5 Ways to Promote Career Progression for Women

5 Ways to Promote Career Progression for Women With FTSE companies recently been set new government targets for a minimum of 33% of women in board level positions over the next five years, the issue of the number of women in leadership positions remains as prominent as ever. We run a  Women’s Leadership Programme to help more companies of all sizes and sectors to proactively gain the guidance and support needed to create workplaces which encourage women’s senior careers. However, the best performing businesses achieve high performing teams because they attract, retain and develop the best talent at all levels, regardless of gender. The tips below are from our Women’s Leadership Programme, but are just as relevant for men’s career progression as they are for women. They all relate to removing any potential barriers to retaining the best people in an organisation and to ensuring there is scope for them to progress to senior levels. Our aim is to inspire organisations to create rewarding work environments where all barriers to progression are removed and where everyone is able to work in a way which makes them feel productive and engaged. With the job market having become more buoyant, people are now more confident about switching companies. So when organisations have attracted skilled employees, it’s vital they do all they can to keep them, and to encourage them to progress within the organisation. 1) Examine your progression pipeline Take the time to examine your organisation’s progression pipeline and succession planning. Is there an equal balance of men and women working their way up? Are enough people being promoted through the company to senior management positions? Or are they leaving before they reach that stage? If the results are not what you expected, look to establish what barriers could be preventing this. If you don’t know why people fail to climb the career ladder at your organisation you can’t make any changes. Are women being put off going for promotion because director jobs are mainly occupied by men? Are junior employees aware of the career progression opportunities available to them? Dig out the root causes and find positive solutions. 2)  Explore your working practices It’s equally vital for both male and female employees to strike the delicate balance between work and home life to be able to effectively manage their careers and to excel. This helps employees to stay healthy generally, plus feel engaged and focused at work, and able to make lasting contributions to their organisations. Review your organisation’s practices around flexible working to provide opportunities for employees to successfully juggle work and family life. A recent CIPD report found that 72% of employers believed implementing flexible working practices had a positive impact on staff engagement. And make sure you demonstrate a clear, positive policy on shared parental leave. This new legislation was put in place to help drive gender equality in the workplace, eliminate discrimination around maternity leave and to build employee engagement. 3)  Introduce mentoring programmes Asking senior staff to mentor younger employees in your organisation can create huge benefits. Not only does it unlock talent among junior teams, it can also boost their confidence if they are intimidated by the journey to the top. Advice and a sympathetic ear, matched with a professional attitude, can be a powerful force in creating future business leaders. Many women in particular avoid talking about work-related problems with their peers. Finding a mentor to answer their questions, and to listen to them without judging, could boost their leadership potential if they’ve previously been held back by their own fears. 4) Give staff the opportunities to develop Don’t risk losing your best employees by neglecting their professional development needs. Hang on to top talent by providing a robust and meaningful development plan with clear progression opportunities outlined. Take the time to identify the skills they need to develop and to do their job well, and trust them to take on new responsibilities. Provide the opportunity to experience as many areas of the business as possible. This will inspire and stimulate employees by allowing them to move outside their comfort zone a little. It’s also great practice to get them working with other teams and in new environments. 5) Achieve buy in from senior team members An organisation’s culture and values needs to flow from the top level down. It’s essential to get senior-level buy in for developing a workplace culture which provides clear progression opportunities. The aim is to create an environment where all employee development needs are met and where they feel inspired by opportunities, rather than limited by a lack of options or support.

