Human Relations 8

Chapter 16 Stress Management and Personal Productivity

Stockbroker/Alamy

Learning Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter and completing the exercises, you should be able to

Explain many of the symptoms and consequences of stress, including burnout.

Describe personality factors and job factors that contribute to stress.

Manage your own stress effectively.

Reduce any tendencies you might have toward procrastination.

Identify attitudes and values that will enhance your productivity.

Identify work habits and skills that will enhance your productivity.

Pinpoint potential time wasters that drain your productivity.

Isabelle is the supervisor of a group of medical equipment repairers whose purpose is to install, maintain, and repair patient care equipment. An example of their activity is to maintain x-ray equipment in a dental office. Although most of the work is performed during the day, Isabelle’s group is also on call at night and on weekends. As the demand for health services grew in her community, so did the demand for the service her group provides.

As Isabelle explains, “I love what I’m doing, but the work pressures became overwhelming.

The fellows and gals in my group were forever calling or texting me. Customers kept coming at me with demands for service they wanted right away. And my own manager was forever asking me for something. I had so much stress that I was getting dizzy on the job. Almost as horrible, my mother told me that my hair was thinning.”

After carefully studying a book and a few articles about time management and job work stress, Isabelle took two major steps to make her position feel less overwhelming. First, she dedicated two hours per night, two nights a week, and two hours most Saturday mornings to take care of work-related e-mails and complete forms. Although this technique added six hours more to her workweek, Isabelle now felt much less overwhelmed by e-mails and filling out required forms. Isabelle also began a program of jogging for fifteen minutes every day and sleeping one more hour per night. The jogging and extra sleep gave Isabelle an energy boost that made it easier to cope with the many demands she was facing. “I’m a revitalized work warrior, on top of my job,” said Isabelle.

The supervisor just described become more productive by adding more time to her work week to take care of administrative tasks. At the same time, she overcame the stressor of feeling overwhelmed. Although this book is primarily about interpersonal skills, information about managing stress and enhancing personal productivity is relevant. Having your work under control and not being stressed out enables you to focus better on interpersonal relationships.The first half of this chapter deals with the nature of stress and how it can be managed, whereas the second half describes various approaches to improving personal productivity. The two topics are as closely related as nutrition and health. When you effectively manage stress, you can be more productive. And when your work is under control, you avoid the heavy stress of feeling overwhelmed. A useful thought to keep in mind is that many readers of this book will become or are already corporate athletes, workers who engage in high-level performance for sustained periods.[1] To be a corporate athlete, you have to manage your energy and stress well, in addition to having good work habits and time management.

corporate athletes

Workers who engage in high-level performance for sustained periods.

Understanding and Managing Stress

A major challenge facing any worker who wants to stay healthy and have good interpersonal relationships is to manage stress effectively. Although stress is an everyday term, a scientific definition helps clarify its meaning. Stress is an adaptive response that is the consequence of any action, situation, or event that places special demands on a person. Note that stress, as used here, refers to a reaction to the situation, not the situation or force itself. A stressor is the external or internal force that brings about the stress. When workers deal effectively with stress, they also make a dent in a major challenge facing employers. Work stress causes more long-term absences than physical conditions such as back pain, neck pain, and reptitive-motion injury among workers performing physical work. Stress also causes more long-term absences than ilnesses such as cancer or heart attacks among office workers.[2]

Individual differences in the perception of an event play a key role in determining what events are stressful. Giving a presentation to management, for example, is stressful for some people but not for others. Some people perceive a presentation as a threatening and uncomfortable experience, while others might perceive the same event to be an invigorating challenge.

The term special demands is also critical because minor adjustments, such as a laser cartridge that runs dry, are usually not perceived as stressful. Yet piling on of minor adjustments, such as having 10 small things go wrong in one day, is stressful. This is true because stress is additive: A series of small doses of stress can create a major stress problem.

This textbook’s approach to understanding stress centers on its symptoms and consequences, personality and job factors that contribute to stress, and methods and techniques for stress management. Managing stress receives more emphasis because the same techniques can be used to combat a variety of stressors.

Symptoms and Consequences of Stress

Learning Objective 1

The physiological changes that take place within the body in response to stress are responsible for most stress symptoms. These physiological changes are almost identical for both positive and negative stressors. Marathon racing, romantic attraction, and being downsized can make you feel about the same physically; however, positive experiences create a sense of joy that makes the stress symptoms more tolerable. The experience of stress helps activate hormones that prepare the body to run or fight when faced with a challenge. This battle against the stressor is referred to as the fight-or-flight response. It helps you deal with emergencies.

fight-or-flight response

The body’s physiological and chemical battle against a stressor in which the person tries to cope with the adversity head-on or tries to flee from the scene.

The brain is the organ that decides whether a situation is stressful and produces the behavioral and physiological responses. Yet, the brain’s response is based on personal experience and culture. Eating seal meat would rarely be stressful for an Eskimo, yet might be for a Floridian. The brain senses stress as damage to wellbeing and therefore sends out a signal to the body to cope. The brain is thus a self-regulating system that helps us cope with stressors.

Physiological Reactions

The activation of hormones when the body has to cope with a stressor produces a short-term physiological reaction. Among the most familiar reactions is an increase in heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and blood clotting. The stress hormone cortisol and other chemical responses to a stress can increase the cardiovascular function and the immune system in the short term. To help you recognize these symptoms, try to recall your internal bodily sensations the last time you were almost in an automobile accident or heard some wonderful news. Less familiar changes are a redirection of the blood flow toward the brain and large muscle groups and a release of stored fluids from places throughout the body into the bloodstream.

If stress is continuous and accompanied by these short-term physiological changes, annoying and life-threatening conditions can occur. Damage occurs when stress levels rarely subside. Eventually the immune system is suppressed, and memory is impaired. When the immune system is impaired, the severity of many diseases and disorders increases. With the rest of the body on alert, our ability to create immune cells diminishes. For example, people whose stress level is high recover more slowly from colds and injuries, and they are more susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases.

A stressful life event usually leads to a high cholesterol level (of the unhealthy type) and high blood pressure. Other conditions associated with stress are cardiac disease, migraine headaches, ulcers, allergies, skin disorders, irritable-bowel syndrome, and cancer. People under continuous negative stress, such as having severe family problems or having a life out of control, also age more quickly partially because of cell damage. Research suggests tht psychological stress leads to shorter telomeres, which are the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes. The explantion is that telomere shortening is an indicator of celluar aging and health.[3] (Have you ever observed that stressed-out friends of yours appear older than their chronological age?)

Stress symptoms vary considerably from one person to another. A general behavioral symptom of intense stress is for people to exaggerate their weakest tendencies. For instance, a person with a strong temper who usually keeps cool under pressure may throw a tantrum under intense pressure. Some common stress symptoms are listed in Figure 16-1.

Job Performance Consequences

Stress has both negative and positive consequences. Hindrance stressors are those stressful events and thoughts that have a negative effect on motivation and performance. Many of these have already been mentioned. In contrast, challenge stressors have a positive direct effect on motivation and performance.[4] A study with 215 employees across 61 offices of a state agency showed that when faced with challenge stressors, employees performed better on their regular tasks, citizenship behavior, and customer service. In contrast, performance on the three dimensions decreased when employees experienced hindrance stressors. An example of a challenge stressor was having high responsibility; having to deal with a lot of red tape to get the job done was an example of a hindrance stressor.[5]

hindrance stressors

Those stressful events that have a negative effect on motivation and performance.

challenge stressors

Stressful events that have a positive direct effect on motivation and performance.

The right amount of stress prepares us for meeting difficult challenges and spurs us on to peak intellectual and physical performance. An optimum level of stress exists for most people and most tasks. In general, performance tends to be best under moderate amounts of stress. The optimum amount of stress is a positive force that is the equivalent of finding excitement and challenge. Your ability to solve problems and deal with challenge is enhanced when the right amount of adrenaline flows in your blood to guide you toward peak performance. In fact, highly productive people are sometimes said to be hooked on adrenaline.

Mostly Physical and Physiological
Heart beats faster, raising blood pressure and pulse; heart palpitations Increased sweating Dizziness Difficulty breathing Chest pains Nerves become more sensitive, leading to increased perception of pain Weight gain or weight loss Trembling or shaking	Immune system weakens, making person more susceptible to illness Breathing rate increases to pull in more oxygen to certain muscles Upper and lower back pain Low energy and stamina Frequent craving for sweets Increased alcohol or cigarette consumption Frequent need to eliminate Frequent teeth grinding
Mostly Emotional and Behavioral
Difficulty concentrating Nervousness and worry about negative outcomes of events facing the person Crying Declining interest in sex Frequent nail biting or hair tugging Emotional exhaustion as stress continues over time (burnout)	Anxiety or depression Forgetfulness based on poor concentration Restlessness Frequent arguments with others Decrease in daily happiness Anger outbursts

Figure 16-1 A Variety of Stress Symptoms

Note: Anxiety is a general sense of dread, fear, or worry not linked to a specific event, such as being anxious about your future.

If the stress is too great, people become temporarily ineffective; they may freeze or choke. Under too little stress, people may become lethargic and inattentive. The optimum amount of stress varies with individuals, with each person having a different stress threshold.[6] For example, in the same bank an investment specialist might welcome more stress, whereas a bank teller might welcome less stress.

Figure 16-2 depicts the relationship between stress and job performance. An exception to this relationship is that certain negative forms of stress are likely to lower performance even if the stress is moderate. For example, the stress created by an intimidating supervisor or worrying about radiation poisoning—even in moderate amounts—will not improve performance.

Burnout and Stress

One of the major problems of prolonged stress is that it may lead to burnout, a condition of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion in response to long-term stressors. Burnout is also referred to as work exhaustion because fatigue is usually involved. Burned-out people are often cynical. Two other examples of burnout symptoms

burnout

A condition of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion in response to long-term stressors.

Figure 16-2 Relationship between Stress and Job Performance

are irritability and impatience. Burnout victims also face other symptoms of heavy stress, such as cardiac disease.

Burnout is a complex phenomenon, with its causes centering on five factors. First is a feeling of limited autonomy or control in the workplace. Not being able to decide how to accomplish a task is significant, as well as having little say in choosing what tasks to do. Second is receiving insufficient recognition for accomplishments. Third is not having advancement opportunities and feeling stifled on the job. Fourth is having poor relationships with coworkers, including not getting much respect. Fifth is working in an organizational culture that is incompatible with your belief system, such as a vegetarian working for a poultry producer.[7] A study with Dutch workers suggests that having a charismatic leader can help reduce some of the problems that lead to burnout.[8] For example, a charismatic leader is likely to give ample recognition.

The key symptom of burnout is the distancing that occurs in response to work overload. Burnout sufferers shift into a mode of doing the minimum as a way of protecting themselves. They start leaving work early and dehumanizing their clients, patients, or customers. People experiencing burnout may do their jobs, but their heart is not in it anymore.[9] An example of a profession with many burnout victims is investment banking. Although still lavishly compensated, many of the bankers in their 30s have come to believe that there are too many sacrifices, such as 80-hour workweeks and some people still blaming investment bankers for past financial crises. Many of these investment bankers have left the field, including becoming entrepreneurs and franchiser operators.[10]

Personality and Job Factors Contributing to Stress

Learning Objective 2

Workers experience stress for many different reasons, including personal predispositions, factors stemming from the job, or the combined influence of both. If a person with an extreme negative predisposition has to deal with irate customers, he or she is most likely to experience substantial stress. Here we describe a sampling of important individual and organizational factors that contribute to job stress. Keep in mind, however, that a large number of potential stressors exist and that many of them overlap. Fighting about money harms relationships, and worrying about money can create health problems. Figure 16-3 lists some stressors facing the general population, and these sources of stress duplicate some of the stressors described in the following pages.

Personality Factors Predisposing People toward Stress

Individuals vary considerably in their susceptibility to job stress based on their personality traits and characteristics. Four such factors are described next.

Low Perceived Control

A key factor in determining whether workers experience stress is how much they believe they can control a given adverse circumstance. Perceived control

Source of Stress	People Affected
Money	69%
Work	66%
The economy	61%
Family responsibilities	57%
Relationships (spouse, kids, girl/boyfriend)	56%
Family health problems	52%
Personal health concerns	51%
Health problems affecting my family	52%

Figure 16-3 Cause of Stress among the General Population

Source: Based on data presented in the APA (American Psychological Association) Stress in America Survey, published in Sophie Bethune, “Healthy-Care Falls Short on Stress Management,” Monitor on Psychology, April, 2013, p. 24.

is the belief that an individual has at his or her disposal a response that can control the negative aspects of an event. A survey of over 100 studies indicated that people with a high level of perceived control had low levels of physical and psychological symptoms of stress. Conversely, people with low perceived control are more likely to experience work stress.[11]

perceived control

The belief that an individual has at his or her disposal a response that can control the negative aspects of an event.

Low Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy, like perceived control, is another personal factor that influences susceptibility to stress. (Note that because self-efficacy is tied to a specific situation, it is not strictly a personality trait.) When workers have both low perceived control and low self-efficacy, the stress consequences may be much worse; however, having high self-efficacy softens the stress consequences of demanding jobs.[12] If you believe that you can successfully resolve a difficult problem, such as troubleshooting the reason for packages being sent to incorrect addresses, you will be less stressed.

Type-A Behavior and Hostility

A person with Type-A behavior is demanding, impatient, and overstriving, and is therefore prone to negative stress. Type-A behavior has two main components. One is the tendency to try to accomplish too many things in too little time. This leads the Type-A individual to be impatient and demanding. The other component is free-floating hostility. Because of this sense of urgency and hostility, trivial things irritate these people. People with Type-A behavior are aggressive and hardworking.

Type-A behavior

A behavior pattern in which the individual is demanding, impatient, and overstriving and therefore prone to negative stress.

Type-A personalities frequently have cardiac diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, at an early age, but only certain features of the Type-A personality pattern may be related to coronary heart disease. The heart attack triggers are hostility, anger, cynicism, and suspiciousness, as contrasted to impatience, ambition, and being work driven. In fact, hostility is more strongly associated with coronary heart disease in men than smoking, drinking, overeating, or high levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol.[13] A review of studies confirms that there is no significant association between Type-A personalities and heart disease; however, there is a strong association between hostility and coronary heart disease. Hostility of the sort seen in habitual angry driving is also a heart-disease risk factor.[14] Note that the heart attack triggers also make for strained interpersonal relationships.

Negative Affectivity and High Reactivity

A major contributor to being stress prone is negative affectivity, a tendency to experience aversive emotional states. In more detail, negative affectivity is a pervasive disposition to experience emotional stress that includes feelings of nervousness, tension, and worry. The same disposition also includes such emotional states as anger, scorn, revulsion, guilt, self-dissatisfaction, and sadness.[15] Such negative personalities seem to search for important discrepancies between what they would like and what exists. Poor interpersonal relationships often result from the frequent complaining of people with negative affectivity.

negative affectivity

A tendency to experience aversive emotional states.

Closely related to negative affectivity is that some people who have extreme reactions to stress may be hard wired to do so. People who have difficulty calming down after experiencing a stressor exhibit a highly reactive, vigilant pattern. Bruce J. Ellis, a professor of family and consumer sciences at the University of Arizona, Tuscon, explains the problem in this way: “A vigilant person is hypersensitive, reacting at a biological level and putting more effort and energy into warding off threats real or perceived.”[16] So now you have a scientific explantion for a hothead who goes ballistic in your presence.

Job Sources of Stress

Almost any job situation can act as a stressor for some employees, but not necessarily for others. As just described, certain personality factors make it more likely that a person will experience job stress. Furthermore, other personal life stressors may spill over into the workplace, making it more likely that a person will experience job stress. For example, a worker facing a severe relationship problem might be more susceptible to being stressed by even mild conflict with coworkers. Seven frequently encountered job stressors are outlined in Figure 16-4 and described ahead.

Role Overload Including Extreme Jobs

Having too much work to do, role overload, can create negative stress in two ways. First, the person may become fatigued and thus be less able to tolerate annoyances and irritations. Second, a person subject to unreasonable work demands may feel perpetually behind schedule, a situation that is itself a powerful stressor. Downsizing often creates overload because fewer people are left to handle the

Figure 16-4 Seven Significant Sources of Job Stress

same workload as before. One stressful consequence of downsizing is the work-more economy in which many workers take on additional responsibilities and sometimes are asked to assume two jobs yet receive the wages of one worker.[17]

role overload

Having too much work to do.

Work overload often takes the form of an extreme job in which the incumbent works at least 60 hours per week in a position that usually requires tight deadlines and heavy travel. Many of these jobs with long hours are found in information technology and financial services fields; yet many business owners work comparable hours. As implied in relation to burnout, many investment bankers have an extreme job, with some working 100 hours per week. A researcher from the University of Southern California shadowed two-dozen entry-level investment bankers who recently graduated from business school. Among the stress symptoms she observed in the group were insomnia, alcoholism, heart palpitations, eating disorders, and an explosive temper.[18]

extreme job

A job in which the incumbent works at least 60 hours per week in a position that usually requires tight deadlines and heavy travel.

Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity

Role conflict, described in Chapter 9 as an important workplace conflict, is also a major workplace stressor. People experience stress when they have to choose between two sets of expectations. Suppose an accountant is asked by her manager to state company earnings in a way that conflicts with the professional norms of accountants. If she complies with her manager, she will feel that she is betraying her profession. If she does not comply with her manager, she will enter into dispute with the manager. The woman is likely to experience job stress.

Role ambiguity is a condition in which the jobholder receives confusing or poorly defined expectations. Workers in many organizations are placed in situations in which they are unsure of their true responsibilities. Some workers who are placed on a work team experience role ambiguity because they are asked to solve many problems by themselves. It is less ambiguous to have the manager tell you what to do. Many people experience stress symptoms when faced with role ambiguity.

role ambiguity

A condition in which the job holder receives confusing or poorly defined expectations.

A quantitative review of many studies indicated that when workers experience role conflict and role ambiguity they are less likely to engage in organizational citizenship behavior. The problem appears to be that experiencing role conflict and role ambiguity interferes with a worker achieving worthwhile activities outside of his or her ordinary job responsibilities. Furthermore, workers not sure of which task to perform may cope with the role ambiguity by engaging in tasks they know are most likely to be evaluated favorably.[19]

Adverse Environmental Conditions

A variety of adverse organizational conditions are stressors, as identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Among these adverse organizational conditions are unpleasant or dangerous physical conditions, such as crowding, noise, air pollution, or ergonomic problems. Enough polluted air within an office building can create a sick building in which a diverse range of airborne particles, vapors, molds, and gases pollute the indoor environment. The result can be headaches, nausea, and respiratory infections as well as the stress created by being physically ill.[20]

Tetra Images/Alamy

Ergonomic problems refer to a poor fit between the physical and human requirements of a job. The demands of the modern workplace contribute to the development of musculoskeletal disorders. Working at a computer monitor for prolonged periods of time can lead to adverse physical and psychological reactions. The symptoms include headaches and fatigue, along with eye problems. The computer vision syndrome includes that fact that one out of six patients requiring eye examinations have a computer-related eye problem. Also, the frequency of occular symptoms among computer users is 25 to 93 percent. Common visual problems are dry eyes and blurred or double vision. Another vision-related problem is that people lean forward to scan the monitor, leading to physical problems such as back strain.[21]

The repetitive-motion disorder most frequently associated with keyboarding and the use of optical scanners is carpal tunnel syndrome. The syndrome occurs when repetitive flexing and extension of the wrist causes the tendons to swell, thus trapping and pinching the median nerve. Carpal tunnel syndrome creates stress because of the pain and misery. About one in five computer users will suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome at some point.[22] A less publicized problem is a sore thumb (overuse syndrome) related to continuous use of the space bar and mouse while texting.

carpal tunnel syndrome

A condition that occurs when repetitive flexing and extension of the wrist causes the tendons to swell, thus trapping and pinching the median nerve.

If ergonomic principles, such as erect posture, are incorporated into computer usage, these stress symptoms diminish. Modern office chairs allow for more flexibility of movement as workers shift rapidly between tasks such as moving toward the computer screen, placing feet on the desk, and turning for a face-to-face conversation. [23]

Adverse Interaction with Customers and Clients and Emotional Labor

Interactions with customers can be a major stressor. Part of the problem is that the sales associate often feels

helpless when placed in conflict with a customer. The sales associate is told that “the customer is always right.” Furthermore, the store manager usually sides with the customer in a dispute with the sales associate. Unreasonable demands by clients and customers can also be stressful, such as customers who offer to buy a product or service below cost. Being subjected to sexual harassment by clients and customers is another stressor widely experienced by store sales associates, especially young women.

