Shitty Job? Why are we just so unhappy?

Translated from Ralf Junge's blog entry: "Scheiß Job? Warum sind wir nur so unglücklich?"

Every day and some even at night we are doing our job - often we don't even ask what we actually do and why. Be silent about asking wether the job resembles our conviction. 

How often do you reflect your job and how often do you sort your job into the overall concept of your company? Is your work fun? Or do you even see a deeper sense in it? 

Monster in connection with the GfK published a Study regarding this very subject. It shows clearl, in comparison to other countries Germans are unhappy with their jobs. Especially job-starters and Young Professionals aren't too convinced of their jobs. Look at the British - here every 10th ist that happy he would do his job even without the salary. So what is it with us, that we are just so uncontent?

I found a great short film which shows quite meek jobs:

Does a job always have to be fun? Or is it enough the salaray is paid? This is something everyone has to decide for himself. Personally, I find it very important to have a meaning behind my job and to know exactly what I am doing. This means, my job has to complete me and I like my job. And this is exactly why I do pick my employment. In the end, employer, the job and its tasks and I have to match. I want to attribute to the company's success and be aware of my responsibilities as well as how to be successful. A well mix of responsibility, significance and fun is important.

Why I write all these things? Well, in my hitherto professional career I often worked with people who didn't know why they are doing the job they do and why they actually should come to work every morning. If this ever happens to me, not finding the meaning and fun in doing my job, I would (have to) change this situation immediately. Changing the job within the company or finding a new employer. 9-to-5 Jobs aren't my thing. For this I am too much of a dissedent. What matters to you in a job?

Ralf

Employer Fail: WalMart collecting canned goods for WalMart Employees

As if it cannot be even worse with the Employer Image misere of Walmart, it gets even worse.
You may have seen it in the news already if not online, the grand food drive.

Walmart workers have set out storage containers for canned goods etc to be collected for COWORKERS and their families in need,not being able to provide for a holiday dinner. Now as this isn't a big pill to swallow already - it was a Walmart-union in Ohio that organized this collecting to take place. Let's get back to the problem though. There wouldn't be the need for all of this, IF Walmart cared for its workers enough to be out of need due to proper payment instead of ridiculously small paychecks for their associates.

It has been aired a googillion times how bad it is for Walmart employees. By on an average less the 25K p.a. even paying for the regular things such as the utility bill every month turns into an eat or be in the dark question. Sending their kids to college their like? Dream on, sugar!

Now though, whatcha know about this?:



(Mahalo to The Other 98% for this image)

Considering that the CEO of Costco is having a smaller salary than most executives and Costco had a total compensation package of about 4.8 million Dollars 2012, the salary of WalMart's CEO eyeballing $19+ MILLION p.a. in 2012 not only makes me wonder for how long WalMart employees are allowing their employer to continue to be that ugly of an employer. Yes Costco itself is smaller compared to the WalMart chain, but that doesn't mean it's lost its values and dignity as caring employer.

According to this article by Megan McArdle, WalMart won't ever be like CostCo as they would not dare to give up on costumers nor wide low-priced product range in order to increase payment for their employees. However, the short twitter feud between Ashton Kutcher and WalMart sure is worth watching, too.

That doesn't keep me from asking myself, when do even giants like WalMart understand that there are people with (family) lives working for paying to live by keeping the company running, and not for the next increase of the CEO's salary?! I find it disgusting to look at how modern economic slavery partially replaced the loyal an trust-filled bond between employer and employee which originally included a fiduciary- not a exploitation duty.

Considering a study showed that even the US government creates more low-waged jobs than WalMart shows where the priorities of the oh so highly praised world reigning US economy are.

What a shame. It is time to change and act right!

Why isn't HR mobile yet!

From Ralf Junge's blog entry: "Warum sind wir nicht mobil?"

My smartphone and I are like Bonnie & Clyde - inseperable, it is an essential part of my life. So much as wenn I don't have it with me, panic attacks almost occur. Technically my entire schedule is organized on my phone. Since I am looking for a new job, I am using my phone for my job search as well. But this, hardly is any fun.

Trying to look at job-ads via mobile I fail. Honestly: the up and down scrolling as well as the constant mini and maximizing is a pain. Actually, it is a pitty. Shouldn't it be logical to have a job search enabled to run via mobile phone.?! Survey results show quite clearly, web access via smartphone are increasing. And users demand a mobile optimization, for job-ads also.

Current studies affirm the saddening truth. Only a handful of companies are publishing actual mobile optimized job-ads. At least Monster.de released a pioneering announcement at this years Zukunft Personal - an annual fair for HR. 'Job-Ads are to be published with a responsive design.' We will see how long it will take companies to notice this trend.

I admit, mobile accessibility is not compellably required for every company. But when it comes to reaching the young, technology and web-affine target group as employer mobile optimization is needed. Especially as employers compete in the race for talents.

So what are we going to do now? Employers pretty much get the next target group directing innovation or channel served on a silver platter. Considering the current speed of innovations in HR, I strongly assume the Zukunft Personal 2015 it is called: "Recruiting is mobile now".

Personnel Marketing on Spotify: The German Army does it right!

Translated from Jannis Tsalikis' blog post : "Personalmarketing mit Spotify: Die Bundeswehr macht es vor!"

These were the days. As Teenager, sitting in front of my radio, I tried to record all the good and cool songs on cassette. There weren't too many ways to find new music back then. Sure didn't have the money for many vinyl plattes, later CD's, either. Accordignly my Walkman became my personal holy grail. Well, at least untill that stupid thing broke.

