If you’ve got plans to read this summer, we’ve got some great suggestions for you.

Whether you’re relaxing in a lakeside Airbnb rental or headed to the beach for a few hours of relaxation, spending some time reading through the six books we’ve recommended in our two-part series will strengthen your resolve as an employee and expand the dreams you have of moving up in your own company, making a lateral move or starting your own business.

In our first post, we highlighted books that provided specific steps you can take and traits you can adopt to achieve your short- and long-term goals.

In this post, we’re focusing on three unique but powerful books that address customer service, resilience and a case study in a wildly successful product.

“Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers” by Jay Baer

We live in a world where one ill-timed mistake can turn into a viral sensation that creates hordes of haters. Businesses need to be experts in turning their most critical customers into their happiest using popular social media channels, personal interaction and genuine interest in individuals.

Baer’s book provides businesses with the tools they need to leverage public interactions in a way that turns the tide of public opinions and wins faithful followers one by one.

Need more convincing? According to Baer, 80 percent of companies say they have good customer service while only 8 percent of their customers say they do.

The book provides advice on multiple customer- and press-related matters, Entrepreneur contributor John Rampton pointed out.

“The book also covers how to embrace complaints, turn bad news into great news, and transform haters into ambassadors for a brand,” Rampton wrote.

“Hug Your Haters” is available on Amazon for $16.72 and has an average rating of 4.4 stars from more than 125 reviews.

“Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy,” by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant

Hardship is a given inside and outside of the business world; it’s an axiom that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg knows well.

Her husband passed away unexpectedly during a vacation in 2015. The loss was gut-wrenching for Sandberg and her children.

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Sandberg talked about the loss:

“Going through this … it’s the unimaginable. Those early days … months, weeks, I felt like there was this void closing in on me. The grief. I couldn’t breathe. And I didn’t know what to do. I turned to my friend Adam and I said, ‘How do I get my kids through this?’ Because I was so worried their childhoods were going to be wiped away.”

In “Option B”, Sandberg talks about the power of resiliency and how it can be used in business to overcome disaster and find success. The book is a poignant and invaluable resource for those who’ve been met with unexpected loss and need a sympathetic and influential voice to help them bounce back.

The book gets an average rating of 4.5 stars on Amazon and is $14.68 in its hardcover version.

“The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone,” by Brian Merchant

Merchant dives into the history of the iPhone, taking you from planning meetings for multi-touch screens before the phone was even developed to the marketing and launch of Apple’s most profitable device in its history.

The book touches on various vignettes from the phone’s history, walking you through the stages of development and providing insight into the ideas and strategies that made the phone an international icon.

Serving as a case study for idea development and implementation, the book is a fascinating read for a variety of situations:

• You’re in the middle of a project and need some inspiration to get to the next stage.
• You have an idea, but you aren’t sure how to make it a reality.
• You’re in on the planning stages of a new initiative at work and you want insight into how to adapt and succeed.

Merchant’s book gets an average of four stars from nearly 100 reviews on Amazon and is available in hardback for $17.67.

Wrapping It Up: Plenty of Material for Personal and Business Growth

Succeeding in business is just as much about what you learn after school as what you learn in school.

The six books we’ve recommended are among the best that have been released over the past two years. They provide real-life examples of individuals who relied on their determination and focus to overcome difficulty and achieve the dream or standard of excellence to which they aspired.

Part 1 Link

Summer is nearly upon us.

And with summer comes vacation plans that include a few hours here and there for reading. Even if you aren’t heading out of town between June and September, a few hours on the beach every so often is the perfect time to read through some excellent business books.

Over the course of the next two posts, we’ll provide you with a list of the year’s newest and most popular business books, titles which can inspire you and provide insight into how you can strengthen your business acumen.

“Your Best Year Ever: A Five-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals” by Michael Hyatt

Hyatt is a business vet and a productivity guru whose new book is a great way to renew your vigor for the goals you set at the beginning of the year.

Here’s how the book’s website describes the type of person who could benefit from Hyatt’s newest tome:

“We all want to live a life that matters. We all want to reach our full potential. But too often we find ourselves overwhelmed by the day-to-day. Our big goals get pushed to the back burner—and then, more often than not, they get forgotten.”

What’s interesting about this particular tome is that Hyatt offers packages for individuals and businesses that serve as a multi-week course focused on the principles the book lays out.

The hardcover version of the book goers for $15.13 on Amazon.com and has an average rating of 4.8 stars from more than 250 Amazon customer reviews.

