Beth SchaeferJuly 28, 2022Leadership and Strategy Blogs, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

Employee Retention Part 3: Are We Moving Employees from Stakeholders to Customers? | A Workplace Blog

Beth Schaefer – IPD Director

Note: This is the third blog in the Employee Engagement Series.

The first article looked at the origin of the Employee Engagement theory, and the second article defined the concept.

During this ongoing time of The Great Resignation, have your staff and employees moved from being stakeholders in the work of the organization to being customers of your organization?

I mean becoming customers in the sense that their voice is becoming a stronger and stronger consideration and factor in how you do business and structure your policies and work.

Attracting and retaining employees appears to be a stumbling block to many businesses attempting to return to pre-pandemic levels of building products, managing supply chains, and/or serving customers.

Just in my suburban neighborhood:

The DQ does not have enough employees to open its indoor service – Even though post-Covid would allow them to open indoor seating, they still offer only drive-thru, and in this heat wave, that line is 20 cars deep. I have yet to get in line.
The Papa Murphy’s in my neighborhood closes at 6 pm. Correct, no pizza after 6 pm. I seldom get my pizza ordered on time.
My local pub is no longer open on Sundays and Mondays so that their team can have “a weekend.” I miss Sunday dinners and not having to cook after a day of working in the yard.
Target had checkout lines 6 deep early on a Sunday morning and many empty shelves. For the past month, I have been trying to purchase legal pads only to find the shelf empty. And, I admit, when they were finally there, I hoarded and took 3 instead of just the 1 I needed at the moment.
Help Wanted signs, banners, and flyers are on pretty much every large and small business in my suburb. Yes, I am considering a side hack to add some extra income…

I am sure that you also have examples of supply chain shortages, shorter hours, and longer lines due to an employee shortage.

This is not just a dilemma for retail and hospitality, I know from talking with friends, family, and coworkers that many are burned out in their roles in teaching and child care, healthcare, IT, and marketing as they continue to cover for unfilled positions for many months at a time. Taking a vacation requires planning months before you depart and a month of catch-up when you return.

These shortages have many employers rethinking what they can offer employees. At some point, the hourly pay or weekly salary rate may not be enough; you need to have something extra special to retain talent – is that something extra special in Employee Engagement?

If you have not sipped from the cup of Employee Engagement yet, this may be your time to give it a try. Here is a starter kit from the experts with notes from me.

70% of the most effective employee engagement occurs with the immediate supervisor. If you are an immediate supervisor, you can use these ideas to start building employee engagement with your team.

My note: If you manage immediate supervisors, you may want to loop them in with some engagement training or some engagement information or… use these tactics with them to increase their engagement levels…

Thank your employees for the work they do. Be specific. Be in the moment. Be real.

My note: To me, this would include publicly praising your team and giving them credit while you take a step back from the spotlight.

Communicate as much as you can, as soon as you can, with as much detail as you can about the business, the problems, and the achievements.

My note: I think this demonstrates trust and respect; however, you also need to be respectful of the messaging your organization wants you to send. I am also a fan of well-orchestrated messaging.

Bring employees in on problems, listen to them, and foster a solution-centered or solution-focused department and team.

My note: I think this demonstrates trust and respect and helps to create a workplace based on reality, but positive.

Keep your promises. Do not promise something you cannot deliver. If you say you are going to do it, do it.

My note: I would add – do it promptly.

Create downtime for employees to get to know each other on a personal level. When a crisis occurs, people who care about each other are more likely to pitch in and help one another – whether one person is having a tough day or the whole team is having a tough day or it’s your busy season.

My note: You also need to take time to get to know your team members and staff. I have more to say on this topic, but realize that it needs its article. Look for an upcoming article on The Power of Workplace Chit Chat.

Using Employee Engagement tactics to create an environment where people want to work may be your next best strategy for retaining your people – especially if you cannot afford a salary bidding war.

Beth SchaeferJuly 6, 2022Resources

Resources for Employee Engagement Article

Resources for Employee Engagement

Employee Engagement: It’s Time to Go ‘All In.’ Dale Carnegie.

Employee Experience vs. Employee Engagement: What’s the Difference? Gallup. Pendell.

Engaging in Healthy Debate Over Employee Engagement. Association for Talent Development. Leeds and Nierle.

Kahn’s 3 Dimensions of Employee Engagement: Still Good to Go in 2021? Talkfreely. Sinclair.

Sustaining Employee Engagement and Job Satisfaction. SHRM. Paul.

