Career Archives - Page 18 of 22

August 31, 2016August 23, 2016

News You Can Use: 8/31/2016

After IBM & GE, even SAP ditches annual reviews

SAP’s human resources head for Germany, Wolfgang Fassnacht, said Europe’s biggest software maker had found the annual review process, with its focus on separating over- from under-performers, was often counter-productive to the goal of constructive dialogue.

“Grading workers did not work. People are open to feedback, also to harsh criticism, until the moment you start giving scores. Then the shutters go down,” he told Reuters.

SAP is testing a new process, which includes more regular check-in talks, on about 8,000 of its workers and aims to implement it for all of its almost 80,000 workforce next year.

“The old system is too static,” said Fassnacht. “It no longer reflects the dynamic circumstances we are operating in.”

http://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/corporate/after-ibm-ge-even-sap-ditches-annual-reviews/53671429
Supply Chain Performance and….. Sleep?

I just finished reading The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington, CEO of theHuffington Post. She makes a great case for how we have become a culture that treats sleep as wasted time and as optional. But more and more professionals are making the connection between sleep and performance. We already know that truck drivers and airline pilots can be dangerous when they don’t get enough sleep. Collegiate and professional athletes and Olympians are now tracking their sleep patterns against improved performance results. Some athletes have recorded as much as 8-10% improved batting averages, basket shots made and race times when they get eight or more hours of sleep. In addition, academic scores improve and in a corporate setting, decisions are better.

http://www.scmr.com/article/supply_chain_performance_and.._sleep#When:13:44:00Z
Laptops most often stolen from most unlikely place

When Kensington asked respondents where company employees had experienced IT theft, the No. 1 response was ‘cars and transportation’ at 25 percent. But the No. 2 response, coming in ahead of ‘airports and hotels’ (15 percent) and ‘restaurants’ (12 percent), was the office (23 percent).

http://www.cio.com/article/3107865/security/laptops-stolen-from-office-more-frequently-than-from-airports-or-restaurants.html<
Supply chain risk hits three-year high

“The UK’s departure from the EU could lead to some of the most dramatic shifts and severe implications for global supply chains in the coming years,” said CIPS economist John Glen. “While the full impact of the leave vote is still unfolding, confusion and uncertainty surrounding the current situation has already driven supply chain risk to a worryingly high level.”

“In the short term, supply chains will be exposed to exchange rate volatility risks which may be difficult to hedge. It may therefore be appropriate to crystallize exchange rate exposure by paying suppliers ahead of contracted payment days.

http://www.cips.org/supply-management/news/2016/august/supply-chain-risk-hits-three-year-high/
How to Think Like an FBI Negotiator?

Former FBI negotiator Chris Voss sheds light on communication and indirect messages, the value of empathy in business and in life, and when and how to walk away from a deal. Chris Voss is the author of “Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It”

Photo: Nico Beard

August 17, 2016August 11, 2016

News You Can Use: 8/17/2016

Filler Words Like “Um” Aren’t All Bad, and Can Be Used to Your Advantage

But, according to the experts, there’s still a right and wrong way to use them. Fraundorf recommends you try to use only a few when you talk, noting that too many can make comprehension harder. And Steven D. Cohen, assistant professor of communication at the University of Baltimore, suggests you use “like” and “I mean” as fillers instead of “uh” or “um.” People tend to be more forgiving of words that suggest contemplation as opposed to words that draw attention to a loss for words. Cohen also points out that filler words used in the middle of a sentence are less likely to be noticed, and a silent pause may be the best form of filler if you’re looking to have a dramatic impact on your listeners. If you want to read more on the benefits of filler words, check out the link below.

http://lifehacker.com/filler-words-like-um-arent-all-bad-and-can-be-used-t-1784468757
Don’t Follow Your Passion by Mike Rowe
Brainstorming Is Dumb

The old brainstorming method infiltrated the American workplace over half a century ago, after an advertising executive named Alex F. Osborn coined the method in the 1940s. As companies all over the country adopted the method, psychologists started to wonder: Does brainstorming actually work? Many scientific studies later, they had their answer: a resounding no. Study after study found that people who use this group technique produce fewer good ideas than those who ideate alone.

But there is an alternative that works better:

Over the past 20 years, researchers have discovered a collection of group techniques that they’ve found are more effective than both brainstorming and working alone. One of the best ones they’ve devised is brainwriting—it’s a kind of like brainstorming, except that group members write their ideas on pieces of paper instead of sharing out loud. People then pass those sheets of paper around the group and read each other’s ideas while they continue to write down their own ideas. This method allows the kind of group interaction that’s constructive (i.e., sharing ideas and building on them), while avoiding the pitfalls of face-to-face brainstorming.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3062292/evidence/brainstorming-is-dumb
7 Ways to Cut Travel Expenses

Small savings add up when it comes to long funding rounds and weeks at a time being spent on the road. For example, say that you and your partners need two hotel rooms, for a total of 21 nights, across various cities. Saving just $25 per hotel room per night will equal savings of $1,050. That’s a significant amount for a fledgling startup.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/279734
Supply chain profile: Daniel Myers

Q: What are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen during your career?

