Autumn - The Most Popular Time of the Year for Employee Recognition

Autumn - The Most Popular Time of the Year for Employee Recognition With Employee Appreciation Day taking place last week, at Perkbox, we set off to uncover some of the latest trends amongst UK businesses in recognizing employees over the last 10 months. We did so by using a sample of   2,810 companies that currently use Perkbox Recognition. Amongst other things, we found that the most popular day to recognize staff since April 2018, was the 5th of October and the day where the most companies set Perkbox recognition polls, an open-ended question which employees vote on to pick a winner, was the 27th November. Indeed, Autumn seems to be recognition season! What else did we uncover, I hear you ask? Join us as we go behind the scenes of Perkbox Recognition… Recognition Habits One of the most fascinating things that we discovered from undertaking this research is how ‘employee recognition’ has been slotting into UK people’s workplace schedules. Rather than waiting until an idle Friday afternoon to recognize co-workers, our figures reveal that Mondays and Wednesdays are the days when more employees take time to recognize one another and celebrate their great work. Our research also reveals that the peak times to recognize employees is 9 am bright and early in the morning, and 5 pm just before leaving work. However, it’s apparent that no matter the day or time, recognition happens all year around. In the ten months taken into account for this research, a gobsmacking 11,837 shout-outs were made. Soft Skills reign supreme Encouragingly, the most popular recognition polls done using the Perkbox Recognition tool over the last 10 months have been those that champion soft skills, such as ‘Motivator, ‘Ray of Sunshine’ and ‘Beyond the call of Duty’. Personal attributes such as these have a harmonious effect in the workplace and often get overlooked, so it’s fantastic to see them get their due on our platform. More so because the biggest challenge with soft skills these days is that we’re not sufficiently self-aware to realize which ones we need to change and improve. Often this can’t happen without support. Recognition polls like these can help act as the platform to encourage positive change, simply by gamifying the experience. Tech leads the way Nearly 60% of those who recognize frequently are medium-sized businesses. However, out of all the industries using our platform, tech and IT (25%) and manufacturing and construction (23%) are those that really ringing the bell for recognition. That said, there are companies of all sort that are totally smashing employee recognition, month-on-month via Perkbox Recognition. Amongst these is apprenticeship training and recruitment company, Lifetime Training Ltd, which deserves a shout out for being one of the Perkbox customers that have recognized its employees the most over the last 10 months. Put simply, employee recognition has a clear role to play in bringing company values to life whilst celebrating awesome teams and people. Nowadays, there is a far stronger focus and commitment towards such practices which is clearly reflected via our research findings. Whether its setting company polls to draw attention on an outstanding team and individual efforts or rewarding and showcasing exceptional contributions from others, these practices do make a difference. So, if you’re a business leader, make sure you don’t miss out on the benefits. Hop on the employee appreciation wagon! About the author:  Before co-founding Perkbox, the UK’s fastest-growing employee engagement platform,  Chieu Cao  established himself as a tech marketing force to be reckoned with, leading initiatives for brands including Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo. A consultant turned CMO, Chieu’s repertoire spans both B2C and B2B, from SEO to social strategy.  

The Summer of Selfie 7 Tips To Make Them Better

The Summer of Selfie 7 Tips To Make Them Better Can you hear it?  Its the 2016 version of the Simon and Garfunkle classic Sounds of Silence.  Only now its called the Sound of Selfies.  That little artificially generated shutter click.   Were all doing it and theres no escaping it.  So why not look your best in those shots that are going to last   forever  out there somewhere on the internet? If youve ever had professional photos taken, you know that the experts can work magic.  Even the most plain among us can look glamorous.  Just like the celebrities do.  But you dont have to be a celebrity or even an expert to learn a few of the photographic tricks that make a huge difference.  Dr. Jeffrey Spiegel is a world renowned facial plastic surgeon, who knows all about making us look our beautiful best.  Hes kindly provided these awesome tips  to make sure your summer selfies dont come back to haunt you! Selfies 101  Women should  look up  slightly  towards the camera as it will make your eyes larger, and raise your eyebrows creating the attractive look of large eyes  Men should  protrude your chin  slightly.  This creates a strong face and eliminates a double chin.  For men and women, slightly lean your neck towards the camera.  For Women a minute before your photo, tap on your lips a few times (somewhat stronger than youd think!).   This will send blood to your lips making them redder and fuller both considered very attractive.   Similarly, you can pinch your cheeks a few times to get a little bit of a rosy glow.  Stand at an angle to the camera.   This creates a slimmer body profile, and adds some interest to the photograph.   Also, try slightly lowering the shoulder towards the camera.   This will relatively elongate your neck and slim it out.  Blink just before the camera goes off.   That is, if they are counting to three to shoot, blink deliberately on two.   This will help guarantee that your eyes are not closed during the picture, and importantly, will get you with the most open and bright eyes and remember, bright eyes are critical to looking good.  Smile with your eyes!   A fake smile is just your mouth.   A true smile is when your whole face is laughing.   Think about sending energy to your eyes or smiling with your eyes, and your beauty will shine into the photograph. And dont forget just be  relaxed.   Think about relaxing your face and trying to convey that to the camera.   That emotional change will show in your photos.   As long as youre going to be snapping a ton of those selfies, they may as well be good ones! Images: Main  Silke Remmery  selfie  Ellen De Vos

