Five Keys to Effectively Communicating Appreciation in the Workplace

As I travel around the country to consult for businesses and organizations, I hear the same message over and over—both from leaders and from their employees: “People are getting burned out. We have to do more work with less people, making do with the budget that we have,” or, “We need to do something to show our workers appreciation but funds are tight.” Burn-out is the common theme, as people in the workplace express that they are becoming more negative, cynical, and discouraged.
Research confirms that there are serious problems developing in the workplace today:
• 65% of workers say they have received no recognition or appreciation in the past 12 months.
• While 80% of large corporations have employee recognition programs, only 31% of their employees say they feel valued for doing good quality work.
• The #1 reason for recognition in most workplaces is longevity (how motivating is that?).
• Only 8% of employees feel their top management cares about them personally.
• 70% of employees are either disengaged or under engaged in their work.
• Yet only 21% of these workers are looking for work elsewhere, meaning approximately 50 % of the workforce are just passively enduring work they don’t enjoy.
The workplace environment needs to change for the better, and leaders can change the course. Unfortunately, many managers’ efforts to appreciate their staff are misguided and wind up being a waste of time and effort. Why? Because they are not built upon the core principles necessary for appreciation to be communicated effectively.
Make your praise specific and personal. The most common mistake organizations and supervisors make is communicating appreciation that is general and impersonal. Sending blast emails with the message, “Good job. Way to go, team!” has no specific significance for the individual who stayed late to get the project completed. Use your colleague’s name and state specifically what he or she does that makes your job easier.
Realize that action can be more impactful than words for some employees. Some people (seemingly, often men) do not value verbal praise, holding to the mentality that words are cheap. For these people, compliments are viewed with disbelief and skepticism, and sometimes verbal praise is understood as an act of manipulation. Actions are more effective to show appreciation for these individuals, such as spending time with them at the office or helping to get a task done.
Use the language of appreciation valued by the recipient. Not everyone likes public recognition or social events. One leader told me, “You can give me an award but you’ll have to shoot me first before I’ll go up and get it in front of a crowd.” And for many introverts, an invitation to attend a staff appreciation dinner is more like torture than a reward for doing a good job. They may prefer getting a gift card for a bookstore and staying at home and reading. Find out what your co-workers or employees value and communicate in that language.
Separate affirmation from constructive criticism or instruction. If you want the positive message to be heard loud and clear, don’t follow your affirmation with a “Now, if you would only…” message. Don’t offer a compliment followed by a criticism of how the individual could do better. They will only remember the constructive criticism, and may not even hear the positive.
Be genuine. Don’t try to fake it or overstate your appreciation (“You are the best administrative assistant in the free world!”). People can sense when appreciation is obligatory or contrived.
In my business consulting practice, I have seen these simple principles of appreciation successfully improve workplace environments previously suffering from a bad case of burn-out. Appreciation has the ability to transform any team—whether in public schools, medical facilities, manufacturing firms, universities, restaurants or financial firms. Give it a go – it is worth it!

Four Tips To Job Interview

Now-a-days getting a job might not be as easy at it seems to be. The reason behind this is the long list of candidates who are applying for any post that comes out in the market. With regards to the management, they always seek the best and most competent people that are around. Corporate now have separate hiring and recruitment departments that are monitored by HR specialist who look at various aspects while hiring people. It is not only your degree that matters now; you have to prove your worth in both tests and interviews.
Interview can be termed as the most vital segment for any job selection. Many candidates who might be having a good degree and experience might just loose a job on the basis of a poor show in interview. On the other hand some candidates who might not be as much qualified and equipped but know how to close a good interview would get the job and handsome packages. It is all about making an impact on the panel. Companies search for enthusiastic and passionate people with a vigor to move ahead, if you have that, you are in, other wise no matter how qualified you are, if you fail to show them what they are looking for, you might just loose it.
Following are few tips on how you can make a solid impact on the interviewer and get the job done. Remember, it is all about how you let yourself be portrayed.
Confident:
The first and foremost thing is to be confident. Every interviewer would be looking for this factor in you. If you are confident enough you are sure to have a good prospect. When you go for an interview be confident, raise your tone, sit in a manner that shows that you are at ease. Sit straight with you back to chair in a relaxed manner. Talk with complete command. Do not mumble. Listen to the questions being asked and reply in a very bold and confident manner. You would be asked simple things about yourself and your work-ethics, the job you are about to do and things like that so no need to be shaky. Give them a complete package so that they can trust you with the job. Once you show them your confidence, it would make things easier for you.
Positive:
Be positive. Show the interviewers a positive vibe about you. Don’t let them take you in a negative sense. Be positive in your body language and your replies. If they throw challenges at you, handle them calmly and confidently. Don’t let go of your self. Smile, your facial expression should not show anxiety. If you are smiling it would show that you have a fresh and relaxed mindset. Many of the candidates show expressions of anxiety and nervousness, that doesn’t help at all. Use your hands to show your energy and enthusiasm. It all counts in the end
Presentable:
While you are going for an interview, try to look your best. Be presentable. Wear the best that you have. Prefer a formal dress code. Do not go for casuals wears. Wear something fresh and tidy. Get a shave and a hair do. Properly brush your hair and look fresh. A nice fragrance won’t harm. If you are not looking after yourself properly how would you ever be able to handle your work properly? This is a very simple factor already understood. Be presentable so that you can attract the interviewers with your personality. Everyone is looking for an uptight and presentable person who knows how to look after himself and his work.
Objective:
Last but not the least, be objective. Don’t beat about the bush. Show a good character and personality by being objective and sticking to the task at hand. If you are asked a question, answer it in a very objective manner, give the interviewer only what he is looking for, do not start elaborating stories and going into debates and details that are not required off you. Just give a precise answer. Don not indulge yourself into useless arguments.