Almost a review of Seth Godins book, Linchpin

Almost a review of Seth Godins book, Linchpin Seth Godins new book, Linchpin, has arrived. I read it on the farmers sofa. The farmer is going through a midlife crisis. Its not really a midlife crisis, though. As an expert on the process of coming of age in ones twenties, Id have to say that the farmer is actually going through a quarterlife crisis. Typically, ones twenties, a period now called emerging adulthood, looks something like this: Learning to separate from parents. Figuring out where one fits in the world of work. Getting ready to be married and have kids. The farmer is doing those things in compressed time: the two years since I have known him. Many people think it was totally crazy that he sent an email to me, out of the blue. But in hindsight its clear that he knew he needed something to kick-start his quarterlife crisis. And when you are already forty and have not had one, you need something as cataclysmic as a girl from New York coming to the farm and shaking things up. The farmer is on the sofa. I had to convince him to let me come here because there is a snowstorm coming. The snow is a big deal if you have a thousand animals out in freezing weather and cant get food to them. I am not going to go into all the details of the stresses of winter farming. Mostly because I dont know them. But I do know that every time there is a lot of snow, something freezes and it always seems to be life threatening: Like water for the pigs. As a reward to the farmer for trying to cope with the snow and me at the same time, I brought him a snowstorms supply of lox and bagels. (Note: You cant say hes not a fast learner. He told me the other day he saw someone eating lox and bagels like a sandwich instead of on two bagels side-by-side and he knew it was not the right way to eat it.) And I brought pie. The farmer used to be haughty about food. Haughty, like, wondering why everyone cant eat grass-fed beef and homegrown vegetables at every meal and have 10% body fat and be able to leap fences one after another. Now that he has to manage reading on the sofa with me at the same time as thinking about the cows trudging through snow to get to the silage (I dont even know what silage really means, but I know Im using it correctly), there is a higher stress level in his life. Now he has to think about if he left enough time between fixing fences and eating dinner to play Sorry! with the kids (A digressive tip: Cheat so that the game goes faster. The farmer never cheats. Which creates even more stress, from boredom.) So I bring him pie, and I love eating pie because, as the mother of two boys who is almost always on the edge of an anxiety breakdown, I eat lots of carbs. I used to feel bad but then the farmer, who always seems to come across new research about the age-old problem of how to eat less pie, found this book, How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer. Its a great book, and I dont think Lehrer would mind me calling him an almost-Malcolm Gladwell. Lehrer can put all the research together in fun ways, but he cant synthesize it into a fascinating, overarching thesis like Gladwell often does. So the farmer is reading Lehrers book, and he tells me about a study where researchers gave people either long or short numbers to remember, and then they sent the person down the hall and gave them a choice of a piece of fruit or chocolate cake. The people who had the long, difficult numbers to remember picked the cake at a much higher rate. So thats where we are, at the farm, on the sofa. I am asking the farmer to do long numbers. Its not just that he has to go through a quarterlife crisis in order to get married. But he also has to accept that he used to have the life of someone asked to remember only short numbers: the farm is stable, steady, paid for, and hes been doing it so long he could do it in his sleep. So with no stress, he was always able to pick fruit instead of cake. Now, with me and the kids in the mix, he has to do things like come home from thawing the pig water to hear me tell him that the flies in the house are not normal, even for a farm, and there is something going on in the walls and I cant live in a house that is fly-infested. Me bringing the pie is like saying, you cant get out of fixing the flies, but at least you can have your favorite carbohydrate delivery system to make up for the stress Im causing you. He is still not convinced, by the way. Forget that I already told the world that were getting married. We are not. Who knows what were doingI also told the world that we are broken up. We are not that either. The only thing we are definitely doing is reading Linchpin on the sofa on the farm in the quietest time of year. He hears me turn a page and asks me to tell him what Im learning. Heres what Im learning: If you are a really hard worker and you have perseverance and people are completely charmed by you, then you are indispensible in your work. I am that. I would not say Im completely charming, but I am charming enough so that I do not get fired when I am difficult. The farmer is not indispensible. I am not allowed to write about why this is. But he has agreed that I can write that he is clearly not a linchpin on the farm, the way it is set up now. So we talk about how Seth Godin says that people should strive to be linchpins. And Seth spends 300 pages telling us what it means to be a Linchpin and why its important. The farmers head is on one end of the sofa and my head is on the other, and our legs are intertwined in the middle, and I have to shift my knee when I want to see if the farmer is insulted when I suggest that Im a Linchpin and hes not. He is not insulted. We agree that if he would commit to being married, then hed be a Linchpin to me and my sons. But he is still deciding. And here comes my review of Seths book: He is right. Of course. Seth is always right. The problem with all of Seths books is that he sets the bar so high with every one of them. For example, The Dip is probably the book that I depended on most to get me through the point when my company, Brazen Careerist, ran out of money. I thought I was going to die. And chapters in The Dip would remind me that if wed keep going, wed get through it. So Seth was right, but I am not sure I could get through it again. It was scary. It was gut wrenching, and it was terrible for my kids. Not very many people can get through a dip, for real. The same is true with Seths book, Tribes. Its a great life goalto have big ideas that people want to follow, and you are a leader by giving people strength in numbers to instigate change through ideas. Thats great, if you have the ideas and you can get a following. As a blogger who is asked all the time about how to get more followers, I have this advice to give you: Cancel your whole life if you want to attract a tribe, because it is absolutely a full-time job, and you have to give your whole heart and soul to that tribe in order to receive, in return, a following. So thats two things that Seths right about that are extremely hard to get yourself to decide to actually do. I think Linchpin is another. Its totally obvious to me (and the farmer) that its more important for him to have a job where he is the Linchpinkeeping a family togetherthan it is for him to just keep coasting along in the job he has. Which means he has to figure out what he likes in his current situation and what he wants to change. But change is hard. And usually small change (remembering a longer number sequence) begets bigger change (eating chocolate cake even if you dont usually do that) so that you always get scared that you don t know when change will stop. The farmer says, Lets go to bed. I used to think he goes to bed really early because hes a farmer. But Ive seen him stay up late for a movie, and hes just fine. So really, Lets go to bed, means, If I have to hear you talk about complicated stuff for one more minute Im going to need another piece of pie. Of all his books, I am hoping that this is the one where all Seths readers will, en masse, finally decide they must rise to the standard that Seths preaching. Of course, I hope at least the farmer will read the book and decide he must be a Linchpin and then, I move to the farm with my kids. So when he gets off the sofa, I leave Linchpin there in the center, so he cant miss it, but upside down, so he doesnt think Im preaching.

