Tuesday, September 18, 2007

The Tree

The Tree

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."

Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter," and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree, so I'll take this one", and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

Understanding Boss Psychology

Understanding Boss Psychology

It is a fact that people lose jobs most often because they have not been successful in satisfying the demands of their boss. They lose out because of faulty boss relations; because they lack an understanding of " boss psychology." Of course I do not mean here to suggest that the reader needs to turn into a psychologist in order to be able to deal with his/her boss, but to understand both the motives and personal traits that drive bosses behaviors and attitudes.

By working "with" your boss you can become free to move ahead and not become lost in the the great unknown depths of the business world. Work becomes more pleasant and you become more productive. You gain more satisfaction because you are able to record more achievements. It all becomes possible by using one of your greatest assets - your boss.

Here are few tips to help you plan ahead how to make yourself indispensable to your boss as part of his team; how to eliminate unnecessary daily conflicts that consumes your energy in unproductive activities:

First - you need to change your concept of being a "boss" as well as being "bossed." These are different roles that can be enjoyed "if" well played. It requires understanding on the part of both the boss and the subordinate that one role cannot be effectively played without the other role being deli gently played to comp element the other. That are demands for each role, and these demands can only be completed if integration of the other role is accomplished. It is then, a give and take relationship that need to be sustained if we want to create an attractive, motivating work environment.

Second - Avoid hostility, harshness, and friction with your boss. Difference in personalities will sure cause some frictions, but these should not be taken personally. They need to be interpreted against the situation that created them. If we believe that there are more than one way to create a mutual understanding and "empathy". Uncontrolled "perception" would always result into misinterpretation of behavior, resulting in turn into more friction and conflict, which makes the workplace "a fighting arena" of winners and losers.

Third - Help your boss become a better manager. This mean "accepting" the other with a belief that regardless of our being different, we still can work together. Personal defects are more felt among Friends, but in the workplace these can be accepted as long as they do not influence our performance. Do not try make your boss look bad before others, especially his superiors. He/she has got more "power" to settle accounts making your life miserable. Learn how to "invest" in your boss by educating him/her without even hinting you do.

Fourth - Develop a daily "game plan" to make it possible to stress positive thoughts, good emotional balance, and be in charge of yourself. You need to "sell" you ideas without being "pushy" or aggressive. Your tool would be "persuasion" not "power". Remember, you cannot impose on your boss. He can.

Fifth - Put your entire group - in addition to your boss - to work for you. Make them feel that your are a valuable asset to the team. This relies mainly on your ability to exert effort to be helpful and cooperating whenever you can. Enhancing your interpersonal skills of communication and negotiation would help become most effective in this area.

Sixth - Have an eye on becoming a boss yourself. Invest in yourself. Do not leave a chance to learn from your mistakes as from your successes. Always ask yourself:"What are the things that I do not like in my boss, and that I am going to avoid when I become one?"

Your biggest challenge though would be dealing with an insensitive boss. A boss who is too much results oriented. Bosses of that kind are usually inconsiderate to their people's needs. You need here to work winning ways to gain their attention and recognition. Allow enough time and work systematically to develop an interactive relationship with a boss of that kind until you win his/her respect.

How to get your boss to notice you

How to get your boss to notice you?

Sometimes you wonder as to how to get your boss attention in the work place. It is an area where several of us congregate in various departments to discharge varied functions. You not only need to be noticed & recognized but your absence even for a single day in the office should create a fur ore. These are certain invaluable tips to all the employees on how to make themselves prove their worth and simultaneously get the stamp of positive approval from the boss.

  • Increase your value. You do not get compensated by how hard you work but how much value you add to the world around you. And the best way to begin adding value to the world is to start becoming a more valuable person. Acquire skills no one else has. Read the books no one else is reading. Think thoughts no one else is thinking. In other words, you need to be more in life in order to get more from life.

  • Take decisions. Your life is a sum total of all the decisions you have taken in your life. Decision making skills is one of the most important skills which you should develop in order to sustain in the new economy. By making a decision, you will come to know whether you have taken a right decision or not & if you have not taken the right decision you will correct the wrong decision taken. In other words, you will help your boss in taking right decisions.