Tips On Self Improvment

Life is very short. When is it going to end you will never know. So how should one spend his life? This is a very big question that most of us face when we embark upon the journey of life. My answer? Self discovery.
Life can be spent in many ways, positive or negatively. Good or bad. It’s your choice and it’s your call. But at the end of the day, if you take a wrong call, it’s you who will be held accountable. So the best thing to do is to take the right steps and move towards higher aims and goals. This will not only benefit you but also benefit those concerned for you and associated with you. But how to decide what is wrong and what is good for us is still the question. The answer for which is yet to be sought. Here are few tips that might help you in raising your game and will defiantly lead you towards self improvement.
Discover your self:
The first step towards improving your self is self-discovery. You cannot improve yourself when you don’t even know what your flaws are. One must be aware of his weaknesses and negatives. This is very important in life to know your short-comings. Know them. And work on them. No boy is perfect in life. Stop comparing yourself with others. Just work towards improving your own self. You will find many critics in life. Listen to them with patience and try to mould yourself when you find something wrong in you. No harm in this. But your best critic is your own self. Listen to what your heart says. And follow it. No one will guide you better.
Develop self confidence:
Self confidence and trust is the key to success, built this trait in you. You are the best and nobody can play your role better. This should be your mindset in life. This self confidence will open many a doors for you in life. Never back down from challenges. Take life on hand and se it eye to eye. Be bold and blunt in life. Have a complete faith in yourself and see the miracles this do to you. There is no task tough enough in this world that a man cannot do. Once you know what your strong points are, act accordingly, and don’t ever be afraid of committing yourself to a task.
Be open and honest:
Be it your relationships, your life, your work or even your own self. Be open. Be honest. Don’t deceive or cheat in life. Don’t use short cuts. Walk the straight path and avoid the hiccups. Short cuts might be effective but not everlasting. Put your efforts in all that you do. This is the essence of life. Life demands your complete dedication from you. Give it your best shot. And enjoy life.
Positive attitude:
Next thing you must take into notice is your aptitude towards life. It should always be positive, never give-up. Always have an optimistic approach towards life. Life might not treat you well but it does not mean that you surrender. The confidence that you have in you will come in handy at this stage. If life knocks you down, always keep it in mind that there will be a next round too and you can win the game. All you have to build in you is a ray of hope. Be prepared for everything in life. Life is not all green, realize this and be hopeful always.
Life is all about how you deal with it. You can live a useless life, or you can just stand up, discover and improve yourself, and get the maximum out of life. This is your call. Call the shots right and enjoy a blessed life.
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Self Improvement Tips

Self improvement tips are a great way to kickstart your personal growth and to push yourself to new levels of achievement and fulfillment. If you’re someone who’s interested in personal development and personal growth, you’re probably always in search of effective strategies for stimulating growth. You’re probably also looking for strategies which will ensure your personal growth and help you to achieve results.
　　So after spending over a decade studying personal achievement, I’ve decided to provide these seven easy self improvement tips as a way of giving back and helping people like you to achieve greater success in their life.

