Govig and Associates Podcast

There are four important steps you need to follow in order to do your annual career inventory. First, look at your current career today and ask yourself: Are you challenged? Are there possibilities for promotion in the future and are you well-positioned in terms of having an advocate internally who can help you with your career opportunities? Next, look at your compensation. Think of it like you’re doing your taxes and look to see what you’ll earn this year and whether it’s competitive within the industry. If you don’t know that, you should do enough research to understand where your compensation is in terms of the range that is possible. After that, look at your network. You’ll need to know who your mentors are, whether you’re effectively staying in touch with your network, and whether you should add an association or change one association out for another one or attend different conferences. You need to pay strong attention to who your network is and whether you’re keeping that network well-informed and active. “Make sure your network is strong and keep up with innovation.” Lastly, assess current market trends and any changes and innovations occurring within your industry. Ask yourself if you’re competitive against those changes and innovations. Is there training you can do, skills you should acquire, or conferences you should attend to increase the number of skills you have? Over time, you need to remain competitive as things change. If you have any questions about how to do your annual career inventory, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to help you.

Over the past year, I have noticed a few trends related to mental and behavioral health. This area of healthcare has become more highly discussed in the United States recently. Mental disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder and schizophrenia) and behavioral disorders (e.g., addiction) have been making headlines with increasing frequency. Even President Trump’s motion to declare the opioid epidemic a public health emergency shows us clearly that these issues are on the rise, and many Americans are suffering. Now, I’d like to share some statistics that help better outline the severity of these issues. About 45.1 million adults were identified as having a mental illness in the United States last year. Of those adults, about 11 million have a mental illness that could be categorized as “severe.” According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, over 8.9% of people have co-occurring disorders. This means they suffer from both mental illness and substance abuse. Up to one in four primary care patients suffer from depression, yet primary care doctors identify less than one-third of these patients. People with psychotic and bipolar disorders are 45% and 26% less likely, respectively, to have a primary care doctor than those without a mental illness. Studies suggest that about 25% of all adults in the US have some form of mental illness and that nearly 50% of US adults will develop at least one mental illness in their lifetime. “It is essential that we continue to drive awareness of these issues.” Since 2016, the accidental death rate has been climbing largely due to the surge in opioid overdoses. Over 64,000 drug overdose-related deaths were reported in 2016, and overdose-related deaths have now overtaken motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of accidental death. With these statistics in mind, there is one fact we cannot ignore: There is a serious mental health workforce shortage in the United States. In states with the smallest mental health workforce, there are six individuals with at least one mental health disorder for every one mental healthcare professional. These professionals include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counselors, psychiatric nurses, and more. Mental health disorders are now more common than both heart disease and cancer. With the emergence of telehealth technology, there’s a big opportunity for providers to expand their reach and increase the scope of treatment for their patients. It is essential that we continue to drive awareness of these issues and seek innovative solutions to handling the multitude of issues associated with mental illness. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Today, I’m here to discuss LEED certification and how it can impact your organization. “Green building practices” is one of the most popular buzzwords in today’s market, and with good reason. Did you know that it’s estimated that over $200 billion is going to be spent on green projects in 2018? With that comes an increase in employment. In 2014, there were two million roles that were specific to green building projects. In 2018, it’s estimated that will increase by 1.1 million, resulting in about 3.3 million roles in the green building industry. That equates to about $76 billion in wages. Companies are looking at how they can stay competitive. One of the areas that we’re finding to be the most significant in terms of success is that they’re offering to pay for LEED certification opportunities with their current employees. “It’s estimated that over $200 billion is going to be spent on green projects in 2018.” In turn, it’s showing the employee that the company is loyal to their future education.It’s also helping the company by having the opportunity to win these projects or be involved in them from a product perspective. If you would like to know more, please feel free to reach out to me directly.

So you’ve gone through the interview process and have received multiple job offers. First off, let me say congratulations. Once the celebration is over, you’ll need to make a decision. Here are five key factors to consider when determining which choice is going to be the best for you: 1. Your long-term career goals. You not only want to focus on what the job gives you today, but also where it puts you down the road. Don’t just think about those immediate results. Think about where you’ll be five or 10 years from now if you accept the job. Ultimately, you want to find more than a job. You want to find a career. 2. Salary. The simple answer here is to take the job that pays the most, but it can be more complex than that. Salary isn’t everything. Weigh the salary with the position itself and keep in mind that you can always negotiate. “People don’t quit companies, they quit managers.” 3. The workplace culture. If you’ve ever worked with a recruiter before, then you know about the importance of company culture in your decision. Not only is a good culture fit beneficial to you, but it’s also a benefit to the company you choose to work for. 4. Compare the prospective managers. Most of the time, people don’t quit companies – they quit managers. Is the person you’re going to be working for somebody that you can learn and grow from? This person should definitely be a factor in your decision process. 5. Trust your gut. You’ll hear a lot from outside sources that tell you to take a certain job just because it pays more or because you get X or Y benefit. At the end of the day, it’s your decision. If you feel like it’s not the right one or you’re making it for someone else, take a step back and listen to what your gut is telling you. It’s usually right. Deciding between two job offers can be tough, but it’s a much better problem to have than no job offers at all. If you have any questions for me in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