A: I have seen us move in the industry from a siloed [view] to sharing information. We call my division the “integrated supply chain” because breaking down divisions is the secret to business success. We’ve got to be consumer-driven and optimize the total value chain to succeed, moving from silos to a focus on common metrics. The Information Age allows you to do that.

Q: What hasn’t changed?

A: The focus on having leaders of integrity who can build trust and “followership.” You can sense when you have a great leader because people want to be there. That’s true for all generations; Millennials want to work for something greater than money—they want to work for something they’re proud of.

http://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20160810-supply-chain-profile-daniel-myers/

Photo: Joey Kyber

July 20, 2016July 9, 2016

News You Can Use: 7/20/2016

How To Use A Mass Exodus At Your Company To Advance Your Career

Taking on new or more challenging work. “If there are projects you would like to pitch in on because it would be rewarding or enhance your skill set, this could be a time to do that,” she says. And now you can make a strong case for why you’re up for the task.

After all, you may have some more leverage than you did beforehand—at least of a certain sort. “If people are leaving,” Crawford says, “they kind of need all hands on deck. That would be one more positive way to get your fingers in more areas you may not have otherwise.”

http://www.fastcompany.com/3061287/hit-the-ground-running/how-to-use-a-mass-exodus-at-your-company-to-advance-your-career
How To Stop Checking Email On Vacation

If you’re finding it hard to refrain from email, set “unplugging goals,” suggests Gabby Burlacu, human capital management researcher at the software company SAP SuccessFactors. “Learning to completely unplug from work takes time and focus,” she says. “Finding hobbies or activities while you’re on vacation and making a commitment to solely focus on those while you are engaged in them can go a long way.”

It can also be helpful if you sort email, says Webb. He takes 10 minutes a day, while he’s waiting at the airport or riding in a cab, to filter email into the folders he set up before he left: “Action Required,” “File,” and “Read Later.”

“I don’t respond to messages while on vacation, unless I feel it’s imperative,” he says. “I simply process the emails for action upon my return.”

http://www.fastcompany.com/3061451/how-to-stop-checking-email-on-vacation
Creative Office Design Won’t Make You Better At Your Job, But This Might

Del Toro found this reassuring. The employee hadn’t asked permission to move the furniture, but the fact that she had done so anyway pointed to a feature of ViaSat’s work environment that no designer can account for directly—its culture, which prizes curiosity and the freedom to find alternative ways of doing things on your own initiative. That couch still sits by the window. It’s already the most popular space for people to meet. But del Toro won’t be surprised or perturbed if somebody six or 12 months from now moves it someplace else.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3061170/the-future-of-work/creative-office-design-wont-make-you-better-at-your-job-but-this-might
Tensions rise over LTE using Wi-Fi channels

Unlicensed LTE is designed to give mobile operators more spectrum to work with as they try to serve subscribers in crowded places. Verizon, T-Mobile USA and other carriers have talked about rolling it out as soon as the end of this year.

But some backers of Wi-Fi, including the Alliance, have said LTE-U could make it hard for wireless LAN users to get a packet in edgewise. Fans of the new technology, including Qualcomm, say it won’t add any more interference than a new Wi-Fi access point would.

http://www.cio.com/article/3088987/tensions-rise-over-lte-using-wi-fi-channels.html
The Skills It Takes To Get Hired At Google, Facebook, Amazon, And More

Four things: General cognitive ability . . . Not just raw [intelligence] but the ability to absorb information. Emergent leadership: The idea there being that when you see a problem, you step in and try to address it. Then you step out when you’re no longer needed. That willingness to give up power is really important. Cultural fit: We call it Googleyness, but it boils down to intellectual humility. You don’t have to be warm or fuzzy. You just have to be somebody who, when the facts show you’re wrong, can say that. Expertise in the job we’re gonna hire you for.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3061237/the-skills-it-takes-to-get-hired-at-google-facebook-amazon-and-more

Photo: Martina Misar-Tummeltshammer

June 8, 2016June 3, 2016

News You Can Use: 6/8/2016

3 Unrealistic Career Goals You Need To Abandon

Creating career deadlines is all about balance. Planning ahead is a solid way to visualize what you want to achieve, but it can lose value if you only see those deadlines in black and white. Often times, new opportunities and unique ideas come from the gray areas, and strict schedules don’t always encourage that creativity. If you have a milestone you keep missing, remind yourself that it may not really exist and consider taking it off the list.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3060096/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/3-unrealistic-career-goals-you-need-to-abandon
IT career roadmap: Technology evangelist

“You’re drawing on aspects of a bunch of different fields, technology, sales, marketing, psychology, even acting. You not only have to have technical depth and credibility, but also polished sales and marketing skills so that you can handle objections, you can promote messaging in a non-threatening way. And you have to know a lot about the business climate you’re operating in — what’s the market like? What are the circumstances that have brought a company to where it is?” Sage says.

http://www.cio.com/article/3075440/it-skills-training/it-career-roadmap-technology-evangelist.html
Operating with Empathy: How to Build Organizations for Real People
Is Workplace Culture Overrated? (Infographic)

Culture often influences an employee’s decision to join a company, and small perks go a long way. Two-thirds of employees with access to free food say they’re very happy at their current jobs, and workers who have strong relationships with their colleagues feel 50 percent more satisfied than those who don’t.