“Rise and Grind: Outperform, Outwork and Outhustle Your Way to a More Successful and Rewarding Life” by Daymond John

Daymond John, he of Shark Tank fame, was part of the founding team of FUBU, the international clothing brand made famous in the ‘90s. John took out a $100,000 mortgage on his home to launch the business. He split his home in half and used one part of it to live and the other part of it to produce clothing.

If there’s anyone who knows how to grind his way to success, it’s John. His book focuses on how you can draw on the methods he used in his own life to implement and accomplish the business goals you’ve set for yourself. Here’s how Business Insider’s Richard Feloni and Shana Lebowitz describe the book:

“He’s drawing from his own career and those of fellow entrepreneurs to compile the rituals, habits, and best practices for sustained success, whether you’re leading your own company or not.”

John’s book is available on Amazon for $15.04 in hardcover. It gets an average of 4.5 stars from more than 400 reviews.

“The CEO Next Door: The 4 Behaviors that Transform People into World-Class Leaders” by Elena Botelho and Kim Powell

Botelho and Powell gathered up data from thousands of CEOs and those aspiring to executive positions to compile a list of four common behaviors that make people succeed.

Both women have the credentials and expertise to back up their observations, too. Botelho is a Wharton grad and Powell received her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Their book has drawn high praise from thought leaders. Here’s what author Daniel H. Pink said in his recommendation about the sources used for the book:

“They may not all come from fancy schools, but they do know how to make smart decisions, adapt to changed circumstances, and work honestly and directly with customers and employees. Whether you’re running a large organization, or simply have your eye on the corner office, this book should be your guide.”

This book is an excellent choice if you’re working from the bottom up or you’re in mid-management and want to find the edge you need to ascend.

“The CEO Next Door” hardcover is available on Amazon for $16.30. It gets an average rating of 4.7 stars from 27 reviews at the time of publishing.

Part 2: Three More Business Books for the Summer

In our second post on the best business reads for the summer, we review three books that delve into personal experience or product development and mine some of the important principles that worked well for the authors or the products they researched.

It’s important to keep in mind that these success narratives aren’t hard and fast rules from which you can’t waver; contextualize the principles into your own workplace situation.

Building a strong HR department is crucial to the long-term success of a company.

Hire the right people and life will be easier. That starts with human resources, including who you hire to fill key HR positions and who those integral HR people bring onto the team.

In our first post about strengthening your approach to HR, we pointed out some crucial action steps: Focus on the employee experience, hire a consultant when building a new HR team and recruit certified human resources professionals.

In this post, we’re going to expand on our earlier advice via the expertise of HR professionals.

Win the HR Battle by Going Mobile

The race for talent is as tight as it’s ever been as the economy grows and qualified candidates flood the job market. One candidate could be the target of multiple companies and, in order to stand out from the competition, says SocialChorus exec Sonia Fiorenza, you have to focus on a culture-relevant HR strategy: mobile outreach.

“The growing gig economy means individuals also now juggle multiple types of jobs, vastly changing the ways and tools they use to engage with their employer,” Fiorenza said. “And, tied to this, the shift to an increasingly mobile workforce is forcing HR departments to do away with legacy systems and processes, and implement mobile-centric strategies to identify new ways of reaching remote workers.”

Part of that mobile-centric strategy includes:

• Developing new methods for ongoing access to feedback and company news.
• Designed curated, target content through apps.

These two tips are only part of an overall strategy that will keep an HR department performing well. Sometimes, a complete overhaul of the HR process is necessary, Fiorenza said.

Use Trade Organizations to Lay the Foundation

Startups that are focused on scaling, subscriptions and rounding up capital may not place much importance on HR. So, when someone is tasked with launching human resources, they’re most likely going to feel like they’re on a very isolated, overwhelming island.

In our first post, one of our experts recommended hiring a consultant who can get a feel for company culture and then recommend action steps for building a solid department. However, if you or your team are DIYing human resources, Cheer Partners’ Cat Graham says you need to tap the trade organizations to get all the information you can.

“You can join SHRM and download annually updated and state specific employee manuals to ensure you capture all the important policies and employee rights pertaining to compensation, benefits, IT, sick policies, FMLA grievance procedures, jury and military leave,” Graham said.

SHRM is the Society for Human Resource Management, a national organization that includes many of the nation’s top HR professionals in its membership. Their resources are extensive as is their network of HR pros.

