Preparing to be Back in the saddle

No one wants to find themselves in an odd situation. Again. You never want to be without a job. Again! I have written about lay-offs before and I have subtly referred to it as well as talked about my own experience. Approaching the end of 2009, I started this site as a result of company restructuring. I was notified on a Friday in 2009 so TGIF doesn’t mean quite the same thing to me anymore. Toward the 3^rd quarter of 2010 I found a position that worked. Over the last 2 years it has been great. I have learned a lot. I was able to teach just as much.

Now I am looking for a position again. So what’s up?

I have enjoyed working for Standard Register. I would love to continue working for them because it is a great fit. A great team. A great company. But with any company times are difficult. With the company’s recent announcement of cutting up to 15% of the workforce I am in preparation mode.  Over the last 2 years I have worked to contribute toward sustainability. Increasing not only the performance of the individuals I worked with, but also their understanding of the people across the business…

… here I am, ready for you!!!

In light of the news I am weighing my options and that means I am making myself available, so…

An experienced human resources and training professional, I hold an MBA and a solid background with large and small companies in the areas of Business to Business solutions, Manufacturing and Fortune 500. I have a real ability in speaking, formal communications and have a deep interest in venturing into External Relations and PR. I believe I would be pretty great at it. With my more recent Social Media, virtual WebEx and salesforce.com implementation experience, the technical side is not to difficult for me to master either.

So What I am Looking For?

• My core experience has been working within the business and with the people from the front line to the glass ceiling. I am most experienced in training, human resources and business strategy. I am very proud of being able to talk the language of business and the language of people!
• I love working in performance management and the training side of the business. However, I also have transferable skills that would seamlessly transition into Corporate Communications and External Relations.
• I am based in Cincinnati, OH. For me now, working locally or in the Dayton, OH area would be ideal but telecommuting with travel would be an option.
• I would like to work with a company that allows me the opportunity to build value for their customers and to reach out to their employees using social media. It would be an added bonus to continue writing in my blog as well.
• I am open to a full-time employment, consultant based or project based roles.
• The best thing is that my entire team and many of the people who I worked with offer their references… so you should feel confident I am a great hire!

If you have read something that builds your interest in adding me as a valuable member of your team, please feel free to contact me. You can find out more by reviewing my LinkedIn profile or downloading a PDF of my Resume. And if you want to get in touch with me, please do so.

This Blog: I have been writing this blog for about 2 years which has allowed me to stay in touch with my area of expertise, deal with challenging topics, and leverage the connections and conversations. I have built these into some strong and beneficial business collaborations and partnerships. Through it I have been able to do gain great feedback and conversation. It has been a great experience.

“Just because you don’t have work… doesn’t mean you don’t have work to do!”

and I’ve got work to do!

Some employers think they don’t have to worry about the exodus of employees leaving the four walls of their organization whether it be due to the economy, fear, or complacency. However, even with a 8.5% + unemployment rate, your best employees always have an opportunity to leave.

With everyone getting into the New Year spirit of Resolutions… I am sure that finding another job in a perceived better company is one of those resolutions. I guarantee you this one may not die as quickly as their new gym membership!

Here are a 7 signs they may be leaving you….

This is a selfish moment. As a result of this moment…

I will be stepping on my soapbox!

Here it goes…

To those writing/speaking on “How to get Exec/#CEO buy-in.” How many of you talk often w/ Exec team…. I didn’t think so! #trenchHR

December 2, 2011 12:55 PM via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@BenjaminMcCall

Benjamin McCall

There are a lot of people out there writing articles. Practitioners, employees and consultants preaching the “How To’s:

• How to… talk to the C-Suite
• How to… give your CEO what he wants
• How to… deal with the leadership team
• How to… speak their language
• How to… tie HR to the bottom line of the business
• How to… build a case for the president…
• and so on and so on.

Some of it is good advice and much of it is crap. The bottom line: every executive, leadership and business unit head is different. What they face dependant on industry, employee population and customer can range. There are multiple factors. I understand that if you have no foundational understanding that these articles and this talk may help. But at the very core of these conversations is the idea or belief that you will receive some sort of ‘Silver Bullet’ to know exactly what you need to do in every situation.

My advice before taking any of this advice…

Tread lightly!

Before you take anyone’s advice, first ask yourself or those who write and/or speak about anything related to “How do you get the Executive team or CEO’s buy-in?” this

…”How often do you talk with an Executive team member or the CEO?” or “How often do they speak to you?”

My gamble would be that these individuals do not speak to them often or often enough. What you need to have above all else is ACCESS.

Of course this is just my thought process and also the reason why I will be…

Stepping down from my soap box now!

Often we are not really that busy. More often then not, when any of us complain that we never have enough time it is really stemmed from the fact that we DON’T take enough time to just focus on a few things and get the project or task completed or over with. Now just imagine how much time the following things take:

• complaining
• pointing fingers
• waiting on someone else to make a decision
• waiting on someone else to give instructions
• waiting on someone else…
• blaming
• offering opinion and suggestions but never any alternative actions
• etc, etc…

When all you really need to do is (1) sit down (2) organize your priorities and (3) complete them in order!

Who knows maybe if you did that huge pile of “too busy” will become an empty stack of “relief”

Don’t over complicate things by making things over-complicated!