Related to adverse customer interaction is the stressor of having to control the expression of emotion to please or to avoid displeasing a customer. Imagine having to smile at a customer who belittles you or your employer. Alicia A. Grandey, associate professor of psychology at Penn State University, defines emotional labor as the process of regulating both feelings and expressions to meet organizational goals.[24]1 The process involves both surface acting and deep acting. Surface acting means faking expressions, such as smiling, whereas deep acting involves controlling feelings, such as suppressing anger toward a customer you perceive to be annoying.

emotional labor

The process of regulating both feelings and expressions to meet organizational goals.

A study with 285 pairs of employees and customers suggests that deep acting, rather than maintaining an artificial smile, leads to better customer service.[25] As a result of the better customer service, it is possible that the customer will treat the associate better, resulting in less stress for the latter.

Sales workers and customer service representatives often experience emotional labor because so often they have to fake facial expressions and feelings so as to please customers. Nevertheless, according to one study, the top five occupations in terms of emotional labor demands are (1) police and sheriff’s patrol officers, (2) social workers, (3) psychiatrists, (4) supervisors of police and detectives, and (5) registered nurses. Bill and account collectors ranked 15![26]

Engaging in emotional labor for prolonged periods of time can lead to job dissatisfaction, stress, and burnout. Surface acting creates more dissatisfaction. A contributing cause is that faking expressions and emotions takes a physiological toll, such as the intestines churning. Workers who engage in emotional labor may also develop cardiovascular problems and weakened immune systems. The good news is that being extraverted helps reduce some of the stress associated with both surface acting and deep acting.[27] (Perhaps if you like people, you can better tolerate their unruly behavior.)

Aggressive and Hostile Humor by Supervisor

A supervisor who directs aggressive, hostile, mean-spirited humor at an employee, particularly when the humor recipient is singled out, can create considerable stress. An example of such malicious humor is a supervisor who told a dietician, “The next time you visit a hospital, why don’t you get a brain transplant?” A study of the effects of aggressive humor by supervisors was conducted with 243 frontline employees at four manufacturing companies in China. Aggressive humor was defined as a joke used intentionally to tease, disparage, embarrass, or ridicule one employee or a group of employees. It was found that a supervisor’s mean-spirited humor was associated with negative stress symptoms among the employees affected. Employee strain was worse when the supervisor focused the agressive humor on one employee and not his or her coworkers. Among the employee stress symptoms were Internet addictions, problem drinking, and excessive cigarette smoking.[28]

Job Insecurity and Job Loss

Worrying about losing your job is a major stressor. Even when jobs are plentiful, having to search for another job and facing the prospect of geographic relocation are stressors for many people. Downsizing and corporate mergers (which usually result in downsizing) have contributed to job insecurity. The anticipation of layoffs among employees can increase negative stress and lower job performance.

Job loss is usually a more intense stressor than worrying about losing one’s job. Losing a job often leads to the stressors of financial problems and relationship conflict. Some people who lose their jobs become so stressed and depressed that they commit suicide. An unfortunate example is that between 2006 and 2008, France Télécom laid off approximately 22,000 workers. Twenty-four laid off workers committed suicide, with the labor union blaming the layoffs for most of the suicides.[29] We hypothesize here that workers with good resources, such as supportive friends and family, good professional contacts, and effective job search skills are the least likely to commit suicide after job loss.

Methods and Techniques for Stress Management

Learning Objective 3

Unless stress is managed properly, it may lead to harmful long-term consequences, including disabling physical illness and a slowing of career growth. Managing stress refers to controlling stress by making it a constructive force in your life; however, the distinction between methods of preventing and reducing stress is not clear-cut. For example, physical exercise not only reduces stress, it also contributes to a relaxed lifestyle that helps you prevent stress.

A key principle about managing stress is that you are less likely to experience distress from stressors if you have the right resources. Having the right personality characteristics such as high perceived control, high self-efficacy, and not being hostile helps ward off stress. External resources to help ward off negative stress include having a network of friends who provide support, an encouraging manager, and programs for helping distressed employees.[30] Assume, for example, that a worker is heavily stressed by a long rush-hour commute. If the company provides flexible working hours that help decrease commuting during rush hour, the worker experiences less of a hindrance stressor.

Coping with, or managing, stress includes hundreds of activities, with substantial individual differences in which technique is effective. Running is a case in point. For many people, running or jogging is an excellent method of stress reduction. Others find that running creates new stressors, such as aching knees, shin splints, dizziness from breathing in vehicle exhausts, and worrying about being hit by vehicles. The following subsections describe eight methods for managing stress, including a list of everyday stress busters.

Eliminate or Modify the Stressor

The most potent method of managing stress is to eliminate or modify the stressor giving you trouble. One value of relaxation techniques and tranquilizing medication is that they calm a person enough so that he or she can deal constructively with the stressor. A helpful way to attack the cause of stress is to follow the steps in problem solving and decision making. You clarify the problem, identify the alternatives, weigh the alternatives, and select one alternative. One difficulty, however, is that your evaluation of the real problem may be inaccurate. There is always a limit to self-analysis. For example, a person might think that work overload is the stressor when the true stressor is low self-efficacy.

A major strategy for modifying a stressor is to rethink your belief about a challenging situation. According to the cognitive behavioral approach to stress management, people learn to recognize how pessimistic and distorted thoughts of gloom and doom create stress. After recognition of the problem, the person learns to replace the overly pessimistic thinking with more realistic or optimistic thinking. Assume that Mandy is stressed about the prospects of losing her job. Using a cognitive-behavioral approach to stress management, she begins to think, “Would losing this job really be that bad? If this job folds, I could move to Denver where I’ve always wanted to live, and restart my career.” Mandy is right on target, because a synthesis of many studies found that cognitive-behavioral approaches are the most effective method of combating workplace stress.[31]

cognitive behavioral approach to stress management

A method by which people learn to recognize how pessimistic and distorted thoughts of gloom and doom create stress.

Another application of the cognitive-behavioral approach to managing stress is to cope in advance with an upcoming stressor by aspiring for a positive future. If you create an optimistic picture of your ability to deal with an upcoming challenge, you may be less stressed when the challenge arrives. Aspiring for a positive future is more effective in preventing stress than attempting to prevent the possible stressor.[32] This technique works in this manner: You have to drive to visit an important customer tomorrow morning, and the weather forcecast calls for a snowstorm. You regard driving in the snow to be a stressor. To cope with the situation, you imagine how you will drive slowly and perhaps follow in the path of a semi-trailer to give you extra safety. You also imagine how pleased the customer will be when you arrive to fix the problem. As a result, you are less stressed during your drive in the snowstorm.

Get Appropriate Physical Exercise

A moderate amount of physical exercise is a cornerstone of managing stress and achieving wellness. To manage stress, it is important to select an exercise program that is physically challenging but does not lead to overexertion and muscle and bone injury. Competitive sports, if taken too seriously, can actually increase stress. Walking is highly recommended as a stress reducer, because it is inherently relaxing and offers many of the benefits of other forms of exercise with a minimum risk of physical danger. Doing housework, yard work, and washing and waxing a vehicle are examples of everyday forms of gentle exercise that offer the side benefits of getting tasks accomplished. A major mental and emotional benefit of physical exercise stems from endorphins produced in the thalamus portion of the brain. The endorphins are associated with a state of euphoria referred to as “runner’s high.” Endorphins also work like pain killers, adding to their stress-reduction value.

As researched by the American College of Sports Medicine, among the benefits of exercise are (a) a 50 percent reduction in the incidence of diabetes, (b) a 40 percent reduction in the incidence of high blood pressure, (c) a 40 percent reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and (d) a decrease in depression as effective as Prozac or behavioral therapy.[33]

Rest Sufficiently

Rest offers benefits similar to those of exercise, such as stress reduction, improved concentration, improved energy, and better tolerance for frustration. The current interest in adult napping reflects the awareness that proper rest makes a person less stress prone and enhances productivity. A study was conducted of 23,681 healthy Greek adults over a six-year period, many of whom napped for about 30 minutes three times a week. Study participants who napped had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from a heart attack than the people who did not. A criticism offered of this study is that the people who napped may also take better care of their bodies and minds in general.[34] The connection of this study to stress management is that many heart attacks are stress induced.

Naps of about 15 minutes duration taken during the workday are used both as energizers and as stress reducers. Napping can help a worker become less stressed as well as more productive. A rested brain is a more effective brain. According to researcher David F. Dingess, who has studied astronauts, cognitive ability depends on how much sleep a person accumulates over a 24-hour period, not just overnight.[35] The indirect link to

Figure 16-5 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Developed by the United States Department of Agriculture

Source: US Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, www.ChooseMyPlate.gov.

stress is that being cognitively sharp reduces errors, thereby reducing the stress that stems from making errors.

Maintain a Healthy Diet

Nutritious food is valuable for physical and mental health, making it easier to cope with frustrations that are potential stressors. Some non-nutritious foods, such as those laden with caffeine or sugar, tend to enhance a person’s level of stress. According to the Dietary Guidelines of the US Department of Agriculture, a healthy diet is one that

Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products

Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts

Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars

These recommendations are for the general public over two years of age. They are similar to a wealth of scientific research supporting the idea that healthy nutrition depends on a balanced diet consisting of the basic food groups of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy.[36] Consult www.ChooseMyPlate.gov, as shown in Figure 16-5. Also, nutritionists highly recommend fibers found in whole-grain breads, rolls and cereals, and brown rice.

Build a Support Network

A support network is a group of people who can listen to your problems and provide emotional support. Members of your network can provide you with a sense of closeness, warmth, and acceptance that will reduce your stress. Also, the simple expedient of putting your feelings into words can be a healing experience. The way to develop this support network is to become a good listener so that the other person will reciprocate. A support network is, therefore, a method of stress management based squarely on effective interpersonal skills.

support network

A group of people who can listen to your problems and provide emotional support.

Practice Visualization and Meditation

Perhaps the most effortless and enjoyable relaxation technique for managing stress is to visualize a pleasant experience. Visualization, like so many stress-reduction techniques, including meditation, requires concentration. Concentrating helps slow down basic physiological processes, such as the heartbeat, and dissipates stress. Visualization, meditation, prayer, and chanting all appear to offer such advantages as lowering heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen consumption. These techniques also alleviate symptoms associated with such conditions as hypertension, insomnia, depression, and anxiety.[37] Forcing yourself to concentrate is also valuable because a key stress symptom is difficulty in concentrating.

Meditation is a relaxation technique used to quiet the mind, as well as to relieve stress, and is more complicated than simple visualization. A typical meditation technique proceeds as follows: Hold your back straight, and relax the body. Take three gentle breaths, breathing in and out through the nostrils. Let the respiration follow its natural flow. Your body breathes as if it was fast asleep, yet you remain vigilant. If you become distracted, simply let go of the thought, and return to the breath. It is helpful to count each inhale up to about 7. Each time your mind wanders, return back to one. Practice meditating about 20 minutes a day, and meditate on the spot after a stressful event or thought.[38] The breathing part of meditation is so important that it is an everyday method of stress reduction itself.

Skill-Building Exercise 16-1

 

Visualization for Stress Reduction

A standard, easy-to-use method for reducing stress symptoms is to visualize a pleasant and calm experience. You need to concentrate carefully on your object or scene, otherwise stress reduction is unlikely to take place. If you are experiencing stress right now, try the technique. Otherwise, wait until the next time you perceive your body to be experiencing stress. In this context, visualization means to picture yourself doing something that you would like to do. Whatever fantasy suits your fancy will work, according to the advocates of this relaxation technique. Visualizations that work for some people include smiling at a loved one, floating on a cloud, caressing a baby, petting a kitten or puppy, and walking in the woods. Notice that all of these scenes are relaxing rather than exciting. What visualization would work for you?

To implement the technique, close your eyes and bring the pleasant image into focus in your mind. Think of nothing else at the moment (as in meditation). Imagine that a video of the pleasant experience is playing on the television screen in your brain. Breathe softly and savor the experience. Slowly return to reality, refreshed, relaxed, and ready to tackle the challenges of the day.

Participate in Resilience Training

A time-consuming yet robust method of reducing and preventing stress is to participate in resilience training. The purpose of much resilience training is to help people steel themselves against difficult situations instead of becoming overly stressed. At the same time, trainees are taught how to learn from the situation.[39] Part of steeling yourself against a highly challenging situation is to think of what skills you have in your repertoire that will help you work your way out of the problem. Suppose that restaurant manager Gary is witnessing a customer go ballistic in the restaurant. Instead of being overwhelmed by the problem, Gary reflects, “What conflict-resolution technique do I know that will help me conquer this problem? [Refer back to Chapter 9] Maybe disarm the opposition will work here.” If Gary is able to calm down the customer, he will have learned from the stressful situation.

Practice Everyday Methods of Stress Reduction

The simple expedient of learning how to relax is an important method of reducing the tension and anxiety brought about by both challenge and hindrance stressors. Visualization of a pleasant experience is one such method. A sample of everyday suggestions for relaxation and other methods of stress reduction are presented in Figure 16-6. Your stress symptoms will ordinarily return, however, if you do

· Take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Inhale and your heart beats faster. Exhale and your heart beats more slowly, and slows down the cardiac muscle. · Give in to your emotions. If you are angry, disgusted, or confused, admit your feelings. Suppressing your emotions leads to stress. · When you feel stress coming on, replace negative or fearful thoughts with positive ones. · Engage in enjoyable exercise in your daily life. · Take a break from the stressful situation, and do something small and constructive, such as washing your car, emptying a wastebasket, or getting your hair cut or styled. · Get a massage because it can loosen tight muscles, improve your blood circulation, and calm you down. · Cuddle with someone you care about. · Have a quiet place at home, and spend a brief idle period there every day. · Finish something you have started, however small. Accomplishing almost anything reduces some stress. · Stop to smell the flowers, make friends with a young child or elderly person, or play with a puppy or kitten—assuming that you like domestic animals. · Strive to do a good job, but not a perfect job. · Work with your hands, doing a pleasant task. · Find somebody or something that makes you laugh, and have a good laugh. · Minimize drinking caffeinated or alcoholic beverages and energy drinks. Drink fruit juice or water instead. · Visit a Web site, including social media, that you perceive to be relaxing. · Focus on the moment instead of thinking about the past, the future, or distracting thoughts. · Help somebody less fortunate than you. The flood of good feelings will act like endorphins.

Figure 16-6 Stress Busters

Skill-Building Exercise 16-1

 

Personal Stress Management Action Plan

Most people face a few powerful stressors in their work and personal life, but few people take the time to clearly identify these stressors or develop an action plan for remedial action. The purpose of this exercise is to make you an exception. Here is an opportunity to develop an inventory of your stressors, think through the problems they may be causing you, and develop action plans you might take to remedy the situation. Use the form ahead, or create one with a word processor table or a spreadsheet.

Work or School Stressor	Symptoms This Stressor Is Creating for Me	My Action Plan to Manage This Stressor
1
2
3
Personal Life Stressor	Symptoms This Stressor Is Creating for Me	My Action Plan to Manage This Stressor
1
2
3

not eliminate and modify the stressor. If the stress is an emotional conflict you do not see or understand, assistance from a mental health professional is recommended.

Now that you have studied various methods of managing stress, reinforce your thinking by doing Skill-Building Exercise 16-2.

Seven days after preparing this worksheet, observe if any of your stress symptoms have diminished. Also, identify those stressors for which only a long-term solution is possible.

Improving Personal Productivity

Achieving personal productivity is more in vogue than ever. Companies strive to operate with smaller staffs than in the past by pushing workers to achieve higher productivity. In the zeal to avoid time wasting, many companies are imposing rigorous performance quotas, forcing many people to work longer hours.[40] At the same time, there is a movement toward simplifying personal life by reducing clutter and cutting back on tasks that do not add much to the quality of life.

Personal productivity refers to the amount of resources, including time, you consume to achieve a certain level of output. In measuring productivity, it is important to take into account quantity and quality of work as well as how the work was accomplished.[41] A customer service representative might spend more than an average amount of time with customers, thereby appearing to be unproductive. Yet the rep might be building good relationships with customers that result in customer loyalty and repeat business. Another example is that a safety inspector might be getting an above-average number of inspections accomplished in part because the inspector is not very thorough.

personal productivity

The amount of resources, including time, you consume to achieve a certain level of output.

We approach productivity improvement from four perspectives: (1) dealing with procrastination, (2) attitudes and values that enhance personal productivity, (3) work habits and skills that enhance personal productivity, and (4) overcoming time wasters.

Dealing with Procrastination

Learning Objective 4

The person who procrastinates delays action for no good reason on tasks that need to be done. Procrastination results in a gap between intention and action. A major reason why people procrastinate is that they want to feel good at the moment rather than reap future rewards. As such, procrastination is a form of impulsivity.[42] Why bother getting in touch with my boss to discuss my prospects for promotion when I can send a tweet to 500 people right now?

procrastination

Delaying action for no good reason on tasks that need to be done.

Procrastination lowers productivity because it wastes time, and many important tasks never get done. Another serious problem is that undone tasks rumble around in the back of your consciousness, thereby decreasing your concentration.

Many people regard procrastination as a laughable weakness, particularly because procrastinators themselves joke about the problem. Yet procrastination has been evaluated as a profound, debilitating problem, with between 20 and 25 percent of working adults identifying themselves as chronic procrastinators.[43] Approximately 90 percent of college students report problems with overdue papers and delayed studying. About 25 percent are chronic procrastinators, and many of them drop out of school.[44] The enormity of the procrastination problem makes it worthwhile to examine methods for bringing it under control. Take Self-Assessment Quiz 16-1 to think through your own tendencies toward procrastination—and don’t wait until tomorrow.

Choose from among the following eight suggestions for controlling procrastination, based on those that appear to best fit your type of procrastination. A combination of techniques is likely to be the most effective.

Commit to what you want in life. If you are not committed to something you want in life, you are likely to be a chronic procrastinator. The reason is that it is difficult to prioritize and take action. (See the later discussion about a personal mission and work habits.) Your commitment to what you want in life will often translate into forgoing short-term pleasure, such as stopping by a café, in order to finish a project due today.

Calculate the cost of procrastination. You can reduce procrastination by calculating its cost. You might lose out on obtaining a high-paying job you really want by not having your résumé and cover letter ready on time. Your cost of procrastination would include the difference in compensation between the job you do find and the one you really wanted. Another cost would be the loss of potential job satisfaction.

Follow the WIFO principle, which stands for “worst in, first out.”[45] If you tackle the worst task on your list first, doing the other tasks may function like a small reward. Self-Assessment Quiz 16-1

 

Procrastination Tendencies Directions: Circle yes or no for each item.

1. 1. I usually do my best work under the pressure of deadlines.	1. Yes	1. No
1. 2. Before starting a project, I go through such rituals as sharpening every pencil, straightening up my desk more than once, and reading and responding to all possible e-mail.	1. Yes	1. No
1. 3. I crave the excitement of the “last-minute rush,” such as researching and writing a paper right before the deadline.	1. Yes	1. No
1. 4. I often think that if I delay something, it will go away, or the person who asked for it will forget about it.	1. Yes	1. No
1. 5. I extensively research something before taking action, such as obtaining three different estimates before getting the brakes repaired on my car.	1. Yes	1. No
1. 6. I have a great deal of difficulty getting started on most projects, even those I enjoy.	1. Yes	1. No
1. 7. I keep waiting for the right time to do something, such as getting started on an important report.	1. Yes	1. No
1. 8. I often underestimate the time needed to do a project, and say to myself, “I can do this quickly, so I’ll wait until next week.”	1. Yes	1. No
1. 9. It is difficult for me to finish most projects or activities.	1. Yes	1. No
1. 10. I have several favorite diversions or distractions that I use to keep me from doing something unpleasant, such as a difficult homework assignment.	1. Yes	1. No
1. Total Yes Responses
1. Scoring and Interpretation: The greater the number of “Yes” responses, the more likely it is that you have a serious procrastination problem. A score of 8, 9, or 10 strongly suggests that your procrastination is lowering your productivity. You get to do what you dislike the least by doing first what you dislike the most. WIFO is particularly effective when faced with a number of tasks simultaneously.

Break the task into manageable chunks. To reduce procrastination, cut down a task that seems overwhelming into smaller projects that seem less formidable. If your job calls for preparing an enormous database, begin by assembling some readily available information. Then take the next step by assembling another small segment of the database—perhaps all customers whose last names begin with Z. Think of your task as pulling together a series of small databases that will fit into a master database.

Make a commitment to other people. Try to make it imperative that you get something done on time by making it a commitment to one or more other people. You might announce to coworkers that you are going to get something accomplished by a certain date. If you fail to meet this date, you are likely to feel embarrassed.

