Change in the WorkplaceHow to Protect Your Career

Change in the WorkplaceHow to Protect Your CareerChange in the Workplace- How to Protect Your CareerChange makes most people uneasy. When that change is in your workplace and threatens your livelihood, that uneasiness can become abject fear and it may, if you let it, tremendously impact your career. Your response can make a significant difference to the long-term effects. Find out how to respond effectively when your employer is undergoing a major transition, such as one to its senior management team. What Changes May Occur Changes to organizations senior management teams happen all the time. They are often the result of entities merging, being spun off, or getting acquired by private equity firms that buy up companies as investments. Changes to an entitys management team may also occur for reasons that are unrelated to mergers and acquisitions. Boards of directors may decide to bring in new talent to replace underperforming CEOs, or upper-level managers may leave on their own. N ew chief executives, in turn, could bring in new mid and lower level managers to help them turn things around. Regardless of what precipitated it, a management change will alter your workplace in some way. The Impact of Management Change on Your Workplace A new management team may institute new rules and procedures, especially if your small, casually run organization is bought by a larger, more formally operated one. For instance, employees may have to follow processes for calling out and or requesting vacation time that were elend in place before. Where limits on taking time off may have been somewhat lax, the folks running your company could stipulate how many sick and personal days they will allow. Your somewhat flexible old boss who didnt care what time you showed up as long as you worked a full day may have been replaced by a strict one who expects everyone to show up at a specific time every day. The effect new management will have on the company culture- an organizations personality based on its values and underlying philosophies- may be subtle or quite noticeable. A casual workplace may become formal, or vice versa, for example. Your new boss may frown on the big birthday celebrations that used to happen in the break room at least once a week or may encourage parties when your prior boss didnt allow them. A workplace that forced you into wearing geschftlicher umgang attire every day may now allow casual dress. While going from a strict boss to a more laid-back one may sound good, it can also be disconcerting. Even though adapting to revamped rules and procedures, and even a new company culture may be a bit unpleasant, you will probably be able to adjust to them with some effort. Other changes, however, are less pleasant, and can significantly affect your career. When one company merges with or is acquired by another, there will be duplication in lines of business and departments. An organization doesnt need two accounting and human resources depar tments, for instance, and therefore some employees will be excessed. Elimination of lines of business will also result in layoffs. When new leaders come into a company, there is a trickle-down effect on those members of the organization who report to them including lower-level managers and the rank and file. You may someday find yourself facing challenges due to workplace changes like this. Your reaction to these transitions could have profound consequences on your career. Follow these dos and donts to cope with changes in your workplace that come about when new senior management arrives on the scene. Tips for Facing the Challenges of Workplace Change Become an Expert on the Changes The more you know about what is happening, the better you will be able to react to it. Do company research to learn about the nature of the merger or acquisition or whatever else is at the root of the management change. If your employer is a publicly-held entity, it is required to make this informat ion available to shareholders. That means it must file documents about it with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It will be more difficult, but not impossible, to find information about a privately-held company. Consult trade publications and other media that publish business news. Get to Know the New Management Team Attend any events your company may hold to introduce the new team to the staff. When you encounter an unfamiliar face around the office, initiate a conversation. Continue your online research to learn about new personnel. Your professional network can also be instrumental when gathering information about your new bosses.Be Realistic About the Changes People, in general, bristle at change, but it is important to note that not all changes are bad nor are they all good. Some may lead to improvements that may increase your job satisfaction, but others may make you dislike going to work. Approach this transition with an open mind. Understand some changes may requ ire time to get used to and some may continue to make you feel uncomfortable no matter what you do. Have a Plan In Place Unfortunately, a workplace change may lead to your having to look for new employment. It may be for reasons beyond your control, for example, an organizational restructuring that results in the company eliminating your position or a manager bringing in his or her own people to replace you. Start preparing for a layoff as soon as whispers of the transition begin and activate your plan when necessary. Better to have it ready and not have to use it than to be blind-sided by a layoff. If your job is secure, but you decide to move on anyway, your plan can also help with that.