The Right Culture: Not Just About Employee Satisfaction. Gallup. Harter and Mann.

The Six Forces Driving Engagement. Quantum Workplace.

The ‘What’ and ‘Why’ of Employee Engagement. SHRM. Hastings.

Beth SchaeferJune 24, 2022Leadership and Strategy Blogs, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

Employee Engagement Part 2: Defined | A Workplace Blog

No Hugs Here

In my previous writing, we took a look at the research that originally started connecting employee engagement to employee production.

Both of these are very important right now in light of The Great Resignation. Engaged employees are more likely to stay with your organization. And you need all employees to be more productive because so many positions are unfilled.

The next set of blog articles will:

define employee engagement,
provide the benefits for employee engagement, and
tell you how to avoid common mistakes if you are investing in employee engagement.

Engaged Employee Definition: Out of Scope

Let’s start with what an engaged employee is and is not.

Bosses can breathe a sigh of relief. While there are several definitions of an engaged employee to choose from, the one thing they all have in common is a lack of syrupy-sweet over-complimentary supervisors.

No rainbows. No unicorns. No puppies. No puppies riding rainbow-colored unicorns.

Phew.

SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) provides a list of words to describe a disengaged employee:

pessimistic
self-centered
negative
gone a lot
takes credit but passes blame
egocentric

Interestingly enough, a synonym for disengage is undo. If you are unfortunate enough to have a disengaged person as part of your department or project team, you can clearly see how behaviors of an unengaged employee could undo the productive work of others.

Along this same line of thinking, Sibson Consulting defines 4 categories of engagement:

So… if employee engagement is NOT about feel-good platitudes, bonuses, and pizza parties, what is it?

Engaged Employee Definition: In Scope

I read a lot of one sentence definitions for employee engagement, and this one summed it up best:

Employee Engagement =

What employees thinks about your company and how it impacts their mindset, attitudes, and behaviors on the work they do that day.

I like the that day because employee engagement can wax and wane. If your employees are engaged that day, you might use these adjectives to describe them:

motivated
invested (in their work)
self-driven
committed to the organization
find work challenges to be enjoyable
connected to their team and coworkers
satisfied with their job

Interesting to note some items that are missing from the list, such as breeze through the day, find their jobs easy, always have a smile. Engagement is not about being happy all the time or never having problems to solve. Engagement is about feeling good about solving problems, contributing to the organization, and providing a valuable good or service to the people who need it.

Now that you know what employee engagement is, the next article will look at the benefits of investing your time and money in engaging employees.

RESOURCES

Beth SchaeferMay 16, 2022Leadership and Strategy Blogs, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

Employee Engagement Part 1: Employee Engagement = Employee Retention – Fact or Fiction? | A Workplace Blog

Since so many employers are dealing with exiting employees and an accepted premise is that employee engagement leads to employee retention, I thought my next blog series should provide some tips and strategies for keeping your employees engaged, and thus, retained.

However, as I started looking through research articles, I noted that there were some articles that basically accused employee engagement as being, in my words, a lot of mumbo jumbo.

What?

I had to dig in. Here is what I learned.

Most employee engagement can be traced back to the work of William Khan in the 1990’s. At this point, I had to agree with the naysayers – anything that came out of the 90’s probably should be questioned:

Lunchables as a healthy meal
Neon windbreakers
Overalls with one or both straps down
Tickle Me Elmo
Butterfly Clips

Just kidding, the 90’s were all that and a bag of chips.

Since I have not actually studied Khan, my first step was to investigate his theory. Here it is in a nutshell – or the fraction of a nutshell.

Khan provided the original employee engagement framework. He said that people’s personal engagement (bringing your “preferred self” to your tasks) requires 3 psychological conditions. He then defined those conditions for the workplace engagement.

Psychological Conditions for Personal Engagement

Feeling Safe

Meaningfulness

Having Energy and Resources

Khan Framework for Workplace Engagement

Physical Engagement

Cognitive Engagement

Emotional Engagement

Khan’s Definitions and Connections

Khan defined physical engagement as using your mind and body to get your work done. He equated people’s willingness to use their energy to do their work with people who felt confident (or felt safe) in their role.

Khan equated cognitive engagement with traits such as creativity and decisiveness. When people are able to be creative or self-empowered in their jobs, they are more likely to find them meaningful. The caveat is that to reach cognitive engagement, people need to understand the employer’s vision and strategies and how their role connects to both.

Khan cited the three ingredients for emotional engagement as positive relationships with individuals at work, positive group dynamics on their team, and a boss that they trusted.

