struggling products, with the challenging employees who show great promise, and improving the inefficient processes.” Think about where you can make a significant difference and move quickly.

7. Be known for something.
Everyone loves someone who is always reliable. You might be the guy who knows how to sooth an irate customer. You could be the woman who can always close an important deal. Or, you could simply be known as the person who can usually fix the jammed copier. (Who wants to let that guy leave?) “Be an expert in something. It demonstrates your value to the office, team, and company. When they think you’re more valuable, you’re no longer a number,” Brockdorf says.

8. Be present.
When your co-workers stop by your cube or your staff walks into your office, give them your full attention. Everyone loves a listener. If you pocket your iPhone, ignore incoming email, and always focus your attention on the people with you, it leaves a favorable impression, if only by comparison to the majority of the workforce. “If it is not a good time, politely send them away with a recommended time to return. When you are present with your co-workers and staff, your opinion, guidance, and wisdom will be more valued,” Brockdorf says.

9. Turn boring time into productive time.
Maybe you have to transpose numbers into a spreadsheet. Perhaps you need to package and ship the latest direct marketing mailing. Do what you can to turn that tedious chore into a learning opportunity. How? Brockdorf says: “Listen to the latest business bestselling audiobook. Take some mandatory Web-based video training. Listen to an educational podcast. Feed your brain to make the mindless task more productive.”

10. Do error-free work.
No one likes to redo anything. It wastes time, money, and energy. Become the person everyone knows will get it right the first time. How can you become that colleague? If you don’t know the proper way to do something, be confident enough to ask. Brockdorf notes: “I would rather have someone ask me a few questions up front than have to correct the errors later.” Mistakes happen, but if you are known to cause work errors, you’ll begin to stand out for all the wrong reasons.

11. Keep candy at your desk, preferably chocolate.
This one may not have a direct impact on your performance review, but it will help you build good rapport. You will become the most popular person in the office, and Brockdorf says, “Expect a crowd around 3 p.m.” – Originally posted on Aol Jobs by Miriam Salpeter

Secrets To Getting A Great Performance Review is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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1. Six Steps To Coping With A Tough Employee Performance Review
2. When Great Performance Won’t Get You A Promotion
3. The Pitfalls Of The Performance Review

But some companies are deciding not to do them.

While most continue to perform the awkward rite of passage once or twice a year, a few companies—about 1%—are scrapping the formality altogether, according to the Corporate Executive Board. The thinking is that performance reviews are angst-provoking and even ineffective in actually motivating workers.

Performance reviews have long received poor grades, even from those who conduct them. Nearly 60% of human-resources executives graded their own performance-management systems a C or below, according to a 2010 survey by Sibson Consulting Inc. and WorldatWork, a professional association. And one academic review of more than 600 employee-feedback studies found that two-thirds of appraisals had zero or even negative effects on employee performance after the feedback was given.

Last year, Atlassian Inc., a software company based in Sydney, Australia, embarked on a publicly blogged experiment, still in place today, in which it got rid of traditional performance reviews for its 450 workers.

Previously, employees were reviewed twice a year on a five-point scale, plotted on a distribution curve, which determined workers’ bonuses. But “instead of discussion about how to enhance people’s performance, the reviews caused disruptions, anxiety and demotivated team members and managers,” says Joris Luijke, the company’s vice president of talent.

In place of reviews, the company asked managers and subordinates to discuss performance and goals at pre-existing weekly one-on-one meetings. Feedback now goes both ways.

As a springboard for discussion, participants, using an online app, are asked to drag a dot along an axis to answer questions like, “How often have you stretched yourself?” Instead of writing up lengthy assessments, they note a few pointers on why they dragged the dot to a certain place.

The company also got rid of the distribution curve and individual performance bonuses, instead giving everyone an 8% salary bump, as well as group performance bonuses and stock options.

Traditional top-down performance reviews can also cause intimidation among employees and make them fearful of acknowledging weaknesses, says Samuel A. Culbert, a management professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and co-author of the book “Get Rid of the Performance Review!”

Still, some experts caution that scrapped performance reviews must be replaced with some form of feedback mechanism.

