Job Titles - More Than a Meaningless Label

Think about your organization’s structure. Do job titles have clear meanings and consistency? Are they understood in the context of a hierarchy, to ease career planning for your employees? Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for titles to become inconsistent in a large organization over a long period of time, especially if your Human Resources department doesn’t provide and enforce clear guidelines for hiring and promotions.

Signs that your company’s job titles may be out of whack:

• There are Managers and Directors that aren't truly managing or directing anyone or anything.
• People with the same titles are reporting to each other, for example, a Director reporting to a Director.
• Employees want a Manager title, simply because they don’t see any other options to advance in the organization.
• There is general dissatisfaction and confusion among the troops, who don’t understand how jobs relate to each other and how to get from Point A to Point B in their careers.

Management struggling with these issues need to plot a corrective course.

If the organization has good guidelines for hiring and promotions, they should be adhered to without exception. As soon as you make one inexplicable exception, you have set a troublesome precedent. Necessary changes can be planned, documented, and implemented over time.

All jobs must have a fully descriptive, current position description. Every position description should be reviewed and approved by HR, and employees should have a copy of their own.

Everyone needs to understand the paths available to advance their careers. Management should take the time to understand employee interests, aspirations, skills, and experience. Provide input into what they need to do to get from where they are to where they want to be, and help them devise action plans to manage their careers.

Senior management; show the courage to make necessary adjustments when business conditions change. If your organizational structure is not functioning to help you achieve your strategic goals, you may have to adjust roles, responsibilities, and titles. Failure to do so can have long-lasting ill effect.

Like it or not, titles are still important in Corporate America. In addition to compensation levels, other benefits and perks may be attached to levels in the job hierarchy. Once given, they are very hard to take away. Egos are fragile and missteps in this area can be very de-motivating to productive contributors. Take the time to partner with HR, get it right, and reap long-term benefits.

10 More (Proven) Ways to Screw-Up in LinkedIn

My original “10 Ways to Screw-Up Your LinkedIn Presence” article has had hundreds of readers internationally since its posting on 10 June 2009. If you haven’t read it, you can get to it via this link: http://habaconsulting.blogspot.com/2009/06/10-ways-to-screw-up-your-linkedin.html

Over the past 15 months, I have continued to witness glaring issues with how people disrespect their own online profile in LinkedIn. Since so many people are still being lazy or foolish, or simply stubborn procrastinators, it’s time to add more cautionary advice about what NOT to do when maintaining your LinkedIn presence.

1. SKIP PROOFREADING FOR SPELLING/GRAMMAR, especially for your title or headline. This makes a very bad impression on the legions friendly with the Spelling and Grammar Police. No, LinkedIn doesn’t have a facility to help – do your homework yourself.

2. PASTE YOUR RESUME INTO YOUR PROFILE, because you’ve already spent a lot of effort crafting your resume. It’s lengthy, structured, full of technical language specific to your industry, and… woefully devoid of your personality. The purpose of LinkedIn is to connect and interact with all sorts of people, so be more personally engaging in how you present yourself so that people will be interested in getting to know you.

3. LIE ABOUT YOUR EMPLOYMENT STATUS. Some who are unemployed leave their previous employment information in, perhaps because they don’t know how to represent a status of being unemployed. This is not simply lazy; it’s lying. There are many pointers available for truthful alternatives. Search Answers in LinkedIn for creative solutions.
4. INAPPROPRIATE OR TOO FREQUENT STATUS UPDATES drive some people (like me) to hide all of your status updates, forever, out of irritation. I don’t need my LinkedIn page to be “Starring You” every day.
5. SPAM FELLOW LINKEDIN MEMBERS with relentless promotion of yourself or your business. When you need to ask for something, always counterbalance your request by giving a gift of information or assistance.
6. DUELING LINKEDIN & FACEBOOK PROFILES. Prospective customers or employers are going to Google you to find out more about you. When your LinkedIn and Facebook profiles make it seem as though you are two separate people, searchers will wonder who you really are. Are you the experienced and grounded entrepreneur, or the neurotic and scattered hedonist?
7. HIDE YOUR PERSONALITY behind techno-speak and bullet points. Without going too overboard, make sure your profile information reflects your personality. Your headline should be succinct, but attention-getting. Read your summary aloud and consider whether it sounds like how you would speak, or if it is too stilted. Ask a trusted friend/mentor for objective input.
8. CONNECT WITH ANYONE WHO SENDS YOU AN INVITATION merely to pump up the number of people to whom you are connected. Connect only with people you know and respect, through positive face-to-face or online interaction. What good is it to either of you to be connected to a stranger?
9. LET YOURSELF GO STALE. You have a profile in LinkedIn, but haven’t developed it or kept it current. You never log in, and don’t reach out to make connections. Make a decision. You are either all in or all out. You’re not doing yourself or anyone else any favors with halfhearted participation.
10. DISREGARD LINKEDIN RULES AND GUIDELINES as detailed in their User Agreement (which is legally binding).