Cassey Ho Look Like a Beauty, Brand Like a Beast - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Cassey Ho Look Like a Beauty, Brand Like a Beast - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career I recently had the pleasure of speaking with YouTube sensation Cassey Ho, creator of POP Pilates and the Blogilates YouTube channel. With subscribers and views surpassing one million and 96 million respectively, Cassie has built a tribe of “POPsters” worldwide dedicated to maintaining an active lifestyle. I caught up with Cassey shortly after she wrapped taping of her first appearance on the Doctor Oz show, which you can check out here. In the below interview, Cassey shares her road to success and how she’s conquered the speed bumps along the way. Amanda Healy: At under 30, the empire you have built is beyond impressive. Tell me, how did you get started in your career? Cassey Ho: Thank you! I have been practicing Pilates for 11 years and teaching classes for eight. After graduating college in 2009, I broke the news to my students in California that I was moving to the east coast. As consolation, I promised I would put together a Pilates video. I uploaded it to YouTube and after watching, they wanted more… I just couldn’t say no! AH: Did you study fitness in college? CH: Funny you ask… in Asian culture there are only three acceptable career paths; doctor, lawyer, or engineer. I was pressured by my family to be a doctor, so I was studying biology and minoring in business, which was my actual passion. I was entrepreneurial since a young age, selling cookies and candy to my classmates in Middle School. I grew this business as I began high school, “hiring” five of my classmates to help bake and sell the goods before school each morning. While attending college, I began designing yoga bags while continuing to teach Pilates classes. AH: When did your interest in business eclipse your need to satisfy your parents’ expectations? CH: I was in my junior year of college when I realized my heart just wasn’t in medical science. I was pulling the grades, but something didn’t feel right. So I did what any sensible student would do; I dropped out of Organic Chemistry to sabotage myself from taking the MCATs. My parents were irate. My father refused to speak to me aside from telling me that I would never be successful. I completed my undergraduate degree then packed up my things and took a job in Boston as a Fashion Buyer. AH: Yikes, talk about brutal… tell me about your experience in Boston. CH: Being a fashion buyer aligned with the business I had built designing and selling yoga bags in college. Unfortunately, I absolutely hated the job. One day on my commute I was flipping through SHAPE magazine and came across a page with one of my yoga bags featured! On impulse, I quit my job and booked a trip that Friday to leave for China Sunday to find a manufacturer. It was time to take my side project mainstream. AH: Why China? CH: Canton Fair in China is a known mecca for scoping out manufacturers. It was my first time in Asia and even though it is my place of origin, I don’t speak Chinese â€" it confounded the locals! I toured thousands of vendors before returning to the States then had a few free months while waiting for the samples to arrive. During this time, my YouTube channel was really starting to take off. I was able to produce videos on a regular basis, combing through the comments to pick up on what my followers were looking for and tailoring future videos to their requests. Shortly after, my channel reached the million view mark â€" the world was watching! AH: And did your Internet success help change your family’s beef? CH: Up until this point they had thought my side endeavors were a waste of time. But throughout it all, my confidence never wavered. Eventually my parents came around and began to be supportive… today they are my biggest fans. AH: How were you able to build such a large community? CH: I think a big proponent of my channel’s success is that I am the same silly, honest girl who posted her first video so many years ago. People relate to them because I’m unapologetically me. I’m your neighbor, your coworker, your friend, just an average person you’d meet on the street. And I have the best followers in the world. They find one another and share my videos to anyone who will listen. It really comes down to everyone working toward the same goal; a healthy and positive lifestyle. AH: Aside from family issues, what challenges have you faced? CH: Something that was difficult was learning how to place a value on my services. People want to know: how much for this? How much for that? Be prepared to have an answer at the ready and to have a pricing strategy. Also, be careful who you work with. If an individual or brand does not share the same values I hold myself to, I will not do business with them. Blogilates is grounded in motivation, inspiration, strength, and happiness. My partners or endorsements must resonate with the brand. AH: What is the most rewarding element of your job? CH: I love attending the Blogilates meetups. Seeing 500+ of my POPsters dressed in neon colors, sweating and laughing, it brings it all home. It’s a crazy environment, with total strangers feeling as if they’ve always known each other. It’s a beautiful sight because often when groups of women get together they try to tear each other down. But at these meetups they really build each other up. AH: What other advice do you have for young professionals? CH: Make friends with those you admire in your industry. Surround yourself with great people, people with good energy. Negative people will only suck the energy out of you and leave you feeling defeated. Be around people who inspire you to be better. AH: You started with YouTube videos and have now expanded into merchandise, cooking classes, meetups, and more… what’s next? CH: We are in the final stages of creating a Blogilates social network. This has been a longstanding dream of mine, to connect POPsters around the world so they can plan their own meetups and coach one another. I’d also like to do additional TV appearances in the future because it will help grow the community and promote awareness. AH: One last thing â€" what is the most important thing you have learned along the way? CH: There’s a quote, “Right when you’re about to quit, that’s when the miracle happens.” Believe in yourself when no else does, and push yourself harder than anyone else can. I’ve always had the confidence to know I’d make it through. I’m a doer and a driver and I’ll work my butt off to make it all work. If there’s one thing I’ve found, when you give it all is when you receive.