Without required, documented reviews, some employees may be able to slack off without repercussion. Others may fail to be recognized for their achievements.

Additionally, companies that bypass reviews say it places a lot of responsibility on both managers and employees to have those difficult conversations that can fall through the cracks when not mandated.

Other companies worry that failing to officially document performance can pose problems if an employee is let go.

For the University of Wisconsin Credit Union, giving up performance reviews didn’t work. When the company eliminated formal reviews in the 1990s, it didn’t replace them with another clear-cut feedback system. “There was a void,” says Lee Wiersma, chief human resources officer, who joined the Madison, Wis., company in 2000.

Since then, the company has gradually instituted semiannual performance reviews that are tied to pay and promotions. The performance criteria are based on the requirements found in a job description, which are updated regularly to stay current and realistic.

But other companies that have given up reviews have had more positive experiences. A yet-to-be published study, by researchers Vicki M. Scherwin, Jean-Francois Coget and Randall J. Kirner, examined 17 firms without formal performance appraisal systems. Those organizations all reported low turnover, high employee morale and strong relationships between managers and employees, among other benefits, found the study.

When feedback is “not going to be used to judge you or your fate in the company, you are more likely to be open about where you need to grow and it’s going to be far more effective,” says Dr. Coget of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Glenroy Inc., a Menomonee Falls, Wis., packaging-film manufacturer with 178 employees, has successfully operated without formal performance reviews for about 20 years.

“No one liked giving them. No one liked receiving them. We looked at each other and said, ‘Why are we doing this?’ ” says Nancy Seeger, Glenroy’s director of human resources.

Rich Buss, the company’s president, acknowledges that the informal appraisal system places a lot of responsibility on workers to be proactive about offering advice.

But the company has implemented management training sessions to help workers become more comfortable with giving and receiving feedback.

The company uses an outside salary consultant to determine pay based on the duties of the job and years of service. If managers and employees think they are ready for new responsibilities, workers are promoted to new positions at higher pay. – Originally posted on FINS from The Wall Street Journal by Rachel Emma Silverman

The Pitfalls Of The Performance Review is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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1. Six Steps To Coping With A Tough Employee Performance Review
2. Secrets To Getting A Great Performance Review
3. 6 Tips To Make Performance Reviews A Useful, Frequent And Fear-Free Tool For Growth

While most people dread reviews, they can be a really positive experience if they are frequent – almost real-time. In addition to supporting my theory that reviews should hold No Surprises for the reviewee, a weekly or monthly check-in can prevent the accumulation of bad feelings, grievances, shortcomings and transgressions. Managers would also benefit – they dread reviews as much as employees.

Here are 6 tips to make reviews a regular, straight-forward and helpful process:

1. Ask your manager for written objectives with specific ties to corporate goals. Take the objectives and tie them to a timeline of actions and tasks. Break this list into a monthly spreadsheet and prioritize tasks.
2. Set up a monthly objectives review with your manager, and make sure the spreadsheet it updated for those meetings.
3. If schedules allow, plan a weekly face-to-face that’s less formal but lets critical issues get the attention they deserve – before they go into the red zone.
4. Take notes during the face-to-face and the monthly meeting. Update your spreadsheet as needed and make sure to send a copy to your manager after the meeting.
5. Ask how things are going. Invite your manager to be direct. Don’t flinch if what you hear isn’t all roses; ask right then what steps the manager would like you to take to get things back on track.
6. Look for events and opportunities to learn, and include them in your spreadsheet – show the boss you’re in it for the long haul and interested in continuous improvement.

Of course, there are other things to keep track of that don’t fit into a spreadsheet. Remember to note your accomplishments and keep track of ways in which you have helped the company succeed.

Remember to leave time in your schedule and spreadsheet for the inevitable last-minute projects and distractions that always pop up. About 15 percent of your time should be reasonably free to manage time-sensitive, unplanned tasks.

Leave your emotions at the door during your monthly check-ins. This is a time to listen and learn, not a time to defend and react.

Monthly check-ins are a good way to do exception-handling and manage expectations. Your responsibilities are bound to evolve on a timeline that’s a lot shorter than 12 months, so treat this meeting as a time to evolve your job to the next level.