Now go review your LinkedIn profile again.

Are You Purposefully Positioning Your Online Identity?

A good way to get a snapshot of how your online identity may be perceived is to Google your name. The results could paint a picture of anything from a carefully crafted professional reputation, to an unfortunate jigsaw puzzle of unedited personal flotsam and jetsam worthy of JibJab. You probably cannot control everything that appears in search results, but you can be proactive about influencing them. If you aren’t already doing it, start now. The action you can take comes down to 3 steps: 1. STOP THE BLEEDING: Think twice when creating any new content that can be tied to your real identity. You may want to use a made-up screen name or alter ego to use if you write reviews, comment on blogs, Tweet – unless those activities are work-related and important to your professional brand. Ensure that you have appropriately restrictive security settings on social networking sites. 2. CREATE MORE CONTENT YOU CAN CONTROL: Create a web site, a blog, and profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and/or Google that present you to the world in a positive light. These are sites that will show up prominently in Google results, and your content will push the other stuff further down the list where it is less noticeable. 3. CONTACT WEBMASTERS TO REQUEST REMOVAL OF UNFLATTERING CONTENT: This may not always be possible, but it’s worth a try. Google cannot do this for you. They don’t create the content – they just index it and provide a search mechanism. Keep in mind that most prospective employers today not only review your resume and check your references; they also see if you have a trail on the internet that gives them further insight into your history. Don’t give them an unintended glimpse into activities that would be incompatible with how you want to position yourself professionally.

10 Ways to Screw-Up Your LinkedIn Presence

Social networking is great – I am a devotee of LinkedIn and Facebook. I haven’t Tweeted yet, but will probably have to go there sometime. If you participate on LinkedIn, you have to be consistent in your participation, or your online presence (so important in a today’s professional world) will have negative impact instead of positive impact. Here are 10 ways I most often see people screw up their LinkedIn presence:

1. “CURRENT" EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION IS OUTDATED. You wouldn’t stretch the truth on your resume. Don’t do it on LinkedIn either. It’s inaccurate and shows people that you are lackadaisical about your employment status.
2. EMAIL ADDRESS IS OUTDATED. LinkedIn updates and notifications are emailed to you. You will not receive them if your email address is incorrect.
3. PROFILE LACKS DETAIL about your employment experience. This is what LinkedIn is all about. People will be interested in who you are and what you have done. That’s the whole point of being on LinkedIn.
4. INDISCRIMINANT INVITATIONS to connect to people you don’t really know, just to raise your Connections count. Before sending an invitation to connect, think about WHY a connection to that person will be valuable (to you and to them), and include verbiage about that in your invitation to personalize it.

5. UNFORTUNATE OR UNPROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPH. If you choose to upload a photograph (which is not required), it should be reflective of the professional impression you want to impart. Avoid use of a mug shot or a mobile snapshot taken at a drinking party.
6. ABSENCE OF RECOMMENDATIONS. Professional recommendations/endorsements are an important aspect of rounding out your profile. Don’t be afraid to ask people with whom you have had good working relationships to provide a recommendation.
7. POORLY WRITTEN RECOMMENDATIONS. Following up on the previous point, it will not reflect well on you if someone writes an inarticulate or poorly edited recommendation for you. Do not hesitate to ask for a revision, or do not publish a recommendation that does not suit your needs.
8. JOINING FRIVOLOUS GROUPS. Remember, this is a professional community. Join groups that will provide professional updates and growth to enhance your career and network connections.
9. FLIPPANT OR RUDE POSTINGS to Discussions or Questions posted by other members. If you don’t have anything of value to add, then pass it by. You don’t do your reputation any favors by providing unprofessional input.
10. TAKING WITHOUT GIVING. LinkedIn members are a generous group, on the whole. If you ask for a recommendation, be prepared to offer one in return. If you submit a question and receive helpful answers/advice, be sure to thank respondents and to rate Good or Best Answers. LinkedIn is a community, and the benefits received should be gratefully accepted.