For the past 15 years, I’ve been lucky enough to hire, train, and engage with Millennials. There is a lot of negativity surrounding the subject of Millennials entering the workforce, but today I want to focus on some positives. Actually, millennials can bring a lot of benefits to a work place. First of all, Millennials speak up about questions and concerns that past generations did not. This doesn’t mean they’re entitled, it just means they understand what they need in order to perform and be successful. Many times, Millennials simply want to understand the “why” of what they’re being told to do. When I first joined the workforce, I wasn’t given that “why.” When I was assigned tasks, I was told to just do them, often without clear reason. Millennials won’t just “go do” things. They want to understand why a given task is being asked of them, so that they can perform towards the best result. “Millennials challenge the status quo because they’re always seeking out better alternatives.” The second point I’d like to make is that millennials are disruptors. But, why is this a good thing? I once had a supervisor tell me that it’s just because something had always been done one way, it doesn’t mean that the right way. That was a game changer for me. Millennials understand this. They challenge the status quo because they’re seeking out better alternatives. Finally, Millennials are tech-savvy. In today’s technology-driven society, this is a great thing. Embracing the knowledge and skills of Millennial employees can be greatly beneficial to any business. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

With 2017 quickly coming to a close, companies are looking at their infrastructure and deciding how they want to enter 2018 in order to meet or exceed their sales goals. It’s common in the building products industry, both commercial and residential, for companies to have a go-to market strategy with either independent agents, direct salespeople, or a combination of both. With the companies we deal with, we’re realizing that even the smaller ones need to make the transition from independent agents to direct salespeople in a lot of markets across the country. “Independent agents don’t fully represent your product.” There will obviously be smaller markets where it makes more sense to have independent agents because there is a fixed cost with direct salespeople that you don’t have with independent agents—you only pay them if they sell your product. However, the downside is they don’t fully represent your product specifically in the marketplace. Your time is split between the other products they sell. A lot of companies are looking at the major markets, but they’re also bringing their focus down into the B-level markets where they’re transitioning from independent agents to direct salespeople in order to have a bigger and stronger breakthrough in that marketplace. They believe the growth in sales in those markets will heavily outweigh the small fixed costs involved. If you have any more questions about this topic or you’d like to discuss it further, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We’d love to speak with you.

When I began my career at Govig & Associates, I was an executive recruiter on our Biopharma team. I noticed that a lot of tenured executives would compare interviewing to dating. This was a curious comparison to me, but as I learned more, I realized that they were correct. If it’s time to make a change, whether it be in your dating life or in your career, the steps are actually rather similar. First, you’re going to prospect. You might join an online dating service, access your network, and agree to be set up on some blind dates. Before even agreeing to these, you’ll probably research that person on social media or ask your family and friends about them. You’ll want to learn more before agreeing to the setup. In interviews, it’s the same thing. You’ll go to online job boards to search for jobs or companies that interest you. Before applying, you’d check a site like Glassdoor, look at stock information, or read news about the company trends they’ve gone through to provide more information. Second, once you’ve decided to go on the date, it’s time for the first meeting. Most people don’t go on a first date with the intention of a marriage proposal at the end of it. It’s just a time to get to know one another. You ask questions, learn about each other, and decide if your interests and goals are similar. This is very similar to the interview process. I stress to a lot of candidates that agreeing to go on a first interview is not a commitment to that job; it’s just a commitment to learning more about the company and for them to learn more about you. Use this to your advantage—ask good questions that will give you more serious information about the company. Third, if the first date or interview went well, you’ll enter into a relationship. Sometimes this could lead to meeting family and friends, which I also call the team interview. “Most people don’t go on a first date with the intention of a marriage proposal at the end of it.” And if that all continues to go well, it could lead to the final stages. In dating, this would mean a marriage proposal. With a marriage proposal, there are a lot of logistical aspects that need to be organized: the timing, the ring, the delivery, and so on. Typically, a lot of things have been discussed with your partner before extending this proposal, so the likelihood of acceptance is rather high. This is the same in the interview process when you get to the point of the job offer being extended. Like the proposal, many logistical aspects need to be put together: start date, compensation, title, etc. A lot of these will have already been discussed in the interview(s), so the expectations are managed appropriately and the likelihood of having the offer be accepted is high. As you can see, dating and interviewing can be very similar. Both can be stressful and emotional, but we do them because the outcome for our personal and professional growth is positive. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me directly.

