What I Learned From Saying Yes to Everything - The Muse

What I Learned From Saying Yes to Everything - The MuseWhat I Learned From Saying Yes to Everything Shonda Rhimes, media titan and all-around impressive human being, recently gave a TED Talk on how she said yes to everything for a year. Yes, you can add giving TED Talks to the list of accomplishments, under being the writer and executive producer behind shows like Greys Anatomy and Scandal.Its an awesome talk and I highly recommend watching it (even if you save it for later).The funny thing is that I also conducted a similar experiment this past year. Does that make us twins?Id stspeciesed a new job, but was feeling a bit lost. Engaging in what I declared internally to be a big act of self-love, I decided to embrace everything that I wanted or needed for the next year (within reason, of course). If I had the time and the financial capability to do sohonigweinhing, I would just say yes and figure the details out later. My experiment included a broad range of new experiences that I hes itated to say yes to previously- from public speaking opportunities, to networking events, to professional development courses, to taking an art class, to just hiking a new trail.I have no regrets- I was intent on seeing my Year of Yes- as Rhimes calls it- through in hopes of gaining some clarity, and boy, did I ever. The Adrenaline Rush Is Stronger Than the DiscomfortAt first, saying yes to everything that was asked of or offered to me was uncomfortable. At times, it was even scary. Id spent most of my life carefully analyzing (and overanalyzing) the choices I made, even those that may seem simple in nature. Giving up that control was a new experience for me, but the adrenaline rush I felt when I stepped outside my comfort zone somehow told me that I was on the right path. It taught me the value of being vulnerable and remaining open-minded.Bonus? Stripping away the complexity of decision-making made life less stressful and freed up mora of my time to focus on mora important things , and many more opportunities found me as a result.Doing Is Different Than DreamingIn the past, I had a tendency to romanticize ideas I had for my future and my career. The problem was, so many of those ideas never came to fruition because I never put any actual effort into the dreams I was so busy weaving. I was pleasantly surprised to find that taking even the smallest chances had a domino-like effect in my life, and especially my career, in a very positive way. For example, Id always dreamed of being a writer, but wasnt sure where to begin. I decided to start small with blogging, and began submitting my pieces to different online outlets. Not only did I gain more confidence in myself and my writing, but I also landed a coveted spot on the board of an arts nonprofit that I wanted to work with. Failure Isnt That Big of a DealAnother reason I preferred dreaming to doing was the dreaded F word- failure. But in this experiment, I had to face the monster Id been trying to avoid What if I tried and failed miserably? I realized that I could keep myself in a box, but I would fail either way If I didnt do it, I would be letting myself down and not allowing myself to grow. Plus, I came to appreciate how every failure helped me to better navigate future situations. For instance, I once campaigned to be a project lead at a former employer. I spent hours researching and laying out my proposal, and when I finally landed a meeting with the director who was spearheading the project, I was sure I would be a shoo-in. After I excitedly gave my presentation, the director asked me about our competitor and their product, and I drew a blank. I had such tunell vision about our product and how excited I was that I overlooked a simple question I shouldve been able to easily answer. Needless to say, I did not land that project, but I did learn a valuable lesson that aided me in future prep.I Had More Strengths Than I ThoughtPreviously, I had a fairly narrow view of what I was skilled at, and on the contrary what werent my strongest assets (for example, I would never, ever be an accountant). However, I didnt realize how narrow my view was, because Id only chosen to participate in comfortable experiences. It was nothing short of eye-opening- and exhilarating- to discover the larger range of what I wasreallygood at (and also humbling to know there wasnt a cap on being extremely terrible at other things). As someone who considers herself the definition of an introvert, I impressed myself as I confidently navigated networking events and informational interviews. Realizing I wasnt actually as shy as I thought gave me the courage to try public speaking, and dare I say, Im pretty darn good at giving presentations. This skill has become especially useful in my day-to-day work, and helped to better showcase my strengths to senior management.I didnt end up lovingeverything I agreed to try, but I found many things that I did. And even better, I crossed paths with many peopl e I never wouldve met otherwise. Saying yes led me to discover important lessons that ultimately made me more successful in my career- and happier overall.Ready to say yes to new and exciting things yourself? How about taking one of these fun online classes, or reading one of these career-boosting books, or even just picking up one of these one-minute morning routines to start your days off right.

