What Employee Advocacy Really Means

What Employee Advocacy Really Means It’s not a fad or a gimmick but the most authentic way to push out stories about your organization. In the foreword to our advocacy guide Neal Schaffer, CEO of Maximize Your Social points out that your employees are best suited to become your brand storytellers in social media: People “own” brands through their perception of the brand, not the marketing department. Who better than to influence the perception of your brand than those who truly understand it at its deepest level, your employees? People trust people more than brands. Your employees are your brand’s secret weapon in building trust with the public. The biggest benefit is not the mere “amplification” of your content; on the contrary, it’s the creation of content that is authentic and more engaging than anything your organization might create. More and more organizations are interested in using social networking platforms to enhance their organizational online strategy. Social networking has revolutionized the way organizations connect, communicate and engage with shareholders, customers, suppliers, and employees. In essence, advocacy broadens the message from a “one to many” to a “many to many” approach, when promulgating information and marketing materials. Employee advocacy shifts the focus from a top-down sales-and-marketing approach to a collaborative model that motivates and enables employees to take action in support of the organization’s efforts. More than marketing Social networking mimics dialogue but can be characterized as “multi-logical”, in that communication becomes not a two-way dialogue but multidirectional, as stakeholders interact with each other at the same time as posting messages “around” the network. It provides an opportunity to engage with receptive customers and influencers who may be hard to reach via other routes. Advocacy works because advocate content and interactions are more valuable because buyers see them as authentic validation, not paid promotion. According to a Nielsen study, 84% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know, compared to 42% who trust banner adverts and to 37% who trust mobile-text advertising. Obviously, in most organizations, marketing and PR play an important role in managing organizational reputation, but employee advocacy affords another means of spreading positive and strategic messages via access to social channels that are not usually part of the brand social strategy Advocacy does so much more than marketing because it is associated with employee pride and belief in what the organization does. It is organic, in terms of the fact that employees build this pride and belief naturally, which in turn makes their advocacy authentic. It adds depth and breadth to your campaigns to drive sales and website traffic, or to provide better visibility and positive perception of the brand. Connect, communicate and collaborate The willingness of staff to promote the organization correlates with levels of employee engagement and a positive workplace culture. Advocacy arises from genuine engagement and only happens when employees feel respected, valued and empowered. For that to happen, they need to understand and buy into organizational vision and goals, and want to share content, whether it’s to support the organization, to amuse their contacts or to build their personal brand. Charlene Li of Altimeter told us that what is required is to: “Create alignment and culture with a vision of how employee and customer relationships intersect. Leadership needs to develop an agreement about how employee relationships support overall business goals â€" especially around creating a culture where engaged employees help create great customer experiences in digital channels.” What employees say about their employer, via their personal advocacy, goes beyond the reach of commercial advertising, no matter how original and creative, in connecting with potential customers. Building a brand depends on the whole organization, not just on a snappy advert, and social media is unique in affording scope to effectively connect, communicate and collaborate. Adapted from the book Employee Advocacy: The Ultimate Handbook.