Satisfy your stimulation quota in constructive ways. If you procrastinate because you enjoy the rush of scrambling to make deadlines, find a more constructive way of using busyness to keep you humming. If you need a high level of stimulation, enrich your life with extra projects and learning new skills. The fullness of your schedule will provide you the stimulation you had been receiving from squeezing yourself to make deadlines and reach appointments on time.[46]

Eliminate tangible rewards you are giving yourself for procrastinating. If you are procrastinating through socializing with coworkers, taking a walk to obtain a beverage, surfing the Internet, or any other pleasant experience—stop rewarding yourself. Just sit alone in your work area doing nothing while procrastinating. If you remove the pleasant activities from your stalling routine, you may be able to reduce procrastination.

Enhancing Personal Productivity through Attitudes and Values

Learning Objective 5

Developing good work habits and time-management practices is often a matter of developing the right attitudes toward your work and toward time.

Begin with a Mission and Goals

A mission, or general purpose, propels you toward being productive. Assume that a person says, “My mission is to be an outstanding professional in my field and a loving, constructive spouse and parent.” The mission serves as a compass to direct your activities, such as being well organized in order to accomplish more work and be highly valued by your employer. Goals are more specific than mission statements; they support the mission statement, but the effect is the same. Being committed to a goal also propels you toward good use of time. If you know that you can obtain the position in international business that you really want by mastering a second language, you are likely to work diligently on learning that language.

Skill-Building Exercise 16-3 gives you the opportunity to establish a mission statement and supporting goals.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

People caught up in trying to accomplish a job often wind up working hard, but not in an imaginative way that leads to good results. Much time and energy are, therefore, wasted. A working-smart approach also requires that you spend a few minutes carefully planning how to implement your task. An example of working smarter, not harder, is to invest a few minutes of critical thinking before conducting a telemarketing campaign for home replacement windows. Develop a list of homeowners of houses that are at least 15 years old. People with relatively new homes are poor prospects for replacing their windows.

A new perspective on working smarter, not harder, is to keep perfecting your skills through deliberate practice —strong effort to improve target performance over time. Practice alone does not lead to nearly as much improvement as thinking through what you have done to look for areas for improvement.[47] Feedback from others is also helpful.

deliberate practice

Strong effort to improve target performance over time.

Value Orderliness and Cleanliness

Being surrounded by a collection of small, unfinished tasks interferes with your ability to focus on major tasks. Also, less time is wasted and less energy is expended if you do not have to hunt for information that you thought you had on hand. A compelling reason for being neat and orderly is that a CareerBuilder survey indicated that 28 percent of employers are less likely to promote a worker who has a disorganized or messy workplace.[48]

Skill-Building Exercise 16-2

 

Using a Mission Statement and Goals to Power Work Habits

People with a well-defined mission statement and supporting goals tend to have better work habits and time management than those who do not. The following exercise is designed to help you establish a mission statement and goals so that you will be energized to be more productive.

Mission Statement: To help develop your mission statement, or general purpose in life, ask yourself, “What are my five biggest wishes in life?” These wishes give you a hint to your purpose because they point toward an ideal purpose in life. Feel free to think big, because mission statements tend toward being idealistic.

Long-Range Goals to Support the Mission Statement: Now write down what long-range goals would support your mission statement. Suppose your mission statement related to “creating a better life for people who are disadvantaged.” Your long-range goals might include establishing a foundation that would fund your efforts. You would also need to be successful enough in your career to get the foundation started.

Intermediate-Range Goals to Support Long-Range Goals: Write down the intermediate-range goals needed to support the long-range goals. You will probably need to complete your education, obtain broad experience, and identify a lucrative form of self-employment.

Weekly Goals to Support Intermediate-Range Goals: Write down what you have to do this week to help you complete your education, such as researching and writing a paper for a particular course, registering for courses for next term, and inquiring about career opportunities in your field.

Today’s Goals to Support Weekly Goals (My To-Do List): Here’s where your lofty purpose in life gets translated into reality. What do you have to do today to get that paper written? Do you need to get your car battery replaced, so you can get to the library, so you can write your paper, so you can graduate, so you can become rich, so you can ultimately help all those people who are disadvantaged? Get going.

The central message of the best-seller Getting Things Done by David Allen is that to achieve maximum efficiency and relaxation is to clear clutter both outside and inside your mind.[49] One way of clearing clutter from your mind is to write down your tasks on to-do lists. If you are orderly, you clear clutter.

As with any suggestions about human behavior, individual differences exist with respect to the impact of clutter on productivity. It has been argued that focusing too much on tidiness might detract from creative thinking and that many messy people, such as Albert Einstein, believe that a messy work area facilitates their creative thinking. To quote the great man, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”[50]

Value Good Attendance and Punctuality

Good attendance and punctuality are expected of both experienced and inexperienced employees. You cannot be productive unless you are physically present in your work area. The same principle applies whether you work on company premises or at home. One exception is that some people can work through solutions to job problems while engaged in recreation. Keep in mind, too, that being late for or absent from meetings sends the silent message that you do not regard the meeting as being important. Also, being late for a meeting, whether face-to-face or virtual, is regarded quite negatively by many managers. Some managers even lock the door to the meeting room after the meeting has begun. Whether the person is late or absent for work or just for a meeting, the behavior is interpreted by many as demonstrating irresponsibility.

Attain a Balance in Life, and Avoid Being a Workaholic

A productive attitude to maintain is that overwork can lead to negative stress and burnout. Proper physical rest and relaxation can contribute to mental alertness and an improved ability to cope with frustration. Many people do not achieve enough rest and relaxation, as inferred from the avoidance of vacations.

A strategy for preventing overwork is to strive for a balance in which you derive satisfaction from various spheres of life. Major spheres in addition to work include family life, romance, sports, the arts and music, faith, and intellectual growth.

A strongly recommended technique for attaining balance between work and other spheres of life is to learn how to say no diplomatically to your boss and family members. For example, your boss might ask you to take on a project when you are already overloaded. It would be necessary to occasionally explain that you are so overloaded that you could not do a good job with the new assignment. And you might have to occasionally turn down your family’s or friend’s request to take a weekend vacation when you face heavy work demands.

Neglecting the normal need for rest and relaxation can lead to workaholism, an addiction to work in which not working is an uncomfortable experience. Some types of workaholics are perfectionists who are never satisfied with their work, therefore, find it difficult to leave work behind, and have no real hobbies outside of the office. In addition, the perfectionist-type workaholic may become heavily focused on control of people and information, leading to rigid behavior and strained interpersonal relationships. Many workaholics take laptops to bed, and leave their smartphones on during the night to catch any potential calls from distant time zones. Fifty percent of workers polled by Good Technologies, a mobile-security specialist, said they read or responded to work e-mails from bed. Some workers now have Wi-Fi mattresses.[51]

workaholism

An addiction to work in which not working is an uncomfortable experience.

Leslie Perlow, a Harvard Business School professor of leadership, conducted an experiment with consultants who worked an average of 65 hours per week, not including approximately 20 hours per week spent monitoring their smartphones. During the experiment, the consultants took a full night off per week! Productivity actually increased as team members were forced to improve coordination.[52]

Despite the potential negatives of overwork, some people who work long and hard are classified as achievement-oriented workaholics who thrive on hard work and are usually highly productive.[53] For example, a person with strong family values might nevertheless work 65 hours per week for one year while establishing a new business.

Increase Your Energy

According to Tony Schwartz, the founder of the Energy Project in New York City, increasing your energy is the best way to get more done faster and better. Becoming more energetic leads to more productivity gains than merely working longer hours. Rituals can be established to build energy in several spheres, with body and mental energy being the most relevant for personal productivity.

Body energy. Increasing body energy closely follows some of the guidelines for stress management described earlier. Proper nutrition, moderate physical exercise, adequate rest, and taking brief breaks from work all enhance a person’s energy level. Naps, as previously described, are also key energy boosters.

Mental energy. To enhance mental energy, it is particularly important to minimize distractions that lead to constant multitasking. Switching to another task increases the amount of time required to complete the primary tasks by up to 25 percent, a phenomenon know as switching time.[54] We recognize, however, that you still have to live in a modern world. If you are preparing a report, and your boss sends you an urgent IM, or your sick parent or child sends you a text message, it is natural to be distracted away from your primary task.

A study about vitality and fatigue among professional workers provides new insights into enhancing energy to improve productivity. It was found that the strategies most related to having more vitality on the job focused on three areas: learning job-related skills and information, the meaning of one’s work, and positive workplace relationships. Examples are (1) learning something new, such as how to cope with currency fluctuations; (2) reflecting how a person might make a difference at work; and (3) doing something that will make a coworker happy. The general point is that taking short breaks during the workday does not boost your energy unless you do something job-related and positive, such as praising a colleague or learning something new.[55]

Enhancing Personal Productivity through Work Habits and Skills

Learning Objective 6

Overcoming procrastination and developing the right attitudes contribute to personal productivity. Effective work habits and skills are also essential for high productivity. Six key work habits and skills are described next. They represent a mixture of traditional productivity boosters and those geared toward information technology.

Prepare a To-Do List and Set Priorities

At the heart of every time management system is list making, whether the list is placed on an index card, in a leather-bound planner, or in a smartphone. The to-do list is the basic tool for achieving your daily goals, which in turn helps you achieve bigger goals and your mission. Almost every successful person in any field composes a list of important and less important tasks that need to be done. A stellar example is the famous Sheryl Sandberg, the number two executive at Facebook, who uses a paper notebook to organize her super-charged workdays. Before you compose a useful list, you need to set aside a few minutes of quiet time every day to sort out the tasks at hand. This is the most basic aspect of planning.

As is well known, it is helpful to set priorities for items on the to-do list. A typical system is to use A to signify critical or essential items, B to signify important items, and C for the least important ones. Although an item might be regarded as a C (e.g., emptying the wood shavings from the electronic pencil sharpener), it still makes a contribution to your management of time and sense of wellbeing. Accomplishing anything reduces some stress. Also, many people obtain satisfaction from crossing off an item on their list, however trivial. If you are at all conscientious, small, unaccomplished items will come back to interfere with your concentration.

A to-do list may have to be revamped to meet the changing demands of the day. As a result, you should quickly prepare a new to-do list. For example, if you are alerted that a fire broke out in the warehouse, your to-do list as a production supervisor might change on the spot.

Preparing to-do lists should not become an end in itself, with so much time devoted to list making that accomplishing some of the tasks are neglected. The compulsive list maker sometimes neglects seeing the big picture of what needs to get done. Another danger is filling the to-do list with items you would have to accomplish anyway, such as “check e-mail” or “handle customer inquiry.” The to-do list can become so long that it becomes an overwhelming task.

Streamline Your Work and Emphasize Important Tasks

Getting rid of unproductive work is part of business process improvement, in which work processes are radically redesigned and simplified. Every employee is expected to get rid of work that does not contribute to productivity or help customers. In general, to streamline your work, look for duplication of effort and waste. An example of duplication of effort would be to routinely send people e-mail, intranet, and voice mail messages covering the same topic. An example of waste would be to call a meeting for disseminating information that could easily be communicated by e-mail.

Emphasizing important tasks means that you make sure to take care of A items on your to-do list. It also implies that you search to accomplish a few work activities that, if done well, would make a big difference in your job performance. Although important tasks may take less time to accomplish than many routine tasks, they can represent the difference between success and failure. Five minutes of telephone conversation with a major customer might do more good for your company than three hours of arranging obsolete inventory in the warehouse.

Concentrate on One Important Task at a Time Instead of Multitasking

While working on important tasks, concentrate on what you are doing. Effective executives and professionals have a well-developed capacity to concentrate on the problem or person facing them, however surrounded they are with other obligations. Intense concentration leads to crisper judgment and analysis and also minimizes major errors. Another useful by-product of concentration is that it helps reduce absentmindedness. If you really concentrate on what you are doing, the chances diminish that you will forget what you intended to do.

Both experimental evidence and opinion have accumulated that show that multitasking while performing important tasks leads to problems in concentration, along with significant errors—for most people. The information about mental energy described earlier applies here. Multitasking on routine tasks has less negative consequences and can sometimes be a legitimate time saver. For example, waiting in line at the airport during business travel provides a good opportunity to review company documents or catch up on work-related news.

David E. Meyer, the director of the Brain, Cognition, and Action Laboratory at the University of Michigan, notes that when people attempt to perform two or more related tasks at the same time or alternating rapidly—instead of doing them sequentially—two negative consequences occur. Errors increase substantially, and the amount of time to perform the task may double.[56] Also, according to brain research, few people can concentrate on more than four tasks at once. The more workers switch back and forth between tasks, the less they accomplish, particularly with respect to professional and technical tasks.[57]

Multitasking has enormous potentially negative consequences when the lives of others are at stake, such as when driving a car or truck or flying an airplane. In a well-publicized case in 2013, texting by the pilot of a medical helicopter contributed to to a crash that killed four people on board, including himself. (He was also fatigued and had ignored pre-flight safety checks.) The pilot exchanged 20 text messages during the hour and 41 minutes preceding the crash. After the tragedy, federal accident investigators approved a safety alert advising pilots against using cell phones or other distracting electronic gadets during critical operations.[58]

Place the potential dangers of multitasking on a personal level. Would you want a cardiac surgeon to operate on a loved one while she was receiving personal calls on her cell phone? Would you want your commercial airline pilot to be sending text messages to “friends” on a social network while he was flying through a storm? (Using a tablet computer while in flight is not reassuring either.)

Stay in Control of Paperwork and Electronic Work

Although it is fashionable to complain about paperwork in responsible jobs, the effective career person does not neglect paperwork. (Paperwork includes electronic work, such as electronic mail and voice mail.) Paperwork involves taking care of administrative details such as correspondence, invoices, human resource reports, expense reports, and inventory forms. A considerable amount of electronic work results in paperwork, because many e-mail messages and attachments wind up being printed. (Check out the reams of copying paper stacked high in your local office supply store.) Unless paperwork and electronic work are attended to, a person’s job may get out of control. A small amount of time should be invested in paperwork every day. Nonprime time (when you are at less than your peak of efficiency, but not overfatigued) is the best time to take care of paperwork.

An effective technique is to respond quickly to high-priority e-mail messages, and permanently delete those you will most likely not need to refer to again. File only those e-mail messages of high importance to avoid being overwhelmed with piles of old messages. For many types of work, it is important to be able to access old e-mails; however, some workers complain (brag?) of having 6,000 e-mails in their inboxes. In addition to clogging the servers, this large accumulation of e-mails is distracting, thereby lowering productivity. Old e-mails should be archived, and others moved to appropriate folders.

Work Productively from Your Home Office or Virtual Office

A growing segment of the workforce works either full or part time from home or from a virtual office. Estimates vary considerably, but it appears that about 5 percent of all workers in nonfamily businesses work at home at least one day per week.[59] Such an office is a place of work without a fixed physical location from which the worker or workers communicate their output electronically. A virtual office might be in a car, train, airplane, or hotel room; on a park bench; or wherever the worker happens to be at the time. Many people adapt well to working at home and from virtual offices because they are self-starters and self-disciplined. Many other workers lack the self-discipline and effective work habits necessary to be productive outside of a traditional office. The following is a list of representative suggestions for being productive while working independently.[60]

virtual office

A place of work without a fixed physical location, where the output is communicated electronically.

Act as if you work in a traditional office. Set specific working hours, get dressed, go outside the house for a few minutes, then return and get to work. A frequent recommendation is not to work in your pajamas. Close your office at home or the virtual office at some regular time. Otherwise, you are open for business all the time. If you work at home, establish a specific workspace whether it be a den, bedroom, kitchen, attic, or basement. Let your family and friends know when you cannot be disturbed.

Stay in touch with teammates to enhance your team player skills and not lose out on important information that could lower your effectiveness (such as missing an appointment at the traditional office). Stay in touch with other workers also, such as visiting an office supply store or attending networking meetings. In this way, you will feel less isolated from the workforce—assuming feeling isolated is a problem for you.

Minimize the distraction of conducting your personal life at the same time as working (e.g., working while watching television, talking to neighbors, or shopping over the Internet).

To avoid getting in a rut, switch your work environment from time to time, such as spending part of one day working from a library or quiet café.

Skill-Building Exercise 16-3

 

Productivity Boosting through Work Habits

The chapter has already given you ideas about using work habits to increase productivity. Here is a chance to make some personal applications of your own. Gather into small teams or work individually to identify 10 ways in which good work habits, as well as using the Internet, can increase personal productivity either on the job or at home. To supplement your own thinking, you might search the Internet for ideas on how the Internet is supposed to boost productivity.

The practice of working at home or from virtual offices is increasing rapidly, so these suggestions merit careful consideration. Several of the productivity ideas also fit the conventional office. Also, if part of your job is to help other workers in person, or answer their spontaneous questions, a virtual office is not an effective option.

Enhance Your Internet Search Skills

An important job skill is searching the Internet for a variety of information. It follows that if you develop your Internet search skills, you will be more productive by obtaining the results you need within a reasonable time. First, it is helpful to rely on several search engines to seek needed information. Several metasearch engines claim to be so comprehensive that no other engine is required. Such claims are exaggerated, because the same search word entered into several different comprehensive engines will reveal a different list of sources. Millions of people believe that conducting an Internet search means only that you “google” your search term.

Second, give careful thought to the search word or phrase you use. The more specific you are, the better it is. Assume that you wanted to find software to enhance your productivity, and you enter the word “software” into a search engine. You will probably receive a message indicating that approximately one billion entries have been located in response to your personal inquiry. You are better advised to use the search phrase “Software for increasing personal productivity.”

Third, for many searches, framing the query as a phrase by enclosing it in quotation marks refines the number of hits (or sites) returned. Place quotation marks before and after the search word, such as “software for improving work habits.” Fourth, if you don’t find what you want in your initial search, reframe your question in another way or change the terms. How about “software for time management” or “computer programs for increasing personal efficiency”? Skill-Building Exercise 16-4 will help you make better use of the Internet to enhance your personal productivity.

Overcoming Time Wasters

Learning Objective 7

Another basic thrust to improve personal productivity is to minimize wasting time. The average US worker wastes 28 percent of the day with interruptions, such as checking e-mail, responding to an instant message, clicking on YouTube, or posting a personal message on Twitter or Facebook.[61] Preoccupation with the Internet is becoming such as problem that Internet Addiction Disorder is now listed in the offical psychiatrist’s diagnostic manual. The wasted time includes doing the task and recovery time, with the combination resulting in an estimated productivity drain of $650 billion per year.[62] Recognize, however, that answering the phone or responding to an e-mail with a legitimate work purpose is not an interruption—it is part of your job.

Many of the techniques already described in this chapter help save time, such as eliminating nonessential work. Whether or not an activity is a time waster depends on the purpose of the activity. Suppose you play computer solitaire for 10 minutes to reduce stress, and then return to work refreshed and more productive. In contrast, another worker who spends 10 minutes playing solitaire just for fun is wasting time.

Figure 16-7 presents a list of common time wasters. Being aware of time wasters will help sensitize you to the importance of minimizing them. Even if you saved just 10 minutes per workday, the productivity gain over a year could be enormous.

To analyze whether you might be wasting time, do Skill-Building Exercise 16-5.

1. Minimize procrastination, the number-one time waster for most people. 2. Get your desk, as well as your work space (could be a cubicle, open work area, or office) in order, because sorting through disorder wastes so much time. Also, keep track of important names, places, and things to avoid wasting time searching for them. 3. Complete as many projects on time as possible so you do not have to invest time communicating with others about why you are late, and when you will get the work done. 4. Attempt to resolve personal problems, such as dealing with a relationship breakup, so that you will not be so distracted on the job. 5. Avoid the computer as a diversion from work, such as sending jokes back and forth to other workers, playing video games, and checkiing out recreational Web sites during working hours. Be particulalry alert to avoid Twitter unless it is being used for a legitimate work purpose, such as employee recruitment or brand building. 6. Cluster together tasks such as returning phone calls or responding to e-mail messages. For example, in most jobs it is possible to be polite and productive by reserving two or three 15-minute periods each day for taking care of e-mail correspondence. 7. Be prepared for meetings by, for example, having a clear agenda and sorting through the documents you will be referring to. 8. Set a time limit for tasks after you have done them once or twice. 9. Prepare a computer template for letters and documents that you send frequently. 10. When you arrive at work, be ready to get started working immediately. Greet people quickly, avoid checking your personal e-mail, and shut off your personal phone. 11. Avoid perfectionism, which leads you to keep redoing a project. Let go and move on to another project. 12. Overcome being a control freak so you will not have to spend so much time criticizing the work of coworkers and subordinates. Also, you will decrease the amount of time you spend giving detailed instructions to others. 13. Make use of bits of time—for instance, five minutes between appointments. Invest those five minutes in sending a work-related e-mail message or revising your to-do list. 14. Avoid spreading yourself too thin by doing too many things at once, such as having one project too many to manage. When you are overloaded, time can be wasted because of too many errors. 15. Manage interruptions by letting coworkers know when you are available for consultation, and when you need to work independently. Emergencies are an exception. Repond to instant messages and text messages only if your job requires responding immediately. 16. Think through carefully whether the work you are doing at the moment has any relevance. If what you are doing adds no value for anyone, stop performing the task unless your boss demands otherwise.

