10 Habits to Have in a Workplace

Written by: Chane da Costa

A quote by Aristotle “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit”. This is true in all aspects of our life. To excellence exceptionally well in what you do, you need to have good habits. A habit is a regular behavioral pattern that is followed until it becomes as involuntary action.

As majority of the working economy work about 40 -45 hours a week, most of their time is spent at work. Therefore, it is crucial to develop good working habit in the workplace, as living well is to your emotional well-being and overall health. Creating good habits in the workplace will lead to an increase in your job effectiveness and adds value to the organisation.

For those entering the working world, forming good habits will come easier than for those who have been working for more than a year. This is because those who are entering the working world, the concept and everything that goes along with it is new. You have to create new behavioral patterns and habits to follow. Whereas those who have already been working for a while, are already in a routine of habits, and we all know how challenging it can become to make and break a habit. This does not mean that those who have bad habits shouldn’t turn them around and start practicing good habits.  Good habits are as addictive as bad habits, but far more rewarding.

10 Good Habits in the Workplaces

1.       Positive Thinking – People are naturally attracted to optimistic people, no one likes to be around someone who is constantly negative and bringing things down. How you think affects how you feel at work and how people look at you. Think positive, see a better future and help yourself, others or the company get there.

2.       Be Yourself – it is important to be yourself in your work environment. Pretending to be someone you are not, will slowly catch up with you. People who pretend to be someone they not and get caught out and then their morals, values and trustworthiness will be brought up to question.

3.       Be Punctual - For all organisations time is money. If you anticipate you are going to be late, it is important to inform someone as soon as you know, not 10 minutes before. If you are going to work, a meeting or anywhere where you have made an appointment ensure you set enough time for daily commuting with unforeseen circumstance like weather or traffic back-ups. If you are not punctual people start to lose reliability and don’t make you a preference anymore. It also represents your sense of responsibility.

4.       Voice your Opinion – As an employee you need to know your role and when to speak up. If you have a new idea or concepts mention it to your manager. A good manager will always listen and consider input from their employees – they are also human. If there is an issue that has risen in the office or at home, informing your manager of the issues will help make your working environment comfortable for you. Voicing your opinion also ensures that you are fully engaged and your input will be considered in making decisions in the workplace that will initially affect you in the end.

5.       Be a Team Player – as employees in an organisation we interact with many different types of people on a daily basis. Each person’s contribution to the workplace makes it function successful and therefore, learning to work with different people is critical for your own success. Many hands do make light work and with that being said it is important to have mutual respect, compromise, be open and understanding in the working environment.

6.       Have Balance – Having a balanced lifestyle helps you perform at your best. To ensure you lead a balanced lifestyle leave work at work.  Making time for your friends and family ensure that you incorporate time for recreational purposes that refreshes your mind and body. You will feel happier and healthier by having a balance between work and play.

7.       Prioritise – Many people get overwhelmed with the amount of things they have to do and end up doing

nothing and procrastinate about it. To become an effective and efficient employee create a well-prioritised To Do List to help you stay on track. By prioritising the urgent and difficult tasks to be completed first, the

temptation to complete the easiest tasks will be reduced. If you are getting stuck and wasting time on a difficult task more onto an easier one and then back to the difficult task. This normally helps reduce stress. Whilst creating your To Do List ensure that you leave space for flexibility and crisis situations.

8.       Keep Moving - Staying in one position the whole time can put you in a slump in the workplace.  Have some form of activity stimulates blood flow, relaxes muscles and reduces stress. So by getting up, moving, stretching it is one way to have some form of de-stressor. You can also take up a sport or exercise out of working hours to keep a balanced lifestyle.

9.       Eating Healthy – It is so easy to fall into the bad habit of going down to the café and buying lunch every day.  The reality is that most of the time the food is unhealthy and you will walk out with a chocolate and a can of coke. By packing a healthy balanced meal you every day you not only eating correctly you save yourself a lot of money.