 

Once you’ve solidified the basics, you can add the nuances that will make your department more reflective of your company’s goals and mission.

“Add personal flavor by inputting employee referral bonus program, merit review and increase policies and, most importantly, required harassment and sensitivity policies with zero tolerance for drug use, abuse of employees and clients and alcohol use,” Graham said.

 Don’t Shut HR Out of Big Decisions

There’s a perception of HR out there that treats the department as more of an apparatus that an integral part of implementing a company’s vision.

Mark LaScola, CEO of consulting firm On The Mark, says that firms who provide HR with a seat at the most important meeting are the ones who tend to have the strongest HR departments.

“HR needs be a strategic partner in the annual planning process to understand what the future holds. HR’s role in this planning process is to consider people plans and talent management needs in accordance with the company’s strategic review,” LaScola said.

Short- or long-term strategies require manpower and, as the branch of the company most acquainted with the process, HR is essential to the big picture.

“The outcome is ensuring better anticipation of the need of talent in advance,” LaScola said. “In return, leadership can plan development investments and talent acquisition requests into the annual budgeting process.”

The human resources department has become an interesting litmus test for progress.

There’s a perception in the professional world that HR departments at newer companies focus more on their employees than they ever have before, whereas older companies run their HR as if it did two things: hire and fire people.

Whichever the case is, these two examples don’t do much for helping startups decide how they should build a strong HR department.

We spoke with HR experts across the country to get their insight and expertise on how to build a strong HR department from the ground up.

#1 Become Obsessed with the Employee Experience

Most companies can give you a data-driven breakdown of who their customers are, what they want and how to most effectively reach them.

Unfortunately, companies rarely apply the same principles to learn about their employees, said Sonia Fiorenza, senior vice president of communications and engagement strategies at SocialChorus.

“It’s common for companies to focus heavily on the customer experience and journey, mapping every touchpoint and analyzing how this impacts the organization. However, they haven’t put the same focus on their employee experience. More companies must realize the benefit of taking a similar approach with employees.”

The HR department is a crucial part of this process, Fiorenza said. They are the lynchpin in identifying opportunities for engagement and creating a methodology for finding the right people and keeping them.

“Led by HR, they should bring together multiple disciplines, including communications, IT and others to optimize every touch point in the employee journey so that employees feel more informed, valued and engaged to help the company succeed,” Fiorenza said.

#2 Bring in a Consultant to Lay the Groundwork

Employee engagement is great, you might be thinking, but how do we actually create an HR department from scratch?

Jill Santopietro Panall, owner of 21Oak HR Consulting, says hiring a consultant is an effective way to understand who a company is and how the human resources department should play a role in hiring, firing, compliance and employee engagement.

“For a company without any HR department at all or a company that is too small to sustain or afford a full-time HR person, the first step is often to bring in an experienced HR consultant to examine their practices and compliance and help build a strong foundation of appropriate HR practices and processes,” she said. “Those are often executing in conjunction with finance or office administration folks.”

Once the consultant has built up sufficient knowledge of how the company functions and what its needs are, he or she should then go about making the first HR hires.

Laura Handrick, an HR analyst at Fit Small Business, says a good consultant will help you understand how to avoid big missteps early on.

“An HR consultant can educate the business owners about basic HR labor law and payroll best practices, so that they prevent common HR issues, like discrimination or payroll mistakes from happening in the first place,” Handrick said.

#3 Look for HR Candidates With SPHR/SHRM-SCP Certification

As your company decides who it will bring into its HR department, Panall advised looking for HR leadership candidates with professional certifications. It’s not just about credentials, either; those who get their SPHR or SHRM-SCP show they’re serious about their expertise.

“I am personally biased towards seeing both a strong HR experience as well as some evidence of commitment to the profession, such as an HR designation like PHR/SPHR, SHRM-CP/SCP, or a benefits or payroll certification like CBS, CEBS or CPP,” she said.

An SPHR (Senior Professional of Human Resources) certification, for example, requires that the recipient take a 175-question test to be completed in three hours.

As your department evolves and matures, you may want to think about hiring a senior exec with a doctorate in a related area of study, Panall said.

“For the larger companies, seeking an experienced HR leader with a PhD in Industrial Organizational Psychology may be desirable, as it indicates a very deep knowledge of the people process, an understanding of data analytics and trends in the workplace and an ability to help set organization-wide strategy,” she said.

More HR Advice to Come: Looking Ahead to Part 2

Building a strong human resources department takes time, research and an acute desire to make sure your employees are just as happy as your customers.

