ABR Blog

To get ahead in  this world, you have to “put your best foot forward.”  But, there’s a fine line between respectable self-promotion and shameless bragging.  So how do you use self-promotion to advance your career, without coming across as a show-off?  Use these quick tips to tactfully toot your own horn:

1. Realize that context is everything.  To successfully self-promote, your comments need to be relevant to the conversation.  Bringing up your latest success while your boss is talking about his favorite TV show will not earn you any points.  Bide your time until the conversation switches gears.  Research has shown that once a topic has been raised, a subsequent boast is not viewed as inappropriate – because it’s in context.
2. Wait for the right moment.   Believe it or not, it is okay to steer a conversation toward a topic relevant to your accomplishment.  However, changing topics doesn’t give you license to just blurt out what you’ve done.  Be patient and wait until your conversation partner asks a question that gives you the opening you need.
3. Be a tortoise, not a hare.  Self-promotion is about building a long-term reputation for yourself; establishing trust and respect in your workplace (or the marketplace).  So get in it for the long-haul by making self-promotion a habit.  Set daily goals for doing something small – sharing an idea, reaching out to someone, showing up at an event – and measurable results will follow in time.
4. Promote your ideas.  Beyond talking up accomplishments, you should also spread your ideas, concepts and vision.  By promoting your ideas (as opposed to just your deeds) you will give co-workers and superiors something to support – without being “turned off” or threatened by your success.
5. Know yourself.  Are you like most people, who err on the side of caution and don’t talk themselves up enough?  Or are you the type who tends to talk easily about yourself and your accomplishments?  If you’re unsure, ask a trusted friend into which end of the spectrum you fall.  The art of successful self-promotion depends upon having the self-knowledge to realize when to toot your own horn, and when to let your actions speak for themselves.

Let ABR Employment Services help you put your best foot forward.  When you come in for an interview, our experienced staffing specialists will learn about your skills, interests, experience and needs – then show you where your strengths lie.  We can help you master the art of self-promotion and find the perfect employment opportunity.  Just give us a call.

As a manager, you know that empowered employees:

• have the authority, and take the initiative, to make sound business decisions;
• are energetic, passionate and committed to doing a great job;
• are creative and innovative problem solvers;
• continually strive to improve quality, productivity and morale;

all because they feel personally rewarded for doing so.

But while the benefits of empowerment are clear, the steps to creating an empowered workplace may not be.  Use these quick tips to get your business started on the right path:

1. Understand what empowerment really is.  Empowerment isn’t something you do to people.  It’s an environment you create by giving employees goals, information, feedback, training and positive reinforcement.
2. Identify an opportunity for empowerment.  Start small.  Create a work team by selecting a few key employees who have the right skills, knowledge and resources to complete a small test project.  This project should be challenging enough to allow your staff to grow and take on additional responsibilities.
3. Set clear expectations.  Let your employees know what to do and how to do it.  Factors to consider include:  deadlines, channels for sharing information, methods for delegating authority, and ways to check progress / measure success.
4. Provide decision-making guidelines.  Provide clear instructions for when and how to make good decisions.  Explain when it’s okay to the take initiative and when employees should check with team members first.
5. Encourage open communication.  Information sharing is a critical component of an empowered workplace.  Create an atmosphere in which employees feel comfortable expressing concerns and sharing new ideas.
6. Establish accountability.  Provide the advice, perspective and guidance your team needs, but require them to create and manage their own solutions.  If mistakes are made, do not step in and fix them – use them as opportunities for employees to learn.
7. Let go.  Tough as it may be, don’t micromanage.  Once you’ve established clear expectations and guidelines for the project, it’s time to take your hands off the wheel.
8. Provide positive reinforcement.  For empowerment to permanently take hold in your organization, your employees have to want to do it.  So celebrate the successes (however small) your employees have while working on the test project.  Provide the feedback they need to feel respected and valued in their efforts.
9. Review results, then take it to the next level.  Once the project is complete, assemble your team for a debriefing.  How did the group do?  What worked?  What didn’t?  Use the lessons learned to develop a more comprehensive plan for getting your whole company on the road to empowerment.

An Empowered Workplace Starts with Great People

ABR Employment Services can deliver the talented office, professional, technical and industrial staff you need to create an empowered workplace.

Are you a temporary or contract employee?  Considering taking the plunge?  If so, here are a few key staffing statistics from the American Staffing Association you may find interesting:

• 2.66 million people are employed by staffing companies each day.
• 79% of staffing employees work full-time (virtually the same as the rest of the work force).
• 66% of staffing employees consider flexible work time important.
• 80% of staffing clients say staffing firms offer a good way to find people who can become permanent employees.
• 67% of staffing employees say that “choice of assignments” was an important factor in their job decision.
• 90% of staffing companies provide free training to their temporary and contract employees.
• 65% of staffing employees say they developed new or improved work skills while on assignment.

Want to learn more?

Visit the American Staffing Association’s website to learn more about the staffing industry, or for more employee staffing statistics.

What are your thoughts?

Flexibility.  Experience.  Choice of assignments.  Bridge to permanent employment.  These are just a few of the reasons millions of Americans – and thousands of ABR Employment Services employees - have chosen temporary and contract work.  What are the most important reasons to you?  Please leave your comments below, or contact us directly via our website.