Figure 16-7 Ways to Prevent and Overcome Time Wasting

Sources: Toddi Gutner, “Beat the Clock,” Business Week, February/March 2008, p. 58; Joe Queenan, “Lack of Sleep Costs Billions? How About Cats? “ The Wall Street Journal, January 26–27, 2013, p. C121;Vince Thompson, “Make the Most of Your White Space,” up.theladders.com, October 3, 2007; Claire Studdath, “My Life As An Efficiency Squirrel,” Bloomberg Businessweek, October 29–November 4, 2012, pp. 88–90; Leigh Gallager, “How I Managed My Time—the Covey Way,” Fortune, March 21, 2011, pp. 39–40.

Skill-Building Exercise 16-4

 

Maintaining a Time Log

An effective starting point to avoid wasting time is to identify how you spend the 168 hours you have each week (24 hours 3 7 days). For two weeks, catalog all the time you spend, down to as much detail as you can tolerate. Include the large obvious items, as well as the small items that are easy to forget. Keep track of any activity that requires at least five minutes. Major items would include working, attending class, studying, reading, watching television, sleeping, eating, going places, and time with loved ones and friends (hanging out). Small items would include visiting the coffee shop or vending machine, purchasing gum, and clipping your nails. If you multitask, such as walking and listening to music, do not double-count the time.

When your time logs have been completed, search for complete wastes of time, or activities that could be shortened. You might find, for example, that you spend about 45 minutes per day in the pursuit and consumption of coffee. If you reduced that time to 30 minutes, you would have an additional 15 minutes per day that you could invest in your career. If, however, coffee time includes forming alliances with people or maintaining relationships, maybe the 45-minute-per-day investment is worthwhile.

Concept Review and Reinforcement

Key Terms

corporate athletes 379

fight-or-flight response 380

hindrance stressors 380

challenge stressors 380

burnout 381

perceived control 382

Type-A behavior 382

negative affectivity 383

role overload 383

extreme job 384

role ambiguity 384

carpal tunnel syndrome 385

emotional labor 385

cognitive behavioral approach to  stress management 387

support network 388

personal productivity 390

procrastination 390

deliberate practice 392

workaholism 393

virtual office 396

Summary

A major challenge facing any worker who wants to stay healthy and have good interpersonal relationships is to manage stress effectively. Individual differences play a big role in determining whether an event will lead to stress. The physiological changes that take place within the body in response to stress are responsible for most of the stress symptoms. The fight-or-flight response is the battle against the stressor.

The activation of hormones, such as cortisol, when the body has to cope with a stressor produces short-term physiological reactions, including an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. When stress levels rarely subside, the physiological changes create damage. People under continual negative stress age quickly. Hindrance stressors have a negative effect on motivation and performance; however, the right amount of stress (challenge stressors) prepares us for meeting difficult challenges and improves performance. An optimum level of stress exists for most people and most tasks. In general, performance tends to be best under moderate amounts of stress.

One of the major problems of prolonged stress is that it may lead to burnout, a condition of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion in response to long-term stressors. Feelings of having limited control and not being recognized are major contributors to burnout. Burnout also creates cynicism and a distancing from tasks and people. Workers who perceive the cause of burnout to be external are more likely to become less committed to the firm and more cynical.

Four personality factors predisposing people toward stress are low perceived control, low self-efficacy, Type-A behavior and hostility, and negative affectivity and high reactivity. The heart attack triggers associated with Type-A behavior are hostility, anger, cynicism, and suspiciousness, with hostility having the biggest impact. Frequently encountered job stressors are role overload including extreme jobs, role conflict and ambiguity, adverse environmental conditions including carpal tunnel syndrome and long commutes, environmentally induced attention deficit disorder, aggressive and hostile humor by the supervisor, and job insecurity and job loss. Another frequent job stressor is adverse interactions with customers and clients and emotional labor.

Managing stress refers to controlling stress by making it become a constructive force in your life. Coping with, or managing, stress includes hundreds of activities, with substantial individual differences in which technique is effective. Eight representative stress management methods are to eliminate or modify the stressor, get appropriate physical exercise, rest sufficiently, maintain a healthy diet, build a support network, practice visualization and meditation, participate in resilience training, and practice everyday methods of stress reduction.

Achieving high personal productivity on the job is more in demand than ever. A starting point in improving productivity is to minimize procrastination, an enormous problem for many people that can be approached as follows: Commit to what you want in life; calculate the cost of procrastination; follow the worst in, first out (WIFO) principle; break the task into manageable chunks; make a commitment to other people; remove some clutter from your mind; satisfy your stimulation quota in constructive ways; and eliminate rewards for procrastinating.

Developing good work habits and time management practices is often a matter of developing the right attitudes toward your work and toward time, as follows: (1) Begin with a mission and goals; (2) work smarter, not harder, including the use of deliberate practice; (3) value orderliness and cleanliness; (4) value good attendance and punctuality; (5) attain a balance in life and avoid being a workaholic; and (6) increase your energy, including both the body and the mind.

Effective work habits and skills are essential for high productivity, including the following: (1) Prepare a to-do list and set priorities, (2) streamline your work and emphasize important tasks, (3) concentrate on one important task at a time instead of multitasking, (4) stay in control of paperwork and electronic work, (5) work productively from your home office or virtual office, and (6) enhance your Internet search skills.

Another basic thrust to improved personal productivity is to minimize time wasting. Whether or not an activity is a time waster depends on its purpose. Being aware of time wasters such as those presented in Figure 16-6 will sensitize you to the importance of minimizing them.

Questions for Discussion and Review

Why might it be true that people who love their work live much longer than people who retire early because they dislike working?

Why might having your stress under control improve your interpersonal relationships?

Give an example of adverse interaction with a customer that you have personally experienced, or that you have witnessed. What could the worker have done to decrease some of the stress in the situation?

Interview a person in a high-pressure job in any field. Find out whether the person experiences significant stress and what method he or she uses to cope with it.

Provide an example from your own or somebody else’s life of how having a major goal in life can help a person be better organized.

Executives at Toyota, among many other Japanese companies, emphasize that clean work areas in the factory enhance productivity. What might explain this relationship between cleanliness and productivity?

Identify a work-related skill you have that would be likely to improve substantially with deliberate practice.

Use the information in this chapter to explain how a person might be well organized, yet still not get very far in his or her career.

An increasing number of professional workers take their smartphones and laptop computers to bed so they can respond to e-mails, make phone calls, and do other work whenever they want. What do you see as the pros and cons of taking electronic gadets to bed?

With millions of workers making regular use of smartphones throughout the world, why hasn’t productivity in organizations taken a dramatic leap forward?

The Web Corner

http://www.stress.org

(Institute for Stress Management—includes video)

http://stress.about.com

(Considerable information about stress, plus several self-quizzes)

http://ub-counseling.buffalo.edu/stressprocrast.shtml

(Overcoming procrastination for students)

Internet Skill Builder: Getting Personal Help from Your Employer

Use your favorite search engines to learn about Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). After visiting several sites, answer these questions: (1) What type of help can an employee expect to receive from an EAP? (2) How does an EAP help with stress management? (3) Does the EAP counselor typically tell the company the nature of the problem facing the employee who sought assistance? (4) What benefits do companies expect from offering an EAP to employees? (5) What would I tell the company if I needed help with problems that are causing me severe stress?

Internet Skill Builder: What Do Employees Do with Their Time?

To learn about how time studies can improve productivity, visit http://getmoredone.com. The TimeCorder is an easy way to measure how employees spend their time. Watch a two-minute video about a user-friendly time and motion study. After watching the video and related information, ask, “What have I learned that will enhance my personal productivity?”

Developing Your Human Relations Skills

Interpersonal Relations Case 16.1

The Overwhelmed Medical Billing Specialist

Sasha looked into the storeroom mirror and thought to herself, “You’re looking bad, kid. Somehow you’ve got to get your life straightened out. You’re on a treadmill, and you don’t know how to get off. But it’s a bad time to be thinking about myself right now. It’s time to meet with my boss, Francesca. I wonder what she wants.”

Francesca began the meeting with Sasha in her usual open manner: “Sasha, I’m concerned about you. For a long time you were one of the best medical billing specialists in our hospital. You received compliments from me and other department heads who had contact with your department. Now you’re hardly making it. You’ve so irritable, so lacking in enthusiasm. And a lot of your work contains glaring errors and is also late. The reason I’m bringing up the subject up again is that your performance has gotten worse. What’s your problem?”

“I wish it were only one problem, Francesca. I feel like the world is caving in on me. I work here about 35 hours per week. I’m trying to upgrade myself in life. As you know, I’m taking two courses in a business administration program. If I can keep up the pace, I’ll have an associate’s degree by next spring. But it’s a grind.”

“How are things at home, Sasha?”

“Much worse than they are here. My husband works, also, and he’s getting fed up with never seeing me much when he comes home. I’m either working late at the office, in class, or studying at the library. Thursday is the one weekday night I’m home for sure, and that’s Tony’s bowling night.”

“Our son Deon isn’t too happy either. He’s only five, but the other day he asked me if Daddy and I were getting divorced. Deon doesn’t see us together much. When he does see us, he can feel the tension between us.”

“So, you’re under pressure at the office and at home,” said Francesca.

“Add school to that list. I’m having a dreadful time getting through my business statistics course. If I flunk, my chances of getting a degree are set back considerably.”

“Do the best you can, Sasha. I’m sympathetic, but I need better performance from you.”

As Sasha left Francesca’s office she said, “Thanks for being candid with me. My problem is that my boss, my husband, my child, and my professors all want better performance from me. I wish I knew how to give it.”

Case Questions

What suggestions can you offer Sasha for working her way out of her problems?

Why is this case included in a chapter about improving productivity and managing stress?

How well do you think that Francesca handled the interview?

Interpersonal Skills Role-Play

Francesca Attempts to Help Sasha

This role-play provides an opportunity to practice one of the most frequent constructive interactions in the workplace, a supervisor attemptng to help a subordinate overcome a problem. One student plays the role of Francesca, who wants to help Sasha overcome her productivity problems, but there are limits to her patience. Another student plays the role of Sasha, who wants help and wants to improve, yet she feels overwhelmed. Run the role-play for about eight minutes. Observers will note whether the meeting will likely result in a useful outcome for Sasha. Also the observers might comment on Francesca’s coaching skills.

Interpersonal Relations Case 16.2

Rob Naps to Boost His Personal Productivity

Nina, the director of marketing, was in a hurry early one afternoon to get back to the office to finalize her proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Instead of entering the building through the front door, she chose a side door. Shortly after she entered the building, she noticed a man lying still under the concrete stairwell. Frightened, she thought the person might be ill or dead. As Nina was about to call 911 from her smart phone, she noticed that the person on the floor was Rob, the social media marketing specialist.

Nina nudged Rob with her foot, and he quickly awoke. “Rob, you frightened me. Why are you sleeping under the stairwell? Are you ill? Drunk? What’s your problem? You are behaving very unprofessionally.”

“Sorry to frighten you, Nina,” said Rob. “As you know, my work is highly demanding and stressful. I have seen quite a few articles about how taking a nap during the working day can boost a person’s productivity and reduce stress. It’s so nice and quiet out here for napping. Also, the concrete is nice and cool.”

“I’m only half-convinced that daytime naps make a worker more productive, and you can work on reducing your stress after hours. But can’t you find a better place to nap?”

Rob replied, “I tried napping in my cubicle, but my manager said I looked lazy and unprofessional. I tried napping in the storeroom, but I got a few nasty looks from my coworkers. My decision was to nap in the stairwell. It’s been very comfortable, and I am usually more productive and less stressed for the rest of the day.”

“I’ll have to think about this,” said Nina, as she proceeded into the building.

Case Questions

What do you recommend that Rob do about his productivity naps for the future?

How should Nina deal with the situation of Rob taking naps for productivity and stress reduction?

References

Cait Murphy, “The CEO Workout,” Fortune, July 10, 2006, pp. 43–44.

Jennifer Schramm, “Manage Stress, Improve the Bottom Line,” HR Magazine, February 2013, p. 80.

Research reported in Allie Mendoza, “What Are the Effects of Stress on Aging?” Examiner.com (http://www.examiner.com), September 12, 2001, pp. 1–4.

Jeffery A. Lapine, Nathan P. Podsakoff, and Marcie A. Lepine, “A Meta-Analytic Test of the Challenge-Stressor-Hindrance-Stressor Framework: An Explanation for Inconsistent Relationships among Stressors and Performance,” Academy of Management Journal, October 2005, pp. 764–775.

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Annebel H. B. De Hoog and Deanne N. Den Hartog, “Neuroticism and Locus of Control as Moderators of the Relationships of Charismatic and Autocratic Leadership with Burnout,” Journal of Applied Psychology, July 2009, pp. 1058–1067.

Maslach and Leiter, The Truth About Burnout.

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Jeffrey R. Edwards and A. J. Baglioni, Jr., “Relationships between Type A Behavior Pattern and Mental and Physical Symptoms: A Comparison of Global and Component Measures,” Journal of Applied Psychology, April 1991, p. 276; related research reported in Etienne Benson, “Hostility Is among Best Predictors of Heart Disease in Men,” Monitor on Psychology, January 2003, p. 15.

Research reviewed in Nadja Geipert, “Don’t Be Mad: More Research Links Hostility to Coronary Risk,” Monitor on Psychology, January 2007, pp. 50–51.

Peter Y. Chen and Paul E. Spector, “Negative Affectivity as the Underlying Cause of Correlations between Stressors and Strains,” Journal of Applied Psychology, June 1991, p. 398.

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Ed Frauenheim, “Stress & Pressed,” Workforce Management, January 2012, p. 19.

Leslie Kwoh, “Hazard of the Trade: Banker’s Health,” The Wall Street Journal, February 15, 2012, p. C1.

Erin M. Eatough, Chu-Hsiang Chang, Stephanie A. Miloslavic, and Russell E. Johnson, “Relationship of Role Stressors With Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology, May 2011, pp. 619–632.

William Atkinson, “Causes of Workplace Stress,” HR Magazine, December 2000, p. 107; Michele Conlin, “Is Your Office Killing You?” Business Week, June 5, 2000, pp. 114–128; “Sick Building Syndrome,” http://www.doctorfungus.org , accessed January 22, 2007, p. 1.

Natiolio J. Izsquierdo, “Computer Vision Syndrome,” Medscape (http://emedicine.medscape.com), May 30, 2012, pp. 1–4.

Christine A. Spring et al., “Work Characteristics: Musculoskeletal Disorders, and the Mediating Role of Psychological Strain: A Study of Call Center Employees,” Journal of Applied Psychology, September 2007, pp. 1456–1466.

Christina Binkley, “Sitting Pretty When You’re Hard at Work,” The Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2009, pp. D1, D7.

Alicia A. Grandey, “Emotion Regulation in the Workplace: A New Way to Conceptualize Emotional Labor,” Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5; 1, 2000, pp. 95–110; Grandey, “When the ‘Show Must Go On:’ Surface Acting and Deep Acting as Determinants of Emotional Exhaustion and Peer-Related Service Delivery,” Academy of Management Journal, February 2003, pp. 86–96.

Markus Groth, Thornsen Henning-Thurau, and Gianfranco Walsh, “Customer Reactions to Emotional labor: The Roles of Employee Acting Strategies and Customer Detection Accuracy,” Academy of Management Journal, October 2009, pp. 958–974.

Theresa M. Glomb, John D. Kammeyer-Mueller, and Maria Rotundo, “Emotional Labor Demands and Compensating Wage Differentials,” Journal of Applied Psychology, August 2004, p. 707.

Timothy A. Judge, Erin Fluegge Woolf, and Charlice Hurst, “Is Emotional Labor More Difficult for Some than Others? A Multilevel, Experience-Sampling Study,” Personnel Psychology, Spring 2009, pp. 57–88.

Yuanyuan Huo, Wing Lam, and Ziguang Chen, “Am I the Only One this Supervisor Is Laughing At? Effects of Aggressive Humor on Employee Strain and Addictive Behaviors,” Personnel Psychology, Number 4, 2012, pp. 859–885.

“Executive Quits after Suicides at France Télécom,” The Associated Press, October 6, 2009.

Jan de Jonge and Christian Dormann, “Stressors, Resources, and Strain at Work: A Longitudinal Test of the Triple-Match Principle,” Journal of Applied Psychology, November 2006, pp. 1359–1374.

Katherine M. Richardson and Hannah R. Rothstein, “Effects of Occupational Stress Management Intervention Programs: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, January 2008, pp. 69–93.

Stephanie Jean Sohl and Anne Moyer, “Refining the Conceptualization of an Important Future-Oriented Self-Regulatory Behavior: Proactive Coping,” NIH Public Access (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) July 1, 2009, pp. 1–9.

Data reported in Laura Landro, “The Hidden Benefits of Exercise,” The Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2010, p. D1.

Lisa Belkin, “Some Respect, Please, for the Afternoon Nap,” The New York Times ( http://nytimes.com ), February 25, 2007, p. 1.

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Nancy Rodriguez, “Would We Be Healthier With a Vegan Diet? No: It’s a Question of Balance,” The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2012, p. B11.

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Katherine Ellison, “Mastering Your Own Mind,” Psychology Today, October 2006, p. 75.

“Resilience Training” (http://www.mayoclinic.org/resilience-training), 2012; William Atkinson, “Turning Stress into Strength,” HR Magazine, January 2011, pp. 49–52.

Alan Semuels, “As Employers Push Efficiency, the Daily Grind Wears Down Workers,” Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com ), April 7, 2013.

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Stephen Kotler, “Escape Artists,” Psychology Today, September/October 2009, pp. 73–75.

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Christopher Percy Collier, “The Expert on Experts,” Fast Company, November 2006, p. 116.

Kaitlin Madden, “Get Organized for the New Year: Clear the Clutter from Your Desk,” CareerBuilder, January 8, 2012.

David Allen, Getting Things Done (New York: Penguin, 2001, 2007).

Quoted in Adrian Wooldridge, “Why Clean Up Your Desk? Delight in Disorder Instead,” The Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2007, p. D7. Book review of Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman, A Perfect Mess (New York: Little, Brown & Co., 2007).

Sue Shellenbarger, “More Work Goes ‘Undercover’: Bringing the Office To Bed for 3.a.m. Emails to China; Wi-Fi Mattresses,” The Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2012, p. D1.

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Brenda Goodman, “A Field Guide To the Workaholic,” Psychology Today, May/June 2006, p. 41.

Tony Schwartz, “Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time,” Harvard Business Review, October 2007, pp. 63–74.

Charlotte Fritz, Chak Fu Lam, and Gretchen M. Spreitzer, “It’s the Little Things that Matter: An Examination of Knowledge Worker’s Energy Management,” Academy of Management Perspective, February 2011, pp. 28–39; Fritz, “Coffee Breaks Don’t Boost Productivity After All,” Harvard Business Review, May 2012, pp. 34–35.

The scientific information about multitasking is reviewed in Claudia Wallis, “The Multitasking Generation,” Time, March 27, 2006, pp. 48–55. See also Joshua S. Rubinstein, David E. Meyer, and Jeffrey E. Evans, “Executive Control of Cognitive Processes in Task Switching,” Journal of Experimental Psychology—Human Perception and Performance, Vol. 26, January 2000, No. 4, pp. 763–769.

Research from the University of Oregon reported in “The Problem with Extreme Multitasking,” The Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2008, p. B4; “The Multitasking Paradox,” Harvard Business Review, March 2013, pp. 30–31.

Joan Lowy, “NTSB: Pilot’s Texting Contributed to Copter Crash,” Associated Press, April 9, 2013.

Rick Hampson, “The Work-from-Home Tug of War,” USA Today, March 12, 2013.

Debra Auerback, “Getting the Most from Telecommuting,” CareerBuilder, August 26, 2012; Michelle Conlin, “Out of Sight, Yes. Out of Mind, No,” Business Week, February 18, 2008, p. 60; Sue Shellenbarger, “When Working at Home Doesn’t Work: How Companies Comfort Telecommuters,” The Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2006, p. D1.

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“Internet Addiction: An ADA-Protected Disability?” The HR Weekly, April 8, 2013, p. 1.

Chapter 17 Job Search and Career Management Skills

Ariel Skelley/Getty Images

Learning Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter and completing the exercises, you should be able to

Acquire new insights into conducting a job search, including writing an impressive cover letter, preparing a résumé, and being interviewed.

Identify a handful of career-enhancing strategies and tactics you intend to use.

Tyler, age 27, was doing well in his position as an assistant purchasing manager in the Cleveland division of a company that manufactured and installed elevators, escalators, and moving walkways. To save money, the company decided to consolidate the Cleveland division into the Kansas City division. Tyler was told he would most likely have an opportunity to transfer to Kansas City. Because Tyler’s wife had a satisfying position and he had family and close friends in Cleveland, he decided that he did not want to relocate. Instead, he initiated a job search in the Cleveland area.

