What to Expect in Your Office in 2019

What to Expect in Your Office in 2019 At the start of 2018, Perkbox made a series of HR predictions around workplace trends likely to arise throughout the year. Looking back, many of these came to fruition. We saw millennials turn into a much less misunderstood generation than previously, people analytics became an increasingly important asset for HR decision-making, with mental wellbeing turning into a key theme for Davos 2019. So we thought we would do this all over again this year! What are we expecting to be the main trends coming to your workplace in this 2019? And more importantly, how can we address (or embrace) them to secure the best for our staff? Let’s find out! Time to tackle the presenteeism epidemic Presenteeism is an issue creating an increasing financial burden on companies and costing the UK economy a staggering average of £77bn/year when combined with the costs of absenteeism. The CIPD has reported on the scale of the problem, showcasing that over the last 12 months 86 percent of UK employees have observed this phenomenon in their organization directly or indirectly. Reduced productivity and the spreading of illnesses to others in the office were amongst the most obvious effects reported as a result. A conscious effort to shift this trend will be required in 2019 in order to tackle this issue. Attempts were already seen last year with policies such as ‘flexible working’ entering the mainstream, aiming to improve work-life balance., According to a report by the International Working Group, more than two-thirds of global employees got to enjoy this practice at least once a week in 2018, and over 50% did so for at least half of their working week. But this in itself isn’t enough to tackle the Presenteeism epidemic. In fact, some people may suffer from Presenteeism more now that they know their boss isn’t always aware of what they’re up to (working remotely). Investing heavily in mental health initiatives such as EAPs, mental health first aiders, counseling and online GPs for staff will be a good way of pushing for more ways to tackle this  issue, encouraging employees to seek help when needed. Examples of companies ahead of this trend include Innocent Drinks, who give all their employees a free gym membership  encouraging them to enjoy a proper break over lunch or after work, while Netflix has an unlimited vacation scheme in place offering new moms and dads up to one year paid time off (a rare thing, particularly in the US). The rise of the eco-workplace Having seen the war on plastic hotting up significantly this last year, we also predict the rise of eco-workplaces turning mainstream in 2019. We saw companies such as Wetherspoons and All Bar One banning plastic straws in 2018, while supermarkets like Iceland pledged to be plastic free by 2023. We anticipate ‘green thinking’ playing a key role in company culture with initiatives such as a ‘Bring Your Own Reusable Bottle (BYORB)’, green electricity and paperless offices becoming the new norm. If you haven’t yet done so, thinking about introducing recycling bins and replacing plastic cups and cutlery with ceramic and stainless steel versions is a good starting point. Other examples include incentivizing green commuting (walking, biking, carpooling, or taking public transit to the office), having a paperless office and creating monthly green challenges. At Perkbox, we’ve also found setting up our own #being_green Slack channel, to share all our ideas on how to make our office more environmentally friendly really useful! Creating a culture of psychological safety We also expect 2019 to be a year where we see a movement by employers towards a culture of psychological safety. This will be key in counteracting imposter syndrome as it reports epidemic levels in UK workplaces for the first time ever, estimating to have affected 62% of UK employees in 2018. Perhaps 2019 will see a movement similar to #MeToo for ‘impostor syndrome’, as the concept gains public awareness and enforcement. Tips to help employees overcome imposter syndrome at work include sharing your own personal experiences as managers showing that you also have your highs and lows, your strengths and weaknesses and that no knowledge is absolute, as well as providing support for employees to open to their fears through tools such as Employee Assistance Programmes and in-house mental health first aiders. 2019 has only just commenced and with this, so has the opportunity to make your workplace a happier one. Take note and start the progress. Everyone has the power to create their own trends and make a meaningful difference. So what are you waiting for? 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.  