Our next post in this two-part series about HR departments will dig into other interesting topic areas including why it’s important for HR to be a part of big company decisions, why HR leaders should be big-picture thinkers and the necessity of being responsive.

You’ve always got the time to be kind.

That’s the opinion of various experts and business leaders we talked with as we pondered what seems to be the lost art of acting generously toward coworkers. The idea may be counterintuitive for A-type personalities whose daily objective is to press hard for goals, benchmarks and bonuses.

However, says workplace leadership expert Dianne Crampton, we often forget that kindness can be a catalyst for better performance through empathy, putting oneself in the place of your coworkers in order to identify with their situation.

“The bottom line is that improving empathy and kindness is tied to increased productivity and ultimately improved business revenue,” Crampton said. “So, as a principle required for high-performance work groups, empathy and kindness improvements are both measurable and then trackable in the business bottom line. No fluff.  Not touchy-feely.  Just solid psychological, good business sense.”

Organization development consultant Lisa Sansom, a coach and consultant at LVS Consulting, echoed Crampton’s sentiment, noting that kindness in the workplace also boosts employee retention and participation.

“Kindness in the workplace is important for building positive workplace relationships, setting a strong corporate culture and increasing employee retention and engagement,” Sansom said.

But how exactly do businesses go about achieving those lofty goals of increased performance, retention and engagement?

We reached out to business owners and HR reps to find out. We received some intriguing responses offering ideas for practicing kindness as well as examples of kindness at work in the office.

The Experts Offer Up Easy Ways to Express Kindness

To be kind, you must be intentional about it. Very few employees are willing to bring their schedule to a halt to take a few minutes to ponder what they can do to enliven their colleagues’ spirits.

The time spent on kindness, though, is well worth it.

Say Thank You

Dana Case, director of operations at online legal filing service MyCorporation, says kind workplaces have one common thread: consistent expressions of gratitude.

“One of the most appropriate ways to practice kindness in the workplace is to say, ‘Thank you,’ to fellow employees and make it a regular practice,” she said. “It’s a simple sentiment that goes a long way in making everyone feel valued.”

Be careful, though, says Sansom; if you try to formalize a system of thank-you’s or kindness in general, these transformational moments could become forced and lose their punch.

“It’s possible to institutionalize kindness but, in my opinion, this takes a discretionary fun effort and turns it into a corporate obligation,” she said. “Be kind just because – not because someone else told you to or because everyone else is doing it.”

Send a Note

Alexis Monson, co-founder of Punkpost, a service that lets users send custom thank-you notes via their app, says acts of kindness don’t have to be grandiose, either.

“To spread happiness, gestures don’t have to huge and elaborate,” she noted. “Simple and thoughtful is all you need.”

A note written to a co-worker expressing heartfelt gratitude for a job done well or their willingness to cover for you in a jam can go a long way.

Using a service like Punkpost – or even a handwritten note — is something that can make a difference in a co-worker’s life, she said.

Listen

Another excellent bit of advice came from  Fit Small Business HR Analyst Lauren Hedrick, who emphasized the importance of listening.

We’ve all been the person who tunes out our colleagues because we’re focused on an upcoming deadline or issue. Taking the time to set aside the momentum of your work life to genuinely fix your attention on the person in the cubicle next to you is powerful.

“We warm up our cars and we allow our computers time to load their apps,” Hedrick said. “Should we not give a moment to our human peers to let them know we seem them, care about them and enjoy working with them?”

A Few Reminders About Kindness

As we mentioned early on in this post, you have to avoid formalizing kindness. Employees will sniff out the corporate nature of enforced generosity and they’ll most likely lose interest.

Sansom said another important aspect of kindness is to remember that you need to be discerning about what you say and to whom you say it. Don’t bare your soul to someone you barely know.

“Kindness can be different for different people. What you may see as kind might not come across well with someone else,” she said. “So, unless you know someone well, it may be wise to stay away from anything too personal at the start.”

As you get to know your colleagues, managers and/or employees, you’ll recognize the best way to be kind.

Another benefit of building empathy and kindness in the workplace? Conflicts are more likely to be less severe.

“In work cultures that measure high in empathy, conflict rarely escalates but is quickly rolled back to the root cause,” Crampton said. “There is a recognition that problems usually arise over confusion on how to do something or the way a system works rather than problems that employees have willfully caused to antagonize one another.”