　　Daily Journaling
　　If you study the great achievers of history, you’ll find that almost all of them were avid writers. Keeping a daily journal helps you to clarify your thoughts and develop a sense of self-awareness which will give you the ability to reinvent yourself on a moment’s notice and help you to develop unshakable self-confidence.
　　Meditation
　　This is probably the most commonly neglected of these seven self improvement tips …it’s also one of the most important. Meditation is the most effective means of reducing stress and clearing out your mind from “junk thoughts” which lead to worry and anxiety. Daily meditation also helps to slow your heart rate and regulate your digestion among dozens of other health benefits.
　　It also makes your sleep more restful and helps your body to recover faster. Basically, the practice of meditation is the one thing which can make the other six of these self improvement tips effective.
　　Expecting to Win
　　People who achieve great things in life aren’t normally anymore intelligent or capable than the average person. But they do one thing different which many intelligent people have a hard time doing: they expect to win, even before they know how they’re going to do it.
　　Having expectations doesn’t require knowledge of how those expectations are going to be, and if you start from a foundation of bold expectancy, the rest is just a matter of perseverance.
　　Writing Goals and Plans of Actions
　　The habit of writing down clear and specific goals and plans of action for achieving those goals is a must if you want to accomplish anything. This is because writing down your goals clarifies them and begins building an expectation in your mind. Also, having written plans gives you a specific set of actions to take each day towards the realization of your long-term goal.
　　Be Well Rounded
　　The process of personal development must be holistic in nature. Every single area of your life affects every other area either directly or indirectly. If your relationships are out of order, it’s going to affect your health and your financial life. If your health is out of order it’s going to start your personal growth and make it more difficult for you to find the energy to achieve any of your goals.
　　So no matter what you’re trying to achieve, being well-rounded is the key to living a balanced life and for building the physical stamina, the emotional fortitude, the financial security and the social support system required in order to achieve great things.
　　Positive Affirmations
　　Positive affirmations have the power to change your inner dialogue which can literally change your personality, your character, your actions and your life. For best results, write one positive affirmation for each of the key areas of your life (health, relationships, finances and career) and make a commitment to rehearsing them out loud twice daily.
　　Teach to Learn
　　This is the most important of any of the seven self improvement tips. The more you teach other people the principles of personal growth, the clearer your understanding will be of them and the more effective you’ll be able to make them in your own life. Even if you have no one to teach, you can write about the principles of personal development and how they are helping you.
　　You can even begin by writing a short paragraph about each of these simple self improvement tips. Write each one as if you were teaching the principles to someone else and your understanding of them will deepen.

Thinking The Power of Expectation and Manifestation

　　We often hear that it is vital to have a real desire towards reaching your goals and being really passionate about the positive consequences of doing so. The majority of people however have no problems with their desire levels and actually having the desire to reach a goal, is the last thing most people need to work on.
　　Everybody desires to be a millionaire, to have the body of their dreams, to be a powerful communicator, to be someone who constantly gives value to others and generally just someone that is perceived as having a lot of success. The reason why most people never reach these goals however is because their desire is not backed up by faith and expectation.
　　It is one thing to really want something in your life, but it is another thing to have a clear expectation that you will eventually reach your goal and that it is just a matter of time before you can look back on your journey to the top.
　　A story about a boy

　　Just the other day I was sitting on the beach and meditating while watching the sunset. Out of nowhere a little boy around the age of 6 came up to me and asked me if I wanted to buy one of the Lei’s(flower necklace) he had around his neck.
　　I smiled, turned around and reached into my satchel and took out the equivalent of around 5$. As soon as I turned around to give him the money, I saw that he was already several feet away and that he was walking away with his head down. He had interpreted my action of turning around to get the money as a way of rejecting him and he had immediately decided to give up and walk away.I had to verbally call him back and give him the money. The boy looked at me in disbelief and I wished I could speak the same language as him so I could explain to him the potential belief shift he could make at that given moment. He turned around and walked away with a smile on his face, but it remains a mystery whether or not he learned the real lesson