Money Makeover Series In Need of a Money Plan

Money Makeover Series In Need of a Money Plan Sometimes in life, our biggest problems aren’t figuring out what to do to reach a goal, but rather having a goal in the first place or having a goal that is too vague. For example, let’s say you want to be financially stable. Okay, great! But what does that mean exactly? What do you need to accomplish in order to feel financially stable? Pay off debt? Build an emergency fund? Save for retirement? These three things are all very different goals which require different action steps. See how things can get confusing, fast? Identifying Areas for Improvement This is exactly what happened when I spoke to our first Money Makeover participant, Kayla. Our first conversation was just an introduction, and she told me that she doesn’t have debt, but she also doesn’t really know what to do about her money situation. She’d recently started a job that pays her quite a bit more than her previous job but she doesn’t have a plan. What’s worse, she feels a lot of anxiety over not having a money plan and especially over unplanned purchases. In terms of identifying areas to improve, this was a great start! Starting the Budget Then Kayla and I spoke again and got down to the nitty gritty in other words, the numbers. After adding all her expenses and subtracting them from her income each month, it turned out that Kayla is doing quite well. In fact, she’s rocking her finances! Kayla’s rent isn’t too high for her income, she’s contributing to her retirement through work, she has no debt, and she’s putting a substantial amount of money away for savings. Not bad! The Gray Area So how is it that Kayla felt like she wasn’t in control of her finances? Why do unplanned purchases cause her anxiety? She knew that she was doing well, but without a plan, she also lacked the feeling of control. It’s not enough to just have money leftover after bills. You need to assign a job to that money. So that’s what we did. The Plan One way to relieve anxiety due to unplanned purchases is to create an emergency fund. By having money allocated specifically for this reason, it’s easy to take an unplanned purchase in stride. After looking at Kayla’s overall savings, it was clear that she already has enough saved for an emergency fund. Since that was covered, all she needed was to start allocating money to a general savings account an account which is not to be touched. One way to make sure you don’t back down on your savings goals is to pay your savings account first. Kayla and I did her budget and accounted for all of her expenses, plus a little bit extra for fun. Everything left over should go to savings each month. Now that she knows that number she can pay her savings account that amount first, then her bills, and then have the left over amount for fun. In summary, here are Kayla’s action steps: 1) Open a new savings account and transfer 5% of her current savings account to this account 2) Declare the original savings account to be her emergency fund and the second her actual savings account 3) Pay her savings first In Need of a Goal Now that all that’s figured out, there’s just one more thing to do determine an ultimate goal. While there’s no question that she has what it takes to achieve financial stability her lack of debt, solid emergency fund, and plan for savings puts her straight on that path that goal in and of itself might not be enough. We all need something to shoot for a light at the end of the tunnel in order to stay focused, positive, and motivated in maintaining a financial plan. That’s the only thing that Kayla is missing. She and I spoke briefly about what the light at the end of her tunnel could be. Some ideas we mentioned were: buying a home, traveling more, or a certain focus on her career. These are just a few things that are on her mind but, at only 25, thinking so much about the future can be a little scary! Kayla is already mature beyond her years but is in a transitional period. She started a job a half a year ago that she loves, she moved into a new apartment by herself for the first time in many years, and she’s thinking of traveling and writing more in her free time. But what to focus on? Stay tuned! This series is a journey, and no answers can be found overnight. Kayla and I started turning the wheel, and we’ll continue to brainstorm and alter the plan as a clearer goal comes to fruition. By the end of this three months, Kayla could be well on her way to her dreams financial and otherwise!