Tyler carefully planned his job search, including informing his professional contacts that he was hoping to land a position as a purchasing manager, thereby upgrading his job status. After about 30 days of searching, Tyler had an interview for a position with a farm equipment manufacturer. Although the interview went well, the hiring manager decided to hire a candidate with more direct experience in the farm equipment industry. Two weeks later, Tyler had an interview for a purchasing manager position at a manufacturer of high-performance racing bicycles. Tyler decided he was going to really stand out in his upcoming interview.

Tyler decided that when the moment was appropriate he was going to ask a question that well-known career-placement specialist Marc Cenderella says is his best career tip. He recommends that when you get to the portion of the interview where the interviewer asks if have any questions for him or her, respond by asking, “How do I help you get a gold star on your performance review next year?”[1]

Tyler said that after he asked that question, the interviewing manager seemed shocked, but then broke out into a warm smile, and said “Lower our bike parts purchasing cost by 10 percent without sacrificing quality, and we will both get gold stars.” From that point on, the interview got better and better, and Tyler was offered a position as a purchasing manager at a salary 7 percent higher than he was making before.

Tyler was well qualified and self-confident when he initiated a job search, yet he also was perceptive enough to follow some professional advice about conducting a successful job interview. Our approach to achieving career success is divided into two major segments: conducting a job campaign, and using career advancement strategies and tactics. The previous 16 chapters also dealt with topics and skills that facilitate success; however, t he information presented in this chapter is more specifically about managing your career.

Conducting a Job Search

Learning Objective 1

The vast majority of workers have to conduct a job search at various times in their careers. Job searches are conducted to find employment in a firm the job seeker is not already working for or sometimes to find a new position within one’s own firm. When job openings are on short supply, job search skills are especially important. Even during the most prosperous of times, when jobs are in ample supply, learning more about conducting a job search is useful. It can help you land an excellent position. Included in the job search are job-hunting tactics and preparing a résumé and cover letter.

Job-Hunting Tactics

Most people already have usable knowledge about how to find a job, and information about job hunting is abundant. Some of the ideas discussed next will therefore be familiar; some will be unfamiliar. We recommend using this list of tactics as a checklist to ensure that you have not neglected something important. Also, it is important to search for employment systematically. It is easy to overlook the obvious when job hunting, because your emotions may cloud your sense of logic.

Identify Your Job Objectives

An effective job search begins with a clear perception of what kind of position (or positions) you want. If you express indecision about the type of work you seek, the prospective employer will typically ask in a critical tone, “What kind of work are you looking for?” Your chances of finding suitable employment increase when several different types of positions will satisfy your job objectives. Assume that one person who majored in business administration is only willing to accept a position as an office manager in a corporation. Another person with the same major is seeking a position as (1) an office manager; (2) a management trainee in a corporation; (3) an assistant manager in a retail store, restaurant, or hotel; (4) a sales representative; (5) an assistant purchasing agent; or (6) a social media marketing specialist. The second person has a much better chance of finding a suitable position.

In addition to identifying your job objectives, it is helpful to match your skills to the job you want. For example, if a person is seeking a position as an assistant manager at a hotel, that person should refect on all the relevant skills he or she might possess. Among these would be (1) an ability to deal with a variety of personalities including resolving conflicts, (2) information technology skills, (3) advanced telephone communication skills, and (4) adapatibility to long and irregular working hours.

Be Aware of Qualifications Sought by Employers

What you are looking for in an employer must be matched against what an employer is looking for in an employee. If you are aware of what employers are seeking, you can emphasize those aspects of yourself when applying for a position. For example, applicants for almost any type of position should emphasize their information technology skills. Job interviewers and hiring managers do not all agree on the qualifications they seek in employees. Nevertheless, a number of traits, characteristics, skills, and accomplishments are important to many employers.

Self-Assessment Quiz 17-1 summarizes these qualifications in a way that you can apply to yourself as you think about your job hunt. Skill in a second language (item 21) is based on an analysis by Brazen Careerist that having command of a second language increases your job competitiveness now and down the road. Mandarin Chinese and Arabic have become more important on a global scale, with demand for people competent in these languages outstripping supply.[2] (And what an asset for our potential assistant hotel manager!)

Identify Your Skills and Potential Contribution

The job market is skill based. Employers typically seek out job candidates with tangible skills (including interpersonal skills) that can be put to immediate use in accomplishing work. Job-relevant skills you might identify include all of those listed in Self-Assessment Quiz 17-1. The cornerstone of a job search should be a thorough list of assets and accomplishments, because they point to useful skills and abilities you can use to help the employer.

A successful candidate for a customer service position at a telecommunications company told the interviewer, “I know I can help your customers with their software and hardware problems. I worked at the technical support center at college, and my friends and family members are forever coming to me with their computer problems. I even get phone calls and text messages for help. Give me a chance to help your customers.” (Notice that the candidate implied that he or she had good listening skills.)

Develop a Comprehensive Marketing Strategy

A vital job-finding strategy is to use multiple approaches to reach the right prospective employer. This is particularly true when the position you seek is in short supply. A comprehensive marketing strategy is also useful because the job search can be framed as a plan for marketing yourself to prospective employers. The more channels you use, the greater the probability of being successful.

Among the many approaches employers use to recruit candidates are employee referrals, newspaper ads, job boards, employer Web sites, social networking Web sites, college and professional school recruitment, job fairs, temporary help firms, walk-ins, unsolicited résumés and phone calls, and government employment services. Even if some approaches to job finding are not the most effective, they all work some of the time. For example, some people think that newspaper ads are obsolete, yet all big-city newspapers, as well as The Wall Street Journal, advertise many interesting and high-paying positions. Some gradutes are even finding jobs on Craigslist, particuarly with small companies.

Self-Assessment Quiz 17-1

 

Qualifications Sought by Employers

Directions:

The following is a list of qualifications widely sought by prospective employers. After reading each qualification, rate yourself on a 1 to 5 scale by circling the appropriate number: 1 = very low, 2 = low, 3 = average, 4 = high, 5 = very high.

1. Appropriate education for the position under consideration and satisfactory grades	1	2	3	4	5
2. Relevant work experience	1	2	3	4	5
3. Communication and other interpersonal skills	1	2	3	4	5
4. Motivation and energy	1	2	3	4	5
5. Problem-solving ability (intelligence) and creativity	1	2	3	4	5
6. Judgment and common sense	1	2	3	4	5
7. Adaptability to change, including ability to take on tasks not directly part of your field of expertise	1	2	3	4	5
8. Emotional maturity (acting professionally and responsibly)	1	2	3	4	5
9. Teamwork (ability and interest in working in a team effort)	1	2	3	4	5
10. Positive attitude (enthusiasm about work and initiative)	1	2	3	4	5
11. Emotional intelligence (ability to deal with own feelings and those of others)	1	2	3	4	5
12. Customer service orientation (wanting to meet customer needs)	1	2	3	4	5
13. Information and communication technology skills	1	2	3	4	5
14. Willingness to continue to study and learn about the job, company, and industry	1	2	3	4	5
15. Likableness and sense of humor	1	2	3	4	5
16. Dependability, responsibility, and conscientiousness (including good work habits and time management)	1	2	3	4	5
17. Willingness and ability to work well with coworkers and customers from different cultures	1	2	3	4	5
18. Behaves ethically toward customers and company employees and obeys laws and regulations	1	2	3	4	5
19. Relates well to customers (even if not in formal customer contact position)	1	2	3	4	5
20. Able to use social networking sites for business purposes	1	2	3	4	5
21. Speaking and writing fluency in a second language	1	2	3	4	5

Interpretation:

Consider engaging in some serious self-development, training, and education for items on which you rated yourself low or very low. If you accurately rated yourself as 4 or 5 on all the dimensions, you are an exceptional job candidate.

Part of a comprehensive marketing strategy is to use a multi-track approach to job finding. Executive coach Donna Rawady suggests that you might prepare three different résumés focused on the contribution you would bring to each position.[3] You could then use the multiple-résumé approach for each approach to job finding, such as employer Web sites and job fairs.

Multiple approaches to finding a job can also include extreme job hunting, an offbeat way of attracting an employer’s attention with a small probability of success. One approach, now apparently used by many extreme job hunters, is to post your need for a job and the type of job you are seeking on a sandwich board. You then stand in a busy area such as downtown or next to a highway. Wearing a T-shirt with similar information while working out in an athletic club frequented by business executives would be another extreme possibility. Extreme job hunting can lead to publicity, which in turn can lead to landing a job through personal contacts.[4]

extreme job hunting

An offbeat way of attracting an employer’s attention, with a small probability of success.

Skill-Building Exercise 17-1 provides an opportunity to think through the realities of extreme job hunting.

Skill-Building Exercise 17-1

 

Extreme Job Hunting

Assemble into brainstorming groups of about five people. The task is to dream up extreme approaches to job hunting that could possibly work for someone. It is best to choose a target position that would be in the realm of possibility for many members of the class. For example, it would probably be more useful to extreme job hunt for a marketing assistant position than for one as an astronaut or movie actor. After you have assembled a list of about six methods of extreme job hunting, appoint a team leader who will present your findings to the class. The team leader can also be the person in the group who records the ideas.

As you listen to all the team leaders present, including the person from your own group, think through which of these techniques might actually be helpful in a job hunt.

Go Where the Jobs Are

One of the most practical strategies for finding a job is to apply to organizations within industries that are experiencing growth. The subtle point to recognize is that most industries have room for a variety of specialities. Assume that Jennifer is a skilled accounts receivables specialist in need of a job. Her speciality would be needed in almost any industry. As a result, she searches the Internet for accounts receivable specialists in several of the industries listed in Figure 17-1, including construction, hospitals, and truck tansportation. The basic principle is to enhance your chances of finding employement by attempting to apply your speciality to fields where the demand for workers is high.

Stay Organized During Your Job Search

A major challenge for many people in conducting a job search is to not become overwhelmed by all the applications, Web sites, and job-finding suggestions you have amassed. It is necessary to keep track of all the jobs you have applied for, the e-mails you have sent, the companies you have researched, and the people you have spoken to. It is particularly embarrassing to apply for the same position two or three times. Many of the suggestions for improving personal productivity made in Chapter 16 are applicable.

A starting point is to create several folders for the job search. One folder might include all the places you have contacted, and another folder might contain any feedback you have received, positive or negative. A third folder might include people in your network as well as the extent of your contact with each one. A fourth folder might contain the several résumés you are using, along with cover letters.

Another approach is for the job seeker to create a spreadsheet with the following seven columns: employer name and contact, geographic location, job title, date the application

1. Construction 2. Energy, including alternative energy such as solar and wind power 3. Information technology 4. Offices of health practitioners 5. Hospitals 6. Food services and drinking places 7. Nursing and residential care facilities 8. Management, scientific, and technical recruiting services 9. Service to buildings and dwellings 10. Child daycare services 11. Truck transportation

Figure 17-1 Business-Related and Health-Related Industries with High Projected Income and Employment Growth through 2020

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic News Release, updated February 2012; A few entries are from Evan Rod, “How Today’s High-Demand Jobs Impact Salaries,” http://JournalStar.com, April 16, 2013

was submitted, industry of the company, date of last contact, and whether the application is still pending.[5]

Use Networking to Reach Company Insiders

The majority of successful job campaigns stem from personal contacts. Employers rely heavily on referrals from employees to fill positions, even though many good positions are also announced publicly, such as through Web sites, classified ads, and employment agencies. Big companies realy heavily on their other workers to find new hires, thereby saving time and money. Workers without any connections therefore have a more difficult time finding employment.[6] The ideal is to have an experienced, credible professional vouch for your skills, thereby facilitating you receiving an interview.[7]

In regard to job hunting, networking is contacting friends and acquaintances and building systematically on these relationships to create a still wider set of contacts that might lead to employment. Formal mechanisms to develop network contacts have been introduced in recent years, such as bar parties in metropolitan areas devoted just to making job contacts. Social networking sites sometimes lead to useful contacts, and some people join social networking sites so that they can help strangers find a suitable position. Nevertheless, most of the contacts one develops on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr are much weaker than in-person contacts. The social networking contact becomes more useful if it leads to an in-person contact.

The networking technique is so well known today that it suffers from overuse. It is therefore important to use a tactful, low-key approach with a contact. For example, instead of asking a person in your network to furnish you a job lead, ask that person how someone with qualifications similar to yours might find a job. Or ask the person if you could use him or her as a reference. In addition, guard against taking up a large portion of a busy person’s workday, for instance, by insisting on a luncheon meeting.

Another way of reaching company insiders is to write dozens of e-mail messages or hard-copy letters to potential employers. A surprisingly large number of people find jobs by contacting employers directly. Most large company Web sites have a section allocated to inviting job inquiries as part of the employee recruitment program. Prepare a prospective employer list, including the names of executives to contact in each firm. The people who receive your letters and e-mail messages become part of your network. A variation of this approach is to develop a 30-second telephone presentation of your background. After you have researched firms that may have opportunities for you, call them and make your pitch; however, voicemail systems usually make it difficult to speak directly to your target person.

Use Multiple Online Approaches

The Internet is a standard avenue for job hunting, even for middle-management and executive positions. Sources of job leads on the Internet include general job boards, specialty job boards, company Web sites, and social networking sites. Many employers search directly for candidates by scanning social media sites, with LinkedIn often favored because of its professional nature. With a job board (or job search site), the job seeker can post a résumé or scroll through hundreds of job opportunities. A number of job board Web sites are résumé database services because they give employers access to résumés submitted by job hunters. Most position announcements on the Internet require the job seeker to send a résumé by attached file. A few position announcements still request that the résumé be sent in the body of an e-mail, by fax, or paper mail because they prefer to avoid opening e-mail attachments.

Andrew J. DuBrin

Job boards post positions both by field and geographic region. Specialty job boards are preferred by some job seekers and employers because these boards are less flooded with positions and applicants. An Internet search will quickly reveal any specialty job site in your field, such as those for sales or finance. The simplest approach to finding a job lead on the Internet is to enter into the browser of a search engine the position you are seeking. For example, a person seeking a position as a dental office manager in Denver might enter into Bing, “Dental office manager, Denver.”

Many managers prefer the employment section of their Web site over commercial job boards. Some of the more advanced company job sites, such as GE, present possible career paths for people who enter the company in the position sought. Many employers believe that the best way to find good job candidates is to advertise on Web sites where these candidates are likely to be spending considerable time, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Job boards also have a presence on social networking sites, as do recruiting firms. Monster has an application form on the social networking site Facebook. The potential applicant can send an e-mail or instant message to a particular posting. A large number of employers have developed versions of their career Web sites suitable to hand-held devices. A job application can be filled out using a smartphone.

Hundreds of people every day land jobs they first learned about through a job board or company Web site, so this approach offers some promise. A caution is that job hunting on the Internet can lead to a false sense of security. Using the Internet, a résumé is cast over a wide net, and hundreds of job postings can be explored. As a consequence, the job seeker may think that he or she can sit back and wait for a job offer to come through e-mail. In reality, the Internet is just one source of leads that should be used in conjunction with other job-finding methods, especially personal contacts that might lead to an interview. Remember also that thousands of other job seekers can access the same job opening, and many of the positions listed have already been filled. Be aware also that scam artists posing as employment agencies might post job openings on the Internet. After making you a tentative offer, the scammer writes that you must now send him or her your social security and bank account numbers so that your application can be processed completely. You then become a victim of identity theft.

Establishing your own Web site or blog, with résumé included, will sometimes attract an employer who conducts an Internet search for potential candidates. For example, recruiting specialists often spend several hours per week scanning blogs for new talent or additional information about candidates already interviewed. A blog is most likely to attract a recruiter’s attention if it relates to work in your contemplated field, such as explaining how you helped your employer save energy.

Smile at Network Members and Interviewers, and Be Enthusiastic

Assuming that you have the right qualifications, the simple act of smiling can be an effective job-hunting technique. Remember to smile as you hand your business card to a potential network member. One reason that smiling is effective at any stage of the job search is that it helps build a relationship, however brief. If you use a webcam or video as part of your job search, smile on camera. Closely related to smiling is to display enthusiasm and excitement when speaking to people who can help you land a position. Conducted properly, a job search should be exciting and invigorating, and you should express these emotions to your contacts. The excitement and invigoration stem from each small step you take leading to your goal of finding suitable employment.

A key way of projecting a positive image during the job search is to avoid negativity. Appearing desperate, including the candidate explaining how much he or she needs the job to pay back debt, creates a poor image. Complaining about former employers or managers is another frequently observed way to project a negative image.

Smooth Out Rough Spots in Your Background

About 95 percent of employers routinely conduct background investigations of prospective employees. A background investigation by a firm hired for the purpose could include speaking to neighbors and coworkers about your reputation. In addition, the investigator may delve into your driving record, check for criminal charges or convictions, survey your credit record, and find out whether you have had disputes with the government about taxes. The information just mentioned is used to supplement reference checks, because so many employers are hesitant to say anything negative about past employees. The information uncovered through the background check is often compared to the information presented on your résumé. A discrepancy between the two sends up an immediate red flag.

Another way to learn about what public information exists about you is to place your own name into a couple of search engines. Sometimes another person with the same name as yours—particularly if many people have the same name as you—might have been involved in criminal activity, so be prepared to defend yourself! Googling candidates has become standard practice to uncover both positive and negative information about job applicants. Going one step further, many employers search social Web sites like MySpace and Facebook to see if the candidate has engaged in outrageous behavior such as swimming in a public fountain while under the influence of alcohol—and then bragged about the episode on the social networking Web site. Employers also use professional online search services because they have the know-how to search police records and financial information not revealed by ordinary search engines.

A standard recommendation for guarding against prospective employers seeing information about you on social networking sites is to set your accounts to private so that only your friends and followers can see them.[8]

The Job Résumé and Cover Letter

A résumé is usually an essential part of the job hunt. Yet you can sometimes join a family business for a friend’s enterprise without submitting a résumé. In some instances, you will be asked to complete a job application form instead of, or in addition to, a résumé. Résumés are also important for job hunting within your own firm. You may need one to be considered for a transfer with a large firm, or to be assigned to a team or project.

Résumé Purpose

Regard your résumé as a marketing tool for selling your skills and potential to handle new responsibilities. The most specific purpose of a résumé is to help you obtain an interview that can lead to a job. In rare situations in which a person of your skills is under such heavy demand, you will be hired based on your résumé, and the interview will be skipped. Your résumé, whether electronic, paper, or video, must therefore attract enough attention for an employer to invite you for an interview. A poorly prepared résumé often leads to an immediate rejection of the candidate. Recognize that you are competing against many carefully prepared résumés, some of which have been prepared with assistance from others. If the demand for your skills is high enough, it is conceivable that you will be hired without an interview.

Résumé Length and Format

Opinions vary about the desirable length for a résumé. For a recent graduate with limited work experience, a one-page résumé may be acceptable. One page might seem too short for more experienced workers. Employers today demand considerable detail in résumés, particularly about the candidate’s skills, accomplishments, and teamwork and leadership experience. Nevertheless, a three-page or longer résumé may irritate an impatient reader. Two pages are therefore recommended for early stages in your career.

A résumé for a recent graduate is presented in Figure 17-2. Especially for experienced workers, it is now recommended that a professional qualifications summary be substituted for the job objective. A professional summary highlights the job seeker’s best assets and positions the person for the job sought. It also summarizes your accomplishments and points to what your are offering the prospective employer.[9] Another change in job résumés in recent years is that references are rarely included, yet they might be asked for at another stage of job selection.

Recognize that hiring managers and human resource professionals have widely different perceptions of what constitutes an effective résumé. Both résumés include job duties performed as well as a chronological history. A résumé that focuses on work performed rather than a job chronology is referred to as a functional résumé. This type of résumé can be helpful in directing attention toward skills and away from employment gaps.[10] A résumé that does not list the candidate’s skills and accomplishments is considered insufficient today. Whether references are listed on the résumé or presented in another format, it is preferable to use professional contacts rather than personal friends. A personal friend might attest to your good character, but would usually be hard pressed to describe your job competence. Check at least two résumé guides before preparing a final version of your résumé. Microsoft Word includes several templates for job résumés.