Today there are a felt googillion possibilities to get to hear the sound of time. You could listen to the radio still, but you also can listen to any kind of radio worldwide on radio.de. Technically it is even possible to manage one's own radio station, via Spotify for instance. Just like Soundcloud, Spotify allows you not only to selectively listen to music, but also for your friends to follow you and listen to the same you listened to.

Technically, Spotify is not only more than a radio station, it is a complete Social Media Channel where music is the common denominator. Naturally, more and more channels with music as basic are popping up, for example ampya, tape.tv, vevo ...

What does that have to do with Personnel Marketing?

Well, it is a simply another channel where companies and HR can reach potentials. In its "free" version on Spotify follows a spot of about 30 seconds after every second song. Here, companies can use these 30 seconds to place themselves, also, and use it for Personnel Marketing purposes. The German Army is apparently one of the first "employers" who use the communication channel this way.

Klicken, um zu vergrößern!

The German Armed Forces used the so called Audio Ad. When the spot is played on Spotify a click-able image in the cover area is displayed. You can see it in the left bottom corner of the image above. Additionally, a running text is causing another Call-to-Action (gray board at the bottom). 
You can say what you want about the Ad of the armed forces, but using this channel is  truely "ahead of the curve". Herefor it gets a star behind the name on the board!

Jannis

5 Questions to HR - Becoming a true Business Partner

Strategic work in HR seldom gets the appreciation as many still may connect HR to be the great task of hoarding personnel files, being a meany to applicants and not caring what employees feel and think about. Today I would like to introduce to you a dear colleague of mine: 

Nathalie works at MSLGROUP in Paris and is always on the bus when it comes to strategic change in personnel work within the global network. Personally, I admire her for her straight forwardness and positivity no matter how slow and agonizing a task or the process within a worldwide network is.

I asked her five questions about her work and how she views HR. Check it out and be inspired.

1.) Five words to describe your field/job/tasks?
Employee Engagement & Employer Branding

2.) How do you help your co-workers turning a frown upside down?
I have experienced that passion and enthusiasm is communicative, so this is how I'm trying to energize people who are working with me. If you keep a positive attitude, positive things will happen.


3.) Is there a task in HR which you dislike? 
Not really!


4.) Do your friends ask you to redact their résumés? 
HR has always been my passion even before it became a real job for me. I was on Monster and then LinkedIn long before I graduated. I've also been through so many student jobs that I have quite an extensive experience of applications and job interviews! Hence my friends have always came to me spontaneously for advice. I have never written anyone's applications though, I think it doesn't help the applicant nor the recruiter at the end of it! 

5.) What does or should HR stand for? 
I think there has never been a more interesting time to work in HR. With more and more admin issues dealt with externally, we can really focus on the Strategic Part of the job. Also, with employees jumping regularly from one company to another, the relation you have with Talent has changed drastically. On the Employee side it means making sure people are constantly inspired and energized in their work. On the Company side, it means becoming a true Business Partner to your Managers to help them navigate this change and build the best teams that will eventually deliver great business results. It's a win-win situation!

Thank you Nathalie. It was a great pleasure. 

Amazons at War for Talents

From Jannis Tsalikis's blog post: Amazonen im War for Talents

Coming Up! The golden Mangel of HR Communication is awarded December 4th, 2013.
Awards will be given to the winner of the greatest disturbings of external HR Communication. In the categories: The most discouraging job-ad, the most horrible career-video, the most unattractive career site, the worst social media presence. 

Be there, when employers send their amazons to the war for talents and other senseless wonder works on the world wide web are shown and celebrated. For now, here is the promised and newest anonymously sent in video.  

The Countdown is running!  Till November 15th you can mail your entry to pfuipfuipfui@goldene-runkelruebe.de. Exact time and place for the award will be announced in time. Save the date and stay tuned!

Jannis

Internship 2.0 - Abolish the internship-ery

Translated from Ralf Junge's blog post: "Wir schaffen das Praktikum ab"

Do German companies need or want interns?

Bild: Sean MacEntee 

Approximately nine years ago the generation internship came to life. Young professionals were literally ripped off. Working like an employee employed for years already but not receiving an appropriate salary, many even without any at all. And career perspectives - well those existed basically from internship to the next, as hardly ever. This created a great and grand outcry. Associated were founded, dealing with this very issue and demanding transparency of employment of each company. At some point politicians added their two cents to it also and created guidelines and contract samples. Considering everything so far one would think companies have learned from their mistakes, especially as the competition, or war, for talent became quite noticeable.

Yet, current studies and comments on employer rating portals show clearly there are companies still which literelly haven't done the change, be silent about noticing an issue present. Why don't we stop these long lasting (yeeeeears) and nerve-wracking discussion by abolishing the whole intership all itself !?!OR, we keep talking about the subject "work conditions of Young Professionals". Let's create a new internship model - Internship 2.0. Maybe, let's just institute a dissuasion department for bad companies and declare prohibitions and requirements for advertisment of internships.

December 2nd in Berlin's Axel-Springer-Hochhaus, the nationwide Day of Interns topics as above are discussed. The best employees for interns will be praised. So will the Interns of the Year be elected. Therefor you still can make suggestions right here www.tag-der-praktikanten.de. 

Ralf


Editor's Note:

It is about time actually!!! Especially in countries like the U.S. were situations like this and the following video keep occurring....