10.   Limit your Caffeine Intake – Although caffeine boost your energy, consuming too much caffeine can give you jitters and cause dehydration. You should limit your coffee to no more than three cups a day.  Try drinking more water in summer and herbal teas in winter.

Why you shouldn’t accept counter-offers

Written by: Chane da Costa

“You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety”, a quote by Abraham Maslow that certainly supports this blog post. Many job seekers often go for a counter offer without considering the consequences and realising the damage it may cause their reputation. The fact is that within a year, 90% of candidates that accept counter-offers are no longer in the position counter offered. Whatever your reason may be, if you are looking for a new job, ensure that you are serious about the change and that you are not looking for any counter-offers.

The 8 poisons of a Counter-Offer

I am not saying that all counter-Offers are bad, but majority of the time they do have a negative effect on the candidate and here is why:

1.       Employers often offer counter-offers in a panic or stressful situation. Once the situation is in relief, they often keep you on board until they can find a replacement for you. Once they have found a replacement they will most likely look for ways to make you leave the company.

2.       If you are not leaving because of remuneration and your employers make a counter-offer or a promise to keep you there, if it didn’t happen in the past what ensures you that these promises will actually happen?

3.       If your reason for leaving is remuneration, you need to ask yourself one question: Why am I worth more now, than what I was worth 15 minutes ago? Your employer knows how much you worth and if they have the correct values in place, they will not provide you with a salary less than what you deserve.

4.       It is also easier and cheaper to provide employees with counter-offers than having to recruit, train and teach them the ropes of the company. It costs a lot of time and money to replace a great candidate and get them settled in the company.

5.       Your reputation has been damaged. Your will be known as the person who wanted to leave and your employer might suspect you wanting to leave a few months down the line. The employers trust in you may be questioned and your position in the inner circle will be jeopardised. In the end, accepting a counter-offer will leave you worse off than what you were.

6.       You are also labelled as a fidelity risk to the company.  The lack of loyalty by searching for a new position will keep your employers on the radar and when the company is experiencing any hardship, you will be the first person they let go.

7.       You run the risk of damaging your personal brand with the company you received the first offer from. You have wasted their time going through the recruitment process and your chances of not getting another offer from them are high. It is import not to burn bridges and become blacklisted as a bad recruit with any future employer that you may come into contact with.

8.       Using an offer as a bluff in the hopes to receive a counter offer is dangerous and may leave you jobless. Employers only propose a counter-offer when a resignation letter has been received.

In searching for a new job you have already decided you want to leave and are unhappy in your current position. The chances of the situation changing are very unlikely and it is better to move on. A good employer wants to see their employees grow and prosper. You will receive a promotion or increase in due course. If you feel like you are at a ceiling in your position, your relationship with your employer should be open enough to tell him/her that you need something more challenging. It is important not to get greedy and compare your situations to others.

As a recruiter I have seen many candidates looking for new employment after 6 months. If this is the case, as an employee you need understand that a your employer needs at least a year or more to gain trust in your and experiment with how much responsibility they can hand over to you. It is important to remember to also give your employer a chance.

Candidates need to remember that it is difficult to leave what you know for what you don’t know. If you are comfortable with constant job change, you also need to be careful of becoming a “job hopper”. Job hoppers are candidates who show relative trends in their employment history of only working for companies for 6month/1 year/2 years. HR personnel are very sceptical about job hoppers as they do not want to hire staff who last for less than 2 years. They are looking for loyal employees who live and believe in their brand.

Why do a Graduate Programme

Written by: Chane da Costa

Graduate season is in full blow and the Electus Team would just like to congratulate all the graduates and our two employees Tiffany Lynn and Chane da Costa on this great achievement. 

Having this in mind, it is important to know your options available to you as a graduate. Some graduates worked while they were studying and therefore already have a job, whilst others get an opportunity to go straight into an entry level position.

Then there are the graduates who are in no hurry to work and prefer to continue there studies or take a Gap year. Then you get the graduate who decide to retire completely. Whatever, your option may be, we wish you a very successfully journey ahead.