If your manager recommends improvements in one of your meetings, chances are it will be a slight mid-course correction and not a soul-killing rejection of your work. Treat performance appraisals as part of your routine, like checking for software updates and cleaning out your mailbox.  You’ll be on top of things and less likely to get an unpleasant surprise.

And always remember: your manager isn’t criticizing you, the person. He or she is setting expectations and making sure they are met. Constructive criticism is a lot easier to take in small doses. A once-a-month check-in can take the sting out of a request for a change in direction or attitude. 

Let us know if this approach helps you and your manager stay in alignment throughout the year.

6 Tips To Make Performance Reviews A Useful, Frequent And Fear-Free Tool For Growth is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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2. Six Steps To Coping With A Tough Employee Performance Review
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Below are five action steps to take for your next performance review that ideally will be part of an on-going, year-long dialogue with your manager.

1. Do you do meaningful work that contributes to the success of the company?

Every one wants to do meaningful work, or else we’d all pick up tin cans and go sit on street corners with hand-lettered signs. This is part employee responsibility, and part management’s. If you accept a job where the tasks and goals are not meaningful you have chosen poorly. You’ve broken the rule of seeking an employer where you can make a difference – one with a job that uses your skills, piques your curiosity, and displays culture fit. If your work has no meaning, if you can’t see a way clear to infusing your days with meaning, talk to your manager about changing it up. If he or she says no, clear out (unless you’re using the job as a way to keep food on the table while you write The Novel. If that’s the case, I have nothing for you.)

2. Do you understand the behaviors necessary to be successful at the company?

Back to culture fit. Every company has rules that govern your ability to be successful. Most are unwritten, and nearly all are about behavior. As I’ve written before, there’s a difference between personality and behavior. You might not be able to change your personality but it is within your ability to manage your behavior to achieve ‘fit’ with a company’s culture. For some companies, it’s all Alpha behavior.  To be successful you have to be quick, aggressive, a lone wolf and unsentimental. At others, it’s about the customer – you need to be empathetic, a problem-solver, a listener. Some are paternalistic and require getting along, even submissive behaviors – no questioning authority and a lot of raising your hand before speaking. Figure out these cultural ‘tells’ before you take the job, or you won’t be successful.

3. Do you receive the training necessary to ensure/maintain success?

This one’s for management. To grow, learn and be successful you need training. It’s more than knowing where the copier is; this is about knowing how to use all the tools the company has in place, from software to paid research to ‘local knowledge’ – the policy-and-process experiences of peers and superiors. If there’s no training, then ask for it, and make sure it ties directly to making you – and your manager – more successful.

4. Do you have a career plan, are you acting on it, and does your work at the company add to it?

This one’s for you, and ties back to culture fit and emotional intelligence. Where you work should be part of your larger career plan. Your manager should understand your career plan, at least as it relates to your current job and, say, the next job in the plan. You and your manager should be engaged in a continuous dialogue to ensure the work you do is additive to your career plan, and includes the challenges you need to move to the next level.

5. Do you receive regular/ongoing positive/constructive feedback that helps you improve your performance?

Performance monitoring and management is a commitment both you and your manager must undertake. This means a daily or weekly dialogue with your manager: you should always know where you stand. You should never be surprised by a negative review. Feedback should be constant and constructive, designed to help you reach your potential. If this is missing, time to confront it – or leave.

To ensure your review is transformative, not punitive, make sure your review covers these five points, which can ensure employee as well as management satisfaction.

Why do the five points explored above create an environment in which a review can be transformative? I think the combination is powerful -  constant dialogue, training, constructive feedback, behavior cues, awareness of and sympathy with your personal situation – with these as the broad guideposts for performance measurement, a good manager can help you do your job in a way that is transformative. If your job is transformative, so too will be your reviews. Success invites success most of the time.

What would you add about performance measurement?

Five Steps To Improve Your Performance Reviews is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

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1. Six Steps To Coping With A Tough Employee Performance Review
2. 6 Tips To Make Performance Reviews A Useful, Frequent And Fear-Free Tool For Growth
3. The Pitfalls Of The Performance Review

So how do you handle tough criticism from your boss, especially if you weren’t expecting it or think it’s unjustified? How can you stay motivated when tough news hits?