The Benefits of Hiring Boomerang Employees

The Benefits of Hiring Boomerang Employees Look out at the labor economy and you’ll find a dire situation for employers and recruiters entering 2017. The U.S. unemployment rate is at its lowest point in eight years. At the same time, the number of job openings nationwide is approaching 6 millionâ€"the highest number recorded since the statistic started being tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2000. The average cost per hire has risen to over $4,000 and essential roles that needed to be filled yesterday are remaining vacant for more than a month. Desperate times call for desperate measures, leading organizations to consider unlikely sources for talent more than ever. Perhaps that explains why “boomerang employees”â€"workers who leave a company voluntarily only to be rehired at a later timeâ€"are on the rise. If you’ve been hesitant to welcome back former employees, you’re certainly not alone. But opinions are changing, and the faux pas surrounding welcoming back these workers has all but disappeared. In fact, according to a study by Workplace Trends, 76 percent of HR professionals say they are more likely to hire boomerang employees now than in the past. At the same time, 40 percent of employees say they would consider returning to a company where they previously worked. You may very well have former employees in your network itching to return. These comeback kids offer a number of benefits over standard applicants. They bring with them proven success (where unknowns carry a ton of question marks), familiarity with company culture and processes (which means less training) and a reminder to coworkers thinking about leaving that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. The lower costs and effort needed to recruit boomerang employees can save companies up to $20,000 per hire. There’s a reason companies have been wary of these workers in the past though. Boomerang employees can cling stubbornly to old ideas, expect perks or increased compensation from their original tenure or bring back past friction with other employees. There’s no guarantee that they’re the best candidate in your pipeline for a certain position, and they also decided to leave once before. Who’s to say they won’t do it again? Should you decide the pros outweigh the cons, there’s still the question of how to actually woo great workers back. After all, have you actually thrown a boomerang? Without proper technique and practice, it can go sailing off never to be seen again. Given that 80 percent of employees say their former employers don’t have a strategy in place to encourage their return, that adds up to a lot of promising boomerangs never making their way back. If you’re part of this 80 percent, our infographic belowâ€"”How to Maintain Boomerang Employee Relations”â€"is here to offer guidance. In it we discuss tips and best practices to maintain contact with boomerang employees through every step of their trajectory, from when they leave to when they’re at their new gig and finally when they start looking for jobs again. We also highlight strategies you can use to entice former workers to reapply for their old job. The infographic also explains how solutions like an applicant tracking system can allow you to put these practices into place. You can import existing employee information in from your HRIS, add boomerangs to job opening candidate pools, track interactions, request performance feedback from managers, compare boomerangs with other promising job applicants and moreâ€"all without shifting precious resources away from your standard recruiting operations. Employees are more mobile than ever (over 3 million workers quit their jobs in July 2016 alone), but with the right strategy and software in place, you can catch a boomerang employee on their return journey and convince them to stay for good. About the author: Brian Westfall is senior market research associate for the applicant tracking system consulting firm  Software Advice, a Gartner company.

5 Books That Will Change Your Life [PODCAST] - Classy Career Girl

5 Books That Will Change Your Life [PODCAST] I’ve read a lot of books in the last 10 years, but looking back, these are the five books that truly changed my life. If you are ready to make a change, I highly recommend you read these books!   5 Books You Need to Read Subscribe  on  your favorite platform below: iTunes Google Play Music Stitcher Radio TuneIn iHeartRadio Sound Cloud 1) The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Pasapan This book helped me create a mission for my company and really narrow it down. The story of Bill Gates mission inspired me “A computer on every desk in every home”. After this, I came up with “Career Fulfillment for All Women” as CCG’s mission. And now that’s the focus of everything we do and every decision we make. The book also helped me break down my big goals and dreams and see them like dominoes and it’s the foundation of our Create Your Future 90-day planner. 2) The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey Where do I even start about how much this book changed my life? I know getting out of debt is a top goal for many of my readers. If it’s your goal, please get this book. They even have it at your library if you are struggling to find funds to read it. Or at least just find the baby steps. There are only 7. My husband and I are still following these. It’s not tough. I learned from this book to pay off the smallest debt first and then it just gets easier and easier as you see your debts disappear. I also loved just following these baby steps because you can get some quick wins!! It’s incredible! 3) The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren If you are wondering what you are on this earth for and what you should do with this life you have been given, this is the book for you. There is a purpose you are created for. A reason you are alive right now, to complete that purpose. I read this book a long time ago in college. I just read a chapter a day long before I had a career or even knew I would become an entrepreneur. I know it was a defining book on my professional path because with every job I had, I knew there was a purpose for it and a calling that I was getting closer to. Now I look back at all my jobs and see my path was directed by God’s purpose. Even my personal life was all leading to a bigger calling. I recently picked up this book again and it matches my work at CCG so much. Your life is no accident. You have a purpose. You were made for a mission and are uniquely designed to complete that mission. We each have gifts and strengths and unique experiences and personalities, you have to use what God gave you and be proud of it. When you find that thing and you use it, your life and career will fall into place! Your career won’t be tough stressful or boring if you are working in your purpose and doing what you are called to do. 4) The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod Did you know there is a list of recommended things you can do each morning to completely change your morning which can in turn change your life. Now I can’t say I do this  Miracle Morning every morning (new mom life) but I have and when I do, it really impacts my day and gives me a better day. I love the SAVERS he mentions in his book. Silence. Affirmations. Visualization. Scribing. Reading. Exercising. I love that it’s just a simple list that you can go through you can really do this in just 6 minutes. 5) Essentialism by Greg McKeown This book was mailed to me by the author in my early blogging days when it came out. We did a book giveaway in 2014 the year I quit my day job and had a baby.   I have been on a big mission this year to say no to clutter in the way of me becoming the person I want to be. It is so very true that less is better and that if you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will. This book landed on my doorstep at the perfect time and I hope it does the same for you! Essentialism isn’t about getting more done in less time.  It’s about doing less, but better. It’s about getting only the right things done. It is not a time management strategy or a productivity technique. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter. By challenging the assumption of “we can have it all” and “I have to do everything,” and replacing it with “the right thing, in the right way, at the right time,” we can regain control of our choices about where to spend our precious time and energies.  Essentialism gives us the roadmap and tools to apply more selective criteria to choose what is essential â€" in business and in life. I want to write a book. Can you go send me a message on Instagram and let me know what you’d like to read in my book? You May Also Like These Episodes: How To Publish a Book and Build Your Brand as an Author How to Create Effective Affirmations That Change Your Life