10 Best Planners for 2019 - Classy Career Girl

10 Best Planners for 2019 Its here! Every year we release our top 10 planners list in the beginning of November. Its one of the highlights of our work here at Classy Career Girl. We share a love of PLANNERS with so many of you and we take putting together this list very seriously. Our research begins in the summer when we seek feedback from members of the Classy Career Girl Network Facebook group as well as trying out all the planners ourselves. The big difference this year (2019) is that only 3 of the planners from last years list (2018) made our 2019  list! This year we really took feedback from our readers seriously and we only included the planners that multiple people mentioned in our polls. We also looked for new and unique planners that you may not have even heard of before. We also added a new category, a daily planner list. Most of the planners we see are annual planners but we love seeing brands think creatively to provide solutions to our daily needs too. We know many of you wait for this list to be released each year before purchasing your planner and so many of you have been asking us when this list is coming out! Are you ready to save time, reach your goals, and be happy? Order The NEW Create Your Future Planner from Classy Career Girl.     Lets get down to planner business and introduce you to our final list of winners! 10 Best Planners for 2019 Erin Condren Life Planner  is the best-selling coiled book with a completely customizable look! Whether youre using it to achieve long-term goals or simply want to remember important birthdays appointments, its a great planner for you.   You can build your planner just  the way you want it and find a style that fits you perfectly. You have the option to choose between weekly planning layouts, embrace a color scheme, customize your cover coil; there are just so many ways to plan your days! Passion Planner  aims to  increase your productivity by organizing your life to focus on your goals.   What I love about it is their program called get one, we give one. With your purchase, you are helping someone else go to college, land their dream job, find their passion, achieve their goals. Day Designer’s daily planner  is a simple and easy system created to help women find balance, focus, and increase productivity. Their 2019 daily planner  is available in their best-selling floral and pattern designs. Whether you’re a working professional, full-time mom, or a diligent student, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and pulled in a million directions. So, you can make every day into a little vacation with this 2019 daily planner. Ponderlily  planners  focus  on To-Be lists rather than To-Do lists.  Their planners are designed for nurturing balance and a growing desire to challenge the way organizational products. Through a combination of elegant design, engaging prompts and a desire for focusing on positive planning. Simplified Planner  is perfect if youre looking for a beautiful, minimal, well-organized planner.   The planners are beautiful, joyful agenda for busy women in all seasons of life. Designed minimally on purpose, its open pages serve as a fresh start every day. It  features luxurious Mohawk Via Smooth paper and a gold wire-o  binding. Personalize your planner with Plum Planner and explore the size and layouts that best fits for your planning needs.  Design your Planner Cover, Weekly Layout and begin your Planner in ANY month of the year. You can even add up to 6 additional months to your planner and a variety of add-on sections available such as Meal Planning, Fitness Planning, Budget Planning, and more. They also have a teacher and student bundles that you might be interested in. Inkwell Press offers planners, agendas, and organizers to help guide you to your peak productivity and achieve your goals. You can also customize a Productivity Planner  with multiple planner formats including daily planning, weekly planning, goal setting and more, you can create the ideal planner to fit your lifestyle. With the liveWELL 360 ° disc planning system, pages can be added or removed to make planning your busy life easier and more productive. That is very convenient! Bullet Journal:  Whether you’ve used a Bullet Journal before or just considering on getting it, The Bullet Journal Method will show you how to go from passenger to pilot of your life through intentional living.  The most interesting part is they have a built-in guide, an 8-page  Bullet Journal guide  will teach you everything you need to get started  or  help refresh your memory down the line. The Ink+Volt Planner (formerly the Spark Planner)   has now become a passionate community of people enthusiastic about productivity, goals, and success. Their  best-selling yearly planner is back, and it has everything you need to make 2019 your best year yet.  These limited edition planners are elegant with a vintage touch. Golden Coil is focused on creating individualized planners, notebooks, notepads, and other various planning products for people looking to simplify their planning process and plan the way they want to. Each order is created and fulfilled on-demand as all planners are completely customizable, with no two planners being the same (unless that is what you want). NEW ADDITION FOR 2019: Top Planner for Daily Planning The Work With Intention Daily Planning Notebook by Cube Appeal is a great tool built around core time management principles designed to help you plan your day at work, manage your time and projects, and get more accomplished. Honorable mention: In our polls, our readers listed so many wonderful planners. Honestly, it was very hard for us to choose our top 10. We decided this year to make a list of honorable mentions to give you a few more options to check out too! Happy Planner Bestself  Journal She Plans Hustle Daily Planner From Start Planner Daily Greatness Planner Bloom Daily Vision Planners Lilly Pulitzer Websters Pages   Ruth Soukops Living Well Planner Ban.do   Perfectly Planned Planner by Carrie Co. There is no one perfect planner for all people. Everyone is different and thats why this list is so important for us to do each year. You have to find the right fit for you. Creating this post this year was incredibly exciting for our team because we are putting the finishing touches on our own first physical planner, Classy Career Girls Create Your Future 90-Day Planner.  We can now say that we thoroughly understand how hard these brands work on every detail of every page.combing through and making sure that each letter, font and design is perfect. A big thank you to all of these planner brands who work tirelessly so we can be more productive and organized. Thanks for putting such beautiful products out into the world! We cant wait to see what you have in store for us next year! ??