Dave Goldberg cause of death I think its suicide

Dave Goldberg cause of death I think its suicide First of all, let me say that I feel really bad for everyone who is losing Dave Goldberg in their life. I feel bad that he will not get to see his two kids grow up. His death is very sad. I have not had a spouse die or a parent die and Im sure the experience is more awful than I could even imagine. Still. I cant help but wonder how he died. It is completely standard in journalism to report the cause of death  when the announcement is made.  After the initial, cursory announcement of death, major  publications frequently  run an obituary when a famous person dies, yet  the Wall St. Journal and the New York Times ran formal obituaries and still mention nothing of the cause of death. If there were suspicion of murder, there would be a police report. If there were some sort of complicated condition that Dave kept a secret, the death announcement could  follow a time-honored tradition of being vague and uninformative, like saying heart condition or muscular complication or even degenerative disease. Lets say he has a terrible disease, like the one in Still Alice, where he will die early and so will his children. And lets say his children do not know and the family has chosen not to tell them. Fine. The announcement could use that  same, vague language. If the family does not want to talk about the cause of death, it seems that the most logical thing to do would be to announce some sort of vague cause that would stop people from asking questions. But surely the family knows there will be questions if they say nothing. Dave and Sheryl are the most vocal couple on the planet about how to have a dual-career marriage, and one half of that marriage is gone. Of course people will ask questions. The best way to stop the questions is to give a vague, boring cause of death. So the only explanation I can see for being totally quiet on this topic is that he killed himself. Why is this important? Why do I get to ask the personally invasive question about his death? Because Sheryl Sandberg, who was married to him,  is not only Facebooks COO, but she is also the author of the book Lean In. That book tells women that they should have a career like Sheryls. And, most significantly for this post, that women should pick a spouse like Dave. Sheryl has said over and over again that it is because of her spouse that she is able to Lean In (which, loosely translated, means work insanely long hours and have kids and have a great marriage). I want to know, how can someone  Lean In as a single parent? I wonder how someone will Lean In when there is no other parent to comfort a sad child. If this sounds spiteful and ugly it is. But I think it is also appropriate, and who else would say it besides me? Most people have something in their life that prevents them from leaning in. I dont actually even think this is a gender thing. I coach hundreds of men whose earning power plateaus because they wont relocate or they wont work weekends, or they want to be home for spring break.  Its not that we are victims of life, its that at some point in most of our lives there comes a time when something else is more important than Leaning In. I dont have any evidence that it was a suicide. All I have is someone notable died and no one is saying how.  And however Sheryls husband  died is news, since she has been news for three years telling women their husband is instrumental into the process  of  Leaning In. But really, I just want to know how Dave died. Because I think he killed himself. And if he did, this might  tells us a lot  about what happens when both people in marriage Lean In. Update: A few hours after I published this post  news outlets started  reporting various other causes of death. Here is my response to those reports: Do we still have to lean in if Dave Goldberg is dead?