  • Communicate well. Communication does not primarily mean talking with one or more person but it also means writing well, listening well. You need to communicate to boss / subordinates in such a way that the receiver or the person who is listening to you understands the way it has to be understood by the sender. You also need to do a lot of listening act & by listening you get a lot of information which otherwise you would not have got if you would have indulged in the act of communicating.

  • Solution oriented. You need to be solution oriented & not problem oriented. When faced with a crisis & difficult situations you have to think in terms of solutions & not get perturbed with impediments which come in your way. You should not just identify a problem, but design the best solution to solve the problem. For this purpose, you need to be intelligent, experienced & up to date with latest developments. In other words, it refers to problem solving skills.

  • Administrative abilities. You need to be a great planner, thinker & help your boss to frame plans & policies. This is not an easy task & it requires a tremendous acumen in oneself to sharpen the administrative skills. Further, you also need to work within the limits set by the organization. The policies, plans drawn need to be necessarily implemented so that the organization gains in terms of productivity in a consistent manner.

  • Accept responsibility. Responsibility begins with your taking full & complete control over the content of your conscious mind. The interesting thing about responsibility is that the more you start taking responsibility the more responsible you feel. The more responsible you feel the more rapidly you move toward the accomplishment of more of the things that are important to you. Thus, you see yourself moving on the fast track which would make your boss definitely take a note of you.

  • Be excellent. Today, the market pays excellent returns & rewards for excellent performance, excellent product products & excellent services. Commit to excellence in your work, especially in your key areas & core competencies. Resolve to commit to top performance. This will not only make the others notice you whom might include your boss but also move you into the fast lane in your career than any other decisions you can make.

  • Take care of your customers. What we are today & where you are today determine how your internal & external customers treat you. You need to take care of your customers very well & once you start touching their emotions you surge ahead. Your customers in your work place are your subordinates, colleagues, bosses with whom you have not only to vibe but touch their emotions. Human beings move when their emotions are moved.


Today, it is all about selling & how good are you in selling. You may be qualified, experienced like others but in order to move ahead in your career you need to distinctly display your attributes which not only inspire your clients who are buying our goods & services but also move the hearts of internal customers (boss, subordinates, and colleagues at work place) with whom you work with. If you start connecting yourself emotionally with your boss & subordinates in your work place & your devoted customers in the market you will carve a unique place for yourself. Human beings are bundle of emotions & your boss is no exception. You can move both these internal & external customers or get their hearts only when you follow the strategies as discussed.

Murphy’s Law

Murphy’s Law

Murphy’s Law is attributed to an air force captain who apparently created the now-famous phrase when a series of errors and problems kept occurring in a Californian air force base missile site. These are some of follow-up items to which most people can relate.
  1. Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
  2. Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.
  3. Nothing is as easy as it looks.
  4. Everything takes longer than you think.
  5. If there is the possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one.
  6. Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.
  7. It always costs more than first estimated.
  8. It is easier to get involved in something than it is to get out of it.
  9. Every solution breeds new problems.
  10. If you try to please everybody, somebody will be disappointed.
  11. It is impossible to make anything foolproof, because fools are so clever.
  12. If you tinker with anything long enough, it will break.
  13. By making things absolutely clear, people will become confused.
  14. If there is a 50 per cent chance of success, that means there is a 75 per cent chance of failure.
  15. Interchangeable parts won’t.
  16. In any computation, the figure that is obviously correct will be the source of error.
  17. Blame will never be placed if enough people are involved.
  18. Nothing is lost until you begin looking for it.
  19. If in the course of several months only three worthwhile social events take place, they will all fall on the same evening.
  20. Murphy was an optimist!