Report Says Avg. Graduate Salary £29,000. Most Graduates Look Amused.

Report Says Avg. Graduate Salary £29,000. Most Graduates Look Amused. So, by now, those of you in the Careers sector know that High Fliers Research have published their The Graduate Market in 2013 report. Hold your thoughts, dont go ballistic yet. For those of you who dont know, High Fliers Research actually release quite good and in-depth reports around the careers and graduate employment industries. On 14 January 2013 they published The Graduate Market in 2013, which I have duly covered in various posts under the GM2013 Series have a read. Report States Avg. Graduate Starting Salary £29,000 Most of the media and careers critics have picked up on this figure. When I first read this figure, I was shocked. In my mind I was thinking of all my friends who are doing graduate jobs getting paid up to £6,000 less than the above stated figure. I am a direct entry, so I ruled myself out of this research. So I went about digging into it a bit. I downloaded the 34-page report and started reading. Now, in my day job, I look at data and do magic with it. But when I realised how the Avg. Graduate Salary of £29,000 is calculated, the first word that came to my mind was ********* (my editor has not given me permission to use cheeky language). The truth is this average graduate salary is calculated only surveying the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers! So what? Well, its like averaging how much billionaires earn and then saying the average worker earns gazillion dollars a year. No, that is not true, only a very small minority earn that much. But, you know what will happen now? This figure will be brandished around. People will go, hell yeah, glad uni students pay £9k a year, they will earn much more later. I couldnt care less about those people. What worries me is, an average graduate, just like me, who knows he or she is not a BP or Barclays Investment material, will still expect to earn some where around that figure. Dude or dudette, if you are reading this, then set your hopes a bit more realisticly. To conclude this section, I wouldl like to reiterate the conclusions of Chris Phillips, UK Information and Research Director, GTI Media 1. The actual median starting salary for graduates is lower than £29K 2. Most graduates will not find their first job with employers who have contributed to this survey Graduate Market Data Analysis 2013 You know, generally, apart from the average graduate salary thing, The Graduate Market in 2013 provides good insight into the trend that we might see across graduate recruitment. I dont think I want to go into details and neither do I want to surf the cumbersome HESA website for information, but this year there will be more than 300,000 students graduating. There are 100s of graduate employers in the UK. A lot lot more than the 100 that this survey researched. If you are a graduate, remember, you need to look outside the big names. And take a different path sometimes. As a student, I used to pick up a guide from my careers service and start applying to companies from page 1 to n of that guide. Then I realised what crap I was actually doing. Instead, I started free-flowing applications! Whats that? Simple you think of a name and go apply. I remember the first name that came to my mind was Ferrari. I checked, they had closed their applications. Then I though ok, Mercedes, Red-Bull and every other team in the F1. Funny enough, not one of those companies actually make it to any graduate employers list. They are small, probably recruit 2-4 graduates (if any), but somebody has to apply, you know. Then I looked up some local engineering companies and they did have opportunities! Thats the bottom line of this post. They key is to read these and take them as trends, rather than hard core figures. You will get a job. A majority of you will definitely get less than £29,000, but then its as well as saying you will earn less than the lowest paid CEO in the UK. So, next time someone tells you that the average graduate salary is £29,000, tell them ******** (again, my Editor has censored cheeky language). But otherwise, have a read of the report, it has an awful lot of good stuff! Click on the GM2013 series below and see how much useful information they have published for you to target. The avg graduate salary is a small part of it, and to be honest, it is true to some extent. Just that the rest of the world is too lazy to make an effort reading their report. Tweet me at @freeman_faiz and I will tell you what that ******** word is. And do leave your thoughts in the comments. To view this animated banner you need to have Flash Player 9 or newer installed and JavaScript enabled. BannerSnack is a GIF banner creator that allows you to create cool GIF banners. 0