If you are a LinkedIn member, full and professional participation will make the best impression.

© Laurel Anne Bailey 2010

NEW!  10 More (Proven) Ways to Screw-Up in LinkedIn

LinkedIn - A Networking Must

Nothing gets accomplished in the business world without some form of networking. Within a work environment, the relationship you build with each co-worker is a very basic form of networking. Your professional reputation is based on your ability to interact and collaborate effectively with your colleagues. Positive relationships will grow when founded on honesty, reliability, and your dedication to successfully contributing to common goals. But Wikipedia brings to light an interesting and not always recognized aspect of networking. In their definition of “social network” they say, “Smaller, tighter networks can be less useful to their members than networks with lots of loose connections (weak ties) to individuals outside the main network. More open networks, with many weak ties and social connections, are more likely to introduce new ideas and opportunities to their members than closed networks with many redundant ties.” Consider the value of LinkedIn for professional networking. LinkedIn allows you to connect not only with direct and current professional colleagues, but also with “looser” connections, such as vendors, friends, former colleagues, college alumni, and casual acquaintances. Studies show that more career opportunities come from networking with people outside your close sphere of connectivity. It may be that people you work with have you and your abilities pigeonholed, based on their perception of your current job. Acquaintances sometimes find your experience and expertise more interesting and impressive. They can help you make additional connections with professionals with common interests and/or a business need for which you are well suited. Approach your LinkedIn profile as a self-promoting marketing exercise. This is an opportunity to brand yourself. Minimally, provide the facts, just as you would in a resume. In addition, feel free to be creative and let your personality show, by expressing your passions and interests. Take care when establishing your Profile and Contact Settings. For networking purposes, you should allow people to see your Connections, and to send you Introductions and InMail. To further flesh out your profile, consider joining Groups in your areas of interest. (Some of my best networking experiences to date have come from joining my Alma Mater’s Alumni group, and being active in Discussions.) Peruse the questions posted in your areas of expertise and provide value with substantive answers. Sign up to follow blogs that you find enlightening. Share your book reviews and recommendations, using the Amazon Reading List application. In short, participate actively and help people get to know the professional you. Today, a presence on LinkedIn is a must for anyone managing their career and/or a business. This is only one aspect of social networking, but an important first step for those looking to enhance their career profile. For more ideas, see Guy Kawasaki’s blog post: http://blog.linkedin.com/2007/07/25/ten-ways-to-use/

Help From A Pro

While on vacation at a resort in Nevada last week, I decided to take a golf lesson. I had been having some frustrating problems with my swing, and thought a session with a pro might help fix some of my fundamentals. Wow! What a great, productive experience! With the LPGA Pro's observations and guidance, the issues that had been plaguing my game were quickly pinpointed. Through drills and practice - within an hour - I was striking the ball with much improved results. I was so jazzed. Ah, the satisfying "thwack" that you hear and feel when you hit the sweet spot of a golf ball! Sometimes all we need to become more successful is a little collaboration with another expert. In our daily work environment, we can get so caught up in the day-to-day execution of a job we know that we don't embrace the possibility of change to make us more effective and productve. We can become so stretched and harried that we don't make time for constructive thinking. This is when a good consultant can help. Strategic collaboration with a consultant can bring a fresh perspective to your issues and challenges - a catalyst to change. Working with a consultant also gives you the opportunity to offload work, allowing someone else to add value to tasks on your overfull plate. A well-chosen, well-qualified consultant should make you look good - should make you more sucessful - should give you a boost past a rough spot. We all need a little professional help now and again to consistently find that sweet spot. Don't hesitate to search for it.