Dealing with Nerves
  1. Be at ease and relax. They want to listen to you.
  2. Breathe deeply as you walk towards the venue.
  3. Mentally rehearse the sequence of your presentation.
  4. Use the self-fulfilling prophecy.
  5. Arrive early so that you can settle in.
  6. Dress the part and look professional.
  7. Try to anticipate questions.
  8. Check all of your support equipment beforehand.
  9. Create a physical setting you feel comfortable with.
  10. Use your prepared session notes.
  11. Establish credibility at the beginning of your presentation.
  12. Give your audience an outline of the events and topics.
  13. Motivate the group to want to listen to you.
  14. Use brainteasers as an opening.
  15. Practise your session beforehand.
  16. Use your tension to enhance your performance.
  17. Move around.
  18. Warm your voice up before starting.
  19. Keep eye contact with all your audience.
  20. Be comfortable with the arrangement of your resources.
  21. Practise with your training aids.
  22. Research and know your topic.
  23. Use unobtrusive isometric exercises.
  24. Attend appropriate presentation or public speaking courses.
  25. Remember your audience’s attention span.
  26. Use all of the principles of adult learning.
  27. Find out in advance who your participants are.
  28. Admit your mistakes, but only if you make them.
  29. Always appear to be enthusiastic.
  30. Use a video or tape recorder to evaluate your performance.
  31. Develop your own style of presentation.
  32. Get feedback from your audience.
  33. Don’t read from the text.
  34. Don’t have a heavy night before a day of presentations.

Handle Conflict Expertly

Handle Conflict Expertly

In any job there are times when you need to learn how to manage conflict. Specifically in restaurant and hotel entry level positions where tensions can run high due to the need to meet customer satisfaction, knowing how to diffuse a heavy situation comes in handy almost every day. Ever had a demanding customer approach you aggressively? What about a colleague who just won't get off you back? Instead of getting hot and heavy with your opponent, learn how to evaluate the situation and come out of it looking better then your opponent, learn how to evaluate the situation and come out of it looking better then you did going in. Julienne Robins - an employee at a Pickle Barrel location in downtown Toronto - advises to "skip conflict when you can, but when it is unavoidable, you need to know how to do battle...and how not to." Ever been in a sticky situation? Well then, read on.

Managing a tough situation

To manage a conflict effectively, you must know how to please people. Better yet, "skip the conflict altogether, if you can," says Julienne. To avoid conflict, it is essential in the hotel and restaurant industry to always know that the customer is right, and that you as an employee should always aim to please the client, no matter how outlandish of a request they make. If you integrate this into your everyday interactions, you will probably run into very little problems. However, if at some point you need to resolve a situation smoothly, you need to evaluate your options.

"Take a step back, think about the situation, and try to find a compromise," says Michael Terebij, a downtown Toronto Delta Hotel employee. You need to know what angle is best to approach the situation from; as a general rule, do everything you can to meet the requests of the customer. If a person is angry, it is best to speak as calmly as possible, and agree with everything they say. Apologize and remediate the situation ASAP.

Conflicts between coworkers should not arise, as you are trying to minimize such occurrences in your day-to-day work. If it does happen that you have a disagreement with someone you work with, apply the same tactics - be respectful of the individual, but do not let yourself be pushed over. Basically, to resolve a problem, "respect, listen and compromise," says Julienne.

As a general rule for all conflicts, listen to the problem in full, agree with the customer completely, and resolve the problem immediately.

To speak or not to speak?

It is best not to get involved in anyone else's problems, although sometimes this may be necessary. If you see a coworker trying to deal with a dissatisfied customer, and they are a new inexperienced employee or are obviously becoming frustrated (angry or otherwise upset), you might need to step in. Use the above mentioned tactics, and let your coworker off the hook. Don't get involved unless it is absolutely necessary for both party's happiness and the quick resolution of the conflict. Don't let either side get too angry or otherwise distressed - an angry customer is not good for business, and a crying employee is never a pretty sight for people coming into the hotel or restaurant. If you often step in and demonstrate proficiency at resolving disagreements, you might become the workplace guru!