I advise employees to take a six-step approach: prepare, compartmentalize, listen, record, review and plan next steps. Let’s break it down step by step, and you’ll see that although we’re not listing ‘defend yourself’, there is ample opportunity to do just that.

Prepare

Your performance review is around the corner. You have a date. Arm yourself with a copy of your job description. Review it carefully against what you’ve accomplished in the review period. Have you met your goals? Write your accomplishments down, and note the ways in which they have helped your manager be successful and helped the company thrive. If you haven’t met your goals, know why and have an answer. Were you pulled off a task and given an emergency to manage? Did a colleague leave and you inherited their tasks without an adjustment to your job description? Make the list: what you did, what slipped and why, what changed and how you managed through the change. Make sure to note where your work benefitted the company.

Compartmentalize

You’ve done your prep: now it’s time to psych yourself up for the actual review. There’s nothing worse than trying to control your emotions when you’re vulnerable. So don’t. Here’s the trick: this is not about you, the wonderful, smart, multi-dimensional and lovable person. It’s about your performance against a job description. Compartmentalize your feelings and go into the review with your emotions locked down. Be clinical. Be an observer, a listener. There’s plenty of time for emotion after.

Listen

This is the most important thing you should do. Listen to all that is said, not just the words but also the subtle body language of the reviewer. Since you’ve already compartmentalized your emotions, keep a neutral, open look on your face as you listen.

Record

Take good notes. Cut and paste your job description into a document with a space under each goal for notes. If your responsibilities changed but the written goals didn’t, add a section to cover that, with dates.  Your manager should give you the review document; if they do, take notes on that as well.

Review

Here’s where the preparation, compartmentalization, note-taking and listening pay off. Review what you’ve heard from your manager right then, point by point. Here’s your opportunity to say (unemotionally) ‘In July my responsibilities increased, but my goals weren’t adjusted to reflect the change. Here’s how I managed that change, and here are the benefits to the company.’ Don’t argue; just get it on the record. Repeat the manager’s recommendations for improvements so both of you can acknowledge you’ve heard the message. If things are seriously out of whack, ask for a second meeting where you can present revised goals for the coming year.

Plan next steps

After the review, take your notes and the manager’s recommendations and look at your job description. Where are the deltas? Revise your job description with two things in mind: creating goals with which you can be successful, and supporting your manager so he or she looks successful to upper management. Now is the time for the second meeting, where you can (un-emotionally) present a revised set of goals for the coming period, with rationale for the change.

What if the news was so bad you’re verklempt?

Say you were totally blindsided by the review. Maybe your manager was hostile in the delivery. Maybe it looks like there is no hope you can be successful in this organization. You have a couple of options: revise your resume and start looking, or dig in and seek motivation – not from external sources, but from within.

Deciding it’s time to find a new position is not an admission of defeat or incompetence; it may just be time to move on in your career. Jobs change, organizations change, people change. Re-read the book “Who Moved My Cheese” (it will take 25 minutes) and think about the things that were good about your job, when and how it went sideways, and what you are best at. Then do two things: try as hard as you can to do a good job in the now while you look for the next career opportunity.

Or you can decide to hang tight and take the challenge offered to you in the review. Take the revised set of goals and make sure your manager is on board. Then look for inspiration not from the organization, but from within: what are your strongest skills? Where is your value to the workplace? What are three things you can change right away to put yourself back on the path to success?

Keep in mind that criticism is most often not about you the person; it’s about a set of expectations the organization has for someone doing a specific job. Criticism can be a powerful force for change and enlightenment, if you don’t personalize it.

In my next post, we’ll talk about five steps you and your manager can take to make sure you’re in alignment throughout the year. Until then, please let us know what you think.

Six Steps To Coping With A Tough Employee Performance Review is a post from: Glassdoor Blog

Related posts:

1. Five Steps To Improve Your Performance Reviews
2. Secrets To Getting A Great Performance Review
3. The Pitfalls Of The Performance Review