Don’t look now, but your boss is looking over your shoulder. More and more of them are.
Let’s not kid ourselves — you may think your boss is a moron, but you’ve got to give the guy credit for starting and running a business. It’s not child’s play — it’s tough, and it’s getting tougher all the time. But then so is being an employee, especially in these exponential times when technology is changing faster than Hannah Montana concert tickets are selling. And now employees have to take even more responsibility for their own productivity. It used to be that a company worked as a team and shared in the success (or lack thereof) equally. Today, while we may still work as a team, we’re increasingly being compensated according to our own individual performance. Ravin Jesuthasan, a principal at management consultants Towers and Perrin, recently commented: “The risk of earning a competitive wage is now increasingly on the employee’s shoulders.”
Companies are more and more moving toward performance-based compensation plans. “Instead of bumping up salaries, more companies are doling out bonuses based on performance,” says Jesuthasan. If you happen to be Tom Brady, then you’ve got nothing to be concerned about. If you’re not, then you can either work harder to keep up with your craft, or you can do it the old-fashioned way — take performance-enhancing steroids.
All kidding aside, the trend is clear. A survey of around 1,000 large U.S. employers indicated that over 90% of employers are supplementing sala-ries with one-time bonuses and rewards in 2007, up from 80% in 2006, according to Hewitt Associates human-resources consulting firm.
Why the change? Because it lowers the risk to employers. “When the results are there, the company pays out,” says Ken Abosch of Hewitt Associates. But if the results are lacking, the company’s payroll liability is reduced. And that allows them to stay competitive in an increasingly competi-tive world.
If you think this is terribly unfair, try on a pair of your employer’s shoes. There’s great risk and expense in training employees only to have them leave the company and take their new-found skills with them. On the other hand, there are great opportunities, both for the employer and the employee, when new skills are developed. Training an employee is both the gasoline and the match. Either way, something is going to ignite — your company, your career, or both.
Does taking more responsibility for your productivity make you just a bit nervous? It should — unless you are confident in your skills. Now is the time to reinvigorate your career. Take some time in the New Year to set your intentions for 2008. Here are some things to consider:
10. An Hour a Day Keeps You Earning Your Pay — There are 1,440 minutes in a day. Use at least 60 of them to sharpen your skills.
9. Anything, not Everything — As presidential advisor Bernard Baruch once said, “If you put your mind to it, you can have anything you want; you just can’t have everything you want.” Trade in your wants for your true desire.
8. PMA is better than a PhD — In this industry, a positive mental attitude will get you farther than an advanced degree. Keep smiling, and don’t let your karma run over anyone’s dogma.
7. Fan the Flames — Find what resonates deep inside of you and nourish it. Use that energy to enrich your life and the lives of those around you. Or, as Kinky Friedman said, “Find what you like and let it kill you.”
6. The Wii Is Not the Way — Blowing off a little steam is fine as long as gaming and play don’t dominate your life. Balance these with some reading, learning, family time, quiet time and exercise. And, no, Wii tennis doesn’t count as exercise.
5. Pace, Don’t Haste — Take a red Sharpie and make 31,025 marks on the wall. (Don’t try this at home — go to your neighbor’s house.) Now multiply your age by 365 and take a black Sharpie and mark through that number of red marks. What’s left represents the number of days remaining of your life expectancy. Make the most of them.
4. No Smile Left Behind — A life worth living is a life worth laughing through. Live a little, laugh a lot and don’t sweat the small stuff.
3. Don’t Chase Your Dream — Dreams are thoughts, and reality demands action. Don’t chase your dreams, transcend them and create your reality.
2. Learn the Magic Words — Where there are errors, there will be blame. Take responsibility for yourself. The magic words are “I can…,” “I will…,” and “I did…”
1. Use Your Powers for Good, Not Evil — You are a marvelous human being. Be kind to the little people.
Until they develop performance-enhancing steroids for the mind, you’re going to have to put in your best effort to get ahead. You can start by view-ing the recording of the webinar entitled Your Future in the Live Event Production Industry. Visit http://plsn.webex.com and click on “Recorded Sessions” in the left-hand column.
Here’s to getting ahead in 2008.
Wishing you…
World Peace
Inner Harmony
Lasting Prosperity