To really put it in perspective, let's break it down. Here are the steps to resolving a conflict effectively, and with as little casualties as possible:

When a problem specifically pertains to you:
  1. Listen to the person presenting the problem
  2. Agree with their point of view
  3. Speak in a respective tone, and be courteous
  4. Immediately remediate the problem
  5. Let the customer (or whoever else) know that the problem has been resolved, and thank them for notifying you of it - establish trust by letting them know they can rely on you in a situation, and that the problem will not happen again


When someone else is having a disagreement:
  1. Listen to the problem from a distance to learn what it is about
  2. If any of the people involved are becoming angry or distressed, step in and ask politely if you can help
  3. Apply the steps above (when a problem specifically pertains to you), and liberate the employee previously involved with the customer
  4. Check in on the other employee at a later time, letting them know how you handled the situation and what the outcome was - this will ease their mind about their own involvement and teach them future tactics of conflict resolution.


Conflict in the workplace is a tricky situation, but with practice and a knack for human psychology you will be able to walk away smiling. It may be difficult at first to agree with taking the blame for something you believe is not your fault, but eventually you will see rewards in terms of a smoother day with less - and more effectively handled - confrontations.

Three Things to Motivate & Retain Employees

HR Managers today must provide an attractive and motivating environment to their employees than just a handsome salary in order to retain them. Employees these days hop jobs for a mere10-15 per cent pay hike!

Organisations that succeed to attract, retain and motivate employees, emerge as winners. It doesn’t take much to have a motivated workforce; all you need to do is create an exciting environment. Three things to motivate & retain employees are…

Positive work environment.
Rewards for proper conduct.
Employee involvement.
How to create a positive work environment?


Explain to them ‘The Big Picture’ to give them the sense of pride and purpose for working with the company. Give your employees a chance to put forward their views in decision making (whenever required and possible).

Their suggestions are important. Give them resources to support them and to ensure they perform better. Cater to their growth needs and give them a mentor for improving and developing new skills.

Rewards for proper conduct - Praise & Recognition

No money in the world can replace a compliment. Sure, it does attract talent through the front door, but it never prevents them from leaving through the back door. Two most important elements for employee retention are praise and recognition. Monetary rewards are fast forgotten, try something that will stay forever. For instance;

A retail store came out with “My Shinning Star” peer recognition programme. Every month employees were rewarded for their outstanding conduct & qualities like taking beyond duty calls, perfect attendance, hard work, team work, friendly & caring nature etc.

Employees had the power to reward their peers for doing a good job. An employee who received the highest number of votes in a month received a special gift from the store manager along with his name being put up on the bulletin board.

This is what is called a FAST-FUN formula…

Focus on the behaviour to be rewarded.
Avoid bureaucratic committees.
Simplicity
Team ownership.
FUN, entertaining and spontaneous..
Involve your Employees

Employee involvement plays at all levels from self-esteem, motivation to retention. A feeling of belongingness and worth will attach the employee with the organisation and its affect will be higher than that of a hefty salary. Find a way to tell your employees that they are special to the organisation. Whichever way you take it, keep in mind these key factors. Your employees will enjoy their work, feel that they have a purpose and therefore will be able to reach their potential.

HR Processes

HR Processes

One day while walking down the street a highly successful Human Resources Manager was tragically hit by a bus and she died. Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself.

"Welcome to Heaven ," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though, it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we've never once had a Human Resources Manager make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," said the woman.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in."

"Actually, I think I've made up my mind, I prefer to stay in Heaven", said the woman

"Sorry, we have rules..."

And with that St. Peter put the executive in an elevator and it went down-down-down to hell.

The doors opened and she found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow executives that she had worked with and they were well dressed in evening owns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the country club where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner.

She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kind of cute) and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. She was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave. Everybody shook her hand and waved goodbye as she got on the elevator.

The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and found St. Peter waiting for her.

"Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said. So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing. She had great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her.

"So, you've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity,"

The woman paused for a second and then replied, "Well, I never thought I'd say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell."

So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again she went down-down-down back to Hell.

When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting it in sacks.

The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her.

"I don't understand," stammered the woman, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable."

The Devil looked at her smiled and told...


-

-

-

-

-


-

Yesterday we were recruiting you, Today you are an employee