The 2007 Personal Brand of the Year is Rohit Bhargava - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

The 2007 Personal Brand of the Year is Rohit Bhargava - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career For those of you who havent subscribed to Personal Branding Magazine, I recently named Rohit Bhargava as the 2007 Personal Brand Gold Award winner. The Personal Brand Awards are awarded to five individuals each year who express what it means to create and execute on their brand value to achieve their dreams. With almost 4,000 subscribers to his Influential Marketing Blog and the title of Vice President of Interactive Media for Ogilvy, Rohit Bhargava has been honored with the Gold Personal Brand Award for 2007. Rohit is an authoritative voice on new media, with a Technorati authority of over 700 and is the #31 marketing blog as reported by Ad Age! Google his name and you will receive more than 300,000 results, showing his submissions to WebProNews, along with his involvement in social media such as LinkedIn, Flickr and SlideShare to name a few. Rohit has been interviewed by PR Week, Wired Magazine and Jupitor. When Rohit posts on his blog, others listen and that is why I have selected him as the Personal Brand Gold Award receiver for 2007. I would like to officially announce the 2008 Personal Brand Awards. I am currently accepting submissions. More on these awards soon. Subscribe to this blog

4 Advantages of a New Business Phone System

4 Advantages of a New Business Phone System Regardless of the nature of your small business it is safe to assume that verbal communication is a big part of your success. The only way to provide your employees with the best means of communication is by installing a business phone system. A dedicated phone system will allow you and your employees to increase the speed at which you communicate, which can in turn increase overall productivity. The installation of a business phone system can give you a number of advantages over your competition. Here are a few of the many benefits of installing business phone systems for your offices. Faster Sharing of Resources One of the biggest benefits associated with a business phone system is that it allows you employees to communicate with each other with lightning fast speed. A business phone system allows your employees to not only transfer calls back and forth; it also allows them to be in on conference calls with your customers. Increasing the level of communication between your employees and your customers is a great way to increase your overall profit margin. Instead of working with an outdated phone system, you increase your productivity and work efficiency by switching to a business phone system. When trying to be more productive with your phone system, investing in landline desk phone headsets is a great option. Before selecting a headset, you will need to study the options you have available. Rushing through this important decision may lead to you choosing the right tools to use in your office. Cost Effective Another benefit of using a business phone system is that it is much more cost effective than having numerous phone numbers under one roof. Traditional phone systems required several different lines to be run in order to link all of the phones together. The traditional systems were time consuming to set up and very expensive to operate on a monthly basis. With new updated business phone systems, everything is linked together on one number, which drastically reduces the monthly cost. Instead of wasting your hard earned money on an outdated system, you can save more money by updating your phones. Before choosing a phone system, you will have to take some time to do your homework. Calling around and getting some quotes from the phone system suppliers in an area is essential. With a bit of research, you should have no problem getting the right system chosen. Helpful Features Most modern business phone systems come with helpful features such as voicemail and call forwarding. Call forwarding allows you to redirect all of your calls to your cell or home phone, which will help to ensure that you never miss another business call again. The more tools that you have to serve your customers with; the more successful you will be in the long run. The cost of installing a new business phone system more than pays for itself when you see how much more efficiently your business runs. Provide a Higher Level of Customer Service For most business owners, the decision to replace their existing phone system is to provide their customers with a better experience. The last thing you want is for a customer to call in and not be able to get through due to an outdated phone system being used. Providing customers with a higher degree of service will help to keep them loyal and happy. Before investing in a particular phone system, you will need to think about how easy it will be to scale it up or down as needed. Keeping the expenses down for this type of business communication is easy with the right professional help. Allowing a reputable communications company to assist you in the choosing and maintaining of a phone system is a great idea. They will have no problem keeping your phone system functional and on budget.

