The Growing Influence of G-PLUS!

Those of us that remember the initial hype of social media way back when (umm circa 2005), may have been de-sensitized by the hype, hope and promise.

Certainly, it’s changed the game as far as advertising goes. I remember the first time I go tmy first check from SMM, a whopping $125 bucks. I don’t remember what I did, or how I did it. But, I quickly starting retracing my steps and EUREKA! I saw what I did, and realized how powerful this new form of communication could be.

Some businesses, who initially didn’t want to hear a word I was saying, now report MILLIONS of dollars in revenue as a direct result of someone in their company having the faith to listen to us and take a chance.

The Growing Influence of Google Plus

TODAY, I came across an article regarding Google Plus. I’m a long time support of the technology. WHY? Because it’s father is a titan of a powerhouse. Secondly, I think they’re some smart people working at Google. Third, I like the name (brand) G PLUS! It just soudns cool. But, add in the fact that the billions of users who are accessing Google’s many distribution channels, and you can clearly see how G+ has some serious upside potential.

I don’t like rehashing a story already well written by others so I’ll just refer you to an already well written article by a fellow social media expert Daniel Imbellino. Check out his how well he makes his case HERE: http://www.pctechauthority.com/tech-editorials/google-plus-a-driving-force-on-social-media.html

The Accidental Entrepreneur…. Creating A Job!

The Art of Being UnHired…..

Election approaching or not, the  global economy and unemployment has everyone thinking about jobs, Jobs, JOBS!  While there are still a large number of people who remain jobless, surprisingly there are a significant number of people fortunate enough to get a job who BLOW IT!  Here’s some of the things a see happening that can get you ‘UnHired‘ just as quickly as you were hired.  Avoid doing any of these things if you want to keep the job you just got.

 

1.  Flirting! Looking at any of your co-workers in a sexual way. Unwanted Romantic Advances.  This includes making sexually orientated comments, winking, physical proximity.  Anything you do to make anyone feel uncomfortable in a sexual way can potentially expose your employer to a sexual harassment lawsuit, and get you fired quick. Don’t do it!  If you find yourself attracted to someone at work, skip the romance, and go for the cash instead.  You’re there to work, to earn, and do what your told. Your not there for an uncover paid episode of the dating game, or a reality TV show.

 

2.  Profanity.  Don’t use profanity at work.  I know this must be obvious to many, but you would be surprised how many people cuss like they are at a sports bar on a Friday night after they’ve had a few drinks.  Most people find this offensive.  I can assure that your employer does not have you there to represent their brand, their products, services and solutions to infuse them with your selection of colorfully offensive words.  If you find the need to express strong emotion in connection with a subject – BE CREATIVE!  Find an appropriate (and socially acceptable) word from the dictionary, thesaurus, or online wordsmith to help you express your ideas.

 

3.  Inappropriate Behavior.  This is far reaching and can cover many topics.  Recently, I’ve seen (now fired workers) bring projects and business from other sources to their job to be completed using their employers resources to earn a profit for another company. Ouch!  I’ve seen a (former) worker using company tools, equipment and a vehicle to do side jobs (pocketing the cash of course) for the customers the company had sent them to previously.  I’ve seen one (former) worker who used his work number as his main contact number for women he would routinely try to hit on during lunch. He’d get a large number of personal and romantically related calls.  Don’t do this.  If you’re in a relationship, get it your all.  Your co-workers and your employer will respect you more for being dedicated.  Openly advertising to your co-workers and your employer that the person you live with shouldn’t trust you will lead to no good in your career – Trust me!

 

4.  Talking About Personal Problems & Issues.  If you’re trying to ‘brand’ yourself as a great employee, and a ‘great asset’ to the company, you wouldn’t want to start looking forward to coming to work each tell to tell everyone the latest developments, tragedies and issues in your personal life. There are lots of reality shows, soap operas, and movies for this.  While problems may come in your life, see a counselor, your pastor, a loyal family member or trusted friend if you need someone to talk to.  Keep your personal life, and your work life separate!  Check your issues in ‘AT THE DOOR’ before you enter the workplace.

