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How to Survive Bring Your Child to Work Day

That’s right today’s the day you either dread or love.  I’ve heard mixed things from many people about how they feel towards this national day.  Some feel like this while others can’t wait to show off their kids to their colleagues.

In the past we didn’t make a big deal about the day here and I’m not a mom yet so this holiday never had an impact on me (besides when I went to work with my dad as a kid and I remember it not being all that exciting).

Overall though they have a nice day planned for the kids—complete with an office tour, games, movies, and ice cream.  As for me, I’m on a deadline—so hanging out with the kiddies will not be on my agenda.  And even though I won’t have much interaction with my colleagues’ children I will still be impacted by their presence as my colleagues home and work lives collide.  So how can I stay on target despite the pitter-patter of 15 youths running through the office?

Headphones are ESSENTIAL.  It’s only 10:00AM and I’m already distracted by the tinking sound of pucks bouncing off the air hockey table.

Assign Someone to Spend Time With the Kids.  This happens to fall on our lovely HR Manager today.  She has developed a schedule that is sure to keep the kids entertained throughout the day and out of Mom and Dad’s hair.  Plus the schedule is so jam-packed with activities that the kids should be exhausted by the end of the day—which should make their parents happy.

Accept That Your Production Level Will Be Low & Use the Day to Get to Know Your Coworkers Better.  Many of us try so hard to maintain a work life balance but if there’s any day that throws caution to the wind—its Bring Your Child to Work Day.  This however is a great opportunity to get to know your colleagues on a personal level.  While I don’t have kids, I always enjoy a funny kid story and I like meeting my team members’ children because I already know all the amusing things they do.

I assume that my production level will certainly not be up to the level that it usually is today—so I guess it’s better to accept that disappointment now and enjoy day.

It’s Official, I’m an Office Hoarder!

It defeats me to say this— because in other aspects of my life I LOVE to throw things out—but I’m an office hoarder.  When it comes to work, I just can’t seem to let go!  But, I recently became so overwhelmed with the amount of stuff on my desk, that I decided it was time to clean house.

I started the massive clean-up on Friday afternoon at 3:30PM and as the office emptied out for the weekend I found myself surrounded by piles of papers, notebooks, and tradeshow giveaways at 6:30PM.  At that point I just started to chuck things in the recycle bin—only half looking at them to see if they were important—I figured they’ve been in this pile since 2010, I won’t miss them and so far so good, my desk is clean, but how can I prevent this from happening again?

Here are five tips I plan to use to combat the clutter:

• Ask for your own recycle bin.  I feel bad throwing something away which can be recycled, so things pile up on my desk until I take a trip to the recycle bin, but if I had my own recycle bin (to also help further cultivate my laziness) I probably wouldn’t still have my coworkers resume from when she interviewed for her job here more than four years ago.
  
  
• Set up a reoccurring meeting with (your new) recycle bin. Friday afternoon is a good time to do this. Anything that’s been completed in the course of the week—toss it!
  
  
• Create and stick to a to-do list. Create a to-do list at the beginning of the week and stick to it.  Break it down by day and focus on those things for that particular day, this should help you stay focused and organized.
  
  
• Come up with an organization system. When I was cleaning up my space I noticed that I had an unused set of plastic shelves that hold file folders.  I finally put them to good use and I’m attempting to stay organized by filing and not piling.
  
  
• Stop the printing! I am VERY guilty of this, especially at the end of the day when I have trouble focusing on my computer screen, so I instead print something out, which I read and then banish  to a pile that won’t be looked at for another 2 years.

So far after day one I’m on track to not fall back into my old patterns, I just hope these easy behavior modifications can keep me organized and on task—we shall see.  If you have any tips you use for staying organized, let me know, as you can see from the picture of my desk (before the clean up) I can use all the help I can get.

May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

For those of you who have read “The Hunger Games” or seen the movie, you are quite familiar with the phrase “May the odds be ever in your favor.” This is a common wish bestowed upon the citizens in the book and film and after reading the book and seeing the movie twice (that’s right I’m living the life of a tween) this phrase got me thinking about talent acquisition (that’s right now I’m living the life of an HR Pro).

But it got me thinking because from the perspective of the candidates and hiring managers they BOTH feel as though the odds are against them.  With so many candidates looking for jobs and numerous resumes that hiring managers need to sift through, how is it even possible that companies are hiring the right people? 

Five Tips to Ensure You Hire the Right Employee

1. Take Your Time When Crafting the Job Description: Before you start advertising make sure that the job description is accurate.  Don’t just slap something up because you’re in a hurry to hire.  By carefully creating the description now you’ll save yourself time (and money) later by not bothering with unqualified candidates.
   
   
   
2. Ask Your Current Employees For Referrals: Some of the best candidates come through the recommendations of current staff members.  This is also great because candidates that are referred often have an honest view of what the work and environment will consist of—so expectations are already set and there is often times less of a learning curve.
   
   
   
3. Go After The Passive Job Seeker: A passive job seeker is more thoughtful about changing jobs than someone that is unemployed.  The reason being that the passive seeker doesn’t need to jump at the opportunity.  Because of this, the passive seeker will most likely move jobs and stay put longer than someone that needs a job right now.
   
   
   
4. Bring the Candidate in Multiple Times: I know that often companies will have a candidate meet with several team members during one visit to their workplace, however I think that bringing the job seeker in to meet with members of the team a few different times will help you to really get to know the applicant.  You might catch them in different moods, in different environments etc… which will help you see what this person is like in varied circumstances—which might help you, see who this person really is.
   
   
   
5. Don’t Be Impulsive: Hiring an employee is a big expense.  Don’t just hire someone because you’re desperate and that person is good enough.  Make sure you hire the right someone, so you don’t regret it later on.

We hope that you find these tips helpful (and we know these are nothing you don’t already know,  but sometimes it's nice to have a little reminder).

Happy Hunger Games! I mean, Happy Hiring!