Check out the infographic in the link to learn more about the benefits of fostering a healthy company culture.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/276152
U.S. CIO aims to cut legacy spending, proposes IT modernization

The administration’s proposed solution is an IT modernization fund (ITMF) that would be subject to oversight of an independent panel that would help prioritize the most pressing technology projects while also evaluating the business case that the agency makes in pitching a project. And, crucially, agencies that dip into the $3.1 billion fund would be expected to repay the initial outlay for the IT project back into the fund over time, as operating savings materialize.

http://www.cio.com/article/3075842/government-use-of-it/u-s-cio-aims-to-cut-legacy-spending-proposes-it-modernization.html
When This Boss Walks 10 Miles a Day, She Leads a Much Healthier Team

A study by the University of Minnesota showed treadmill desks boost job performance, and we who work and walk are a testament to that fact. We not only feel great, we’re knocking it out of the park, with creative and innovative design ideas that come to us while walking/working. Leading by example is important for every business owner looking to improve his or her team’s health. Being fit and happy is contagious.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/275036

Photo: Will van Wingerden

May 25, 2016May 12, 2016

News You Can Use: 5/25/2016

The Future Of HR And Why Startups Shouldn’t Reject It

A recent Motherboard piece took a look at the impact of no HR on company culture. It found that women are more often than not the most vulnerable employees due to startups’ lack of HR and general anti-harassment procedures. The article states, “Ultimately, these structural issues contribute to one of the greatest systemic problems facing working women today: barriers to advancement, known to many as the glass ceiling.” And over the years some of the biggest tech startups have had accusations of harassment levied at them.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3059673/the-future-of-hr-and-why-startups-shouldnt-reject-it
Go Deep and Go Wide with Procurement Analytics

Data unification is a two-step process that catalogs all data sources and uses that information about data to build a global reference that shows how all of the data relates to the questions at hand. This resource is typically built through a combination of machine learning and smart sourcing of human experts, and provides three clear benefits: making exponentially more data available for analysis, eliminating the biggest contributor to analysis time overhead – data preparation, and building in repeatability so any analysis that has been done can be rerun at anytime with no repeat of the data preparation.

http://www.procurementleaders.com/blog/my-blog–guest-blog/go-deep-and-go-wide-with-procurement-analytics-617110
A 40 Hour Work Week . . . Really?

Of course, I’m being a fit facetious here but I don’t think it’s all that far from the truth. Here’s a shocking business statistic: if you or anybody on your team wastes just one hour per day — and please understand that I’m also guilty of this — it equates to six weeks of wasted time per year! Isn’t that incredible? That’s a lot of vacation time. My advice: just work hard when you are at work. Of course, we all need some down time to handle personal matters but do so sparingly because you can’t get those hours back.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/272480
Call me crazy (regarding conference calls)

A conference call is over when someone uses one of the many conversational gaps, false starts, or “No, you go” truces to suggest that perhaps for clarity we should put our ideas in writing. As if to say, “Yeah, I guess flip-flops weren’t a good choice for this 5K run.” Acknowledging that we’ve engaged in the discourse equivalent of a toddler’s squiggle drawing. Hinting that next time we play Marco Polo we could try a swimming pool instead of the Indian Ocean.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/16/hang-up-the-conference-call
Want to Improve Your Decision-Making? Shut up for 10 days.

Insight meditation, also known as vipassana, is a method handed down by Gautama Buddha himself to his followers. Insight meditation focuses on maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations, without judgment. Students first take a vow of silence. They then enter into a daily routine of sitting for as many as 11 hours per day, renouncing all other religious or ritualistic practices, eating only vegetarian fare and not speaking except during a short Q&A session with the teacher.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/275536
How AI And Crowdsourcing Are Remaking The Legal Profession

“If you were to download everything in the PACER system, it would cost you hundreds of millions, if not more,” says Lewis of Ravel Law, which has found an alternative by partnering with Harvard Law School to digitize its archive. “They’ve made an effort to collect every … court decision from every state and federal court over the last 200 years,” Lewis says. Ravel collects new information in real time. “The courts themselves are doing a much better job of pushing out today’s law,” he adds. Ravel has published the complete case law for California and New York. It aims to offer all U.S. federal and state law online by mid 2017, for free.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3059725/how-ai-and-crowdsourcing-are-remaking-the-legal-profession
The Chinese Millennials

We have heard the stories of changing and increasing wages. The migrant workforce in China’s eastern coastal cities is also changing. Today, young people coming to the factory towns from rural China are less open to the long working hours, constant overtime and poor working conditions. Today’s Chinese Millennials stand apart from their parents and grandparents. They have many new economic opportunities, they are focused on the present, they are interested in more work/life balance, and they have become conspicuous consumers.

http://www.scmr.com/article/the_chinese_millennials

Photo: Benjamin Child