The 8 Most In-Demand IT Jobs In 2017

The 8 Most In-Demand IT Jobs In 2017 Though the economy of many countries remain stagnant, the field of information technology and computer science continues to grow at an impressive rate. This growth is mainly due to the increasing use of technology in commercial and domestic settings.?According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment rate for IT experts is expected to grow by an average of 22 percent over the next 10 years. Not to mention, the job satisfaction rates and salaries for IT experts will improve by a larger margin Here the top eight hottest 2017 jobs for those who want to pursue a career in IT.1. ?SoftwareEngineereval?Software engineers design, develop, maintain and test the operation of structures and systems that make computers work. They apply the principles of computer science, engineering and mathematical analysis to perform their duties. They earn an average salary of $102,280 per year, which is quite impressive.?The employment rate is projected to grow by 17 percent for the next one decade. This growth rate is considered much faster than the national average.2. Analytics Manager?Analytics managers work with companies to develop effective strategies for data analysis and reporting. Their typical duties include implementing analytic solutions, overseeing analytic operations to correct discrepancies, extracting information from multiple sources and building systems to transform raw data into actionable insights. Analytics managers earn an average salary of $108,000 per year. The 10-year job growth rate is at 30 percent.3. UX Designer?User experience ?Information security experts earn an average salary of $135,800 per year. The employment rate is projected to grow by 15 percent over the next 10 years. This is much faster than the national average.5.Network Engineereval?Network engineers work to ensure the organizations’ network is stable and secure. Their main responsibilities include managing and maintaining the network, overseeing user access to the network, providing backup systems, training staff on the best networking practices and integrating various devices into the network.?Other duties include selecting the right vps hosting provider for the organization’s website and ensuring everyone adheres to the rules governing network usage.?Network engineer earn $79,700 per year. The employment rate is expected to grow by 15 percent over the next 10 years.6.Quality Assurance Managereval?Quality assurance managers work with other IT staff to establish quality standards and monitor them against the agreed targets. Other duties include determining IT training needs and ensuring the IT infrastructures meet customer service standards and specific quality requirements for computer systems.??Quality assurance managers earn between $44,942 and $120,742 per year. The employment rate is expected to grow at a steady rate for the next 10 years.7.Information Security Analyst?Information security analysts detect and prevent cyber threats to an organization. Th eir typical duties involve planning, implementing and upgrading security measures, monitoring user access, conducting internal security audits and anticipating security incidents. Security analysts earn $92,600 per year.?The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the employment rate to grow by 18 percent over the next 10 years.8.Web Developer?Web developers apply their coding knowledge to design and maintain websites. They also take care of the web servers and ensure that they run smoothly without any downtimes. Web designers earn $66,130 per year.?The employment rate is expected to grow by 27 percent over the next 10 years.