The Consumer Electronics Show concluded this past January with tons of fanfare surrounding the consumer products showcased in what is the premier tech show of the year.

Lost in all this techie talk was the fact there were some innovative products focused on improving the office.

We did some research and discovered some very interesting products that could provide your office with cutting-edge tech that will make your workplace a little more interesting.

In our conversations with exhibitors who hawked their creations to the country’s top investors and businesses, we found everything from the Google of video footage to innovative community phone chargers to ultra-durable power strips that can withstand power surges and the every-day abuse of the workplace.

Stepping Up Your Security with IC Realtime’s Ella

Let’s say you drive to work one day, put in a solid eight of hours of work and, when you head to the parking lot to drive home, you notice somebody sideswiped your car at some point in the day.

Normally, you’d have to connect with your building’s security department and ask them to pore over hours of footage to figure out who hit your car.

With IC Realtime‘s Ella, you can search your footage by using keyword searches just like you would when looking for something on Google.

For example, if you see black paint at the impact point, you can search “black car” and Ella will search through all the footage and isolate clips that include a black car.

The service also recognizes letters and numbers. So, if FedEx is late on a delivery or you never receive a shipment that was supposedly delivered, you can search “FedEx truck” and Ella will pull up all footage of FedEx trucks that pulled up to your delivery dock during the hours you specify.

“There was a lot of interesting buzz, for sure,” a company rep told us. “The Wall Street Journal included Ella in their list of the best tech to see at CES.”

Design Meets Device Charging: Humavox NEST

We’re not saying that charging your phone at your work desk is archaic but using a cord to charge your phone can be annoying for those who work in small spaces.

Humavox NEST has solved this problem by creating technology that can turn virtually anything into a charging station by incorporating near-field radio frequencies to charge phones and tablets.

Here’s how they explain the problem they say they’re solving:

“With the growing number of devices, charging has become a daily hassle that must be resolved with a simple, natural charging solution. But when thinking of what would be the most natural charging experience for users, we realized that it’s not unanimous, (it) changes with different products and between different users.”

Current NEST designs available on the Humavox website reveal personal-sized charging pods as well as community bowls where multiple phones and IoT devices can charge.

This novel idea for charging stations would be a great fit in communal areas where employees take breaks, brainstorm or meet, all without the need for charging cords.

Power to the People: Juice Mobile Power

Imagine the following scenario. You’ve got an event going on at the office — new employee orientation, for example — and dozens of people are crammed into a meeting room. The combination of phones, tablets and laptops needed to take notes means that some people are left without an outlet.

That’s the type of scenario some office managers had to be thinking about when they stopped by Bretford’s booth at CES and saw the company’s newest power solution: Juice Mobile Power.

Juice provides DC power for up to 20 mobile devices. One main power source plugs into the wall, and, from there, you can connect multiple power lines that roll out like a red carpet. The power strips are low-profile, durable and, as the company’s website says, they provide simple power solution without any retrofitting.

Here’s how a company representative explained the problem that Juice Mobile Power solves:

“Juice Mobile Power is the solution to this problem – the cost of rewiring a given room, whether that is an office conference room, an event space, or a classroom, is thousands of dollars and lots of time and energy. Juice Mobile Power takes the existing power available in the room and spreads it in a mobile, safe, adaptable way so people can stay charged and productive.”

There’s not much difference in the way that Bretford approaches power and the way we approach existing cubicles. We provide a simple solution that doesn’t require any work stoppages or costly disassembly of existing cubicles or desks.

Our panel and privacy extenders can be added to existing desks and walls in a matter of minutes. In many cases, we can add our panel extenders without interrupting your team’s workflow.

To learn more about our office solutions, call us at or head to our website.

In our first post about standing out in the workplace, we talked with a series of experts about what it takes to boost your value in a genuine, legitimate way.

The advice we received was on point. Self-evaluation is a key component to increasing your value; know where you’re weak and hone those areas until they become assets.

Offer to take on a few extra responsibilities and, at the same time, offer your help in situations where a colleague may be too afraid to ask for it. Another tip for private contractors – build your brand through a systematic leveraging of your expertise.

However, helping yourself stand out isn’t limited to these four tips. We received an overwhelming response from HR reps, career coaches and other professionals who had plenty to say about how you can increase your profile the right way.

Be Confident, Even When You’re Not

Confidence issues plague most employees at one time or another, whether they’re starting a new job or their first career.

There tends to be a mindset in which you think everyone around you knows you’re a fraud and is waiting for you to fail.

