Kindness is an innate quality of most human beings. When we see it being directed towards others it makes us feel better, when it is directed toward us we feel great. Yet sometimes we feel kindly towards someone around us, especially at work, and we feel uncomfortable about showing it. Why not let your kindness genie out of the bottle and just let your kindness show. One of the best ways to do this is by practicing random acts of kindness.
Kindness doesn’t cost us anything, in fact it’s much easier to be kind than to be mean. It’s like smiling versus frowning. It takes 43 muscles to frown and only 17 to smile. It’s the same way with kindness. Not only that, we will feel much better about being kind and won’t have any negative reactions that often come with acting in an inconsiderate way. The other good thing about kindness is that is that the small kind acts that we perform will often prompt others to act in the same way. They may not show it directly to us, but when they get home they may feel a little better about themselves and show kindness to their partner or family members.
One the secret to practicing random acts of kindness is not expect any reward. That way we are not dependent on the other person’s reaction and we can enjoy the simple act of being good and kind. It really is giving without any expectation that we will receive any thing in return. Another key is to whenever possible keep the act of kindness anonymous. What about if you showed up at work one day and there was a batch of freshly baked cookies sitting on your desk? You might like to know who gave them to you, but you would still heartily enjoy them even if you never found out. Hopefully you would share some of your bounty with your co-workers and spread the joy throughout your office as well.
You can and should practice random acts of kindness on your family, friends, and co-workers. But sometimes it’s nice to show your kindness to the world by offering unasked for kindness to people you don’t even know. One Good Samaritan would carry a roll of quarters with him when he walked through downtown and whenever he saw an expired parking meter he would drop a few coins in. The people who benefited from this kindness may never know who helped them avoid a parking ticket but the person who carried out the act went around all day with a smile on his face just thinking about the impact of his random acts of kindness.
At work it’s easy to start practicing random acts of kindness. We all know someone who is having a difficult time at home. Maybe they have a very ill family member or maybe they are just down and depressed. A fresh bouquet of flowers from your garden left on their desk may just brighten their day and lessen their load. Offering to fill in for someone who is anxious about a sick child at home is a more direct act of kindness as too is just offering encouragement and support to a co-worker who is struggling with a difficult task or project.
It doesn’t take much to start practicing random acts of kindness, just a good spirit and a desire to be helpful to another person. Don’t be surprised if other people in the office start doing the same once you get the ball rolling. In addition to being very good for your mind and spirit, kindness is also contagious. Once you start you just can’t stop.
This post first appeared on my blog at www.job.ca
Mike Martin is a freelance writer and consultant and author of The Walker on the Cape, a Sgt. Windflower mystery.
A Pain in the Neck
By Mike Martin
You already know this. Not only do you know it but your body tells you this regularly. You spend too much time at the computer. You may not be able to stop using a computer but you can limit some of the damage. If you have chronic or on-going pain you should see your health care professional. And if you have serious problems with your hands, arms or wrists you should get checked out for a repetitive strain injury or carpel tunnel syndrome.
But if you are like me, and millions more like me, you probably just have an occasional ache that goes away if you just pull away from the keyboard for a while. Except for that neck pain that just won’t leave me alone. I can pop two of my favourite red pills but I don’t really want that habit as well. So what can I, or you do about this neck pain? Well according to Ergonomic Times, a lot actually.
Here are some of their tips for dealing with neck pain at work.
1. Get spinal checkups regularly and if necessary get your chiropractor to do spinal adjustments on you.
2. Be conscious of your posture which includes your neck. Poor posture, if not dealt with can give rise to neck pain as well.
3. Manage stress that is carried on the upper back, the shoulders, and the neck. Get expert advice about techniques to specifically reduce this stress.
4. Do not put pressure on your neck. Do not use your neck and shoulders to hold the telephone while you talk. In the office, always sit properly and keep your neck straight by working at eye level.
5. Stretch. It is always best to do stretching if possible. In the office or at home, you can take short breaks just to reduce the tension. Some massage won’t hurt either. It can decrease the tension not only on your shoulders but also on your neck.
6. Exercise regularly, at least three sessions a week for about forty minutes. Moderate exercise can strengthen your body and help reduce the likelihood of severe injuries.
7. Eat well and sleep right. It can speed your recovery from injury and it also makes you feel good. If your neck hurts in the morning after sleeping you made need some help. Ask your doctor or chiropractor for suggestions.
This post first appeared on my blog at www.jobs.ca
Mike Martin is a writer and consultant and the author of The Walker on the Cape, a Sgt. Windflower mystery.
It’s always interesting to see what those big HR companies who survey people are asking and to me at least what Canadians in particular respond. One that caught my eye recently was from worldwide staffing giant Randstad whose Workplace Monitor interviewed workers in 32 countries earlier this year about employee commitment and personal relationships in the workplace.
First of all on the job security question Canadians are not as worried about it as the Greeks or Spaniards but they are concerned enough that about 40 percent would give back some of their salary if their enterprise faced closure. And in these trying economic times it is not a big surprise that most Canadians would trade a good salary for job security. Canadians in almost every sector of the economy have felt the brunt of the economic turndown and the “job less” recovery. Things may get back to normal but when they do there will be a lot fewer people carrying out the tasks.
But what is a surprise, at least to me, is that 82 percent of Canadians would give up some of their money to have job security and time to enjoy their lives. They agreed with the statement that ‘they worked to live rather than lived to work’ and if they were not happy at work they would quit. In fact 3 out of 10 Canadians surveyed said that they would quit if there was no room for their personal development.
