Money Doesn't Buy Happiness: 2012's Happiest and Unhappiest Jobs

Job satisfaction can highly depend on the type of person and how well they match a position. Count yourself lucky if you are one of those people that genuinely loves your job. Although all jobs can be stressful and trying at times, there are many things that can increase stress levels. Difficult hours, low pay and lack of room for promotion can all act as stress factors and contribute to dissatisfaction on the job.

Have you ever wondered what jobs people are the most happy doing and which ones they are most unhappy doing? Career Bliss just released 2012’s Happiest and Unhappiest Jobs in America lists.

These people LOVE what they do: 

1. Software Quality Assurance Engineer
2. Executive Chef
3. Property Manager
4. Teller
5. Warehouse Manager
6. Administrative Assistant
7. Customer Service Representative
8. Accountant
9. System Engineer
10. Construction Manager

The average salaries for these positions range from 26K to 89k, what’s surprising is that the highest paid positions aren’t the highest ranking positions. Construction Manager is the highest salary at 89K but Teller, being the lowest salary at 26k is ranked higher. I guess money doesn’t really buy happiness!

People in these positions rated the unhappiest:

1. Security Officer
2. Registered Nurse
3. Teacher
4. Sales Engineer
5. Product Manager
6. Program Manager
7. Marketing Manager
8. Director of Sales
9. Marketing Director
10. Maintenance Supervisor

The ‘unhappiest’ positions have a significantly higher salary average, from 40K to 94k. According to Career Bliss, the most common reasons for job dissatisfaction in these positions is limited growth opportunities and lack of rewards.

If you find yourself unhappy in your job, or if you are the manager of an unhappy team, Strata Personnel Solutions offers reliably powerful tools to really make a difference in your happiness and in job satisfaction. But not only do you feel the weight off your shoulders, the organization will thrive!  

Maintaining Momentum Through a Merger

You have heard it through the grapevine- there is going to be a merger. It is often a situation saturated with fear, worry, mystery, and confusion.  Do you know what to do when the company you work for plans to merge with another company? How or will your role within the organization change once the merger has taken place? Mergers can be a scary time for everyone involved. Employees fear the unknown, managers fear an increase in staff and responsibilities, and leaders worry about the change in their company culture.

Instead of letting fear and worry take over, organizational leaders should embrace the change head on and create an action plan that focuses on how to help managers handle additional responsibilities and how to help employees adapt to the new company culture. Strong leadership before, during, and after a merger will ensure that employees and managers are not overlooked and that the new company culture is adopted as quickly as possible.

According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, here are 5 things leaders can do to keep the company moving forward during the merger process:

• Open up communications
  Remember, employees are scared of the unknown. Giving them the opportunity to voice their concerns without fear is essential. Leaders need to provide a way for employees to anonymously ask questions and then make sure they provide answers in a way that employees know that their concerns have been heard.
• Find the true influencers
  It is unrealistic for organizational leaders to speak to each and every employee directly. Leaders should seek out and depend on “influencers” within the company to share the organization’s vision. These people can generate enthusiasm and support for the organization’s plan, calm the fears that employees have about changes that may occur as a result of the merger, and gather feedback about how the process is going.
• Make the integration swift
  A merger can make for a turbulent environment and leaders must brace themselves for difficult decisions regarding workforce redundancies and corporate culture integration. Determining who gets what information, when, and how can be tricky. Leaders should integrate at a systems level as soon as possible. They should make sure employees have all the tools they need to do their job, from cell phones and laptops to key company information like e-mail and phone lists.
• Deliver a clear, concise vision and celebrate success
  Leaders must deliver a clear vision and infuse the “where the company is now, where the company is going and how the company is going to get there” message at every opportunity and at every level. They need to create a culture of enthusiasm and responsibility. It is important to hold employees accountable for their part in making the vision a reality and to celebrate the victories of individuals and teams.
• Expect discomfort
  Leading a company through a merger is always challenging. It usually requires tough decisions to be made about resources and resource allocation. Having an action plan for the merger process will be extremely beneficial, but leaders should expect some discomfort along the way.