Personal Success

　　Self-improvement is the process by which an individual takes stock of his or her life and decides to make positive changes toward his or her goals. If you've been trying to change your life and have run up against a brick wall time and time again, then you may want to give self hypnosis a try.In order to grow and improve yourself, you need to change your programming.
    Your brain functions on two basic levels. Your conscious mind is what you have control over on day to day basis. Your subconscious mind is made up your past experiences, thoughts and feelings. It forms your automatic responses to life circumstances. If you've grown up in a situation in which you're constantly told you're not good enough your subconscious mind internalizes that message. This part of your brain becomes programmed to believe that you're not good enough, and that becomes your first gut reaction to any challenge. Anything that you try to do on a conscious level will be thwarted by beliefs that you hold in your subconscious mind.
    When you are in a state of hypnosis, you or your hypnotherapist will offer suggestions that will act as new programming for your subconscious mind. If you use these positive beliefs about yourself to exact real change in your life that was not possible before. It starts by identifying the beliefs that are holding you back. Ask yourself the following questions:
        When I'm trying to achieve something in my life, how does my self-talk sound?
　　What was I told about success growing up?
　　What kind of fears do I have about becoming successful?

　　Hypnosis allows you access to your subconscious mind so you can change your beliefs at a deep level. The reason you've been stuck when you try other personal growth techniques is that they don't go to the root of the problem. The levels of your mind are like the levels of the earth. Changing something on the surface of the earth doesn't affect the core. In order to affect the core, you've got to drill down and access it directly. Think of hypnosis as your personal self improvement training to get down into the deep parts of your subconscious mind.

Top Ten Secrets of Learning a Foreign Language: Tip #4

Foreign Language Pronunciation – As an adult, your mouth and brain have been programmed to pronounce words according to your native language. When you start learning a foreign language, you tend to pronounce the new words based on your native language. In other words, you will have an accent and sound like a foreigner – it is possible that you may not even be understood. So what should you do? The key to great native pronunciation in a foreign language is to learn, see and hear how natives pronounce it, and then form habits of pronouncing the new sounds correctly. Having native pronunciation is all about forming correct habits from the beginning. If you start learning a foreign language with incorrect pronunciation, you will form habits that are difficult to break and may even stay with you for the rest of your life if you don’t initially form correct pronunciation habits. Have you ever heard foreigners who have lived in your country for 20-30 years and still have an accent? It’s because when they first learned your language, they didn’t take the time to form correct pronunciation habits, and as a result they continue saying certain sounds incorrectly. When you learn a new foreign language, it is very important to dedicate enough time to forming habits of correct pronunciation. If this is done, almost anyone can attain close-to-native speech – it just takes time and effort. If your goal is to have native or near-native speech, it is recommended that you take 15 minutes per day, three to five times a week with the sounds that are most challenging in the foreign language. Every foreign language usually has about 12 sounds that take extra work to master. Once you form a habit of correct pronunciation with these sounds, you are set for life!

Ten Secrets of Learning a Foreign Language: Tip 5

　　　Repeat Aloud – Repeating aloud actually helps stimulate the part of the brain that controls motor skills (like speaking) and helps develop the part of the brain as related to the new language (known as “Broca’s Area” in the science world). This means that you will be more effective at the moment of conversation if you’ve practiced saying the foreign language words you learn aloud.

　　Type or Write the Words – As you type or write the words you learn, you are using the sense of touch to kinesthetically learn the words at a higher brain level. This also helps with future recall. Also, as you walk around your home or office, try to say the name of objects you see.
　　Sight – Look at Words and Relate them to pictures – (See Key #2 on Visualization)
　　Listen to the New Foreign Language Words – As you hear new words, you are using yet another sense to implant them into your long-term memory. You can also train your ear to hear differences in the words you learn as compared to the same sounds in your own native language. This is a key part of developing great pronunciation skills – the ability to hear the difference between sounds in your native language as compared to those in the foreign language. (For more on pronunciation, see #4) It is important to find a foreign language course that has both moving pictures in some type of software (as mentioned in the previous point) as well as audios CDs so you can practice hearing the language and learn at a higher level.

Italian Greetings

　　Do you want to learn how to say how are you in Italian and other Italian greetings but don’t want to spend any money? You will probably be able to find out how it’s spelled in Italian, but you won’t necessarily know how to say it. If you can learn how to say a phrase or word from a native speaker, you should take advantage of that opportunity. The great thing is that you can learn Italian greetings like hello in Italian for free on this website. You can learn and practice with free flash cards with audio from native speakers. You can review what you’ve learned with the new, addictive review game called the Lingo Dingo on the same page. So, you don’t have to spend any money to learn some simple Italian greetings. This website is full of words, phrases, and verbs in 8 languages including French to English and Spanish to English. I don’t think I mentioned that it’s all free yet. Well, it is.