But it is important not to look down on any opportunity that might give you a start in your career. Often graduates look down on graduate programmes because they do not guarantee a permanent position or the salary is not what they expected. In the infographic below there are 6 main benefits to note when applying for a graduate programme.

Qualification vs. Experience

written by: Chane da Costa

Graduation season has arrived and for some students it’s a celebration of receiving their qualification and never having to study again. For others it is just another Toga to add to their list. No matter what the reason for their celebration is, typical questions appear amongst these graduates.

Why did I study if I’m struggling to get job? What am I going to do with this degree?  What is the point of studying if employers only look for experience?  I could continue to list similar questions but I am confident you catch my drift.

As both are equally important, it is a constant battle between experience verse qualifications for young adults. To create a successful career path there must be an equal share of both.

Qualification

By becoming qualified you definitely differentiate yourself and provide yourself with the relevant knowledge and basic prerequisite to work for the organisation of your choice. Your qualification proves that you are specialized in your field of interest and have a greater depth of understanding than what experience can provide. It also develops your speed and depth of learning.

Once you have landed your job, having a qualification also ensures that you are able to receive promotions when you have reached your potential capacity in a position, and have an opportunity to grow further.

By having a qualification this does not mean that you can be demanding and unrealistic about your salary expectations. All graduates need to understand that it is essential to start at the bottom in order to build a good ground to climb the career ladder successfully. In a storm, a house without a foundation, results into ruins.  So it is important to be prepared to start at the bottom and work yourself up the food chain. This is important as potential employers tend  to hesitate when it comes to hiring graduates because they are unrealistic and think they know it all.

In today’s society where each year produces thousands of graduates, you almost cannot afford not to get a tertiary education. The competition pool has moved from just completing a matric to having a diploma or a degree. A noticeable trend has slowly started arising where post graduate students are starting to become more of a demand on the market.

However, by over-qualifying yourself you run the risk of not being able to land entry level positions because you are over qualified and run the risk of not being able to get a position your qualifications are suitable for because you do not have the relevant experience.

Therefore, if you are looking to further your studies after completing your honours, it is important to do your masters or doctorate part-time whilst gaining experience in the relevant field. This is so that your experience grows with your knowledge to ensure your CV represents a well-rounded candidate in both fields.

Experience

As impressive as completing your degree might be, the reality is employers look for candidates who have experience. This is because they would rather take on a candidate who has 3 years’ experience in an office environment than taking the risk of hiring a recent graduate.

Candidates with experience have experienced the industry first hand and understand the pains and pitfalls and consequently, know how to avoid falling in them. Experience helps candidates measure the needs of the industry and assists in making calculated decisions.

The truth of the matter is the more graduates that enter the market, the more potential employers browse over the qualifications and jump to the experience. This is because candidates who have a degree with experience have already put to test what they have learnt over the duration of their course. However, those candidates who have do not have qualifications behind their name yet have years’ of experience often get stuck in one position with no potential for growth.

If you do not have the financial means to obtain a qualification it is important to gain relevant and related experience in the field that you would like to specialize in. This can be done by maximizing your opportunities at hand by growing within your duties and responsibilities. Some companies also provide training and opportunities to Up-skill their employees. It is the employees responsibilities to utilize these opportunities and grow themselves within the company

The fact is the ideal candidate for any potential employer has a perfect balance of both qualification and experience. They seek hard working diverse candidates with ambition and a passion for their company. My best advice for any under graduate student in South Africa would be to put yourself out there and find a position where you are able to work half day or flexible hours to slowly gain your experience.  There are also companies out there who are willing to invest in their employees and pay for their studies while they work.

To gain some form of experience while you working is definitely beneficial to creating a successful career in the future.