Boost Your Career by Getting All The Facts

Boost Your Career by Getting All The Facts Boost Your Career by Getting All The Facts Boost Your Career by Getting All The Facts March 24, 2009 by Career Coach Sherri Thomas 2 Comments Hi Everyone!   As I sat at the car wash on Sunday waiting for my car to get sparkly clean, I learned something new by reading a small community newspaper â€" the unemployment rate in the city where I live (Chandler) is 4.6%.     That is significantly lower than my state’s average which is 7.1%, and even lower from the national rate that the media keeps harping on.   Just reading that simple fact lightened my mood and made me feel more hopeful.   If you’re feeling blue about the economy and your career situation, I encourage you to TURN OFF the TV, stop reading the newspapers, and conduct your own search to get ALL THE FACTS.   I’ve found a great website that allows you to view the unemployment rate by city, as well as identify the BEST markets for you!   http://www.bls.gov/web/laummtrk.htm     Next, you only have ONE WEEK LEFT to get your FR*EE professional resume assessment â€" our special gift to YOU as part of our Career Coaching 360 community.   Just send us your resume at: Service@CareerCoaching360.com with the subject line, “FREE Resume Assessment” along with a note about the types of jobs you’re looking to transition into.   Then, one of our professional resume writers will review your resume and e-mail you back specific strategies we recommend that will help you POWER UP YOUR RESUME and stand above your competition!   This is a special one-time only Thank You gift (-a $39 value!) that we’re offering FR*EE.   But you must do this TODAY, because this special ONE-TIME ONLY offer ends March 30th, 2009.   Finally, want to expand your network?   I’ve made it super easy for you to connect with me using   , , or by leaving a comment on the Career Coaching 360 blog http://blog.careercoaching360.com/ As always, please let us know if there’s anything we can do to support you in your career by visiting the website at www.CareerCoaching360.com, or by calling our toll free number: (877) 559-4533 To your success! Sherri Thomas

How to Use Online Resume Writing Software

How to Use Online Resume Writing SoftwareWhen it comes to online resume writing, there are many tools and applications that can help you. Using these online resume writing software tools can make your job of online resume writing easier. This article will give you some advice on how to use these programs and help you out with the design and layout of your resume.The most important thing is to get yourself into a place where you are comfortable with your resume. You need to sit down and write it for at least a few hours. Write down your goals and future plans that you want to accomplish. Make sure that you write it down, even if you just want to glance at it later. If you miss something, you can always get it from later.Now that you have everything you need written down, you need to get into a place where you can easily take notes. It can be hard to write down every little detail because you have so many things that you may not want to write about. A great thing to do is to write down your skills that you feel are valuable and be sure to write down anything that is not mentioned. You may also want to consider getting a notebook or notepad and jotting down those things that you do not want to mention.You will want to print out the resume on your computer so that you can easily take it with you to the interview that you are attending. You will need to make sure that your resume is clear and to the point. When writing the skills, try to include a description of what it is. For example, if you are wanting to be a nurse then you should be sure to include that in your resume.Your resume should be clear and you will want to ensure that your potential employer can easily read it. This means that you will want to be sure that you have enough white space and that the text is readable. This is not always an easy thing to do and you will need to practice over to make sure that you have the best looking resume possible.Once you have written your resume, it is now time to mak e sure that it looks clean and organized. You may want to download a template that you can download to your computer and use that as a guide on how to go about organizing your resume. You can search through these websites and find exactly what you need. This way, you can always edit your resume later on. It is also a good idea to write down your goals and aspirations that you want to have as a person so that you can focus on the information that you want to have when it comes to your resume.You may even want to consider using a combination of different resume online writing tools to make sure that you do not forget anything. You may want to take these free tools and look at the ones that you like. Try to utilize these free tools to see what they offer and if they would work for you.You will be able to create your online resume with ease with the right online resume writing software. You will want to go through this article and find out the right tools that you need to use for your r esume. Then, you will be able to put all of the information that you want on your resume that you will be submitting online.