5 Ways to Attract and Retain the Best Creative Talent

5 Ways to Attract and Retain the Best Creative Talent A creatives expectation from the workplace goes beyond money, status or stability. Creative types often choose a pathway led by curiosity, coolness, fun, passion, and an attraction for things less ordinary. So what does that mean for an employer on the search for the best creative talent? Here goes five practices you can adopt to draw in, nurture, and in turn keep the best creative talent. 1. Give your job post some personality First impressions really do make a difference, and your job posting is the first impression you will make to attract your dream creative employee.  Creatives want to work for a cool company with edge and personality, so treat your job posting as a vehicle to express this. By using a friendly tone of voice that isn’t too formal, matter-of-fact, or sales-y, your job post will already stand out from the other thousands of jobs advertised. The opening paragraph is an opportunity to catch and hold the interest of the prospective creative, and your tone of voice is the first point of persuasion by projecting a personality that creatives can connect with. Essentially, don’t be boring! 2. Allow flexibility Rules and work systems that serve no productive purposes will only stifle creativity with no real beneficial outcomes, this extends to approach to remote working, casual dress codes that allow self-expression, and break-time schedules. Work together to agree on goals for workplace productivity, this will in turn encourage employee engagement and trust that creatives will value. Trusting your creative talent to work independently to a great standard will strike a healthy and efficient work balance that improves productivity and motivation for all employees. Specifically for creatives a workplace that inspires autonomy will encourage innovation and creativity to grow throughout the company as you foster a team of self-motivated creative talent, who will be driven to explore new challenges. 3. Give creative freedom Creative freedom is the lifeblood of feeling you are important in a company, it means your ideas are valued, and you’re not just a robot to someone else’s vision. Creative freedom will allow your employee to stay inspired and stimulated at work by encouraging personal and professional development. So when setting a specific project, avoid making the parameters too rigid, listen, and be open. Following conventions that have been tried, tested, and practiced for years is no premise for comfort. Creative minds will think of how it can it be made better, and fostering this way of thinking can be the catalyst to your business’ future. The best innovators have taught us that curiosity and exploration is the fuel to innovation. Allowing creative freedom is not only a means for employee retention, but could serve invaluable benefits to move your business forward. 4. Design a cool inspiring environment Creative minds rely on their surrounding environment to inspire and ignite creativity. A space that encourages movement, flexibility, and builds on community will attract creative thinkers.  The design of an office is key in creating the right atmosphere. It’s all about a cool, open space with visually interesting elements, and fun quirks. The ping-pong table epitomises how fun spaces have taken over rigid, conventional business environments. Many companies are pushing the boundaries in creating a fun and happy work community using products like hammocks, bean bags, and sensory features like fake grass and ball-pits. If you ever lose your #DesignTeam Check the #PingPong table ?? #Architecture #Engineering #VRDev #Design #Office pic.twitter.com/REtMBMAfgz ? Ste Judge ? (@Ste_Judge) February 27, 2017 The workspace environment can have considerable effects on work productivity and morale, and if your creative talent is constantly inspired by their surrounding then they are more likely to stay. 5. Build an awesome team through fun perks The word ‘free’ arouses a certain kind of excitement within all of us, so it’s no surprise that job seekers are increasingly transferring an importance on to work benefits. Offering perks is by no means exclusive to creatives, but naturally different people are attracted to different things. Particularly for creative talent, fun perks are a considerable motivation. Benefits that contribute to a fun and social environment will create a work culture that is geared towards teamship blurring the lines between work and play. Social events such as drinks, team lunches, and sport activities, can improve bonds between co-workers. Likewise celebrating an employee’s birthday can make them feel valued and a part of an office family. Friday birthdays. The best kind of birthday! #HappyBirthday to our lovey office assistant Violet #Friday #ff #cake pic.twitter.com/zz4uqHIZlK ignis (@ignis_agency) January 8, 2016 Relationships and conversations are the wellsprings of thought and life, and if the waters can be found at work then a different sort of life starts at work, creating engagement and loyalty. Conclusion These office practices build a work culture that will not only attract and retain the best creative talent, but extend into nurturing better creators, makers and thinkers, giving your company a competitive edge.