Matthew Kerr, a career adviser and hiring manager at Resume Genius, says sometimes you have to employ the time-tested “fake-it-’til-you-make-it” mentality.

“This old adage can be surprisingly effective when properly utilized. Rather than stressing yourself out wondering how you can become confident at work, pretend that you are,” Kerr said. “Adopt a mantle of confidence and exude it in everything you do. Confidence in the workplace is by far and wide the easiest and most effective way to stand out.”

Offer Your Input at the Right Time

Your ideas will only speak for themselves if you tell other people about them. Utilize planning and strategizing sessions to share your ideas, Kerr said.

Confidence plays a key role here; without it, you’ll be too timid to pitch your idea. Are you an expert in an area in which your managers are seeking input? Then pitch with confidence. There’s no shame in standing by your experience, even if it means offering up a divergent opinion.

“Sometimes it can be difficult to voice your opinions or ideas when they go against the grain – but that’s one of the best ways to stand out,” Kerr said. “Even if your idea isn’t used, you will create a new discussion and perhaps be the source of solutions that otherwise might have been overlooked.”

If you can’t muster up the fortitude to present in front of a group, do a one-on-one with a supervisor behind closed doors, Kerr said.

Know Why You’re Doing Something Instead of Just Doing It

It’s easier to listen to instructions and do them without putting thought to the reason behind the ask.

While this certainly makes life easy in the short-term, it can lead to disillusionment if you aren’t careful. Three or four years down the road you’ll get tired of robotic obedience and you’ll be left with frustration instead of satisfaction.

Jennifer Braganza, founder of training and leadership firm Exponential Success, said you can impress your bosses if you show you’re just as interested in the “why” as you are in the “how”.

“It will allow you to produce a better product if you understand what is trying to be achieved,” Braganza said. “Sometimes people don’t know what they really want.  If you ask the right questions, you can actually help them figure it out and avoid the rework of doing things over and over again.”

The key here is that you’re asking “why” because you want to see and grasp the bigger picture, not because you want to challenge whether you should do the task or project.

Don’t Like Your Job? Exercise Situational Awareness

Career coach Sara Young Wang says the ideal way to stand out at your place of employment is to do what you love.

However, we all know many of us are not in the positions we’ve dreamed of being in. So, Wang said, take a moment to think about how your dissatisfaction is reflected in the way you act throughout the day. These moment-by-moment micro-cues could be holding you back and deterring your ability to stand out.

“Developing more mindfulness of how you respond to requests, how you take feedback/criticism, how you interact with colleagues/bosses in times of stress, etc., allows you to perform your job from a calmer, clearer and more grounded place,” Wang said. “You can stand out as someone who is mature, thoughtful, receptive to feedback/learning and an employee who can be trusted to represent the company. This can contribute to a high potential for promotion.”

 

Part 1

In a perfect world, we’d go to work each day standing out for the right reasons and without much effort.

We’ve all known the coworker who tries too hard to rise above the pack. Their methods often create friction and distance them from the rest of the team.

None of us wants to be that employee; standing out is just as much a matter of being genuine as it is about knowing the right people and knowing exactly what to say and do around them.

We reached out to experts across the nation to find out what you can do to be a standout employee without alienating yourself among your coworkers. This post is the first of two that provide seven different tips for standing out.

 

 

 

Grade Yourself and Make a Plan

Ross Wehner, a career coach and founder of WehnerEd, said a mentor of his challenged him to list all the traits of a professional he could think of then rate himself in those areas according to the following scale:

• 1 – Needs improvement
• 2 – Satisfactory
• 3 – You exemplify this quality

Taking stock of his “skill” level in each of the professional traits he listed helped Wehner see where he was weak, where he was strong and where he was mediocre. He recommends having a mentor or colleague rate you according to the same traits.

“Evaluate your ratings and those from others and identify the areas in which you have the most margin for improvement,” Wehner said.

Once you’ve got all the data, make a six-month plan that will help you` get all those areas to a “3”.

“Review your evaluation process every six months or so and constantly be improving what you’re worst at,” Wehner said. “Before too long your worst skill will be better than others’ best skills.”

Your efforts to improve yourself will start to emerge in the workplace; the change will be noticeable.

Take Advantage of Opportunities for Extra Work

Alexis Zanger, a senior marketing manager at Aegis Software Corp., says the age-old recommendation to volunteer for extra work is a time-tested way to stand out.