A merger can be difficult for both companies involved and how leaders choose to handle the situation can make all the difference in the world. Developing an action plan, opening up the lines of communication, finding influential people to help share the vision, integrating systems as soon as possible, celebrating successes, and expecting some bumps in the road will help leaders make forward progress during a merger.

“It’s now time for all of us- those who supported the merger and those who opposed it- to pull together for the benefit of the company.” – Carly Fiorina (Executive and President of Hewlett-Packard Co. in 1999)

Worthy of the Gold: Business Takeaways from Olympic Athletes

The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad, began a week ago this past Friday and will continue through Sunday.  Between July 27th and August 12^th,  an estimated 10,500 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees will compete for the chance to win an Olympic Medal.

The Olympic athletes can teach us a great deal and many of their lessons can apply to the corporate world as well as the athletic arena.  Persistence, hard work, training, strategy, perseverance, goal setting, and preparedness are all valuable in business as well as in sports. While there are countless lessons to be learned, here are a few key business takeaways from the Olympic athletes:

Training is important!

Athletes train for years for the chance to compete in the Olympics.  Michael Phelps, American swimmer and Olympic athlete since 2004, has one of the most physically demanding training routines ever.  According to an article by Muscle Prodigy, Phelps trains 5-6 hours a day, 6 days a week and swims a minimum of 80,000 meters a week (nearly 50 miles) during peak training phases. His diet consists of more than 12,000 calories a day!

Luckily, business training doesn’t require you to consume 12,000 calories a day or swim 50 miles a week, but it is something that you need to do on a continual basis. The business world is constantly evolving, and as a result so should you. Training is how you can expand and polish your skills, abilities, and experience. You should always take advantage of training and development opportunities provided by your organization, local colleges, or business networks.

Know your competition!

In addition to the countless hours that athletes put into training for the Olympics, they also spend a great deal of time studying their competition.  Jen Kessy and April Ross, one of the women’s American beach volleyball teams, making their Olympic debut this year are taking every opponent seriously.  In their first match, Kessy and Ross found themselves facing an Argentinean team that they had not seen on the FIVB World Tour.  Instead of looking past this team to focus on tougher opponents, they scoured YouTube for video of their Argentinean opponents and studied a Pan American tournament video provided by their coach.

One of the most important things you can do in business is to distinguish yourself from your competition. In order to do that you must learn as much as you can about competing businesses. You need to research and find out what products they sell, what services they provide, what industries are their strongest, what geographic area they cover, etc.  Differentiating your business from similar businesses is a key way to turn prospects in to customers and win market share.

Set goals!

It is a safe bet that the ultimate goal for all Olympic athletes is to win a gold medal; however, they have had to establish and achieve many other goals before getting the opportunity to compete in the Olympics.  For Ariel Hsing, American table tennis player, not all goals on her Olympic journey have been related to her sport. Ariel has had to focus on academic goals as well as sports-related goals.  Since elementary school, Ariel’s parents have required her to get straight A’s in order for her to keep playing table tennis.  Now a junior in high school, Ariel has, so far, managed to hold up her end of the deal but admits that it hasn’t always been easy.

Goals are a crucial part of building your self-confidence as they give you strength and assurance about what you are doing presently and in the future.  They allow you to take control of your life and career, and live it to the fullest.  Even more so, clear and compelling goals provide focus and direction for your actions at any given time.  Make sure you set smaller goals that will help you achieve your ultimate goal; create milestones with dates that you can work on daily, weekly, and monthly.  Prioritize your goals now and make them work for you! Invest in your present moments so they can produce a future return on investment.

The Summer Olympics only occur every four years, but the lessons demonstrated by the athletes can be applied to your professional and personal life year-round!

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” - Pierre de Coubertin (primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1894)