Jennifer A. Koster 700 Anderson St., Apt. B • Fairfax, VA 22033 • (703) 555-2121 • Email: [email protected]
Qualifications	Entrepreneurial and self-employment experience in addition to restaurant work and multimedia communication capabilities. Good at generating revenue.
Education	B.A., Business Administration, Marketing Major, Advertising Minor, December 2015 George Mason University, Fairfax, VA GPA: In-major: 3.4/4.0 Overall: 2.7/4.0 Earned 40% of educational expenses
Accomp-lishments and Skills	Marketing/Sales/Promotion · Grossed $16,000 in three months with summer landscaping business · Raised $750.00 in advertising space for environmental-club folder project · Raised $500.00 for sorority-sponsored car show · Cold-canvassed community for potential clients · Created informational brochure for apartment-leasing company · Developed advertising campaign for class project Management/Training/Organizational Ability · Managed daily activities of own landscaping business including renting/purchasing equipment and supplies, hiring assistants, budgeting, payroll · Arranged client contracts for landscaping business · Coordinated sales presentation strategy for sorority car show and trained others in sales techniques · Trained new fast-service restaurant employees · Aided in refurbishing and renovating a restaurant · Performed restaurant duties ranging from server to night manager Communications/Language/Creative Projects · Created multimedia presentation using slides, music, and narration to brief incoming George Mason students during orientation · Developed sales presentations and assisted with advertising campaigns including radio spots, newspaper ads, billboards, posters, and brochures · Designed and distributed flyers for landscaping business · Conversational Spanish skills; write reasonably well in Spanish
Work Experience	Self-Employed, (Partnership) Whole Earth Landscaping, Reston, VA, Summer 2013 Waiter, Rainbow’s of Washington, Washington, DC, Summers 2012, 2013, 2014
Activities	Theater Arts, George Mason, several roles in dramas and musicals, regularly participate in clothing and fund drives for homeless people in Washington, DC

Figure 17-2 A Job Résumé for a Recent Business Graduate

Key Words and Past Tense of Verbs

In writing your résumé, keep in mind that certain key words attract the attention of managers and specialists. Key words are particularly important for online submission of your credentials because software is used by human resource departments of large companies to reduce a large stack of candidates into a manageable list of finalists. The job description provides the starting point for choosing your key words. For example, if the job description uses the term client satisfaction rather than customer satisfaction, an effective résumé would contain the key term client satisfaction. Among the key words that might go beyond those mentioned in the job description or role are as follows: languages, analytical skills, mobile devices, global outsourcing, insourcing, hands-on, results-driven, communication skills, online marketing, cultural diversity, social networking Web sites, and sustainable environment. You can also find the key words that apply to your field by studying relevant ads.

In addition to key words, it is helpful to sprinkle your résumé with the past tense of verbs connoting accomplishments, action, and forcefulness. Among the possibilities are as follows: achieved, contributed, discovered, managed, overcame, transformed, and won. Powerful adverbs are also useful, including the following: assertively, creatively, decisively, energetically, rapidly, and successfully. [11]

Easy Access for Employers

When submitting your résumé and cover letter electronically, make it easy for the employer to access, such as attaching a Word file. Furthermore, concerns about computer viruses have prompted some employers to refuse to open any attached file. So you might send an attached word processing file, plus insert your résumé into the e-mail message. Make sure that the formatting is not lost when cutting and pasting your document into e-mail. Send your cover letter and résumé to yourself to check for lost formatting. Many employers will refuse to open a link to your Web site or a PowerPoint presentation, while many others will welcome a link to a personal Web site or LinkedIn profile. As a result, it pays to make it known on your résumé that the links relating to you are available, should the prospective employer be interested.

Error Minimization

Much has been written and said about making job résumés as error-free as possible, especially with respect to errors in spelling, grammar, and capitalization. Nevertheless, many employers complain about finding these types of errors on résumés. Use abbreviations sparingly, because they are visually jarring to many people. False abbreviations are particularly annoying, such as “accnt” for accounting and “mkt” for marketing. Spell checkers are helpful, but not sufficient for eliminating spelling errors, because the checker leads to many misused words such as “weather” for “whether” and “cubical” for “cubicle.” A major caution is not to use the writing style popular in e-mails and text messaging for the purposes of preparing a professional résumé.

A problem with small errors in a résumé is that they may lead some prospective employers to be concerned about the applicant’s focus on detail. It is helpful to have a knowledgeable person review your résumé for small errors—and perhaps large ones also. A frequent type of large error is to make vague statements without documentation. An example of a vague statement that requires clarification is stating that you are “highly knowledgeable and talented.” It is better to specify what you are highly knowledgeable about and what specific talents you possess.

Video Résumés and Creative Formats

A rapidly growing approach to résumé construction is the online video résumé. Turning the camcorder or webcam on yourself, you present much of the basic information that would be found on a written résumé. The video approach is good for capturing your appearance, personality, and oral communication skills. Some job seekers place their video on their Web site or on YouTube, or simply send it as an attachment.

Unless you are highly skilled at video presentation, it is best to get professional help in constructing your video résumé. Careful editing might be needed to eliminate vocalized pauses and inadvertent distracting expressions. Another potential problem with the video résumé is that it focuses too much attention on soft skills for a candidate who wants to emphasize hard skills. Because some employers do not wish to spend the time watching a video, it is a good human relations tactic to also include a more conventional résumé. Or you can mention that your video résumé is available on your Facebook page or personal Web site. If an employer uses a video on its job site, the climate is probably right for you to submit a video résumé.

A trending format is to prepare your résumé in the form of a tweet, using 140 characters or less. A key purpose of the Twitter résumé is to attract the attention of companies who search Twitter for potential candidates.[12] The Twitter résumé is similar to the accomplishments section of your résumé or a cover letter and should only be used as a supplement to a more traditional résumé. Here is a tweet-format résumé for a person seeking a managerial position at an athletic club.

Five years of experience in athletic clubs, toned body, great personality, good grades, keeps members happy. Sam is ready for management job.

Skill-Building Exercise 17-3 gives you an opportunity to practice tweeting for your job hunt.

Honesty is Essential

Whatever type of résumé you choose, and whatever mode of transmission, honesty is important. It is generally acceptable to glamorize your accomplishments, yet inserting false statements crosses the line into unacceptable behavior.[13]

Skill-Building Exercise 17-2

 

The Twitter Résumé

Some job seekers are now preparing a supplementary résumé in the form of a tweet (140 characters or less). Given that the résumé is quite short, much like the opening line in a cover letter, you must describe your qualifications in a manner that grabs attention quickly. Your job is to create a tweet that you would conceivably use as a job résumé. If you have a Twitter account, see if your résumé fits the 140-character limit, or use the character-count function in your word-processing program. You might need several tries to deliver the message about yourself you really want. It could prove illuminating for several classmates to compare their tweet-format résumés with each other.

A practical application of this exercise is that the next time you are job hunting, you might post your tweet-format job résumé on Twitter.

Many managers believe that a person who lies on a résumé might also behave unethically once on the job. Also, when lies are detected after a worker is hired, the worker is subject to immediate dismissal even if he or she is performing well. The Society of Human Resource Management reports that approximately 53 percent of job candidates lie to some extent on their résumés.[14]

The Cover Letter

A résumé should be accompanied by a cover letter explaining who you are and why you are applying for a particular position. Many companies now require a cover letter as part of the application process, as do many city and county governments. Sometimes the cover letter can be used as an introductory e-mail. The cover letter customizes your approach to a particular employer, whereas the résumé is a more general approach. (Be aware, however, that it is often recommended to modify your résumé to suit a particular position or positions of a similar type.) The cover letter can be as influential as a résumé in deciding who receives an interview offer.[15]

According to Bruce Hurwitz, a staffing professional, an effective cover letter is between 200 and 250 words, and should answer the question of why the person reading it should dig into your résumé.[16] Highlighting one success is attention-getting, such as “Increased clicks into sales 45% on our Web site in a six-month period.”

Sometimes it is helpful to prepare an attention-getting cover letter in which you make an assertive statement about how you intend to help the employer deal with an important problem. A person applying for a credit manager position might state, “Let me help you improve your cash flow by using the latest methods for getting customers to pay on time, or even early.”

The cover letter should contain a few short paragraphs and should focus on the skills and background you’ll bring to the job. Follow this with a brief bullet-point list of your accomplishments. If possible, mention a company insider in your network, and then close the cover letter with appreciation for any consideration your qualifications might be given. If you do not have the name of the contact person, use an approach such as, “Dear Purchasing Manager.” The ubiquitous “Hi” is best used for e-mails, text messages, and social networking sites.

Performing Well in a Job Interview

After a prospective employer has reacted favorably to your cover letter and résumé, the next step is a telephone-screening interview or a more comprehensive job interview. The purpose of the telephone-screening interview is generally to obtain some indication of the candidate’s oral communication skill. Such an interview is most likely when one applies for a customer contact position or one that requires knowledge of a second language. Having passed the screening interview, the candidate is invited for an in-person job interview. Most of the suggestions for attaining success in an in-person interview, described in this section, also apply to the phone interview, but a few specific points are worth considering.

Some job candidates overlook the fact that the phone interview is a serious contact with their employer, and do not differentiate between a social interview and a professional one. Attempt to project excitement in your voice, thereby communicating the fact that you are seriously interested in the position.[17]

Typically one person at a time interviews the job candidate, yet team interviews are becoming more commonplace. In this format, members of the team or department with whom you would be working take turns asking you questions. One justification for team interviews is to observe how the candidate fits in with the team. A panel interview is particularly challenging because you have to make eye contact with more than one person.

Another variation on the traditional interview is that you meet for a brief interview with a series of interviewers. The process is referred to as speed interview, because of its similarity to speed dating in which the relationship seeker meets briefly with a series of prospective dates or mates at a planned event. Busy employers like speed interviews because they can quickly screen several candidates for the same position.[18]

A general guide for performing well in the job interview is to present a positive but accurate picture of yourself. Your chances of performing well in a job increase if you are suited for the job. Tricking a prospective employer into hiring you when you are not qualified is therefore self-defeating in terms of your career. What follows is a list of some key points to keep in mind when being interviewed for a job you want:

Be prepared, look relaxed, and make the interviewer feel comfortable. Coming to the interview fully prepared to discuss yourself and your background and knowing key facts about the prospective employer will help you look relaxed. Use the company Web site to gather background information about the prospective employer. Check out stories found on the Web site about the employer. Looking relaxed is also important because it helps prevent the impression of appearing desperately in need of employment. The other extreme to avoid is being so relaxed that you appear apathetic.[19] A subtle way of being prepared is to demonstrate that you know how to dress for the workplace, including a sensitivity to the type of clothing appropriate for the company you are seeking to join. Even if jeans are the preferred pants for that employer, it is important to wear jeans that create a positive impression.

Avoid talking too much during the interview. It is natural to think that during a job interview, you will be expected to talk; however, talking too much, including the presentation of your thoughts in a rambling, disorganized manner, will be perceived quite negatively by experienced interviewers. Being perceived as a compulsive talker will often lead to immediate rejection. Display effective communication skills by presenting your ideas in depth, yet concisely. Rehearsing answers to typical interview questions beforehand can help you present your ideas more concisely. Also, if the interviewer looks bored or fatigued, you may be rambling.

Establish a link between you and the prospective employer. A good way to build rapport between you and the prospective employer is to mention some plausible link you have with that firm. To illustrate, if being interviewed for a position at a Sears store, one might say, “It’s fun to visit the office part of Sears. Our family has been shopping here for years. In fact, I bought a dehumidifier here last month. It works great.”

Ask perceptive questions. The best questions are sincere ones that reflect an interest in the content of the job (intrinsic motivators) and job performance, rather than benefits and social activities. A good question to ask is “What would you consider to be outstanding performance in this job?” (Recall the opening case in this chapter.) If the issue of compensation is not introduced by the interviewer, ask about such matters after first discussing the job and your qualifications. Another useful line of questions reflect knowledge of the company, showing that you have conducted research.[20] For example, a person seeking a job with Amazon.com might ask the interviewer, “I have read that Amazon has plans to create more physical stores. How might a person with my background contribute to that direction of the company?”

Be prepared to discuss your strengths and weaknesses (developmental opportunities). Most interviewers will ask you to discuss your strengths and developmental opportunities. (These and other frequently asked questions are presented in Figure 17-6.) Knowledge of strengths hints at how good your potential job performance will be. If you deny having areas for improvement, you will appear

1. An effective way of preparing for job interviews is to rehearse answers to the types of questions you will most likely be asked by the interviewer. The following questions are a sampling of the types found in most employment interviews. Rehearse answers to them prior to going out on job interviews. One good rehearsal method is to role-play the employment interview with a friend who asks these typical questions or records a video of you. 1. Why do you want to work for us? 2. What would be your ideal job? 3. What are your career goals? 4. What are your salary requirements? 5. What new job skills would you like to acquire in the next few years? 6. Give me an example of how you displayed good teamwork. 7. Describe how you have shown leadership on the job or off the job. 8. What are your strengths (or good points)? 9. What are your weaknesses (or areas for needed improvement)? 10. What would a former boss say about you? 11. How well do you work under pressure? 12. What positions with other companies are you applying for? 13. What makes you think you will be successful in business? 14. What do you know about our company? 15. Here is a sample job problem. How would you handle it? 16. How would you use the Internet to perform better in this job? 17. What questions do you have for me? 18. Why did you leave your last job? 19. What salary do you have in mind? 20. How long will you stay with us? 21. If I googled you, what positive and negative information would I find? 1. Figure 17-6 Questions Frequently Asked of Job Candidates Source: Questions 1, 19, and 20 are from Tim Bearden, “Top 5 Interview Questions,” http://philly.com, December 29, 2009, pp. 1, 3; Questions 2 and 9 are from “Questions Job Interviewers are Asking Most,” http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0317/pl5s01-wmno.html, April 20, 2003. or defensive. When describing your weaknesses, it is helpful to also describe your action plan for dealing with the problem.

Be prepared to respond to behavioral interview questions. A behavioral interview includes direct questions about the candidate’s behavior in relation to an important job activity. The job candidate is expected to give samples of important job behaviors. The behavioral interview is therefore more applicable to candidates with substantial work experience. Two behavioral inquiries are, “Tell me about a time in which your ability to work well on a team contributed to the success of a project” and “Give me an example of a creative suggestion you made that was actually implemented. In what way did it help the company?” Statement 7 and question 15 in Figure 17-6 are also behavioral interview questions. To prepare for such questions, think of some examples of how you handled a few difficult job challenges. The idea is to document specific actions you took or behaviors you engaged in that contributed to a favorable outcome.

Show how you can help the employer. A prospective employer wants to know whether you will be able to perform the job well. Direct much of your conversation toward how you intend to help the company solve problems and get important work accomplished. Whatever the question, think about what details of your skills and experiences will be useful to the employer. Before your interview, think of an answer to the question, “What value do I bring to a company and why should they hire me?”

Use nonverbal communication that projects confidence and decisiveness. A job interviewer will often carefully observe the candidate’s body language. Monitor your body language to appear confident and decisive. Some candidates look down at their hands during the interview because they feel lost without their smartphones. Such behavior is likely to be interpreted as being sad or having low self-confidence. Being carefully groomed, looking crisp and fresh, and having clean, unbroken nails also help project self-confidence. Dressing appropriately for the interview also reflects good emotional intelligence. For example, if the interviewer tells you in advance that business-casual dress is recommended, do not wear the same jeans you would wear to do yard work or wash your car.

Practice good etiquette and manners during the interview and meals. Under the pressures of applying for a job, it is easy to let etiquette slip. To display poor etiquette and manners, however, could lead to a candidate being rejected from consideration. The mistakes noted by at least 60 percent of managers in a survey were (1) answering a cell phone or texting, (2) appearing uninterested, (3) dressing inapropriately, (4) appearing arrogant, (5) talking negatively about current or previous employers, and (6) chewing gum.[21] Most of the suggestions made about etiquette in Chapter 13 apply to the job interview, but be particularly sensitive to allowing company officials to talk without interrupting them and practicing good table manners. Interviewers who are rude themselves, such as taking phone calls or typing on their computer while interviewing you, still expect you not to do the same. Offering to shake hands is generally good etiquette, yet be on guard for people who do not want to shake hands for cultural reasons, arthritis, or fear of catching unwanted bacteria. The best approach is to gently extend your hand and see if the interviewer is receptive.[22]

Be low key about salary. In general, it is best to discuss salary or other compensation only after the interviewer brings up the subject. Usually you have a good chance of the starting salary coming into the interview. Web sites such as Salary.com and Payscale.com will provide useful information about representative salaries for the position in question. The reason for not focusing too much on salary during the interview is that you want to demonstrate that you are more driven by results and the excitement of the job than by compensation.

Minimize the use of utterances that annoy many interviewers. A poll taken by Marist College found that five words and phrases are particularly annoying, and should therefore be minimized while interviewing (and in networking also). Starting with the worst, the utterances plus the percent of people saying the word is annoying, are: “Whatever” (47%), “You know” (11%), “It is what it is” (11%), “Anyway” (7%), and “At the end of the day” (2%).[23]

Send a follow-up (or thank-you) letter. As part of displaying good manners, mail a courteous follow-up (or thank-you) letter or send an e-mail message several days after the interview, particularly if you want the job. The most effective thank-you notes forward the discussion that took place in the interview.[24] A follow-up letter is a tip-off that you are truly interested in the position. You should state your attitudes toward the position, the team, and the company, and summarize any conclusions reached about your discussion. The follow-up letter might also include a key point about yourself that was not mentioned in the interview or that you want to emphasize.

Now do Skill-Building Exercise 17-4 to practice the job interview.

Skill-Building Exercise 17-3

 

The Job Interview

As described in Figure 17-6, a good way to prepare for a job interview is to rehearse answers to frequently asked questions. In this role-play, one student will be the interviewer and one will be the interviewee (job applicant). The job in question is that of a property manager for a large apartment complex in Phoenix, Arizona.

Assume that the applicant really wants the job. The interviewer, having taken a course in human resource management, will ask many of the questions in Figure 17-6. In addition, the interviewer will ask at least one behavioral question, perhaps about teamwork. The interviewer might also have other questions, such as “Why do you want to live in Phoenix?”

Before proceeding with the role-play, both people should review the information in this chapter about the job interview and in Chapter 4 about listening.

Career Advancement Strategies and Tactics

Learning Objective 2

The many ways of improving interpersonal relationships described in this book can help advance and enhance a person’s career. People who enhance their relationships with others are laying a foundation for career advancement. The following section discusses 14 other key strategies and tactics for career advancement, whether the advancement relates to a promotion, or growth at the same organizational level, or a combination of the two. The methods described are divided into controlling your own characteristics and behaviors and dealing more with interacting with the outside world.

Strategies and Tactics for Controlling Your Own Characteristics and Behaviors

One major thrust in advancing one’s career is to regulate as best as possible one’s own characteristics and behaviors.

Develop Career Goals

Planning your career inevitably involves some form of goal setting. Your career goals should have the same characteristics as other goals, as described in Chapter 1. Because organizations change so frequently, along with positions, today it may be better to establish general goals that focus on the type of work you want to do in the future. For example, “Within five years I plan to be leading a group of people toward improving the supply-chain management in a business firm.”

Before establishing career goals, it is helpful to clarify your values, or prioritize what is important to you. These are probably the same values that enabled you to choose a career in the first place. While sketching out a career, you should also list your personal goals. They should mesh with your work plans to help avoid major conflicts in your life. Some lifestyles, for example, are incompatible with some career goals. You might find it difficult to develop a stable home life (spouse, children, friends, community activities, garden, etc.) if you aspire to holding field positions in international marketing.

For young professionals, today’s career path often means having a series of jobs at the same level and acquiring valuable skills along the way. The series of jobs could be in the same company, across different companies, or even in different industries. The median number of years US workers have been in their current job is 4.4 years. A factor contributing to these series of jobs is that many employers value long-term employees less than they did in years past. [25]

career path

A sequence of positions necessary to achieve a goal.

Capitalize on Your Strengths and Build Your Personal Brand

A long-established principle of getting ahead in your career, as well as managing others, is to capitalize on strengths rather than to focus solely on overcoming areas for improvement. Visualize Sam, who has excellent interpersonal skills, but is mediocre in quantitative skills. Sam will go far as a manager or sales representative if he continues to hone his interpersonal skills. Yet as hard as he tries to strengthen his quantitative skills, he probably would become only a mediocre accountant, research analyst, or actuary.

Understanding your basket of strengths forms the basis for developing your personal brand. Your personal brand makes you unique, thereby distinguishing you from the competition. An important part of your personal brand is consistency. For example, if you are mature and professional in almost all work situations, while at the same time displaying a sense of humor, this combination of characteristics becomes part of your brand. Perhaps your brand will not reach the recognition of Nike or Rolex, but it will help develop your reputation. Your personal brand also helps you attract employers and perhaps potential clients—your identity as shown on the Internet including social networking sites is part of your personal brand, with LinkedIn being more closely tied to your professional image. Your online presence is also referred to as your online brand.