How to Answer a Question when You Dont Know the Answer

How to Answer a Question when You Don’t Know the Answer At some point during your work week, someone is going to ask you for information you don’t have.   There are some people (I don’t happen to be one of them) who hate to say “I don’t know.”   For some reason, it makes them feel stupid, or out of touch.   I never worry about that. I know lots of things, so missing an answer at any given time doesn’t make me feel dumb.   In fact, it’s why I almost never use “I don’t know” by itself; I think of it as an incomplete sentence.   “I don’t know, but I’ll find out” is my idea of a complete sentence. Jodi Glickman is the author of “Great on the Job: What to Say, How to Say It” and she offers readers a step by step guide to success by saying the right things.   Glickman offers scripts for getting things done at work, asking for help and managing priorities.   They’re good scripts; as a manager, I can vouch for her expertise in guiding workers toward more successful outcomes.   Here’s her formula for success when you have to answer a question that you don’t have the answer to. Step One:   Tell them what you know. In fact, that’s a great opening for this script: “Here’s what we know right now: we have 45 confirmed attendees and most of the board has indicated that they’ll come.” Step Two: Tell them what you don’t know. “I don’t have a list of which board members have absolutely committed yet, and which ones will be calling in via conference call.” Step Three: Tell them how you’ll figure it out, then how you’ll close the loop. “I’ll get the final list this afternoon from Joan â€" she’s making her last calls today.   Then I’ll email you the RSVP list.” As Glickman writes, “Wikipedia was founded on the notion that nobody knows everything, but everybody knows something.”  Don’t feel bad that you don’t have every detail of every project stored in your brain.   Being transparent and proactive will help your (client / boss/ team member) be patient while you get the answer.   If you really don’t have any data, general information can be helpful: “The trend has been up over the last month, but I’m not sure where we ended the week.   I’ll get the sales figures and call you back this afternoon.”   “Last time I looked, about 75 percent of the report was finished; I’ll check on the last portion and call you by the end of the week.” One thing Glickman (and I) warn against: guessing or making up something so you sound like you know more than you do.   If you have a good feel for the information (last time I looked, it was almost finished) say so.   If you really have no idea, don’t guess. Having to correct a figure may be disappointing  and may also be hard to do.   You risk your (client / boss / team member) passing on the inaccurate information to a number of people; that may mean that two conflicting pieces of data are circulating out there. Having a good reason for not knowing the exact answer can actually help your case.   “I know we did well last month (sales were up five percent) and we’re running a new coupon campaign this week.   I thought I’d check on this month’s numbers after the campaign finishes Friday.” Glickman thinks that the best formula always starts with the positive (what we do know) and sandwiching any negative (what we don’t know) with a positive finish (I’ll get back to you.) Starting with the negative risks losing your (client / boss/ team member) if they are prone to getting stuck on negatives (“Why wouldn’t you have the latest figures?   The report came out a week ago!”) If you should know the answer, but simply don’t, Glickman’s advice is to fall on your sword early and get right to Step Three.   “I just haven’t had time to get to the numbers, but I’ll do it right now.   I’ll have the answer for you in an hour.”

A little bit of personal PR can go a long way to building your personal brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

