Ways to Spot a Self-Motivated Individual at Work

One of the biggest challenges that every manager or supervisor has to face is how to keep their subordinates motivated at work. What makes this really tough is the fact that each individual has different means of keeping themselves inspired. For company leaders, it is such a fortune to have a group of people who are always strive to remain productive at work.

There are many ways you could know if a person is motivated or not. By recognizing these signs, as a team leader, you can pinpoint who among your members need a little push to be inspired to work.

A Person’s Attitude

Perhaps the most obvious or noticeable sign of being motivated is the attitude of being helpful, encouraging, and bright. Self-motivated employees are cheerful and always positive. Be careful, however, not to misjudge those employees who are introverted and relatively quiet. Of course, being quieter than others doesn’t mean being less motivated.

Habits at Work

You will notice that self-motivated employees are always willing to volunteer their time for the completion of projects and tasks. They also participate actively in brainstorming activities or during meetings. Other signs of being motivated include being busy dealing with paperwork, being able to concentrate on computer related tasks, as well as being on the phone regularly to communicate with business contacts. Lastly, employers easily distinguish who among the staff are the motivated ones by checking employee attendance. Those who miss very few working days and always come to work early are considered self-motivated.

Working with a Team

Motivated employees easily stand out when projects require employees to work in teams. What they usually do is offer their help even without being asked. They are enthusiastic during meetings as well, and offer their ideas that may help the team achieve its goals. When it comes to the division of responsibilities amongst team members, self-motivated individuals don’t mind having more workload than the other members. In fact, they may even express willingness to take on more responsibilities and assignments.

Positive Outcome

Highly motivated employees almost always produce very positive results which are of high quality and accuracy as well. These workers don’t have problems meeting their deadlines and accomplishing their tasks and work earlier than expected. In short, they are very productive and efficient.

Focused on Advancing Their Career

A worker who loves his job is definitely focused on his career advancement. This type of employee is seen to be very interested in knowing what it takes to get a promotion. When the company offers training courses or programs to their employees, a self motivated worker will be among the first ones to inquire about it and express interest in being part of it.

Simple Ways to Earn Respect As a Leader

Respect is something you cannot expect to be given to you just because you are a leader. As they all say, you should earn it. The problem is, there isn’t any specific formula to method that you can use to gain respect while you are in a leadership role. This is one of the challenges that leaders have to face. They have to look for ways they could get the confidence of their subordinates, while at the same time still showing that they have the authority in the workplace. But no matter how challenging it may be, there are small things you can do to gain respect as a leader.

1. Remain optimistic and have a positive attitude. Negative leaders are very hard to respect. In fact, people would usually ridicule such leaders behind their backs. Being pessimistic and having a negative attitude doesn’t develop respect, but fear and hatred.

2. Reach out to your employees more. It isn’t enough that you tell everyone that they can approach you anytime. Try to find time to interact with your employees and encourage them to speak up more. Employees would really appreciate it if you show them you are willing to listen to them about anything.

3. Don’t hesitate to help a member of your staff. As a leader, of course you are busy. But as you walk along the hallway and you see one of your staff needing some help, make sure you do offer help. This gesture may not mean so much to you, but for your employee, this is something special and respectable about you.

4. Tell your employees what you want them to do and not how you want them to do it. As a leader, you should trust the right people in your office to do particular things. And when you delegate tasks, be sure that you give them the freedom to choose whatever strategy they want to accomplish the task. When workers feel trusted and valued, they can see how good a leader you are.

5. Respect differences. Especially in a diverse workplace, it is important for a leader to know how to make everyone feel comfortable. During a meeting, for instance, give everyone an equal chance to express their opinions and show that all their input is valuable. A good and respectable leader is one who can make it possible for totally different individuals to work as a team.

6. Don’t hesitate to show your funny side. You don’t have to be serious-looking all the time to show your staff that you are all about business and career advancement. Especially when the pressure in the workplace is mounting, you should be the one to start trying to make the mood lighter. Crack jokes from time to time so your members will see the human side of you, which is an important factor in gaining others’ respect.