The connection between emotional engagement and having the right energy and resources is that people are only going to keep using their energy and resources if they believe that effort will actually lead to something useful. If their efforts consistently lead to no change, or incomplete projects, or bad outcomes, they will expand less energy and fewer resources in the future.

And that is how the value of employee engagement was born.

I know I have not answered the question yet of whether or not employee engagement is valuable, so we will continue on this journey in the next blog. However, I can already see Khan’s logic, but more importantly, I believe I have lived Khan’s logic.

Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement (Academy of Management Journal, December 1990, Vol. 3, no. 4, pp 692-724)

Beth SchaeferMay 4, 2022Expert Insights - archives, Leadership Toolbox Past Expert Insights, past webinar, Project Management Past Expert Insights

The Change Chart | Past Expert Insights Webinar

Expert Insights Webinar The Leadership Toolbox: The Change Chart because change is also a Verb

Click to Watch Here

The Leadership Toolbox Launch will feature The Change Chart, which is often used by our speaker for change management.

Before Covid, change was difficult; during Covid, it was unavoidable; and as we transition “back to normal”, change is overwhelming.

The Change Chart may not be the answer to all of your change issues, but our speaker is hopeful that it can move you from inaction (change is hard) to solution (change is doable).

If you find yourself using the mantra, “People do not like change,” as an explanation for failed change efforts, IPD encourages you to join this webinar and add the Change Chart to your Leadership Toolbox.

Part of: The Leadership Toolbox

Short on theory and long on practical application. One easy tool for leaders to implement and use.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:

Beth Schaefer

You know Beth Schaefer as the host of the Expert Insights series, but she also manages the staff of the Institute for Professional Development at Metro State as part of the university’s leadership team. Before her role at Metro State, Beth was the director of an area learning center serving grades 7 – 12. In this role, she led teachers, staff, students, and parents through experiential learning and the changes that occurred during those secondary education years. In her leadership roles, Beth mostly navigates change that is generated by external forces (economy, pandemic, legislation) to meet the needs of customers while lacking the time, money, and resources that would make those changes easier to lead.

Beth SchaeferApril 7, 2022Advance Your Career, Pandemics, Holidays & Other Stresses, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

The Great Resignation Transformation Part 3: Make Your Move | A Workplace Blog

by Beth Schaefer

IPD Director

“Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?

If I go, there will be trouble….

And If I stay it will be double…”

by, ironically enough, The Clash

If you have been reading The Great Resignation/Transformation series, you have already done the following to assess your current career situation:

Researched that The Great Resignation has created demand for your job
Determined what you want out of a role (12 Questions to Define Your Career Wants and Needs)
Calculated the potential to gain more salary, fringe benefits, or intangible job satisfaction elsewhere (Use this form to tally your current benefits)
Ascertained if your burnout is directly related to your current organization (Quiz: Do You Work for a Toxic Organization?)

And based off that analysis, you have determined that your career is best served by making a move to a new organization.

In addition to the assessments listed above, take these additional actions to ensure a smooth career move:

Research compensation for the role you want in the area/region you wish to work.

Define your “workplace self.”

Take 15 minutes every Friday to write down what parts of your job that week were the most satisfying.

Watch for patterns so you can look for more of that type of work in your new role.
Use this information to craft questions you can ask when an employer says, “What do you need to know about us?”
And, if asked, “What do you like about your current role?” you will be ready for that too.

Do the list of 3’s. For each of the following questions, write down your top 3:

What 3 things about the work you do now generate passion and excitement?
What are your top 3 technical skills?
What 3 adjectives would your co-workers use to describe you?
What are your top 3 workplace skills or fields of expertise?
What are your 3 biggest workplace contributions in the past year?

Craft your story even though your resume is a necessary tool; it is not your whole story.

Look at the parts that make up your whole:

You are not just your job title.
Look at your history of projects; see how they add to your story.
Look at who is in your network; see how they connect to tell your story.
Create a list of work anecdotes that demonstrate your desirable co-worker traits that will transfer to any situation or role.

Build your brand about your “workplace self” using your story pieces.

Sum up your story:

Write your 1-paragraph career story.
Write your 1-sentence brand or elevator speech.
Make sure all your social media platforms use those pieces to align with the professional image you want to project.

Stay visible.

As much as you can, make sure the work you do at your current role reflects your brand.

That will ensure that those you work with can verify your self-assessment and provide positive recommendations.
While searching for your new role, keep your list of successes updated and ensure that your profile in your cover letters and resume matches.