A little bit of personal PR can go a long way to building your personal brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career This is a cross-post, in unison with Chris Clarke, a gen-y PR professional and friend of mine. Chris works at NATIONAL Public Relations as Coordinator, New Media. His role is to educate their staff of consultants about online communications and integrate social media into existing client offerings. __________________ Public relations used to be synonymous with media relations. Public relations professionals used to deal exclusively with appealing to the mainstream media, and their goal was to get their company’s story into the newspaper pages or on the evening news, usually by making telephone calls to the journalists and ‘pitching’ them their story. ‘PR’ has evolved over the years to become so much more than phone pitches to the mainstream media. Today, the profession is experiencing a rebirth, thanks in large part to the internet. Because of it, practitioners must concern themselves with appealing to far more audiences than just the mainstream media. A profession that was once about communicating key messages from large corporations to big media empires has come a long way. Companies big and small are using public relations today, and are targeting smaller, more specialized audiences â€" even individuals. Also, bloggers have taken the lead as publicists always looking for new content, so they have been the target of pitches. Some blogs carry as much, if not more, weight and subscription base, such as TechCrunch and GigaOm.com. Public relations can be processed through individuals these days. Rather than building the image of a corporation or product, an individual’s talents can be recognized. The goal of just about every PR program is to raise awareness (to the positive news, of course) which should help increase sales. Personal branding is a form of ‘personal PR’. Through social media, everyone becomes their own personal PR spokesperson as well as CEO, chief content officer, webmaster, marketing, business developer, and more. With positive news and increased awareness, you can increase your “sales” â€" you’ll be building your personal brand. As your personal brand publicity increases, so does that of all the products or companies you support. Your name is associated with everything you touch and therefore everything can prosper simultaneously. Most people are recognized because of their formation or participating in a product launch or their charitable contributions. The first step to building your personal brand is recognizing that you already have one. Its that simple and that hard and that inescapable. It was formed through your networks: friends and family, all of whom perceive you a certain way based on the interactions you’ve shared with them. In order to build on your existing personal brand, it’s essential to expand one’s network â€" or, what PR practitioners call ‘increasing awareness’. Word of mouth has been named the number one strategy for communicating your brand and through social media; it’s far easier to spread your message than it was 10 years ago. By developing a blog and enlisting on a variety of social networks, you’ll become more visible and establish yourself as an expert, which will grow your personal brand a great deal. If you have something to say and a platform to say it on, people will be there to listen. When they listen, they make a judgment call, as to if you have the credibility available to express those opinions. Those that subscribe to your blog are your word-of-mouth evangelists for getting your message out and attracting more people to the brand called you. Demonstrating thought leadership is the key to success: write intelligent blog posts, thought-provoking blog posts; write other bloggers comments; send a personal email to people who leave you comments; send in audio comments to the podcasts you listen to; connect with people you’ve engaged with on social networks; and finally, go out and meet the people you read and admire, because online connections are solidified in the real world and can turn into genuine friendships. The key is to freely express your subject matter expertise through your blog for free, therefore people can get a feel for who you are and are more inclined to purchase your services. In short, start engaging. Show yourself to be intelligent and hard working, and success will find you. Discover what you’re passionate about, take a stand on that topic and blog about it. Just be consistent with who you are and the manner in which you present yourself. Authenticity is what online communities are based on. You have the tools at your disposal, freely available, to make a difference in your life. If you choose to use it, a little ‘personal PR’ can go a long way to helping build your personal brand.

Paying dues is so old school

Paying dues is so old school One of the most important career moves of the new millennium is getting out of paying dues. Paying ones due is an antiquated idea in a workplace where few people aspire to climb the same corporate ladder for 45 years. Eve Tahmincioglu interviewed 55 leaders for her book, From the Sandbox to the Corner Office: Lessons Learned on the Journey to the Top. She found that one of the most common refrains during her interviews was the importance of paying ones dues. People in leadership positions today think that is important. However, Tahmincioglu reminds us that what you get from paying your dues is top-of-the-ladder positions that force you to give up almost all your time with your family. In ruminating about what she found from talking with CEOs, Tahmincioglu said, ??This is a ridiculous job. If youre going to get to the top, you need to make sacrifices. You need a spouse at home and you should expect not to spend a lot of time with your children. Tahmincioglu echoes what most people today feel about the job of a CEO: Ridiculous. The 80-hour-plus work week is nothing to aim for, and once you decide that youre not going to climb that ladder, why pay dues? The dues are what you pay when youre at the bottom in order to get a proverbial ticket to try climbing to the top. Todays climb looks different. For one thing, people want personal growth and workplace flexibility two things not typically valued by people who are hell-bent on seeing people pay dues. The other difference about todays climb is being able to skip the bottom rung. So the climb looks more like a hop to a spot where you can enjoy yourself without having to worry about the next rung. Laura Vanderkam has a word for this: grindhopping. In her book, Grindhopping: Build a Rewarding Career Without Paying Your Dues, Vanderkam offers a smorgasbord of career choices and essential skills that will get you out of paying dues while still providing opportunities for challenging and rewarding work. Her basic idea is for people to take personal responsibility for their goals and career development instead of relying on someone else. She advises people to create benchmarks for themselves and get used to the fact that if they are not climbing a ladder, there is no single clear path. You need to ??Get comfortable with being uncomfortable, she advises. Vanderkam suggests people think ??in terms of projects, and not jobs and then perform like a star so they get more of them. But there are other ways to get past dues-paying as well: People can start their own companies, or skip the heavy dues-paying industries and go into an area that is not as cutthroat. Raedia Sikkema did just that. She has a degree from the film and television program at New York University with a specialty in animation. Most classmates went to work on feature films for studios such as Sony and Pixar. But she worked on education projects for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. ??I used to think that working anywhere else [but a big studio] would be sad and not that important. But years down the line, sure youre working on a feature film, but all youve done is a characters arm. Today Sikkema does financial graphics at Lineplot Productions. She works from home, sets her own hours, and controls a project from start to finish rather than working on only one small piece as she pays her dues. For Sikkema, making the tough choice to not follow her industrys dues-paying track has paid off: ??I feel my work is more creatively fulfilling because I got to do more, even though it was not in a glamorous position. The trick to all of this, of course, is being able to market yourself to the people who can give you the work you want. ??Position yourself in a way that is true to you, not just as a fit into someone elses mold, says Jennifer Kushell, whose company Your Success Network helps young people market themselves professionally. ??You need to know whats special about you and what makes you different, she says. Like many things in life, whats good about not paying your dues is also whats bad: You get to do work that is true to you, but you have to figure out what that work is to ensure you are good enough at it to get work. So yes, thats tough stuff, but many will say that its much less tough than paying your dues. And really, why do it if you dont have to?