“Step up to take on extra tasks and more responsibility without having to be asked,” Zanger said. “Showing initiative is a trait that corporate executives look for in the next leader of a team.”

Be careful with this one, though. There’s a fine line between being eager for more work and being eager to please your bosses by taking on more work. One is genuine and the other is dangerously close to people pleasing.

Offer to Help

Our jobs are an arena where asking for help is like waving the proverbial white flag; there just isn’t much dignity in saying you can’t figure something out. As a result, most of us won’t ask for help when we should.

Knowing this, Jana Tulloch, a human-resources professional at tech learning firm Develop Intelligence, said one way you can build your name at work is to offer your help when you know someone is in over their head.

“One of the best ways to stand out is to always be asking, ‘How can I help,'” Tulloch said. “Often people wait for others to reach out to them when someone is needing an extra hand or some specific expertise; being proactive and working to engage with others regularly will help you raise your profile.”

Again, finesse is the key here. Don’t swoop in with plans to take over the project and the credit for a job well done. Enter the situation with a genuine desire to help.

 Build Your Own Brand

In the age of private contractors and side gigs, using your free time to build your brand is an invaluable talent.

Frances Reimers, principal at consultancy firm FireStarter, said making yourself stand-out as a brand requires grinding. Become an expert in what’s happening in your industry and start sharing your knowledge among fellow professionals on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

This is the route Reimers took on her way to starting her own firm.

“I started by establishing my social media platforms and posting interesting content on a consistent basis. Then I graduated to drafting blogs, white papers, and infographics. Finally, I added television, radio, and public appearances,” Reimers said. “The success of this evolution led me to open my own personal brand consultancy so that I may assist individuals and small business who want to stand out from their peers.”

In our next, post  we’ll share six more tips that can help you stand out from the pack at your workplace.

Part 2 – Stand Out Employee

 

Call us crazy, but there are times when we watch our favorite shows and think, “that office could’ve really used some panel extenders.”

It’s not that we’re truly concerned about the productivity and focus of the characters themselves, but more so our preoccupation with proper office design and the manifold benefits of panel extenders that go beyond the basics.

That’s not to say that cubicles don’t interest us … we’re more than aware of them when we watch the king of all workplace movies, Office Space.

However, we’re in the business of offering an easy-to-use, effective alternative to cubicles that provides the sound and sight privacy your team needs to excel while still feeling part of a work community.

In that spirit, we’ve compiled a list of three famous Hollywood workplaces that either used panel extenders well or definitely could have used them.

The Office: A Tale of Two Styles

Americans across the country were left both joyful and distraught when the nine-season run of The Office came to a close.

Many of us felt like we were a part of the Dunder Mifflin team, working right alongside Dwight, Jim, Pam and the gang.

But did you ever consider how their office layout actually reflects real office life?

Take Jim and Dwight, for example. The two co-workers were constantly immersed in a battle to annoy and distract each other. Their mischief was made easy by the fact that their desks were perpendicular to each other and no barriers existed in between them.

We find this interesting if, for nothing else, the fact that both Jim and Dwight were salesmen and sales calls should be afforded a certain amount of sound privacy. The solution: panel extenders.

The lack of panel extenders goes beyond just Jim and Dwight, though. The other section of salesmen included three desks with no privacy panels or panel extenders.

What results is a chaotic work environment that makes for great TV but for poor productivity.

What’s interesting, though, is that there is a glass partition/panel that separates two of the three desks in accounting. Famed accountants Angela and Kevin have sound privacy because of the panel but they lack visual privacy.

This is a sensible solution for accounting because of the subject matter being discussed in that department – accounts, invoices, etc.

But, Oscar, the third accountant in the bunch whose desk sits perpendicular to both Angela and Kevin, has absolutely no sound or visual privacy.

Obviously, The Office’s workplace layout had just as much to do with opening up the space for camera work – the more barriers, the poorer the lines of sight. However, we think it accurately reflects how many offices handle privacy.

Halt and Catch Fire: As Open as Open Offices Can Be

This AMC drama focused on the rise of personal computing and the internet. The show is anchored in the rise of a startup named Mutiny. According to the fictional account, the company launched wildly popular video games, was crucial in the emergence of online gaming and is responsible for the popularity of chat rooms and Craigslist/Letgo-style online transactions.

Their offices were based in San Francisco in a cavernous brick building with a completely open floor plan. No panel extenders. No cubicles. Just dozens of computer terminals dotted on desk clumps.