Make friends.

Make sure you are liked by bosses, coworkers, clients, and customers.

They will be contacted for references.
Help people.
Worry about results, not credit.
Be nimble and efficient.
Be positive about your work and the organization.

Reintroduce yourself.

Broaden your circle outside your department, division, and organization.

This next ring of influential spheres may have shrunk during the pandemic- much more than you realize – while you were hanging out at home in your elastic pants…

Find an authentic reason to reach out to those you have lost touch with – both in and out of the organization:

“I saw this conference/webinar/new restaurant, and I thought you might like it”
“Someone shared this article/template/software with me, and I thought you might find it valuable”
“I am back in the office; are you? Let’s grab some lunch/coffee/HH”
“ I see your job changed during the pandemic; I would love to connect and hear about your new role.”
“Congratulations on your new promotion…”

Tap your people to influence decision-makers for the roles you hope to get.

Expand your network.

Block time each week to send invites to your network of people for longer conversations.

Write an email.
Send a text.
Make a phone call.
Message through LinkedIn.

Make a goal of conducting a networking conversation each week.

To prepare for these conversations, prepare a list of questions to ask the other person about themselves; you do not need to talk about yourself.
They will remember the feeling of your conversation, not what you said.
Run out of people? Make a grid. Across the top, list all the categories of people you have: kid’s sports teams/activities, volunteer work, neighbors, relatives, friends, retired coworkers, college buddies, etc. List 10 people under each category. Repeat when you run out of people.

Maintain your emotional well-being

For strategies to maintain emotional well-being at work, see the Blog: Return-to-Work Phobia

And, if you are leaving BEFORE you have your next role, consider doing these actions too:

Be productive with your time out of work: take a part-time job, travel, execute a DIY project, or take a class. These types of actions will help you:

- Keep a schedule so that returning to work will be a smooth transition.
- Practice desired work skills, such as project management.
- Demonstrate dedication to a schedule or self-improvement.
- Say fun and interesting things in an interview.
- Provide additional references for your potential new employer.

Plan your finances so that you have some money to live on during your transformation.

If you leave without a new role lined up, plan on 5 months to get a new job, but have 6 – 12 months of expenses saved.
If you are attempting to try out new roles, have some funds to pay into health insurance if not covered by your temporary agency.
Even if you are moving from one role directly to another, you may have some transitional expenses such as health insurance payments to bridge between the roles.

Good luck!

For additional information, check out the references used for this article.

IPDMarch 7, 2022IPD Instructors

Christine Moore

Title/Position
Instructor, Metropolitan State University

Expert Areas:

Project Program & Portfolio Management
Agile Methodologies
Immersive Simulation

Education/Professional Certificates:

Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from Augsburg College in Minneapolis
Pursuing a Master’s degree in Human Resource Development and Organizational Change Leadership.
Certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP®) by the Project Management Institute (PMI®).
Certified as a professional facilitator by the International Association of Facilitators.

Relevant experience to topic areas:

For more than 20 years, Christine has led, trained, and coached teams charged with making change.
Among the organizations Christine has worked with are:
- American Express
- Canadian Pacific
- Novartis
- Scott County
- Motorola
- Santa Clara County
- Ecolab
- HB Fuller
- Valspar
- NACR
- Owens Illinois
In addition to working directly with organizations and their teams, Christine creates and leads educational workshops that incorporate immersive simulation learning to ensure skill-based development and real-life application.

Philosophy of training in a nutshell:

Adults learn by doing which means training must present opportunities to “do” (practice, execute, apply). Whether designing or delivering training, she strives to create these opportunities.

Why the instructor is excited about teaching at Metro State:

Instructor quote: “Metro State’s motto: ‘Where life and learning meet’ is perfectly aligned to my philosophy regarding learning by doing. Additionally, those attending Metro State’s Professional Development classes are highly motivated individuals striving for new or better careers, and I find that inspiring.

Kristin ZakariasenMarch 7, 2022IPD Staff

Katherine Mayer

IPD Operations Lead

katherine.mayer@metrostate.edu

Beth SchaeferMarch 4, 2022Advance Your Career, Pandemics, Holidays & Other Stresses, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

The Great Resignation Transformation Part 2: You’ve Got Leverage | A Workplace Blog

While a record number of people are leaving their jobs (see the series introductory article: Is The Great Resignation Time for Your Career Transformation?), you may not have to leave to get a better deal.