The Cost of High Employee Turnover

The Cost of High Employee TurnoverThe Cost of High Employee TurnoverEmployee turnover is usually expressed as a ratio and are usually calculated for a company on a yearly basis, so it would be the number of employees who left during the entire year divided by the total number of employees at the beginning of the year. If a company has 100 employees and two of them leave, the turnover rate is two divided by 100, or two percent. Thats pretty a pretty low turnover rate. If a company of five loses two employees, thats a forty percent turnover rate (2/5) and thats a pretty high turnover rate. You can also calculate the turnover rate for any smaller unit of the company in the saatkorn manner. If two accountants left from a staff of 8 the accounting turnover rate would be 25%. If 3 salespeople left out of a team of 15 the sales turnover rate would be 20%. And if those two departments were the entire company, the company turnover rate would be five left divided by 23 total employees or rough ly 22%. Employee Turnover Cost Employee turnover cost is usually defined as the cost to hire a replacement employee and train that replacement. Often the training costs are only those to get the new employee productive, but they should include all the costs of getting the new employee to the same level of productivity as the employee who left. These costs include both direct costs like the fee paid to a recruiter to find candidates for you as well as indirect costs like the business you lost because you didnt have the capacity to handle it all while you were short-staffed. Generally, the higher your turnover rate, the higher both your direct and indirect costs will be. And as the turnover rate increases, the costs will increase faster. Hiring Costs There are direct and indirect costs associated with hiring a replacement for an employee who has left. If several employees have left, there may be some small savings in certain categories from economies of scale, but that is a sm all part of the total cost. Hiring costs include Recruiting CostsFees paid to outside recruitersAdvertising costs if you have to place an ad for a specific stelle or even for the company itself when recruiting for several positionsInterview costsTravel costs to candidates to visit the company for interviewsTravel costs for your staff to go to a recruiting fair to source candidatesTime for your Human Resources (HR) staff and hiring department staff to interview candidatesPost interview costsTime to check references and credentials from candidates who pass the screeningsPre-employment skills testing you may need or want to administerPre-employment screenings for drugs, etc. Employment costsSigning bonuses, if paidRelocation expenses for the prospective employee and their family Training Costs Training costs include both direct and indirect costs, just like hiring costs. After you have incurred all the hiring costs discussed above, you have plus-rechnenal costs to train the new emp loyee. Even when you hire highly qualified, very experienced new employees there are always training costs. If nothing else, they have to be trained in the way your company does things. And these training costs continue to add up until the employee is trained to the same level of productivity for the former employee they replaced. Training costs include Time for people to train them. This would include training them in the companys practices as well as the duties of their individual job.Training materials. These will have to be prepared or, if they exist, reviewed and updatedBenefit enrollment. HR has to explain the benefits to the new employees and give them the enrollment forms to fill out or help them fill them out.Accommodation costs. These include any special equipment or supplies the individual may need, either from a personal preference (like a specific type of chair) or to accommodate special physical or mental needs. Administrative processing. In addition to the time for H R to process the new employee, Accounting will need to get them onto the payroll. The Information Technology (IT) department will need to issue computer equipment and get them into the email system, set up their username and password, etc. Opportunity Costs Opportunity costs are the costs of opportunities you couldnt take advantage of- the cost of business lost because you didnt have the people resources to do all the work while you were shorthanded. This might mean incoming calls not answered before the caller hung up, sales calls not placed to prospective customers, or trade show appearances canceled because no one was available. These costs can be hard to measure, but they are real. And finally, dont overlook the cost of reduced morale from other workers having to cover the workload of the employee left from the time the employee starts slowing down because they know they are leaving until the time the replacement is hired, trained, and up to speed. Bottom Line Employee t urnover carries a high cost, and the higher the employee turnover rate the higher the cost. Smart companies work hard to measure employee satisfaction and act to minimize turnover. It is cheaper to keep your current employees motivated and productive than it is to find, hire, and train new ones.

The top 10 rarest yet important questions an interviewer should ask

The top 10 rarest yet important questions an interviewer should askThe top 10 rarest yet important questions an interviewer should askWhen youre interviewing candidates for a position in your company, you want to make sure that youre hiring the very best talent available. The more that you can learn about your candidates, the better informed you can make a decision on whether or elend they are right for you and your company.To help you gain this information, here are 10 rare questions that you should probably ask1. What makes you memorable?This is always a fantastic question to throw in near the end. Suggest it in a way that the candidate can leave you with one point that they want you to remember them by. This says a lot about their personality.2. Which project are you most proud of?This could refer to a project the individual has been involved in or out of work, but its a great way to see what the candidate is proud of.Usually, candidates will go for what they think will look good on paper, rather than showcasing the projects that actually conveyed their skills most clearly. When we had an individual answer that question saying their home football team because it was such an enjoyable challenge to get it off the ground, we knew we had found our guy,shares John Domson, an HR department manager forBest British Essays.3. What keeps you motivated?This question is pretty self-explanatory but can share a lot of information when it comes to the individuals performance and how they gauge their own determination to achieve. Be aware of broad answers and dont be afraid to probe further.4. How do you stay engaged?kralle in hand with the question above, this is more generally speaking about how the individual would stay passionate about this role, should they get the job.5. How do you define success?This is a very interesting question that brings up some interesting answers. There are many answers that could be given.For this success question, the ideal candidate will re fer to how success is defined within that role, rather than success as a general term,shares Susie D. Royse, a senior recruiter forBest Australian Writers.6. What makes you unique?This is another interesting question. Of course, the more unique the answer, the better.7. Have you managed a team?An important question if your candidate is applying for a leadership role, this can refer to roles both in and out of employment and is a great way to see what skills the applicant has.8. Where are those team members now?Hand in hand with the above question, asking about the performance and achievements of the people under the applicants management will also say a lot about them, especially if they dont know.9. What gives you job satisfaction?This is one of mypersonal favorite questions and will say a lot about the individual and the role of their job and how they perceive the role that theyre applying for.You can expect answers like achieving goals and targets, seeing the customer happy, bein g sociable and having a good amtsstube culture, among others. However, as a recruiter, you want to look for an answer that sets them apart from the rest and aligns with the vacancy theyre applying for.10. What do you know about us?This is also another gold question as it proves that the applicant has done their research into your company. If they cant tell you anything, then theyre not going to know what your company stands for or sets out to do. By conducting research, it proves they are serious about joining your team.Jennifer Scott works as an online editor at Top Canadian Writers. She is also a business developer that works in different areas of education, technology, security and various types of online marketing. Prior to business developing Jennifer was a consultant at Deloitte, and managed security services providers and developed a wide range of security solutions.The column was originally published on YourCoffeeBreak.com with permission.