Your personal brand will be more effective if it is authentic in the sense of accurately reflecting who you are. You might add a little drama to your strengths, but the strengths should still be true. Another caution about personal branding is that it should not be used as a method of bragging. Marco Mattiacci, president and CEO of Ferrari North America, explains that if you want your personal brand to resemble a Ferrari, “stop bragging and focus on simply becoming the best at what you do.”[26]

You begin developing your personal brand by identifying the qualities or characteristics that distinguish you from coworkers. Almost all the ideas in this chapter will help you develop your personal brand. Three useful questions to ask in formulating your personal brand are as follows:[27]

What kind of work activities am I passionate about?

What are my greatest strengths and personal assets?

How can my strengths be applied to support my passion?

Developing a personal brand statement requires considerable work, and might require some professional coaching; however, here is the personal brand statement Mike developed:

I am a hard-hitting package of strengths who can be a real asset to an employer. Few people combine superb analytical, information technology, and people skills the way I do. The help I give the homeless shows that I really care about the welfare of others. In school, as well as on the job, I have established a record of high performance and dependability.

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, founder and chairman of JOYUS, offers good advice about building your personal brand. She says that when you start a new job, work hard to get your professional momentum going so that you can start building a brand for yourself.[28] Skill-Building Exercise 17-5 gives you an opportunity to start working on creating your brand.

Be Passionate about and Proud of Your Work

Successful people in all fields are passionate about their work. Without passion, you rely too heavily on external rewards to sustain effort. Passion contributes to both your career growth and company productivity. Effective leaders and business owners are usually passionate about their work, and group members expect their leader to be passionate. For example, a joyous small-business owner is so excited about a product or service that it makes a difference. The owner of a company that makes safety goggles said, “I’m thrilled about preventing so many sports enthusiasts from losing their eyesight from being hit with a ball.” Being passionate is also important because it is linked to developing expertise and high job performance. Taking pride in your work stems naturally from passion. If you invest the emotional energy into having passion, you are likely to be proud of your work.

Skill-Building Exercise 17-4

 

Creating a Personal Brand Statement

The guidelines presented in the text provide some workable ideas for creating a personal brand statement, yet there are still hundreds of other possibilities for developing a personal brand statement. The requirements of this exercise are for you to write a personal brand statement of a maximum of 50 words. Keep in mind that your personal brand statement is not simply a summary of your education and experience, but is instead a brief explanation of what makes you unique in comparison to other people doing your kind of work.

It may prove helpful to compare your personal brand statement with those written by several other class members. If your personal brand statement is unique, it will not read almost the same as those prepared by other students.

Recent research suggests that being passionate about your career is similar to having a calling—a consuming, meaningful passion people experience toward their field. You are probably familiar with the term calling used in reference to religious leaders, and perhaps to some physicians, nurses, and other medical personnel. If you perceive your work to be a calling, you are more likely to stay focused on your goals and be successful. You can discover if your work is a calling by answering the following research questions:[29]

calling

A consuming, meaningful passion people experience toward their field.

Would you sacrifice everything to be in business?

When you describe yourself to others, do you first think about being in business?

Would your existence be much less meaningful without your involvement in business?

The surest path to career success is to identify your area of expertise and then build a career around it, as in building a personal brand. The more passionate and proud you are about your area of expertise, the better. Becoming wealthy and achieving recognition are by-products of making effective use of your talents. Expertise combined with passion helps you attain high job performance. Consistently good job performance is the foundation on which you build your career. Job competence is still the major success ingredient in all but the most political organizations (those where favoritism outweighs merit).

Develop a Code of Professional Ethics and Prosocial Motivation

Another solid foundation for developing a career is to establish a personal ethical code. An ethical code determines what behavior is right or wrong and good or bad, based on values. The values stem from cultural upbringing, religious teachings, peer influences, and professional or industry standards. As implied in Chapter 15, a code of professional ethics helps a worker deal with such issues as accepting bribes, backstabbing coworkers, and sexually harassing a work associate.

A part of many workers’ ethical codes is prosocial motivation, the desire to expend effort to help other people. Wharton School professor and industrial psychologist Adam Grant has conducted several experiments indicating that when the purpose of one’s work is to help others, the worker tends to perform better or at least be better committed to their employer.[30] The practical implication for your career is that if you focus on helping clients or coworkers, you might perform better, thereby enhancing your own career.

prosocial motivation

The desire to expend effort to help other people.

Develop a Proactive Personality

If you are an active agent in taking control of the forces around you, you stand a better chance of capitalizing on opportunities. Also, you will seek out opportunities such as seeing problems that need fixing. A proactive personality is a person who is relatively unconstrained by situational forces and who brings about environmental change. The proactive personality has high perceived control over situations. Self-Assessment Quiz 17-2 offers you an opportunity to learn about your tendencies toward having a proactive personality.

proactive personality

A person who is relatively unconstrained by situational forces and who brings about environmental change.

People who are highly proactive identify opportunities and act on them, show initiative, and keep trying until they bring about meaningful change. A health and safety specialist with a proactive personality might identify a health hazard others had missed. She would identify the nature of the problem and urge management to supply funding to control the problem. Ultimately, her efforts in preventing major health problems would be recognized. Having a proactive personality facilitates being a good organizational citizen because you have a natural inclination to look around to accomplish worthwhile activities. For example, the employee with a proactive personality might take the initiative to help a coworker without being asked or report a leaking faucet to the maintenance department. Being a proactive personality can also help you protect your job in a recession, because management likes the team player attitude of the proactive worker.[31]

Two studies conducted with close to 700 male and female workers in diverse occupations examined the relationship between career success and a proactive personality. Proactive personality, as measured by a test, was related to salary, promotions, taking the initiative in one’s career, and career satisfaction.[32] Another reason that being proactive facilitates career success is that employees are expected to be self-managing, more so than in the past. The proactive employee will identify and resolve many problems without being directed to

Self-Assessment Quiz 17-2

 

My Tendencies toward Being a Proactive Personality

Indicate the extent of your agreement with the statements below by circling the number under the correct category: Agree Strongly

(AS), Agree (A), Neutral (N), Disagree (D), Disagree Strongly.

No.	AS	A	N	D	DS
1. I plan carefully for things that might go wrong.	5	4	3	2	1
2. I don’t worry about problems until after they have taken place.	1	2	3	4	5
3. If I see something that is broken, I fix it.	5	4	3	2	1
4. I have been told several times that I am good at taking the initiative.	5	4	3	2	1
5. I often let things like a computer password expire without making the necessary changes.	1	2	3	4	5
6. When something important needs doing, I wait for somebody else to take the initiative.	1	2	3	4	5
7. I think that having a home security system is a good investment in money.	5	4	3	2	1
8. I look around for good opportunities that would help me in my career or personal life.	5	4	3	2	1
9. I don’t give much thought to the future because there is not much I can do about it.	1	2	3	4	5
10. It is a good idea to start saving or investing for retirement at the beginning of your career.	5	4	3	2	1
11. I begin projects and tasks by myself, without requiring prompting from somebody else.	5	4	3	2	1
12. The old saying, “The early bird gets the worm” doesn’t make much sense in real life.	1	2	3	4	5
13. I let the future take care of itself without giving it much thought.	1	2	3	4	5
14. I set my own goals rather than have others set them for me.	5	4	3	2	1
15. I create a lot of change both in work and personal life.	5	4	3	2	1
16. I have often asked for feedback on my job performance.	5	4	3	2	1
17. If your job is going well, it is a bad idea to explore new job possibilities from time to time.	1	2	3	4	5
18. Once you have chosen a satisfactory career, it is a bad idea to explore the possibilities of another career from time to time.	1	2	3	4	5
19. I readily express my opinion about the effectiveness of a work process.	5	4	3	2	1
20. It is best to stick carefully to your job description rather than create responsibilities for yourself.	1	2	3	4	5
21. I regularly take positive steps to increase the chances that I will stay healthy and physically fit.	5	4	3	2	1
22. I am quite innovative both in work and personal life.	5	4	3	2	1
23. When I have a day with nothing on my schedule, I take the opportunity to think of something useful to do.	5	4	3	2	1
24. I sometimes stare at my desktop computer or mobile device waiting for my next e-mail or text.	1	2	3	4	5
25. I sometimes fake being busy so nobody will ask me to do something.	1	2	3	4	5

Scoring and Interpretation:

Total the numbers corresponding to your answers.

100–125: Scores in this range suggest that you have strong tendencies toward being a proactive personality. Such proactivity should be (or already is) an asset to you in your career and personal life. Yet scoring 115 points or more could suggest that you sometimes annoy people with your constant need for taking on new responsibility and creating change.

70–99: Scores in this range suggest that you have about average tendencies toward being proactive. To enhance you success and have more fun in life, you might attempt to become more proactive.

25–69: Scores in this range suggest that you have a problem with proactivity. Both your work and personal life would probably be enhanced if you became more proactive.

Source: The idea for this scale and several of its statements stem from Thomas S. Bateman and J. Michael Crant, “The Proactive Component of Organizational Behavior: A Measure and Correlates,” Journal of Organizational Behavior, March 1993, p. 112.

do so by the manager. Another study indicated that a proactive personality influenced job search success among 180 graduating college students. The students took a test of proactive personality similar to the one presented in Self-Assessment Quiz 17-2. Search success was measured in terms of being offered follow-up interviews and receiving offers.[33]

An advantage of being proactive on the job is that it may enhance your reputation because you are likely to be perceived favorably by others, including many people who think that the good results you attain are the result of positive inner qualities. Finding a good way to be proactive may require creative thinking, particularly because it may not be easy to develop a proactive personality. In addition, keep the following suggestions in mind.

A basic starting point in showing signs of having a proactive personality in the workplace is to perform well in areas outside your job description. The caution, however, is not to grab responsibility that belongs to a coworker, thereby creating conflict between you and that person.

Another way to get started is to take more initiative to fix problems and attempt to be self-starting. Asking for permission to assume responsibility for a project that needs doing is also helpful. Many newcomers to an organization have enhanced their reputation by asking for permission to organize this year’s office party.

Taking charge at work, or intending to bring about functional changes, is a particularly constructive way of demonstrating proactivity on the job. Taking charge facilitates organizational effectiveness, thereby enhancing the reputation of the person who has taken such initiative.

A way of expressing proactivity on a grand scale is to seek new opportunities, such as developing a new product or service, establishing a new company, or finding a new market for one’s employer.

Keep Growing through Continuous Learning and Self-Development

Engaging in regular learning can take many forms, including formal schooling, attending training programs and seminars, and self-study. Some company executives regard the continuous learning of their employees as part of developing their organization, so the company will sponsor training and tuition assistance.[34] An everyday method of continuous learning is to ask intelligent questions about processes or procedures that will help you understand the business. For example, a manager might say that she checks out the competition every week by going to the Internet. You might ask, “Specifically how do you get the information? Where do you look? The process sounds fascinating.”

It is particularly important to engage in new learning in areas of interest to the company, such as developing proficiency in a second language if the company has customers and employees in other countries.

Document Your Accomplishments

An accurate record of what you have accomplished in your career can be valuable when being considered for reassignment, promotion, or a position outside your company. The same log of accomplishments is useful for résumé preparation and to bring to a performance review. Sending e-mail updates to your manager about your noteworthy accomplishments is effective if not done to the point of being an annoyance. It is preferable to point to tangible, quantifiable accomplishments rather than to another person’s subjective impression of your performance. Let’s assume that a retail store manager reduced inventory shrinkage by 30 percent in one year. It would be better to state the fact than to record a statement from the manager saying, “Kelly shows outstanding ability to reduce inventory shrinkage.”

Career coach Peggy Klaus recommends that you weave your accomplishments into an interesting story to tell other people.[35] The story approach has more appeal than a straightforward list of your accomplishments. Here is a fragment of a story that a man who worked for a food supplier to restaurants, schools, and hospitals used to document his accomplishments:

Our area was hit with a vicious lightning storm last March 12. Our computer and telephone systems went haywire because of power outages. We had to be in touch with our customers. I rounded up 10 people in the company who had smartphones with them. Using all the battery power we had left in our phones, we were able to contact all our customers. My manager said my cell phone rescue effort saved the day.

Documenting your accomplishments in a business field is similar to a person in the arts such as a photographer, interior designer, or architect developing a portfolio of work. When the person applies for a job or assignment, he or she carries along the portfolio of representative work.

Project a Professional Image

In the workplace you are judged not only by your accomplishments and abilities, but also by your clothes, style, and grooming.[36] Your clothing, desk and work area, speech, and general knowledge should project the image of a professional, responsible person if you seek career advancement. A positive scent also contributes to a person’s professional image, with light perfume, toilet water, or cologne often contributing to a positive image. Good grammar and sentence structure can give you the edge because so many people use highly informal patterns of speech. Being a knowledgeable person is important because today’s professional businessperson is supposed to be aware of the external environment. Also, projecting a professional image hastens the development of trust and rapport in business relationships.

A subtle part of projecting a professional image is to have a positive attitude. Assume that things are not going well in the office, such as the CEO announcing that no year-end bonuses will be forthcoming this year. Instead of joining the complainers, you might say to your coworkers, “A bonus would be wonderful, but I am happy to know that by giving no bonuses there will be no layoffs.” Joining in the negativity makes you appear unprofessional. Yet offering constructive criticism can be quite professional.

A challenge in projecting a professional image is to figure out what constitutes a professional image in your particular environment. Less restrictive dress codes have made it more confusing to select clothing that will create a favorable appearance.

For the last several years business formal attire for both men and women has been making a strong comeback. Business casual dress for everyday wear is losing popularity in many firms. Many firms have introduced Formal Fridays, during which professional workers are expected to dress elegantly.[37] A high-end example of formal business attire being required for professionals is real estate sales in Manhattan. For instance, agents at the large firm Halstead Property aim for a professional, polished look that matches the style of their clientele.[38]

Hairstyle is a superficial part of appearance that the career-minded person must ponder, whether or not standards forcoiffure border on being discriminatory. Some employers prefer that men in customer contact positions do not wear shoulder-length hair. The short-hair stereotype is also pronounced for women. Research suggests that both sexes perceive women with short, highlighted hairstyles as smart and confident, but not sexy, finds Marianne LaFrance, a psychologist at Yale University.[39] LaFrance is explaining stereotypes, not endorsing them as being true.

A general guideline is to dress somewhat like the successful people in your firm or the customer’s firm. It might pay to contact a company you plan to visit in advance and inquire about the dress standards for key people in the company. Skill-Building Exercise 17-5 is designed to sensitize you to what constitutes a professional image in a specific environment.

Skill-Building Exercise 17-5

 

The Professional Image Investigation

Find out what constitutes a professional image in a specific job environment, either where you work or at another employer. Ask a handful of people, “What makes for a professional image here?” Speak to or correspond by e-mail with a top-level manager, as well as a few workers without managerial responsibility. Another approach to this assignment is to make some observations directly in a retail establishment like Safeway, a Toyota dealership, Macy’s, or Nordstrom. How do the people in supervisory positions appear to dress, behave, and talk? Maybe you can conduct a one-minute interview with a service worker or two.

Share your observations with classmates, and see what conclusions can be drawn. For example, how does the type of company influence what constitutes a professional image? Are there different standards for men and women?

Perceive Yourself as a Provider of Services

A useful perspective for upgrading your professional self-image and enhancing your feelings of job security is to perceive yourself as something other than a traditional employee. According to career specialist John A. Thomson, everyone should see himself or herself as a personal service business entity. Basically you are a business, offering the company (also your client from this perspective) a valuable service. You keep offering the service so long as the company keeps you on the payroll and you enjoy the work. Note the similarity to a high-level professional, such as a dentist or information technology consultant. You are offering a service that many people need. Part of the same perception is that you own your skills, and that these are the service your business (you) offers to others.[40]

Perceiving yourself as a provider of services supports the strategy of developing a personal brand. Not being a traditional employee becomes part of your brand.

Strategies and Tactics for Interacting with the Outside World

The focus in this section is advancing your career mostly through creating circumstances in the external world to your advantage.

Develop Depth and Breadth

A continuing concern about career management is whether to acquire substantial depth in a specialty or to obtain broader experience. Is it better to be a specialist or a generalist? Typically it pays to have good depth in one area of expertise, yet also acquire broad experience. A distribution specialist who helped set up shipping systems in an automobile supply company, an office supply company, and a hospital supply company would have excellent credentials. Yet some career specialists would argue that knowing one industry well has its merits.

Rely on a Network of Successful People

Networking has already been described as a major assist to building relationships and finding a job. Members of your network can also help you by assisting with difficult job problems, providing emotional support, buying your products or services, and offering you good prices on their products or services. On the negative side, being excluded from informal networks in your company can block your career advancement. The starting point in face-to-face networking is to obtain an ample supply of business cards. You then give a card to any person you meet who might be able to help you now or in the future. Business cards, especially those with a creative flair, have made a strong comeback recently. The business card is perceived by many as a refreshing change from technology, and it also helps promote your personal brand.[41]

While first developing your network, be inclusive by inviting any plausible person into your network. Later, as your network develops, you can strive to include a greater number of influential and successful people. Professional and trade groups, such an association of bankers or sales professionals, are ideal for networking and are found in virtually every city. One reason that playing golf persists as a networking technique is that so many influential and successful people play golf. A general point about places to network is to stay alert to opportunities, such as networking with people in airport waiting areas and on airplanes.

Social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter can often be used to find members for your professional network despite their social emphasis. A strictly professional site such as LinkedIn is directly targeted toward making professional contacts. Millions of professionals turn to LinkedIn to swap job details and contact information, often for recruiting purposes. To use these social networking sites for professional purposes, you will need to create an online profile, including your résumé.

Hard data exist that networking really does contribute to career success. A three-year study conducted with more than 200 German workers from a variety of industries found that networking was associated with both a higher salary and a higher growth rate of salary over time. Furthermore, people who networked more frequently were more satisfied with their careers.[42]

People may vary in how many social connections they can manage. Yet as you build your network over time, it is helpful to keep in mind Dunbar’s number. British anthropologist Robin Dunbar contends thatn a person can only maintain 150 close social connections.[43] Even if Dunbar’s number is only approximate, it is helpful to keep in mind

Skill-Building Exercise 17-6

 

Building Your Network

From a career standpoint, networking involves developing a list of personal contacts who can help you achieve goals and to whom you offer something of value in exchange.

Networking is a career-long process, but the time to begin is now. Quite often the people who have been in your network the longest become your most valuable contacts. To begin networking, or systematize the networking you are now doing, implement the following steps:

Step 1: Write down the type of assistance you are seeking for the next several months. Perhaps you need leads for a job, advice about getting ahead in your industry, or help with a difficult computer problem.

Step 2: List all the people who might be able to provide you the assistance you need. Among them might be fellow students, former employers, neighbors, and faculty members. Prepare a contact card or database entry for each person on your list as if they were sales prospects. Include relevant details, such as name, position, major, e-mail address, phone numbers, postal address, and favorite pastimes. (Setting up a table with a word processor would work quite well for listing entries, or you can use a spreadsheet.)

Step 3: Identify an action step for making contact with the potential network members. Quite often the initial contact will be by e-mail. Gently mention that you would enjoy a telephone conversation or face-to-face meeting if it fit the contact’s interest and schedule. You might also be able to think of creative ways to make the initial contact in person, such as attending professional meetings or talking to a neighbor while he or she is washing a car or doing yard work.

Step 4: Identify how you might be able to help each person in your contact list, or how you can reciprocate. For example, if a marketing person gives you an idea for a job lead, you can become part of his or her company’s guerilla marketing team (you say nice things about the company’s product to friends and in public or use the product in public). Sometimes the best approach is to ask the person who becomes part of your network what you can do to reciprocate.

Step 5: Maintain a log of all the contacts you make and what took place, such as an agreed-upon face-to-face meeting or specific assistance received. Indicate how you responded to the assistance, such as “I visited my contact’s company Web site, went to the career section, and included her name as a person who is familiar with my work.” Write down carefully your plans for reciprocity. Make a checklist as to whether you remembered to thank the person for any courtesy he or she extended to you.

Step 6: Update your log weekly, even if the activity requires only a few minutes of your attention. A network of helpers is a dynamic list, with people entering and exiting your network frequently. Each week, ask yourself, “Whom can I add to my network this week?”

that to have a network of meaningful contacts, avoid having so many contacts that they become superficial.

Skill-Building Exercise 17-6 provides suggestions for systematically building your network.

Work with a Mentor

In Chapter 12, mentoring was presented as a way of helping people grow and develop. Having a mentor can also facilitate career advancement. Ideally, a person should develop a small network of mentors who give advice and counsel on different topics, such as job advancement opportunities and how to solve a difficult problem. Many people who receive exceptional promotions within their own firms or receive excellent job offers from other companies are chosen by their mentors. At the root of mentoring is the ability to attract and build a relationship with a person who is more experienced and talented than you.