The scene in Mutiny’s offices was often chaotic. Coders were hammering away at keyboards, answering phone calls and shouting across the room to their colleagues.

These scenes reveal what we consider the biggest downfall of open offices: lack of privacy. The brain needs a certain level of security to provide maximum focus and production. Mutiny, like any number of modern startups, lacked both.

The solution could’ve been simple: panel extenders. Installation takes about five minutes and doesn’t impede workflow; nobody has to leave their desk and wires and cables don’t have to be unplugged.

From Hollywood to Your Office: Simple Privacy Solutions

OBEX panel extenders provide a simple, effective solution for audio and visual distractions that plague the workplace.

You can learn more about the products we offer by heading to the Products section of our website, where we feature panels and extenders that attach to existing desks or cubicle walls as well as modesty panels.

You need to make changes to your office and you need to make them fast.

That’s usually the position our clients find themselves in when they contact us about our panel extender quick-ship program. The reasons for these quick changes are manifold: company transition, growth or seizing a can’t-miss opportunity to move into a new workspace with basic desks and/or cubicle walls.

In many situations, you aren’t as concerned about style as you are about function – the panels need to go up fast and the more neutral the color and form, the better.

The scenarios we mentioned here are pretty universal and our quick-ship program reflects that kind of one-size-fits-all situation.

Basically, the OBEX quick-ship can be broken down into three different parts: the panels themselves, shipping and warranty.

Quick-Ship Panel Extenders

While our normal line-up features dozens of different color and material for cubicle walls, privacy panels, panel extenders and modesty panels, our quick-ship program provides one, simple solution: aluminum-framed translucent polycarbonate panels.

We consider this single option a very utilitarian choice – they get the job done without any added frills. But don’t underestimate their design. Design not featuring flashy colors or materials, they manage to stay modern and blend in with just about any office environment.

Looks aside, polycarbonate is an effective way to reduce sound, too. The material is used all around the world as a popular sound deadener in offices as well as a barrier between transportation thoroughfares (roads, tracks) and neighborhoods.

Here’s a quick list of the available sizes (HxW):

• 12×24
• 12×48
• 12×72
• 18×24
• 18×48
• 18×72

These quick-ship panels come in three different install styles: freestanding, desk and panel. The panels you get from this program cover nearly any desk/cubicle situation.

Quick-Ship Shipping

What makes our quick-ship program unique is that your panels will ship within 48 hours of your order and you’ll get a 5% discount on the total order.

Our goal isn’t to gouge you because you’re in a jam; it’s to provide a straightforward solution to get you up and running as quickly as possible.

Our quick-ship shipping comes with a few things you should know. First, the maximum quantity you can order is 25 units.

Second, our quick-ship program requires cash on delivery for the first two orders you make. After that, you can work with OBEX to come up with credit terms to finance future purchases.

Because of the nature of our quick-ship program, once an order has been acknowledged and confirmed, it is final. Returns aren’t normally accepted, but if we do agree to it, there are re-stocking charges involved in the return.

Quick-Ship Warranty

OBEX’s 10-year warranty also applies to our quick-ship panel extenders and covers our products against defects.

Basically, if there’s a defect in your panel extenders that isn’t due to normal wear and tear and you’re the original owner of the extenders then you can file a claim with us. We’ll inspect the panels to verify that the product is defective and will decide if we’ll repair it or replace it.

Aside from normal wear-and-tear situations, other situations that wouldn’t be covered under our warranty would be those random situations in which, say, somebody at the holiday party gets too friendly with the open bar and then accidentally kicks a hole in a modesty panel.

Working With Us: The Leading Office Extender Provider in Southern California

This post has focused on our quick-ship program but OBEX certainly provides more than quick fixes for your company.

If you’ve got more time to make a decision about your privacy solutions, consider taking a look at our acoustical panels. They are, in our opinion, the superior choice for maximizing sound privacy in the workplace.

You see, a panel’s ability to deaden sound is based on two popular ratings: noise reduction coefficient (NRC) and sound transmission class. Our panels reduce sound by more than 50%.

In addition to their ability to deaden sound and provide a more tranquil workspace, OBEX panels are easy to install. In most situations, one individual can put a panel on a desk in less than five minutes. All hardware and the necessary Allen wrench is provided in the panel kits we send you.

Our panel extender installation guide gives you an excellent idea of what the install process is like. If you have questions, we’re happy to answer them. Give us a call at (888)571-8658 or contact us through our website.