Writing Resume Highlights - Create a Resume Highlight

Writing Resume Highlights - Create a Resume HighlightWriting resume highlights is one of the hardest things to do. Especially, when you don't have enough of them written for the employer and you don't want to end up with a repetitive job posting.This is why I'm writing this article. If you're in a similar situation, you might find it useful to read it. Let me give you a quick overview of the process of writing resume highlights.Making your resume highlights really isn't that hard. It's more difficult to actually get it all done. The problem is that most people keep wasting time trying to do something they think is easy, but the end result is not what they were expecting.When you go online looking for resume highlights, you will see many different things. Some of them will be quite unique and specific, but others will be generic. The difference between the two is the ease of use of the generic resume highlight.A good reason to use this type of job application highlights is that you ca n add information that's not necessarily on your resume. If you were unemployed for a while, you could add your personal goals and achievements. You can also add your education level or past employment.For example, if you had a degree in accounting, you could mention that on your resume. It doesn't need to be too detailed, just enough to make the employer understand that you're the person they are looking for.In order to write the best resume highlights possible, you will need to spend some time doing research. Your goal is to learn as much as you can about the industry you are applying for. The more you know, the easier it will be to write great resume highlights.After you've done your research, don't care about doing the hard work. Just turn on your computer and let the software do the writing for you. Give yourself permission to be lazy, it will save you a lot of time.