Get More Speaking Gigs Write a One-Sheet

Get More Speaking Gigs Write a One-Sheet One of the best free ways to market your personal brand to your target audience is to take on speaking engagements in your field. I do this quite a lot in the London meetup circuit and I would like to share some tips on how to get booked to talk. When you speak before a group of people, you generate lots of interest and you will have plenty of opportunities to chat with potential employees, customers, partners, investors etc. Compare this to a normal meeting where you do your pitch to one or two people, it’s obviously more efficient to do it to ten or twenty prospects in one go. Expert status: By giving talks on specific topics you establish yourself as an expert or even a thought leader. Being seen as someone that really knows their stuff will lead to increased interest from peers and customers. The more you are seen, the more you are likely to be mentioned and interviewed in the media, both online and offline. If you have a site or a blog, you will notice that your visitor stats can skyrocket after a good speech. Your increased exposure will in turn lead to more enquiries, business and hopefully allow you to increase your rates. How to get speaking engagements: How do you pitch yourself and your speaking prowess to meetups, seminars and conferences? You obviously have to find out who does the bookings of speakers. The best way to convince this person to book you is by sending over a speaker one-sheet, basically a one pager outlining what you talk about and why they should book you. Just like a resume is screened by an employer, the speaker sheet will be reviewed by the event planner and it needs to provide this person with enough compelling information to get you booked in. Here are the main five bits of content your speaker fact sheet should contain: Name and photo You will need a photo that brings out your personality and stays consistent with the topics you are proposing to speak about. The photo is critical to your personal brand as images tend to be remembered long after the text. Topics and benefits What exactly do you speak about? List a few of your ‘greatest hits’ talks and how they were received. What are the benefits to the audience, why do they need to listen to you? You can write what problem you are looking to solve and what others thought of your presentations. Bio The short biography will tell the reader what you have done in the past, what makes you an expert on your topic and where you have spoken recently. Just like your normal bio, make sure to stay concise, write what you do for others and back it up with evidence. Drop any prominent names that you think could be familiar to the reader. More on bios at 8 Steps To Writing a Professional Bio. Contact information Your call to action has to be followed up with your contact details. Give the reader a range of options to contact you (phone, email, site, social media etc) so that they can use their preferred method. Testimonials This is where you let others sing your praises. List quotes from previous event planners and even audience members. Make sure to include glowing testimonials from a diverse set of people, so that any reader will be able to relate to the feedbacks you have received. Final Note Having a great looking speaker one-sheet doesn’t mean you now should spray and pray it to every event planner in town. Take your time to research the individual and personalize your message as best you can. Follow up with a phone call to make sure they have received it and to create some urgency. Best of luck with your speaking campaign!

Getting a Job - Tips For Writing a Cover Letter

Getting a Job - Tips For Writing a Cover LetterGetting a job can seem like a dream for many young professionals who want to get their first cover letter. When it comes to getting hired on, a good cover letter is a must and should never be overlooked.The importance of a good cover letter is often overlooked. Even if you are not applying for a job, but simply wanting to look for a job, there are a few things that you need to know before starting the process.The first thing that you need to do is familiarize yourself with the letter that you will be submitting. This is important because no matter what type of cover letter that you get, it needs to speak in one concise manner to the reader. They need to be able to identify with the information that you are presenting without having to struggle to figure out what you mean.The second thing that you need to know about writing a cover letter is that it should not be very long. Too many people choose to write a long cover letter to make them look better, but it doesn't work that way. Your goal should be to write the letter in such a way that your reader will be forced to read more of it, which makes them think about what you are offering them.There are other things that you need to consider when writing a cover letter. One of the most important things is to always take your time when completing the letter. Don't just go ahead and throw everything in and hope that it will just magically come out alright.Another important thing to remember is that you should always make sure that your letter is well written. Most people only think about how to make it seem professional at the beginning, but you want to make sure that you spend enough time developing a great story for them to latch onto. Just don't overdo it!The last thing that you need to remember is that the best way to write a cover letter is to use a paper and a memo pad. You will want to jot down everything that you feel needs to be included so that you will be able t o start developing a powerful letter.With these tips in mind, you will now be able to put together a cover letter that will get your resume noticed. Remember, the key to getting hired is to create a well-written letter.