When you’re a candidate that’s going in for a full day of interviews with a company, it can be daunting to have to talk to so many different people. You want to sound as fresh in the end as you do in the beginning, but that can be tough. One thing I advise our candidates to do is to simply write down some specific questions for the people they’re interviewing with on different pieces of paper. Write down different, specific questions for each person. However, you should also make sure that you ask a few of the same questions in every interview. By asking a bunch of different people in the company the same questions, you’ll get a better idea of how the company operates and communicates internally with the answers you’re given. “Make sure to ask a few of the same questions in each interview.” There’s nothing worse than making it through to the last interview of the day only to freeze up when they ask if you have any other questions. By creating these lists, you won’t have to pick through your brain or fumble over your words. The questions will be right there with you and you can get the answers. I hope this helps. If you have any questions for me in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

Today I’m going to talk about the six reasons why employees leave their organizations, and what you can do as an employer to make sure that you’re competitive in those areas to retain those employees. The six main reasons for which an employee will leave their organizations are: challenge, location, advancement, money, people, and stability. 1. Challenge. Most employees want to feel challenged by the job that they’re doing. If they’re doing something monotonous, be sure to have some element the company can put in that will make the employee feel successful and accomplished.2. Location.Make it as easy as possible for employees to get to work. If you have an employee who lives far from their office, consider enacting the ability to do telecommuting, while making it as streamlined as possible to get to the location.3. Advancement.Employees want to feel like they have a path to excel in an organization and also have different areas where they can grow to fill different roles and have different responsibilities.4. Money. Compensate your employees competitively in the market to ensure that they’re not looking at your competitors, who are going to pay just a little bit more. “Toxic cultures in the workplace drive employees away.” 5. People. You’ve heard the saying before: When an employee leaves their job, they don’t leave the company. They usually are leaving their boss. Make sure that you have a cohesive culture in your organization, and that the people in that organization are all moving forward with that same foot for success. Toxic cultures in the workplace drive employees away. 6. Stability.With a lot of mergers, acquisitions, and leadership changes taking place, ensure that your workplace has a stable footprint and your employee isn’t concerned about the rug being pulled from underneath them. As an employer, if you’re effective in those six areas, you can certainly retain your best employees. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us. Have a great day!

What is the best way to execute a day of interviews with multiple people from the client perspective? It’s becoming common practice for companies to bring multiple people into the interviewing process so they can determine not only if someone is right technically, but that they fit culturally from each individual perspective. We’re also noticing that it’s becoming common practice for companies to bring in multiple candidates for interviews every hour or half hour so they’re all stacked right on top of one another. “We’ve found this method to be tremendously successful with the companies we’ve helped with implementing it.” We’ve found it to be more effective when companies leave a five- to 10-minute buffer between those meetings. The person who just interviewed the previous candidate can then download with the next person, not necessarily with the strengths, but with any concerns they had during that meeting that that next person can dive deeper into. Then, at the download time, they have something they can discus and they each went into it with a certain sense of what they were trying to accomplish during the meeting. We’ve found this method to be tremendously successful with the companies we’ve helped with implementing it. Their meeting days are going much more effectively to identify the right candidates. If you have any more questions about the hiring process or you have something else you’d like to discuss with us, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d be glad to help you.