The Many Benefits Of Executive Career Coaching

Executive mentoring is where a senior and more experienced employee takes on the task of guiding and helping a newer or more inexperienced employee to gain a better understanding of their position and the overall culture of the workplace. This kind of mentoring has been a common practice for a lot of companies, obviously because of all of its benefits to the company as a whole.

Employee Performance

The less experienced employees who receive career coaching from their mentors, who are their executives at the same time, gain a clearer understanding of what their company is about and how it operates. A mentor offers valuable insight into how the company makes decisions, which new employees need to learn as well. 

Two-Way Learning

In an executive mentoring relationship, the mentees are not the only ones who learn. In fact, the executive mentors also acquire new insight on how the younger generation thinks. As a result, those senior executives become more informed and aware of the line of thinking of their younger counterparts. Hence, they become better leaders with the deeper understanding of how others approach their jobs.

Improved Networking

Through executive mentoring relationships, both parties develop and enhance their professional and personal networks. A mentor will often let his or her mentee meet important people within and outside of the company. In the same way, a mentor could get to meet and utilize their mentee’s networks too. For both the mentor and the mentee, this is a great tool towards career enrichment.

Loyalty

Those employees who receive mentoring from their executives are likely to develop loyalty to their organization. As a result, they often prefer to stay within their company until they reach higher positions. This is a huge benefit to the company considering that it means lower employee turnover rates, which then means reduced expenses for finding and training new employees. It is also proven that companies with experienced and solid workforce are more stable amidst economic struggles than those companies who always have to deal with employee turnover.

More Satisfied Workers

Employees who receive training from experienced executives typically have a sense of pride from being mentored by the experts. This translates to the building of their self-esteem and confidence. When this happens, the kind of work that they do is better and more efficient. In addition, they feel that they are growing with the company and are becoming more valuable members of the organization. 

In many cases, mentoring is what helps workers determine their career pathways. Mentees appreciate the guidance that they get, and their performance levels go up significantly. More importantly, they feel more than willing to serve as the mentor for other younger employees in the future.

Career Planning: Preparing For Roadblocks Ahead

Creating a clear career plan is one of the best ways you can identify whatever it is that you need to advance in your career. Not only this, effective career planning will also serve as your road map to achieving your goals.

As you do career planning for building a great career, you should focus not only on the positive steps you need to take to develop your skills. It is important that you also prepare yourself for the roadblocks and pitfalls that may eventually come your way.

AGE

Needless to say, age is one of the main factors employers look at when hiring employees. Although being an older employee can be an advantage because you have the experience that others don’t, there are still certain traits of older workers most employers don’t prefer. For instance, it is generally believed that older people are not so enthusiastic about learning new computer skills and how to use modern tools and gadgets. Older employees also tend to be concerned about the benefits they can get from their employers. Thus, if you decide to change careers or jobs after hitting middle age, be ready to receive fewer benefits than younger workers.

EXPERTISE OR KNOWLEDGE

Regardless of whether you already have a college degree, this doesn’t mean that you have the particular knowledge or background required for a certain career. Knowledge here pertains to your education, training, experience and certification. Therefore, you have to keep an open mind to the possibility that you may need to take additional courses or undergo specialized training programs in the future so that you may qualify for the job you are targeting.

TRENDS

As we all know, it is hard to predict how stable a company will be a couple of years from now. It seems that every industry is vulnerable to economic turmoil and instability. It is, therefore, important that you develop various transferable skills, which you can use in any kind of job or industry. Also, you should keep yourself up-to-date with all the trends and changes in the industry you want to engage in. This way, you will have an idea of what the future of your profession will be like.

EXPERIENCE

Most employers prefer job candidates who have vast experience in certain fields. But this doesn’t mean that they favor job hoppers. There is a big difference between a person who keeps on switching jobs and a person who has spent many good years in various industries. If you get rejected for a job because you lack experience, don’t get discouraged. Like what coaching and mentoring experts advise job seekers, take the time to explore other opportunities where you can also gain valuable experience.