Because so many people are leaving, this may be a good time to negotiate a new situation at your current organization.

Here are 10 steps to improve your current work situation:

Step 1: Know what you want

Visit the article Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Great Resignation Transformation to answer 12 questions to figure out what you want from your career and the organization you work for.

Step 2: Know what you are worth

Make sure you are armed with information about the market for your occupation. When people are in a role for a long time at the same organization, they can lose touch with the “market” for that role. Occupations are influenced by the laws of supply and demand. Understand the supply for your occupation for your region (or broader if you can work virtually). Do the math to fully understand how many openings or the percentage of vacancies for your role. Also, research the going pay rate for your role. Be aware of what others at your organization are paid for similar work. Be aware of the rate you would be paid for starting that role at another organization. Remember to calculate benefits into the equation.

Step 3: Prepare your campaign

While you are not running for office, you do need to build your platform. Do not assume that your hard work, dedication, or achievements have been noted or recorded. Again, do your homework. Compile a list of your projects, achievements, impact. Did you carry the workload of others who were missing due to family or health reasons? Get that on the list. Did you implement a process to save the company money? Add it to the list. Did you win an award for customer service? Put it on the list. Go back through evaluations, coworker emails, and customer feedback and compile all the positive comments. Have “data” to support the good work you do.

Step 4: Start your campaign

Research continues to show that engaged employees are much more productive than other employees. When you are in meetings, on phone calls, interacting with customers, be positive about your role and your organization. Make sure that others know how much you like your job and indicate your interest in continuing to work for your current organization. Have a conversation with your boss and your boss’s boss (informal or formal) and make sure they know that you are interested in a clear plan to keep moving your career forward in their organization. If you can, ditch tasks that do not contribute to your plan and take on tasks and projects that demonstrate your interests and abilities for your defined career path.

Step 5: Step up

Even though there is a worker supply deficit, be ready to take on more responsibility to get more salary and benefits. With several openings, this is a good time to look at the next org. chart layer and find a role that you want. Suggest the change as a win/win to your leadership. Provide the career path you mapped out within your organization or work with your leadership to build a path to that role if you need some more experience or skills to take that step. Most likely, they will want to work with you and develop you to keep you – a known reliable quantity — rather than take their chances on an unknown hire. The important element is to make sure they know that you want to stay, achieve, and succeed.

Step 6: Seek and take professional development

Whether it is free through your company, or free through others, like the IPD Expert Insights webinars, putting these on your calendar will show others that you are interested in learning and moving forward. In addition, good training will also infuse your creativity and self-reflection while increasing your skills and abilities.

Step 7: Create the win/win vision

While you do want to make sure that changes to your role are in your best interest, they must be framed in a win for the organization as well. Do not come across threatening, “Meet my demands or I am outa here!” You want to use your stakeholder management skills to collaboratively craft changes that are mutually beneficial. Even if you are ready to leave if the organization falls short of your ask, you do not want your attitude to burn reference bridges or tarnish your reputation after all your hard work for the organization.

Step 8: Be ready to ask for exactly what you want

Especially here in the Midwest, we are not inclined to use direct language—either when touting our worth or when asking for what we feel is fair compensation. Do not hint; be prepared to state out right what you need. Also, be ready to negotiate your initial ask. If you want more than a higher salary or if you know that more money will be tough to get, be ready to ask for better benefits or for working conditions that will suit your work/life balance better. Take the Evaluate Your Employee Benefits Assessment to build the package that you want. Prioritize what you want. And know your “deal-breaking points” and what you are willing to let go of to stay.

Step 9: Create joy and happiness at work

Experts tell you that true joy is generated through fulfilling a purpose. If you want to stay with your organization, find ways to connect your work to your personal purpose, personal values and personal mission statement. Purpose and joy are not dependent on the everyday flow of good and bad moments, but transcends them. However, happiness is OK too. Find ways to have fun each day. Take your breaks so that you stay energized and productive. Be a co-worker that others want to work with.

Step 10: Find Balance

A natural instinct can be to work long hours and take on extra work to prove your worth to your organization. While most people have moments where their job requires that extra effort, consistently working longer hours does not usually lead to recognition or reward by the organization. Some roles, like sales, may be structured that way, but for most of us, working unreasonable hours only leads to burn out – which is not beneficial to you or the organization. Find outside interests for your time that will provide additional recognition and reward.

In Summary

Managing your own career maturity is not that different from managing your work projects and operations. Take stock, figure out the gaps, and put a plan in place to close the gaps that move the needle on maturing your career.