Today I want to discuss some strategies which can be used to manage the stress caused by changes happening in the market and around us every single day. This kind of rapid change creates an overarching stress which can affect us in ways we don’t even realize. Stress impacts everything we do each day. If you don’t acknowledge it up front, a lot of issues can arise. So, to address all of the stressful and rapid changes that occur around us all the time, we must work to change ourselves. First of all, create a goal sheet. This goal sheet should cover important aspects of your personal and business life. There are many ways to compile this information, but the important thing is that you organize and write down these goals. You should spend a significant amount of time thinking about and setting up this goal sheet. Spend at least a half a day each month looking at this goal sheet and making sure that you are actually working toward what you set out to do. Examine the steps you have taken so far, as well as what steps you plan to take in the future. The reason this is so important is that control in our environment will decrease stress. A big part of this goal sheet should focus on your finances. This is critical, because even a small change to your personal life or business could vastly impact your financial wellness. Make sure you have a plan B. Without a plan in place for the unexpected, managing changes can become much more stressful. “To address all of the stressful and rapid changes that occur around us all the time, we must work to change ourselves.” Stress can take away your options. A lack of options means that you will be more likely to make bad decisions. These forces will put you into a spiral. So, make sure that you have a plan from the start before the spiral begins. The last way to handle change is to manage your personal stress. How you achieve this is up to you. We are all different, but one thing we all have in common is the hectic nature of life. If you don’t take time to slow yourself down and do the things that give you inner harmony, you are not going to fare well in the long term. You may not realize it, but stress can negatively impact your relationships, business, and even your health. You could combat this stress by leaving your phone at home during your morning run or by spending some time with family. You could even try yoga. Whatever you do, be conscious about your level of stress as you move forward in your daily life. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Today I’m going to talk about references—the appropriate time to ask for references, and who to ask for a reference. References are a vital step in securing a new role. It gives prospective employers a chance to get insight into your background, your successes and shortcomings in different areas, and how you addressed those in the past.The best time to ask for references is when you’re near the end of a search process. You may have gone through several interviews and are expecting an offer here shortly. You want to reach out to the references you have listed and give them a heads up that they may get a call from either a recruiter, HR, or a hiring authority. Give them the authority to give transparent feedback about you and your character. “References are a vital step in securing a new role.” The best person to ask to be listed as your reference would be your most recent supervisor. As a new hiring authority, they really want to hear from a previous supervisor about the best way to manage you, how you excelled, how you acclimated yourself to a previous company, as well as your shortcomings. If you worked in teams before and had co-workers whom you knew and trusted, those would also be a great reference for you. This would give prospective employers insight on how you worked in a team environment Lastly, if you’re new to the workforce and you haven’t had a lot of work experience but have recently graduated, a professor would be an excellent person to reference. They can share how you performed within their class and how you fit into various projects you may have done. If you have any other questions about when to ask for references or who you should ask to be your reference, feel free to reach out to us. We’d be happy to help.

Whether you’re just starting out in a position or you’ve been there for a while now, there are plenty of things you can do to improve your opportunities for leadership within the company in the future. The biggest piece of advice I can give is to be visible. One good way to do that is by attending Toastmasters. Everyone can use the training and practice to become better speakers and presenters. When you’re effective at that, it gives you many more opportunities to be visible in the future. The next thing I would advise is to pay attention to Harvey MacKay. He’s one of the best out there when it comes to writing about leadership and leadership skills. Subscribe to any of his newsletters or read any of his books and you’ll see what I mean. The techniques and tips he offers are invaluable. “Do the small things.” Finally, do the small things. Come in early. Ask if you can help with a project that may be a bit outside of your wheelhouse. Make yourself visible in front of others you don’t normally work with. Putting yourself out there makes you available for opportunities you don’t even know about yet. These are just a few tips for getting ahead and becoming a better leader. If you need any more tips or have any other questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

To hiring managers, little things truly do make a big difference. What exactly does that mean for you? Because of the high volume of people hiring managers interview, standing out is critical. Qualifications aside, being memorable can greatly improve your chances of nailing an interview. If you are the only one of 10 interviewees who differentiates themselves, you are already in a better position than the rest. There are a couple things that have made a difference for us here at Govig & Associates. First is having handwritten notes. In today’s technologically-inclined world, handwritten notes are not only different, but also show that you have a high level of interest. Next, include a lot of detail in follow-up emails. Following up after an interview is essential, but going a step above by talking about what you learned and why you’re a good fit can really set you apart from other applicants. “Being memorable can greatly improve your chances of nailing an interview.” In any email communication, though, be very careful of your spelling, grammar, and punctuation. This not only shows the hiring manager your interest level and your writing abilities, but also your sense of email etiquette. Subconsciously, humans tend to judge other people based on their appearances within the first 30 seconds of meeting them. This first impression is critical, so it’s important to dress for success. You don’t need an expensive outfit, but choose one that fits well and looks clean and professional. Your first impression should also extend to your actions, too. When greeting your interviewer, have a firm handshake with eye contact. This shows confidence and control. Last but not least, remember the hiring manager’s name. People tend to subconsciously like you more when you repeat their name at some point in the conversation. It shows that you pay attention and also gives a personal touch. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

The first 90 days are essential to ensuring a successful transition. We’ve got some tips to share that will help you make the first 30, 60, and 90 days of your transition a success. The first 30 days is a learning stage. At this point, you want to be a sponge and absorb as much information as you can about the company, its culture, leadership, and more. This is when you should start to form relationships with coworkers. The most important part is to understand your boss’ expectations and how to meet and exceed them. The next 30 days are when you can start making a difference by understanding problems within the company better and how you can contribute to its growth. “The first 90 days are essential to your transition.” The last 30 days of the first 90 days is the transformation stage. This is where you become a full-fledged member of the organization. This is a time when people join clubs or committees within an organization. The big thing to remember here is to avoid the mistakes you made in the previous 60 days. If you have any questions for us about how to have a successful transition or anything else, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.