#116 - Announcement - Rebranding and Relaunching - The Career Insider Podcast CareerMetis.com

#116 - Announcement - Rebranding and Relaunching - The Career Insider Podcast â€" CareerMetis.com The Career Insider Podcast Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSSForEpisode 116 of The CareerMetis Podcast, we have some exciting news.Excited to announce the Rebranding and Relaunch of the Podcast.eval3 years ago â€" May 2016 , we launched our first ever podcast episode.It has been hell of a ride. Over this time, we have chatted with over 100 Professionals for The CareerMetis Podcast.We have had interviews with Career Coaches, productivity experts, professionals, branding gurus,etc.As the host, I have personally learnt a lot from each of my guest, and it was an amazing learning experience.We realized that the show lacked focus i.e. each episode was distinct even though we had a few series We are re-branding the podcast to “The Career Insider Podcast”.Moving forward we will be interviewing individuals from different walks of life, and they will share their job or profession during our chat. This is especially exciting because there are 100s o f jobs out there, and this type of information is what job seekers are craving.So we are really excited about this major pivot and the new focus that the show will have moving forward.Stay tuned for our next episode.. and here’s to the next 3 years of podcasting ?? !!evalIntro Music provided courtesy of Accelerated Ideas (www.accelerated-ideas.com). Soundtrack â€" Siren KickbackEnding Music provided courtesy of Accelerated Ideas (www.accelerated-ideas.com). Soundtrack â€" No Need to Rush

Vote now ) - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Vote now ) - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Dont forget to go check out my brand new link collection and vote for the stories you like. Also, if youve just stumbled on a great article or written a brilliant blogpost you can submit it for others to discover. You will need to register before you can submit, but that only takes a minute :o) Check it out, theres some great stuff on there already. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Three Cs Resume Writing

Three C's Resume WritingIf you are wondering why there are three C's in a resume, the answer is that a resume is an employment-oriented document. A resume is the means through which one makes a first impression of the employer and a way to find out whether the job seeker is qualified or not. It is a powerful tool that opens doors for job seekers. The three C's and their importance can be found out in the details of your career at different points of time and during various stages of your career.For example, a career like a police officer has a number of aspects. The first, the initial qualification requirement is the physical test. A candidate must pass this examination to apply for the position. He must also undergo the course of specialization and training as a part of the on-going training and study.If you do not meet the initial qualification requirement, you will not get the job. At the same time, a high score on the physical examination can mean you have passed the toughest par ts of your career with flying colors.The second C is the course of specialization, which is taken up after the basic qualification has been obtained. This specialization means that you go through a period of training and practical tests, to obtain a skill that can be used in the job. If you are chosen for the job, you will have acquired skills to take the best advantage of the job.The third C is the period of the course of study. There are many career opportunities open after completion of the basic qualifications. This involves studying for further studies and specific courses which may be related to the field of work. You can even choose an alternate career after you complete the study, if your degree is in the field you wanted to work in.A resume has to be written in such away that it portrays you in a positive light as a candidate. It must highlight your achievements, qualities and the areas where you are lacking as a candidate, in order to make a good impression on the employer .There are three C's in a resume and each needs to be fully explained and brought out in the forefront. Make sure you put these C's in writing and the job seeker will start getting a better idea about the job he is applying for.