 

5.  Wage Theft.  Many, many people do this.  Some do it unintentionally, and innocently.  Some do it on purpose.  When you are hired, you’re usually hired for a purpose.  Find out as soon as you can, what your employer expects of you, and WHEN.  What hours are required for you to work?  Are you meeting this obligation?  Recently, one (former) worker was hired to work a shift of 8am to 4pm from Monday thru Friday.  This worker, however change to amend their work schedule (without prior approval) to a schedule that was more convenient to her lifestyle.  She would arrive at work around 7:00am and usually leave about 12:00 noon never to return until the next day.  Amazingly, she expected (and demanded) to be paid for a full 40 hour work week.  While the ‘world of work’ has changed a lot lately, particularly with the cost of gas prices and commuting very high – leaving many workers to telework (or work form home); you shouldn’t automatically assume that you can do this without getting direct approval from your boss to do this.

 

Additionally, if you are teleworking, your employer can expect and demand that you be available for tasks, phone calls, video conferences (Skype, Communicator, etc) during the regularly scheduled work hours just like if you were physically at the office.  If you’re found to routinely NOT BE AVAILABLE and your employer expects you to be, and their paying you to be, you could be fired!  MAKE SURE THAT YOU’RE READY, WAITING, AND/OR WORKING ON YOUR EMPLOYERS TASKS DURING YOUR SCHEDULED TIME!

 

These are just a few of the things I see from employers that really IRK them!  I’ve identified over 50 other items employers have told me they find undesirable in employees.  Look for the full list in my upcoming book available on Amazon, and in bookstores near you.

 

About The Author:  David Hoffman is a CompTIA A+ Certified IT Professional, a training instructor, and a Approved Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Training Provider. Hoffman has been providing employment, training & placement services under his JOBFORCE(r) brand since 1986 when he founded his business in Ohio to help match students with employers.  You can follow Hoffman on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jobforce  or check out his videos at:  http://www.youtube.com/jobforce for more information.  You can get JOBFORCE(r) brand online training for a career in IT at:  http://training.jobforce.tv

 

 

Bad Bosses and The Companies Who Hire Them…

by David Hoffman Jr

Bad Bosses And The Companies Who Hire Them...

(Washington, DC)  In my last post, I promised to focus on ‘bad bosses’ and I must admit, I’m a little overdue.  Hey, I had to do my research.  During my ‘research phase’ things really became interesting, when the person I least expected (and actually had ear marked for a promotion) turned out to be the person who seemed to grow five heads (literally overnight). Ever had this happen to you?  What was even more surprising was that the person I had predicted would NOT do well, and perform well in a management position turned out to be the superstar that came through in the darkest hour when I least expected.

It turns out, this wasn’t the first time this person had been a shining star, it was ME who just had somehow failed to notice. How could this have happened?  Am I a bad boss?  Is my judgement that bad?  How did the best person go unnoticed to me, and the person I was about to promote fool me so well?  Was I blind or losing my edge to the detriment of the business, the customers, and my investors.  It was soul searching time – OF THE HIGHEST ORDER! What was I to do?

I TURNED TO MY MENTORS

I turned to my personal development library and found none other than Lou Adler who is an expert on hiring.  After reviewing some of his books, and doing a little soul searching. I realized that I was prejudiced, or more accurately harboring hiring biases that were like a cancer to the growth of the business.

Based on these false biases, I was predisposed to make consistently bad hiring decisions.  Of course, this would lead only to more problems because, I had NOT hired the talent that my staff so desperately needed, and placed this talent into the positions they were needed in (like yesterday).  I was instead, hiring people who didn’t actually know what they were doing.  It took longer than expected to get the new hire ready to handle the workload, and we wasted precious valuable resources at a time when resources were strained.  I won’t bore with the details.  Instead, allow me to introduce Lou Adler, and let him share his insights with you. Perhaps you can avoid the mistakes that I made, and take corrective actions before it’s too late. Here’s Lou, and be sure to click on the video to listen and we’ll pickup where we left off below afterwards:

HIRING WITH YOUR HEAD

Are You Overlooking Your Superstar Workers?