Why Use a Recruitment Agency

The Quick Guide to Rights in the Workplace

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act. helps to regulate the working environment to ensure that it is fair for both employers and employees. The HR department of a company should be aware of the act and have the act available for employees to view.  I have made a quick infographic on a view of the chapters that are discussed in the act. This does not include the full clauses to these headings in the chapters. I have provided links below to access the act and the CCMA.

Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration

Nurturing Basic Human Rights for your Benefit

Written by: Chane da Costa

Our legendary former president Nelson Mandela once said “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their humanity”. These are wise words spoken by a man who is greatly respected and has influenced many worldwide. Many employers forget about basic human rights and focus only on workplace rights, which can be of disadvantage to the company. So how are you able to nurture basic human right in your company?

Right to Equality

The right to equality is an important aspect to retain your employees. Many employees resign because they feel companies do not deal with matters fairly. Although there is the right to equality, we all know some employers will promote an employee because they are male/female or African/Caucasian depending on friendship or for the company’s status. Instead employers should focus on those next in line for the position and who has the top performance. By nurturing employees’ growth accordingly and respecting each employee as an individual, they will feel the company works fairly and will most like stay loyal to the company.

Right to Dignity

Everyone has a right to dignity and this should be respect especially in the workplace. This includes not being subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In many situations in office environments employees are physically, sexually or verbally abused against their will and feel trapped and unable to leave their job. Employers should respect their employee’s dignity and should deal with matters accordingly for both parties’ interests. If there is an issue, a one on one meeting with HR would be the most appropriate situation to resolve the matter, for either the employer or employee.

Right to Privacy

Privacy is important to many individuals and an invasion of privacy can make many people uncomfortable and potentially lead to them resigning. Unless stated in a contracted or a signed agreement an employer should not search or enter an employee’s property without their consent unless it is for a reasonable cause/stipulated by law/ deemed acceptable in an open and democratic society. This includes interference with employee’s private communications, spying, and secret files on the employees without their consent.  A reported case in America was brought to the public’s attention when an interviewer did not hire candidates who would not give them access to their Facebook accounts.

Freedom of Association

Freedom of association is important for employees, as a lot of employees form or join trade unions, religious and social and cultural bodies. Trade unions are available to help resolve disputes and negotiate employee matters with the employer. Providing employees with the freedom to association with their trade union shows them that you care about them. Allowing employees to be themselves by associating with organisations they feel fit for them, allows them to feel accepted as an individual and comfortable with who they are in the company.

Freedom of Religion

Everyone has the freedom to commit a religion of their choice and this should be tolerated in all organisations. Places with religious observances must be respected and no one shall be barred from entering them on the grounds of race. Employees appreciate workplaces that respect their religion. Practising Muslims pray every Friday and every day during Ramadan. Employees who have employers that respect their religion tend to be happier and productive because they can satisfy their religious needs appropriately.

Freedom of Language

The languages of South Africa are, in alphabetical order Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa and Zulu. The employees right to speak their own language in the work place is important.  As in African cultures many African people still think it is pompous if they speak English to each other when they have the same cultural background. However, out of respect for one another,  the most commonly understood language should be spoken so that everyone understands in situations where meetings or discussions in the work place are taking place.

Property Rights

There have been many instances where employers confiscate employees’ phones and personal possessions during work hours to try increase productivity. Although in some cases this might work, it is actually violating a human right to remove them of their personal property. Each person has the right to undisturbed enjoyment of their personal enjoyment unless it conflicts with public interest. Employers can however put clauses in their contract stating that employees may not use their personal property during working hours.

Although there are workers’ rights in place, employers often forget about the basic human rights. These two are very similar and both consider each other, but there are always gaps and advantages both employers and employees take advantage of. It is important to know your rights and what you can do about it. Trade unions often assist employees with workplace issues but another option could be to report the issue to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

Employers need to consider the above aspects carefully in order to protect themselves, and even more so when trying to create a happy and productive environment for employees to work in. Although the primary focus in business is the bottom line, the sole drivers of a company is it staff component. Therefore, it is essential to nurture employee rights for both their benefit and the companies’.