Other interesting tidbits from this survey were that over half of the people from this country said that they would rather have pleasant work colleagues than more money and most meet up with some work contacts after work. Two thirds also claim that they have made friends at work. There is even an acceptance that romantic arrangements happen at work and only 20 percent of Canadians feel that is a cause for major concerns.
But like most surveys of this type there is not a whole lot new. Salary and benefits are important but they have never been the main reason why people join a company or organization and they are certainly not the biggest reason why people leave. People still want to be valued and appreciated at work and to grow to their full potential. They also like doing this with people who are pleasant and easy to get along with.
And if two people at work happen to become more than friends, then why not? Maybe that’s just another aspect of job satisfaction that needs a little more personal research.
This post first appeared on www.jobs.ca
Mike Martin is a writer and consultant and author of The Walker on the Cape, A Sgt. Windflower mystery.
Okay folks it’s time to see how your workplace stacks up against these companies’ workplace amenities. Check off all that apply.
Complimentary massages, dry cleaning, haircuts, onsite medical care, and unlimited free meals. That would be at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California. Somehow the toasters choice free coffee doesn’t really cut it any more does it? Now if only you knew how to do computer programming or invent video games you would be all set.
Other examples include annual whitewater rafting trips at E-bay, free day care and doggy care at Genetech, surfing during working hours when the surf is up at Quicksilver Software or being able to play ping pong at the Huffington Post when things a re a little slow. Don’t have any of these? Too bad. You just might be in the wrong career.
If you are thinking about changing jobs then look no further than Dealer.com, a car dealership support company. Their 360 employees, according to AOL have access to their own fitness center, subsidized organic food cafe that delivers food to your desk or is available for take-out, season pass discounts for snowboarding, chair massages, and indoor tennis court. And the company is soon adding a yoga studio with retractable roof, a solarium and rooftop vegetable garden, juice bar and two saunas.
The list of possible and available perks being provided by some companies is endless. It you want to be entertained then you can choose from custom shuffle board, pool table, foosball, ping pong, 9-hole par 3 golf course, basketball court, many pinball machines, and arcade games at one company. If you’re tired you can jump into the nap pod and if you’re really bored you can even bring your laundry and do it at work at another business.
So, what is up with all this free stuff? Part of it is clearly an attempt by employers to attract and retain certain groups of employees who are probably in demand across industries and even continents. But part of it is also to create a culture at work where employees are tangibly valued in addition to their monetary compensation. And for the companies noted above it makes sense for their bottom line and long term growth. I just my employers had felt the same way. I could have developed a wicked backhand in ping pong.
This post first appeared on my blog at www.jobs.ca
Mike Martin is a freelance writer and the author of The Walker on the Cape, a Sgt. Windflower mystery. www.walkeronthecape.com
Earlier this year the Human Resource Professionals Association (HRPA) and the accounting firm Deliotte released a report on the future of work in Canada entitled Canada Works 2025. This report looked at the key economic, social, technological, environmental and demographic trends shaping the Canadian workplace and perhaps what is even more interesting developed three scenarios of what the Canadian economy and society could look like in 2025.
In the view of the report’s authors the year 2025 could bring what they call “the lost decade”, a period of positive but unsustainable prosperity. Or what we all hope for is an ushering in of an era in which Canada and Canadian workers transform our economy into a northern tiger. Bill Greenhalgh, CEO, Human Resources Professionals Association explained the tiger concept like this: “As the northern tiger, Canada enjoys a strong and robust economy where workplace flexibility is the norm and training and education providers are in synch with the needs of business.”
The big question is how do we get there? And like all possible views of the future that depends on the decisions we make today. If we make the right combination of decisions we end up with a vibrant and dynamic economy and workforce. If not we get one of the first two options. In the words of Jeff Moir from Deliotte “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”
And so we build this future by encouraging government and business to work in tandem and identify and implement the common strategies that we need, as well as the strategies we have to put in to hedge against undesirable outcomes. And those strategies must focus on:
Modernizing Education so that the next generation of workers has the tools, technology and teachers they need to succeed.
Reforming Immigration to bring in workers that we need and helping immigrants to succeed
Improving Employment Flexibility by addressing skills gaps and shortages and building workplaces that support workers and families
Investing in Industry Excellence to create new Canadian super companies and services that can be the best in Canada and around the world.
Ensuring that Talent has Access to Opportunities and companies have access to talent across the country by reducing barriers and regulations.
HRPA and Deliotte may not have come up with all of the answers to the challenges facing the Canadian employment landscape but they seem to have some strong suggestions about how to get to the best possible outcome. Let’s hope that the decision makers are listening.
This post first appeared on my blog at www.jobs.ca
Mike Martin is a freelance writer and the author of The Walker on the Cape, a Sgt. Windflower mystery.
Fear
What’s holding you back?
We are all afraid of something. Snakes, basements, elevators, heights or spiders. Some people are so scared of things that they can’t go out of their house or apartment. Fear and dying and fear of dying are the common threads that link all humans together. But what is fear really?
Fear is a feeling that something bad might happen to us if something else happens, like a snake bites us or we get trapped in the elevator. But fear is also the feeling that we might lose something we value or not get something that we really want. The good news about fear is that it is almost always about the future. The bad news about fear is that it holds us back from acting in the present.
Some one once said that FEAR stands for Feeling Emotional As if it were Real. We feel that something bad will happen so we freeze and sometimes literally can’t take that next step. Once we discover that the fear is not real, like the monster in the closet, we can then take action.
To get over, around or through a fear we have to face it. It is a real feeling, but it is not real. Then despite the feeling we have to take that first step towards the fear. It may be terrifying but once you take that step, touch the snake, you will never be afraid of that thing again.
Fear. What’s holding you back?
Mike Martin is the author of The Walker on the Cape, a Sgt. Windflower mystery.
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