As you learned from listening to Lou’s podcast, we are most likely letting the ‘Spectacular Hires’ get away!  Lou teaches us that the employee candidates who give the best job interviews are frequently the WORST HIRES, while conversely, those candidates who may have given the worst interview often turn out to be the best employees in the long run.

As bosses, we have to make a focused effort on understanding the job position and what is needed BEFORE interviewing and making the final selection process.

I have changed my approach and begun working in every single position of any organization or project I am given to manage.  I’ve also taken it a bit further, by instituting job shifting and rotating (periodically) for a short time, different people into the various different functions of the work activity.  I noticed that almost immediately, everyone began to appreciate each others roles more.  The real surprise was that suggestions on how to improve efficiency started to come in freely.  Before, I had to almost drag ideas out of people.

I’ve even go so far as to work for other companies (on short assignments) to keep myself ‘close to the front’ so to speak where the emerging opportunities or problems were to be found.  This was a real learning experience.

There is an enormous resource of information out there, if bosses will listen.  Even if you are a boss and you don’t listen, that doesn’t mean your customer or your competitors aren’t listening.  You can begin to monitor Social Media communities and I’m sure you’ll find people talking about you (and how you’re performing as a boss), or your products and services.  These can be valuable places to start to look for ways you can enter the marketplace if you’re thinking about launching a new product or service.

A competitor who’s boss or CEO may think they have the market dominated, may in reality be on the brink of disaster (hopefully without any of your investment dollars or retirement portfolio at risk).  Check out these companies and see which companies are rated low compared to which companies are beloved by their employees.  It’s a real eye opener to say the least:

CLICK HERE: http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/reviews-SRCH_SAOR.htm

The Michael Dell Story….

Did you know that a 12 year old started his first business by posting a small ad and then selling merchandise direct to customers?  Did you know that his parents threatened him and told him to “…get his priorities straight’ and focus on college so that he can become a doctor instead of playing around with this computer stuff? Find out more about the 12 year old who would later go on to become the founder of the world’s largest computer manufacturer commonly known as Dell Inc, and it’s founder, Michael Dell by listening to this podcast here:

The Official Birthplace of Twitter…

The UnOfficial Birthplace of Twitter

You may have heard the phrase, “…you never know where lightning will strike”, right?  Well, the same could be said for innovation – you never know where innovation , or the next great idea will be born that will change the world.  I was intrigued to recently learn that the idea for Twitter was born at this intersection between a couple of friends who had just spent the evening hanging out, listening to music, and socializing with colleagues.  The original idea was scribbled onto a scratch piece of paper and the rest is history.

I think that communities that encourage, and foster new ideas, creativity, as well as lend their economic development a culture of support will be birthplaces for innovation.    I was doing some research while trying to learn the new OFFICIAL Twitter account for newly elected DC Mayor Vince Gray, who demonstrated his social media skills while handily beating his much younger opponent (who’s maybe 40 years younger) and effectively using Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and other media strategies very effectively.  In asking questions, I learned that it was possible to learn who was the first actual Twitter user in the District of Columbia.  Imagine that.  Being able to find out who the very first person in the nation’s capital was to use Twitter.  An intriguing task, I must admit.

Visual Data Mining Reveals Key Info - DC's 1st Twitterer!

Hat’s off to you @nanek, for being a true pioneer!  You were the very first Twitter user in the nation’s capital. Even if you don’t officially get the credit you deserve, we know who you are.

By the way, do you have any other important insights into the future we might need to know about?  Any new technologies, or game changers that might help businesses become more competitive, or agencies become more efficient?

If you do, then I have a few employers who might want to talk with you.