How To Handle Being Insulted Online - Kathy Caprino

How To Handle Being Insulted Online Today, I woke up and took a look at my emails on my phone, only to see that I’d been insulted on LinkedIn.  The insult came as a response to a comment I made while sharing a post from my friend William Arruda on 7 Parenting Traits that Help Children Succeed At Work. The parenting trait that I indicated was my favorite in the list was humility. I won’t dignify the insult I got by repeating it verbatim, but basically, the commentator smacked me down with a few sentences on how I don’t display any humility, so how can I say I like it?  And if I do “like” humility, what do I think it means? (insinuating that I must not understand the definition of it because I’m totally without it). And hell be happy to educate me on how I have no humility. From the moment I read this insult, my morning was darkened.   I noticed I started to breathe more shallowly, and my head and heart starting churning with hurt. I agonized over what to do in response. Should I leave it? Should I respond? And if so, what exactly should I say? As one who discusses every day the need for women to speak up more publicly and assertively, I felt that saying nothing was the weak way out. For me, not responding felt equivalent to not being the person I wanted to be. But as I got thinking more about speaking up to this critic, I began having some post-traumatic stress around being hurt and smacked down earlier in my life, after speaking up or “showing up” in a bigger way earlier. Suddenly, I had a flashback of a series of scary, nighttime obscene phone calls I received as a teen girl after being a lead in a school musical, which made me afraid to go to school. Then, I had a flashback of a very frightening time as a therapy intern years ago, when I asserted myself powerfully to one of my rageful, out-of-control male clients who had a violent past. His response made me feel that he might possibly harm or attack me (as we were alone in the office at that time in the evening). I was terribly afraid as my hand hovered over the red HELP button that, when pushed, would summon the police in a few instants. All this to say that if I’m having these feelings and flashbacks after being insulted digitally and I’m very used to having my work critiqued in the public eye I’m guessing that many of you who are reading this can relate deeply to how awful it feels to be insulted online. Especially when the attack is personal and rips at your core personality and the way you engage with the world. I’d love to share some info that might be helpful to you (and to me), going forward, in how to deal with being insulted publicly. Here’s my take: First, we need to get hip to what to expect I put out a lot of content every week, and some of it is certainly controversial, so I’ve had to steel myself to accept that what I share will inflame some folks. In fact, I’ve come to see that that if I’m not getting people hot beneath the collar and agitated, I’m probably not saying much that’s different, important or helpful. So lesson #1 for me has been that if I want to share my personal take on issues, especially deep and controversial ones, I simply have to be prepared for people to offer their own personal take that may be very different, and very emotionally charged. And I also have to accept that I’ll be criticized, and perhaps not in a respectful way. That’s just the price we pay for speaking out and up about complex, important issues that have no easy answer. Secondly, we have to realize that there are some people lurking out there who are true haters Most of us are not haters. Most are kind, compassionate, and caring and have some empathy for other people, even strangers. And most of us don’t want to tear people down because we disagree with them.   Nor do we want to rip apart a stranger â€" we’re just not triggered in that way, usually. But the anonymity of the internet has made us more cruel. We would be too naive if we didn’t understand that there are indeed haters in the world who are lurking online, wounded, waiting to pounce. They feel the need to rip someone down so they can feel better about themselves. Of course, that never works, but they’ll keep trying anyway. I realize that this person who insulted me must have been reading my posts or watching my videos and something today triggered him to want to insult me. I call these people “pouncers people who don’t have the courage and fortitude to engage openly, respectfully, and articulately, but just want to pounce and insult. For these folks, I’ve decided I won’t waste my time responding. In fact, for haters who can’t engage in respectful ways, I’ll block them from my sites and profiles, and I’ll feel good about doing it. In other words, we don’t have to catch every ball that’s thrown at us. Thirdly, if you want to show up â€" with your heart, soul and spirit fully engaged â€" and make a vivid, powerful and courageous mark on this world, you’ll have to learn how to handle critics. As Brené Brown shares so beautifully in her talk “Why Your Critics Aren’t The Ones Who Count,” Theodore Roosevelt offered advice that changed her life, and it’s shifted mine as well. Here’s what Roosevelt shared, so wisely and powerfully: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” So the final lesson about how to deal with being insulted online is this: Understand that you don’t have to concern yourself (or give a second thought to) the hurtful critics who aren’t courageous enough to get in the arena themselves.   You don’t have to take in their insults, or process them, or do anything at all with their hateful remarks, but eject them out of your sphere, for good. In fact, the more you stew and fester about an online insult that was given solely as a way to hurt you, the more you open the door to being suppressed and diminished. Sure, take in true, constructive feedback from folks who want to help and encourage you to grow and learn. But under no circumstances should we allow (or wallow) in cruel, personal insults that are all about the critics hate, and nothing to do with our own efforts to show up, be heard and make a difference. So, I hope youll stay your course as I will mine â€" continue to be active in the arena, and share your messages, and your heart, soul and spirit openly with the world. Haters be damned. For more from Kathy, visit her personal growth programs here, and her TEDx talk Time To Brave Up.

3 Million Jobs Available

3 Million Jobs Available There are 13 million people unemployed and employers have 3 million vacancies they cant fillwhats wrong with this picture? Ive found a new favorite blog, Careerealism, by JT ODonnell.   Please go visit.   The advice and information I have seen there so far is wonderful. She is  by no means new at this, just new to me. In her recent post, she cites a great Business Week article, Help Wanted:   Why thats A Bad sign.   It looks at the gaps that exists between the job seekers and the employers.   Careerealisms digest of this article is simpler to read.   She points out: Two things will need to occur: 1) Job seekers are going to need to take lesser-paying jobs as part of a ‘course correction’ for their career paths that will eventually lead to better pay and longer-term employability. 2) Companies are going to need to expand and improve their on-the-job training and succession planning so they can hire talent which are a 50% fit and develop them instead holding out for the 90% fit that will never knock on their door. This isnt something either want to hear. Yet, it is most likely going to happen. So bite the bullet, guys and gals, and start today by making the changes necessary to transition.   Not sure where to start? Self assessment!   Then go off and do your research.   Find careers or occupations or industries that have the potential to excite you. Anything healthcare related or green.   You dont need to be providing direct care, but somewhere supporting it.   Green jobs are emerging, and most likely will continue for awhile.   There is even a website for greenjobs.