Finding Inside Connections to Help With Your Job Search

Finding Inside Connections to Help With Your Job Search In order to stand apart from the crowd and get your resume to the top of the heap, youve heard you should find inside connections to help grease the wheels! You want to be a known candidate, not nameless or faceless set of keywords. But your question is how do I do this? Find a Job. Find a Connection. Lets say you are surfing Indeed, or one of your favorite job posting sites, and you find a great job. What next? You could submit your resume and cover letter and hope and pray that your qualifications are impressive enough to generate a phone call from the company. OR you could find someone you know who works for that company to provide you with the inside scoop about why the position is available, what skills and qualifications are most important and any other insider information they can provide. Sometimes, dare I say often, job postings dont tell the whole story. The information you gather will hopefully allow you to better customize the material you submit.   In some cases, you may even find the company has an employee referral program which encourages your contact to forward your resume along.  How to Find Connections? Long ago, it would take a massive network (or a very well connected network) and lots of phone calls and emails to get a company insider name.   However, LinkedIn has made finding contacts and connections increasingly easier. If you need more help in using LinkedIn to people you may know at hiring companies you can read Find the Back Door for a Job Posting Using LinkedIn. Hopefully, you are constantly growing your LinkedIn network with purpose. In other words, you are connecting with people you know.   Just in case you need some reminders, here are a couple of posts for you to check out: 3 Ways for Job Seekers to Find People to add to their LinkedIn Network What NOT to Say When You Ask to Connect with Someone on LinkedIn

Résumé Format- Sink or Swim - Pathfinder Careers

Résumé Format- Sink or Swim - Pathfinder Careers Résumé Format- Sink or Swim I just booked a client who had been tinkering with their résumé, even after another writer had worked on it. The result? A rather busy mess that actually sounded pretty good once I got past the entire jumble. The key was that I had to really focus hard on trying to get past the confusing design elements to get to the meat of what he was presenting. No employer is going to want to take a lot of time to navigate messily-laid out résumés. Either you ‘hook’ an employer in the first six seconds, or you don’t, and a lot of that has to do not only with what you say, but how you lay it out in this document. Apparently, this person has been sending the document out for the past six months with no results… and I have a very good idea as to why that job seeker hasn’t gotten any responses! Sleek, clean résumés that have the right amount of aesthetic white space are innately more attractive to readers. Getting the proper look and feel takes a bit of spatial panache and not everyone who is a good writer has a good grasp of graphics, and vice versa. Some tips to remember when designing a résumé is to remember this: What are the major categories of information that you are presenting? Each category below should be considered a different ‘block’ of information, so these are natural breakpoints in terms of design elements (so you can break them out separately): 1) Contact info 2) Positioning statement 3) Career expertise (skill set) 4) Professional Experience or Relevant History 5) Education 6) Affiliations / Involvement Creating space between each one of these blocks helps alert the reader that the previous section is now complete and that you are moving on. Other things to consider when designing a résumé include the type of font you are using, the size of font, and consistent formatting throughout the document. That includes things like if you begin listing your work experience like this: Supersmart University â€" Washington, D.C. Research Assistant, 1994-1999 Every design element remains the same that you would use for listing subsequent jobs â€" including the different types of dashes, italicizing the job title, and including the state (or district) abbreviation. Little things do matter, and if you end up not thoroughly going through this document and standardizing how you present information, or even have multiple types of fonts that don’t mesh well, your entire résumé can come across as distracted, unprofessional, and quite unappetizing to prospective employers. By working to build an efficient use of space within your résumé, and combining clear, concise and accomplishments-oriented statements, you have just boosted your chances of making it to the interview pile!