For additional information, check out the references used for this article.

A woman in a business suit leans her head on her hand, looking straight at the viewer, with a laptop in front of her. She looks tired.

Beth SchaeferFebruary 22, 2022Advance Your Career, Pandemics, Holidays & Other Stresses, Professional Development and Career Advancement Blog

The Great Resignation Transformation Part 1: Should I Stay of Should I Go? | A Workplace Blog

The Great Resignation Is On!

This series of blogs studies the impact through the personal lens of your career ladder.

Series Introduction

Part 1: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
(Coming in April) Part 2: You’ve Got Leverage
(Coming in May) Part 3: Make your Move

Before making any big decisions about your career, take a beat to assess your current working situation. Some of you may be saying, “I just spent the whole pandemic doing that!” Perhaps.

Evaluation is an important step because if you do not understand your current situation or what you want, you may go through a lot of change to end up in the exact same situation. Or… you could land in a situation where you are worse off.

Current research indicates that 40% of people who leave an organization boomerang back around and rejoin it. Therefore, before putting yourself through the emotions of change that go along with endings and beginnings, it is good to give the decision some thorough consideration.

Just as we teach in our business architecture courses, you need to understand the customer (you) and define the current state before you can assess gaps and make future plans.

Before making a move, evaluate:

Your reasons for leaving
Your current organization’s culture
The total benefits and upsides of your current situation

Why Do You Want To Leave?

Before making any decisions about leaving, you should make sure you understand what you are seeking that you are not finding in your current work situation. Answer these 12 questions to determine the “why” behind your desire to depart.

Am I seeking a new boss? If so, what traits am I looking for in a boss or organizational leadership?
Am I seeking better benefits? Is so, specifically what benefits do I want?
Am I leaving because I am burned out? How would a new organization rejuvenate me and prevent me from burning out again?
Am I leaving because I feel my role is being eliminated? How do I ensure my next role would not disappear?
Do I want a different work location? Do I want to go into the office instead for working from home? Do I want to work from home? Do I want a shorter commute? Do I need a job closer to my daycare?
Do I want an organization that values me more in terms of appreciating and recognizing the work I do?
Do I need a role with a clear career ladder and professional development to help me keep moving forward?
Would I like more mentoring and coaching?
Would I like to make more money? What is my range?
Do I want a role that increases my responsibility or decreases my level of responsibility?
Do I want to be a supervisor or manager, or would I prefer an informal leadership role?
Have I learned something about work/life balance during the pandemic? Do I need to adjust to my work life to strike that balance permanently?

After answering the questions, consider how far away you are from the ideal role you seek. If there are just a few items that miss the mark, can you have a conversation with your current employer to get those items aligned to your needs so that you do not need to leave?

Is It My Organizational Culture?

Do not underestimate the role that culture plays in your job satisfaction. In recent Great Resignation surveys, toxic culture was listed 10 times more than compensation as a reason to leave.

Your workplace culture is the shared values, beliefs, and attitudes of the people who work there. The workplace culture is heavily influenced by leadership’s actions, the organization’s stated mission and values, and most importantly, if those 2 things are consistent. Is the organization and its leaders doing what they say they are going to do? Are they putting resources towards the values they promise to deliver? Once there is disconnect between “the talk” and “the walk,” it opens the culture door for lack of trust and disrespect that can permeate the entire organization. This can make for a miserable work situation.

Take this True/False quiz to help you assess your current workplace.

It is really difficult to fix an organizational culture situation, but The Great Resignation may provide you the opportunity to seek work elsewhere and leave it behind rather than staying trapped.

What Are My Benefits?

If you have worked in a sector or with one organization for a long time, it is easy to think that all organizations offer the same perks and benefits as your current one. That is not the case – especially if you are switching across government, corporate, and nonprofit organizations. For example, I have worked in education for my entire career; I am still surprised when my corporate-employed friends talk about how they will spend year-end bonuses that equal 1 – 3 months’ salary for me (or more). Oh, that’s right, some corporate jobs get bonuses; very few government jobs offer any bonuses.

Without careful examination, you may discover that you have taken a perk for granted, and the ones that you used and valued the most are not present in the new job. And, in the worst case scenario – your salary increase disappears to pay for benefits that you no longer receive!

Use this form to tally your current benefits and make sure you understand your financial perks.

Now that you have your current situation defined and you know what you seek, the next 2 articles will give some tips for closing that gap by staying or by leaving.

For more information on this topic, see the list of articles used in the research.

Institute for Professional Development