How to Get Started Writing a Resume

How to Get Started Writing a ResumeIf you want to know how to get started writing a resume, it can be a little challenging because there are many formats and resources out there that try to convince you that one method is the best. The truth is that there are many different ways to get your resume done. Some of them involve a little bit of work, while others are as easy as they look.In this day and age, almost everyone has a formal format for writing a resume. The traditional format is your name, your place of employment, and some sort of job related experience information. For those who have gone through school or have degrees, they will probably have a degree on the front of their resumes in an easy to read font.Those who are self-employed and have no formal training will use a piece of paper with the name of the business and a short description of what their work is. This is typically called a standard or summary resume. Other forms of resume include sample resumes, resume website s, free resume samples, and even resume checklists.No matter which format you decide to use, the fact remains that the only way to make your resume look professional is if it is in the formal format. Using free resume samples that you can find online, is a great way to get started and to get the professional look that you desire. You can use a free resume as a guide for your own career resume.It is possible to make a new look for yourself with the help of a resume that is formatted differently than the traditional resume. Because this is such a common way to change the look of your resume, many companies use this as a first step to help applicants. It is a way to see how the person looks and how they communicate. It is also an opportunity to see if you are able to put together a solid resume. You may be asking yourself, 'How to get started writing a resume?' There are a few simple tips that are required to accomplish this. When you know how to write a resume, you have an advantage w hen the time comes to write a job application.You can use a template to make the process easier for you. With this kind of template, all you need to do is fill in the blanks. You can also check your resume against these samples before you actually start writing it. This will give you an idea of the format that would best fit your own needs.If you are wondering how to get started writing a resume, it is simple. Just take the time to learn more about the process and do some research on how to make a resume that is professional. You will not believe how much time this will save you! What better way to get started!

Why Your LinkedIn Profile Views Might Go Down After a Rewrite - CareerEnlightenment.com

If you want more views, you need to view other profiles!It makes sense. By using your new messaging and keywords, your targeted People Searches will result in more relevant people to connect with, and improve the response rate when you communicate with them.For example, if I started to view profiles of people I want to connect with, but my profile is old and not related to this new direction, its less likely they will view me  back, let alone agree to connect with me.But with a new profile, geared toward your future direction, the focused people searches and connection requests will be way more fruitful for you.A Lot of Bad Cookies, or One Amazing CookieWhich would you rather have, a jar of 100 cookies, or 1 gourmet  cookie?It only takes one, highly targeted and highly motivated connection to get you into your dream job. The goal is one  job, the goal is NOT massive profile views. Right?So track your goals based  on the number of new meaningful  conversations you have and dont get lo st in the trees and lose your view of the forest.Post ScriptNo one really knows whats involved in LinkedIns search algorithm. If its like Google, there can be a time gap after new content is uploaded. Results may be based on the age of the content, it may be based on the number of connections or recommendations someone has. No one knows because LinkedIn doesnt release that information.There is no way to guarantee an increase in profile views. Any resume writer who makes that claim is taking a huge risk  with your money.Out of integrity, I wont make that guarantee. And as a consumer, I wouldnt trust anyone who makes that claim either.

Staying Flexible for an IT Future - CareerAlley

Staying Flexible for an IT Future - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. The future depends on what you do today. Mahatma Gandhi The field of information technology is one of the fastest growing fields in any industry. According to data collected by Dice.com, more than half of all hiring-managers surveyed plan to expand their IT departments in 2012. Although openings in the industry are multiplying, there are also a large number of new IT professionals entering the industry. For this reason, individuals working or planning to work in the field of IT must find innovative ways to set themselves apart from the crowd and attract the attention of potential employers. The Role of Flexibility Flexibility is an important quality in any industry, but it is essential for success in IT. As new technologies develop, the IT industry continuously changes. To stay relevant in this industry, IT professionals must choose their experiences carefully in order to create a profile that is as flexible as possible. For example, the rise of cloud computing has recently led to dramatic changes in the methods businesses use to process and manage data. While the move to the cloud may derail the career of some IT employees, a well-trained, formidable professional can move from a standard IT job to the more specialized position of coordinating database management and online security issues with cloud support personnel. Specializing in Flexibility To become a competitive, flexible IT professional, individuals must make every decision with their futures in mind. Below are some strategies IT professionals can use to stay on top in the field. Develop a versatile resume. Since the resume is often the first exposure potential employers have to a job candidate, it must make a good impression. By constantly developing new skills through independent study, participating in industry-related workshops and enrolling in continuing education programs whenever possible, IT professionals can create a list of credentials that appeal to potential employers. Stay in the know. IT professionals should keep themselves informed about new developments in the IT industry. When a professional continuously updates his industry-current knowledge, he can quickly adapt to any changes that come his way. Take initiative. When new technologies or methods emerge, IT professionals should actively seek to become familiar with them. For example, an IT professional who learns to adapt to the cloud is more valuable to a company than one who knows about the cloud but cant operate within it. Try new things. IT professionals who are already working in the field can increase their flexibility by remaining open to new ideas. When an employer is considering a new method or program, a wise IT professional will be the first to try it. Doing so shows the employer that the individual adapts to change easily and is always willing to learn. In an industry that can change overnight, flexibility is a necessary survival skill. Fortunately, an IT professional can develop this quality and exhibit it to potential employers by making a few simple changes in the way he approaches his education and his career. By purposefully researching new technologies and learning to use them, a professional not only increases his knowledge and useful skills, but also demonstrates his dedication to the field as a whole. This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search. Visit me on Facebook