BananaStock/Thinkstock

Networking is often used to find a mentor or mentors. As mentioned in Chapter 12, t he current trend is to have multiple mentors, as facilitated by social networking sites. Among the suggestions for building and sustaining a network of mentors are as follows: (1) Take the initiative to strike up and maintain relationships with mentors, (2) reach beyond immediate coworkers and managers to others in your company and the community, (3) lend mentors a hand on their projects when feasible, and (4) do your best to be positive and personable.[44]

In her best-selling book, Lean In, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg explains that an effective way of attracting a mentor is to impress a higher-up with how well you are performing in your job.[45] She believes this approach is far superior to asking an executive, “Will you be my mentor?” To project this impression, a person would have to use some version of the technique “document your accomplishments.” When you do meet a prospective mentor, a good starting point in developing a relationship is to ask about the nature of his or her work, including what path led to his or her present position.

A mentor can help the career beginner overcome hurdles such as being disappointed about the first job, not being listened to, or not receiving enough feedback. Another disappointment might occur when a recent grad anticipates that all workers will be fired up and eager to help the company. Yet on the job, the grad might encounter workers who are bored with their work. The newcomer might ask a mentor in a senior position, “Did you go through this? Is this normal? When does it all change, if at all?”[46]

Find a Good Person–Organization Fit

Assuming that you have the luxury of selecting among different prospective employers, it is best to work for a company in which your personality, values, and style fit the organizational culture. As implied at several places in the text, an organizational culture is a system of shared values and beliefs that influence worker behavior. You have to study the culture through observation and questioning to understand its nature. A good starting point is to ask, “In order to succeed, what is really expected of workers?” You might find out, for example, that pleasing customers and being honest is the path to success. Asking network members what they know about the prospective employer might be revealing, such as asking a former classmate, “You have worked at the corporate office of PepsiCo; what is it really like working there?”

organizational culture

A system of shared values and beliefs that influence worker behavior.

A person–organization fit is the compatibility of the individual and the organization. Job interviews represent a good opportunity for evaluating a person–organization fit for both the applicant and the employer. During a visit to the company to learn whether a culture tended to be formal or informal, you might observe the formality of the people and the emphasis on procedures, such as a lengthy document to obtain a travel reimbursement. You might also look for a value match.

person–organization fit

The compatibility of the individual and the organization.

The compatibility in question often centers on the extent to which a person’s major work-related values and personality traits fit major elements of the organization culture. Following this idea, a person who is adventuresome and risk taking would achieve the highest performance and satisfaction in an organization in which adventuresome behavior and risk taking are valued. Conversely, a methodical and conservative individual should join a slow-moving bureaucracy. How much an organization emphasizes individual effort versus teamwork is another important area for person–organization fit. Workers who enjoy teamwork would fit better in a teamwork-oriented culture.

Person–organization fit can also include superficial aspects of behavior such as physical appearance and dress. For example, a person who dresses like a Wall Street investment banker might not feel comfortable working in a high-tech firm in California where jeans and sandals are standard work attire. As a consequence of not feeling comfortable in your work environment, you might not perform at your best.

The consequences of a person fitting both the organization and the job have been systematically researched based on 25 studies. One of the conclusions reached was that commitment to the organization (a willingness to stay) was strongly associated with the person–organization fit. The study cautioned that it is not always easy for the job applicant to diagnose the fit in such areas as the conformance between the ethics of the individual and the company. When the topic arises, the hiring manager might be less than candid in explaining the company’s true ethics.[47]

Take Sensible Risks

People who make it big in their careers usually take sensible risks on their journey to success. Sensible risk taking means about the same thing as moving outside your comfort zone, because you stretch your capabilities but do not plunge recklessly into a new venture. Among these risks would be to work for a fledgling company that offers big promises but a modest starting salary, or to take an overseas assignment with no promise of a good position when you return. Purchasing stock in start-up companies is sometimes a sensible risk, if you do not absolutely need the funds for living expenses.

An approach to taking sensible risks worth considering is to enter a field or an industry that others might overlook because the field or industry does not receive much publicity or is not perceived as being glamorous. The so-called basic industries, however, often offer excellent growth opportunities. Also, some of these basic industries are more recession-resistant than glamour industries such as telecommunications, with low-price food companies and rapid-service restaurants leading the way. The waste-management industry, including garbage pickup, is another low-glamour industry with plenty of opportunity even if you are not a waste-management specialist. All big companies hire accountants, office administrators, IT specialists, and so forth.

Emphasize Relationships to Combat Being Outsourced

A major concern of many workers is that their job will be outsourced or offshored to a lower-paid worker in a country where a competent worker will perform the same job at lower pay. (Ousourcing to a region of one’s own country where workers receive lower pay is also possible.) As companies throughout the world struggle to stay competitive in a global economy, more and more jobs are outsourced. Call center and information technology positions are the most frequently outsourced, but so is a variety of design work, some legal research, and medical diagnostic work. The positions least likely to be outsourced are those that require the physical presence of the worker and cannot easily be done remotely. Examples include nursing, real estate selling, teaching, funeral technician, massage therapist, and hair stylist. Managing people requires a physical presence, but not if your workers’ positions have been outsourced.

Another way to decrease the chance of your job being outsourced is to make relationship building a key part of your job, whether or not you are performing mostly technical work. An obvious part of relationship building is to be physically present in the workplace, so working from home might make you more susceptible to your job being outsourced. A real estate agent with hundreds of personal contacts cannot be replaced by a Web site. And an information systems specialist who performs hands-on work with internal clients cannot be replaced by an IT specialist working 7,000 miles away in another country.

In short, good interpersonal relationships will not only advance your career, but will also help you preserve your position through the turmoil of technological change.

Concept Review and Reinforcement

Key Terms

extreme job hunting 409

calling 422

proactive personality 422

organization culture 428

prosocial motivation 422

person–organization fit 428

Summary

Recommended job-hunting tactics include the following:

Identify your job objectives.

Be aware of qualifications sought by employers.

Identify your skills and potential contribution.

Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy.

Go where the jobs are.

Stay organized during your job search.

Use networking to reach company insiders.

Use multiple online approaches.

Smile at network members and interviewers, and be enthusiastic.

Smooth out the rough spots in your background.

Job hunting almost always requires a résumé. A length of one page is recommended for a less experienced person and two pages for a more experienced person. Résumés should emphasize skills and accomplishments. Make good use of key words and past tense of verbs. Be aware of the problems of identity theft and scams associated with online résumés. Make your submissions easy to access for employers and minimize résumé errors. Video résumés can be important, as well as creative formats. A Twitter résumé can possibly attract an employer. Honesty about your credentials is important. A résumé should almost always be accompanied by a cover letter explaining how you can help the organization and why you are applying for this particular job.

Telephone screening interviews often precede a full job interview. A general guide for performing well in an interview, whether with one person or a panel, is to present a positive but accurate picture of yourself. More specific suggestions include the following:

Be prepared, look relaxed, and make the interviewer feel comfortable.

Avoid talking too much during the interview.

Establish a link between you and the prospective employer.

Ask perceptive questions.

Be prepared to discuss your strengths and weaknesses (developmental opportunities).

Be prepared to respond to behavioral interview questions (examples of job behaviors).

Show how you can help the employer.

Use nonverbal communication that projects confidence and decisiveness.

Practice good etiquette during the interview and meals.

Be low key about salary.

Minimize utterances that annoy many interviewers.

Send a follow-up (or thank-you) letter.

Improving interpersonal relationships assists career advancement, in addition to implementing strategies and tactics. Strategies and tactics aimed mostly at controlling your own characteristics and behaviors are as follows:

Develop career goals.

Capitalize on your strengths, and build your personal brand.

Be passionate about and proud of your work.

Develop a code of professional ethics and prosocial motivation.

Develop a proactive personality.

Keep growing through continuous learning and self-development.

Document your accomplishments.

Project a professional image.

Perceive yourself as a provider of services.

Develop depth and breadth.

Rely on a network of successful people.

Work with a mentor.

Find a good person–organization fit.

Take sensible risks.

Emphasize relationships to combat being outsourced.

Questions for Discussion and Review

During a labor shortage (when there are more positions open than qualified applicants), why is it still important to have good job search skills?

With all the emphasis on online job hunting, how do you demonstrate that you have effective interpersonal skills?

In what ways might video résumés both help and hinder a company to attain the goal of having a diverse workforce?

To what extent do you think it is still realistic for a person in his or her early twenties to join a large company and stay employed there for 40 or more years? Explain your reasoning.

Imagine that you are friends with a 24-year-old NBA or WNBA player who has to quit playing professional basketball because of injuries to both knees. What advice would you offer this person to restart his or her career in another field?

Give an example from your own life in which you behaved as if you were a proactive personality.

How does talent and expertise contribute to career advancement?

Suppose that a person has 6,000 followers on Twitter; how might he or she capitalize on this fact in a job search or in career advancement?

Which sport or pastime in addition to golf do you think would be useful for building a professional network? Why?

What is the most useful idea you picked up from this chapter about either conducting a job campaign or managing your career? Explain your reasoning.

The Web Corner

http://www.jobhuntingadvice.com

(Advice on all phases of job hunting, plus information about stable fields of employment)

http://www.Vault.com

(A wealth of information about career advancement, job finding, and occupational profiles)

http://www.careercast.com

(Finding the right professional mentor, including the attributes you should look for)

Internet Skill Builder: Finding a Job Efficiently So many job boards exist on the Internet that conducting a Web-based job search can be baffling. A direct approach is to visit Monster (on the front page of www.Yahoo.com) and enter three specific job titles of interest to you. You will be directed to loads of job opportunities closely matching the job titles you entered. It may be helpful to enter variations of the same job title, such as both “office manager” and “administrative assistant.” Your assignment is to identify five jobs for which you appear to be qualified. Even if you have no interest in conducting a job search, it is informative to be aware of job opportunities in your field. Seek answers to the following questions:

Do I appear to have the qualifications for the type of job I am seeking?

Is there a particular geographic area where the job or jobs I want are available?

How good are opportunities in my chosen field?Developing Your Human Relations Skills

Interpersonal Relations Case 17.1

Sharon Tackles a Job Interview

Sharon is a professional in the building construction field. Up until four months ago, she held a position as a construction supervisor for a large development company. Her employer faced a severe downturn in business and was forced to lay off 75 percent of its staff, including Sharon. She threw herself into a job search, carefully following several guides to conducting a job search. Sharon did get to the interview stage for two positions, but neither interview led to a job offer.

Today Sharon has another interview as a construction supervisor for a large building construction company in Houston, Texas. Sharon really wants to be hired for this position. An excerpt from her interview follows:

Interviewer:

Why should we hire you as a construction supervisor?

Sharon:

I’ve been out of work for four months, and I really need a job. I just started receiving unemployment insurance, and it is not enough to cover my bills. Also, you could also hire me because you need a construction pro to get the job done.

Interviewer:

What position do you hope to have five years from now?

Sharon:

Right now I’m thinking of the present. I want to get started working again. I’m not so sure about an exact job in the future, but I think that maybe your job would be a good one for me.

Interviewer:

What are your strengths as they relate to this position?

Sharon:

I’m not one to brag, so maybe you should ask my references. I know a lot about constructing buildings, and I get along well with people. I have lots of friends.

Interviewer:

What are your weaknesses as they relate to this position?

Sharon:

I don’t like to sell myself short, but I do get a little lazy at times. It isn’t easy for me to concentrate on my work all day. I tend to access online stores on my Samsung when I am bored.

Interviewer:

Now that our interview is almost complete, what questions do you have for me?

Sharon:

I know I would like to work for your company. If I do get hired, do you think I could get a hiring bonus or one month’s salary in advance? I’m terribly short on cash.

Case Questions

What interviewee errors does Sharon appear to be making?

What has Sharon done right as an interviewee?

What advice can you offer Sharon about conducting herself in a job interview, should she fail to get an offer based on this job interview?

Interpersonal Skills Role-Play

What Sharon Should Have Done

One student plays the role of the interviewer, asking the same five questions as asked in the above case. Another student plays the role of Sharon, but this time she interviews in a more thoughtful manner that would more likely create a favorable impression and lead to a job offer. As you regard the role players, observe both what is said with words and their nonverbal communication.

Interpersonal Relations Case 17.2

Networking in Evanston

Jason, age 31, is an office administrator at a medical supplies company in Evanston, Illinois, located outside Chicago. He enjoys the medical supply field because he perceives the business as an efficient method of distributing medical supplies to settings such as hospitals, medical clinics, and hospices where they are vitally needed.

Jason has long been interested in advancing his career by making contacts that could help him in such ways as being recommended for a bigger position, learning new skills and technology, and bringing in business for his company. Although Jason is not working in sales, he believes that all professional employees have a responsibility to promote the company. One Sunday morning while reading the business section of the newspaper, he learned that a newly formed networking group, the Evanston Professionals, would be holding its first meeting that Friday at an upscale restaurant, starting at 5 p.m. Admission was $15.

Jason thought, “Here is an opportunity made for me. I’ll send the event organizer an e-mail this morning, and pay at the door. I’ll bring loads of business cards, and wear my sharpest business casual attire.” (The announcement specified business casual as the dress code.) Jason showed up precisely at 5 p.m. for the event, and registered at the door. He told the woman at the front table, “I’m Jason, and I’m here to meet some great folks.”

Jason purchased a glass of Chardonnay and then made his first move. He spotted a woman wearing a Coach bag, leading him to conclude that she must have a good position. Jason’s opening line was, “Hi, I’m Jason, a key office administrator in the medical supply field. Here’s my card with a condensed résumé on the back. I’m not specifically looking for a job, but I would never turn down a great opportunity. Be in touch with me if you want to learn more.”

The woman wearing the Coach bag replied, “Thanks for coming over, I hope you have a nice evening.”

Jason then spotted a hospital administrator, Baxter, whom he recognized from the past. He approached the administrator and said, “Hello, Baxter. I’m glad we’re both attending the opening event for this networking group. Here’s how you can help me. If you know about any really interesting job openings, let me know. Also, if you are using any new business processes for your hospital that work well, let me know. I can visit you at work to learn all about them.”

Baxter replied, “I hear you, Jason. See you later.”

Jason then thought, “So far, my networking approach is not working so well. Maybe I should try the personal touch before I get into professional areas.” He next approached a woman dressed in a red blouse, slacks, and high heels. Jason’s opening line was,

“Hello there, stylish Evanston professional. You look fabulous. I love red on a woman, and high heels please me also. Are you married? Here’s my card.”

With an icy stare, the woman replied, “I thought this was a professional networking event, not a place to hit on people.”

Case Questions

What suggestions can you offer Jason for improving his networking effectiveness?

What important ground rule for networking is Jason violating?

What, if anything, is Jason doing right in terms of career networking?

References

Question from “Marc’s Monday Morning Newsletter” ([email protected]), May 2, 2011. p. 1

Christian Arno, “One Skill that Will Instantly Make You a Better Job Candidate,” Brazen Careerist, November 14, 2012, pp. 1–2.

Donna Rawady, “Market Yourself Across Multiple Tracks,” Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), October 18, 2009, p. 2E.

Joann S. Lublin, “Lessons of Extreme Job Hunting,” The Wall Street Journal, September 1, 2009, pp. D1, D4.

Debra Auerbach, “Keep Organized During Job Hunt,” CareerBuilder, November 4, 2012,

Nelson D. Schwartz, “In Hiring, a Friend in Need Is a Prospect, Indeed,” The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com), January 27, 2013, p. 1.

Jason Lee, “Build a Better Job Search Network,” Tribune Media Services (http://www.chicagotribune.com), January 26, 2013. p.1.

Susan Ricker, “Refresh Your Job Search with Spring Cleaning.” Career Builder, March 31, 2013.

Debra Auerbach, “Pack Your Résumé for Success,” CareerBuilder, May 20, 2012; Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, “How to Write the Perfect Resume Hook,” U.S. News and World Report (http://www.finance.yahoo.com/news), June 19, 2012, p. 1.

Joann S. Lublin, “Silence Is Golden Rule for Résumés of People Who Have Broken It,” The Wall Street Journal, October 2, 2007, p. B1.

“A Word on Résumés,” Philly.com, July 13, 2009.

Rachel Emma Silverman and Lauren Weber, “The New Résumé: It’s 140 Characters,” The Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2013, p. B8.

Cindy Krischer Goodman, “Lying On Résumé as Really Bad Idea,” The Miami Herald (http://www.miamiherald.com), May 15, 2012, p. 1.

Data presented in “Fake It and You’re Busted,” http://TimesJobs.com , January 23, 2009, p. 1.

Greg Faherty, “Cover Letter Secrets,” NY Resume Writing Examiner (http://www.sanfranciscoexaminer.com), December 10, 2009.

Cited in Sindhu Sundar, “The Ten Worst Things to Put in Your Cover Letter,” Fins Finance (http://www.fins.com), August 9, 2011, pp. 1.

Cited in Debra Auerbach, “Take Phone Interview Seriously,” CareerBuilder, March 24, 2013.

Sarah E. Needleman, “Speed Interviewing Grows as Skills Shortage Looms,” The Wall Street Journal, November 6, 2007, p. B15.

The suggestion about desperation is from Deb Koen, “How to Avoid Sounding Desperate in Your Next Job-Search Interview,” Democrat and Chronicle, February 5, 2012, p. 2E.

“Career Advice: Be Ready to Ask Questions at Interviews,” Washington Post, October 7, 2012, p. H1.

Survey cited in Rachel Louise Ensign, “Selling Yourself in 45 Seconds or Less,” The Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2012, p. R2.

Amy Lindgren, “Job Search Etiquette,” The Atlanta Journal Constitution (http://www.ajc.com/business), 26, 2012, p. 1.

Dawn Klingensmith, “5 Most Annoying Interview Phrases,” http://www.philly.com , January 22, 2010.

Susan Ricker, “Don’t Forget the ‘Thank-You,’” CareerBuilder, August 19, 2012, p. 2F.

Anya Kamentz, “The Four-Year Career,” Fast Company, February 2–12, p. 74.

Quoted in Vickie Elmer, “The Perils of Self-Promotion,” Fortune, November 21, 2011, p. 38.

Judy Martin, “Aligning Your Passion with Your Personal Brand,” San Francisco Examiner ( http://www.examiner.com ), March 7, 2009.

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, “The Best Advice I Ever Got,” Fortune, July 6, 2009, p. 47.

Shoshana R. Dobrow, and Jennifer Tosti-Kharas, “Calling: The Development of a Scale Measure,” Personnel Psychology, Number 4, 2011, pp. 1001–1049.

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Janet Banks and Diane Coutu, “How to Protect Your Job in a Recession,” Harvard Business Review, September 2008, p. 114.

Scott E. Seibert, Maria L. Kraimer, and J. Michael Crant, “What Do Proactive People Do? A Longitudinal Model Linking Proactive Personality and Career Success,” Personnel Psychology, Winter 2001, pp. 845–874; Scott E. Seibert, J. Michael Crant, and Maria L. Kraimer, “Proactive Personality and Career Success,” Journal of Applied Psychology, June 1999, pp. 416–427.

Douglas J. Brown et al., “Proactive Personality and the Successful Job Search: A Field Investigation with College Graduates,” Journal of Applied Psychology, May 2006, pp. 717–726.

Pamela Babcock, “Always More to Learn,” HR Magazine, September 2009, p. 51.

Cited in Cheryl Dahle, “Showing Your Worth without Showing Off,” http://nytimes.com, September 19, 2004; http://www.bragbetter.com.

Carlin Flora, “Personal Packaging,” Psychology Today, July/August 2009, p. 61.

Andy Jordan, “If You Really Want to Defy Conformity, Dress Up Today,” The Wall Street Journal, January 4, 2013, p. A1.

Robin Kawakami, “To Sell a Penthouse, Polished Attire Preferred,” The Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2013, p. D3.

Cited in Louise Dobson, “Skirting the Line: In the Office, Wardrobe Mistakes Can Be Disastrous,” Psychology Today, July/August 2006, p. 13; Flora, “Personal Packaging,” p. 61.

Cited in “Taking Charge in a Temp World,” Fortune, October 21, 1998, pp. 247–248.

Harriet Barovick, “The Return of the Calling Card,” Time, August 11, 2008, p. 57.

Hans-Georg Wolff and Klaus Moser, “Effects of Networking on Career Success: A Longitudinal Study,” Journal of Applied Psychology, January 2009, pp. 196–206.

Cited in Chris Brogran, “The Network is Everything,” Entrepreneur, October 2010, p. 56.

Dawn E. Chandler, Douglas T. Hall, and Kathy E. Kram, “How to Be a Smart Protégé,” The Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2009, p. R5.

Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In (New York: Knopf, 2013).

Erin White, “The First Job Blues: How to Adjust, When to Move On,” The Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2006, p. B7.

Amy L. Kristof-Brown, Ryan D. Zimmerman, and Erin C. Johnson, “Consequences of Individuals’ Fit at Work: A Meta-Analysis of Person-Job, Person-Organization, Person-Group, and Person-Supervisor Fit,” Personnel Psychology, Summer 2005, pp. 281–342.