Your idea is worthless until you do these 7 things

Your idea is worthless until you do these 7 thingsYour idea is worthless until you do these 7 thingsYou may have a great idea, but that doesnt make you a successful entrepreneur.With the idea, youre about 1% of the way there - because a successful business is only 1% idea. The other 99%?Assembling a great teamResearching and fully understanding your marketMarketing better than everyone else in your marketObtaining ample fundingPutting your company in a sustainable locationGetting timing rightAnd many other factors.In other words execution.Amazing execution can make an ok idea great. A great idea with poor execution will go nowhere. If you have a great idea that you want to turn into a business, consider these thingsDont worry about people stealing yourideaYou could probably tell your idea to a 1000000 people, and still be safe.The likelihood that another person would have the drive, passion, and execution to take your idea and turn it into a profitable business is extremely low.So w hat about Facebook, perhaps the greatest example of a stolen idea there is?Honestly, the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world are going to build highly successful businesses whether or not you share what youre thinking with them.In fact, Im certain that the net benefit you can gain from talking to people about your idea is greater than any risk you might run of finding another Zuckerberg.Using people as sounding boards to collect feedback lets you refine your idea until you achieve its best form.Dont react to what your competition isdoingRather, focus solely on making your product the best it can be. Everything else is just a distraction.Once youve launched, turn that focus onto howthe marketis reacting toyour product. When a market reacts negatively to a product, thats when you need to make changes - not when new competition enters the market.When we set out to introduce a new motorcycle hallo taxi service to Bangladesh, we werent the first tomarketIn fact, two weeks prior toPathaos app launch, a company called SAM (Share a Motorcycle) held a press conference announcing a very similar service to ours. It resulted in a lot of hype - people were expecting it to revolutionize the countrys transportation system - so we were pretty worried.But poor execution on their part resulted in a disastrous launchTheir app had tons of bugs, they didnt have enough drivers their first few weeks on the streets were a total mess. Of course, this opened the door for Pathao - and we executed. We ensured better service, faster delivery, readily available drivers, and created a smoothly functioning app.We blew them out of the water.And today, Pathao is the countrys most popular motorcycle taxi service, with over 100,000 drivers and a valuation north of $120 million?- ?even though we werent first tomarket.Ideas are no mora than a startingpointIn fact, most startups ultimately look nothing like their initial idea.Building a successful business requires constantly altering and improving a n idea based on what you learn. There are plenty of situations in which an entrepreneur learns their product isnt marketable - but something similar to it is. On your entrepreneurial journey, you may find that people dont want to buy your new caffeine-packed energy drink, but theywouldif it were healthy.So make it healthy - executeon that newfound knowledge.Im sure I wasnt the first person to come up with the idea of creating a website offering prank phone call audio templatesBut I was one of the few people to execute it well. In fact, since launchingPrankDialin 2009, Ive watched seven different companies start similar websites - but ultimately fail. PrankDial, on the other hand, has generated more than $10 million over its lifetime.Dont sit around coming up with great ideas - this will prove a fruitless endeavor. Instead, consider how you can execute an idea. After all, ideas are one in a million - but proper execution can yield millions.This article was originally posted on M edium.

Sleep vacations are becoming the new travel trend

Sleep vacations are becoming the new travel trendSleep vacations are becoming the new travel trendAmericans do not get enough sleep. This is a fact. And even when we do get sleep it is not usually high quality due to our inability to never be near a blue-lit screen. And this is starting to cost us.Earlier this year we reported onfatigued workers costing employers about$1,200to$3,100per employee in declining job performance each year and sleepy workers costing employers$136 billiona year in health-related, lost productivity.So the solution would be to take some time off to catch up on your rest, right? However, most people want to actually do things when they are on vacation like travel or work on other projects or many of us just end up working half the time anyway.But what if you specifically took a vacation just for sleeping? According to Well Good, some hotels are now offering sleep packages likeNew York Citys The jngstes.Would you pay for good sleep?Though it seems somewhat coun terintuitive to go to one of the busiest cities in the world to sleep, just the description of the package was soporific. Working withsleep medicine consultant Rebecca Robbins, PhD, The Benjamin will make bedtime a dream come true (do birds come and dress you when you finally wake up?) The package includes triple pane windows, blackout curtains, neutral tones for calming purposes,earplugs, a pillow menu, and on-demand meditation.The Westin also has aSleep Well packageat many of its locations which in addition to a heavenly bed includes a spa credit, late checkout and a dining credit for the hotels Sleep Well menu (which we assume includes an entire Thanksgiving turkey.)At the Premier Inn, they will actually give you your money back if you dont get quality sleep, according to Bustle.So you may actually end up sleeping through your next vacation but that may not be a bad thing at these hotels.